Iron Flame
Ratings992
Average rating4
Finishing this on the first day of the new year, only a few weeks from the release of book three? What a way to start 2025 and so on brand for me.
Iron Flame had everything I enjoyed of Fourth Wing. It was memorable. Did it have some spots that were totally unnecessary? Yeah I think so. The book could have easily been 100-150 pages shorter if I'm being honest, but I still really have hope for this series and am excited to see where Onyx Storm takes us.
Iron Flame was no Fourth Wing (because it needed polish) BUT it was still a phenomenal read imo.
historia muy atrapante, se pasan y pasan las horas leyendo, se disfruta
The accelerated editing process in this really shows and I'm bummed.
Based on the release date, I'm hopeful that Onyx Storm will be back on the right track. I so badly want to love this series haha.
Most confusing and convoluted conflict I've ever read in a fantasy novel ever. Too many elements, too many characters. It was hard to care about the stakes and death when I just had no fucking clue what was going on. This felt like it was two books put into one. Never in my LIFE has a 600 page book felt this long. What I would do to get the 17 hours back I low-key wasted on this.
Contains spoilers
Violence, remember it's only the body that's fragile. You are unbreakable.
Rebecca, you cannot do this to me. I need the next book NOW.
I'm so happy that this series exists because after reading it, I'm not the same person anymore. Despite not being as amazing as Fourth Wing, Iron Flame is still deserving of all the praise in the world.
Less than a minute, that’s how long it took for you to fall out of love with me.
I'm amazed at the author's creativity in providing subtle clues here and there and making sure everything adds up. Just like in Fourth Wing, I was engrossed in the plot from beginning to end.
The book is split into two parts; the first takes place in Basgiath War College and the second in Aretia.
Watching Violet struggle with her powers and come to terms with them was encouraging. I can't wait to see how powerful she gets in the upcoming books.
You and I are not easy people. What we build together has to be strong enough to withstand a storm. Or a war. Easy isn't going to give that to us.
While it's reassuring to see Violet and Xaden working things out, their arguments had become a little repetitive. Furthermore, this book contained a lot of info dumps, which made it difficult to keep up. I probably need to read it once or twice more in order to understand everything.
I have a lot of questions, as well as theories.
1) When Violet was about to raise the wards, Lilith was not present initially. She only appeared after Violet began to burn out, saving her just in time. Before that, Lilith was fighting near the Vale alongside Xaden. And later, when Violet tells Xaden that her mother was dead, Xaden says the words,
I’m so fucking sorry.
I could never want anyone you love dead.
I found this unsettling. It felt more like a guilty sorry then a condolence for a loved one. So I wonder if Xaden had anything to do with Lilith coming there.
2) Liam’s signet. It was said that Liam’s signet was farsight. But in the battle at Resson, Liam was said to be wielding ice. Since runes are said to be made out of metals or woods, the wood cravings that Liam made might some form of runes. Or maybe Deigh might have bonded another relative of his. But why did Liam lie?
Tairn puts us into position, hovering about twenty feet aboveground as Liam flies for the gryphons above us, wielding spears of ice into the injured wyvern’s throat.
3) I’m pretty sure that Naolin has turned venin. It is nowhere being stated that he died.
We will no longer speak of the one who came before.
Naolin didn’t fail, but it cost him everything.
No idea why I would torture myself by burning through the first two when the third isn't coming out until January, but I did it anyway.
Me ha encantado, creo que me gustó mas el primero por la acción y el desarrollo pero este me ha flipado por el lore. Me encanta los mundos que pueden llegar a crear los escritores y este me parece maravilloso. Eso si, estoy ENFADADÍSIMA con el final, pero es mejor que que xaden muera que es lo que pensaba que iba a pasar. Pues nada, aquí me quedo impaciente hasta enero.
I mean, you wanna keep reading to see what happens, but a lot of this book is also just watching a train wreck. It's fine, I guess.
had to log onto goodreads from my laptop so i could do an adequate review for this book.
fourth wing didn't really get a hold on me until the end when everything began to unravel. iron flame had me from the BEGINNING. this damn book. rebecca yarros has an amazing ability in writing that made me literally cry, want to throw shit because of how angry i am, feel the pain that violet felt, and had me to relate to all of the characters. i wish i would've read this series earlier- but then again i'm glad i waited until now so that i didn't have to wait for iron flame to release- but then again i wish i would've waited to read this series so that i wouldn't be in the predicament i am in right now (impatiently waiting for onyx storm to release). basically this book made me feel every emotion that occurred in it and i am so glad i took the time to read it. both badass and sexy- probably one of the best novels i've read that has my perfect balance of romance and action. absolutely a five star book and i commend rebecca yarros for her wonderful creation that is the empyrean series <3
Love the series so far. Still very predictable most of the time. Story is solid and very engaging.
I loved this when I finally read it. I do hate the publisher for choosing such a small font but it still was a good book and now I am really sat for the entire series.
Well THAT is a cliffhanger. I'm just so irritated at one of the main characters now that I'm not sure I'll be able to judge this book until the next one comes out. This is still like the first, though - fast-paced, and fun. I hope Yarros' popularity doesn't lead to the two main issues I sometimes see in later books in a series: overly complicated plots and not enough editing!
That took a turn I did not see coming. Rebecca Yarros is really good at beginnings and endings, but really struggles with the middle.
Contains spoilers
I expected more resolution in this book but it was just filled with more loose ends.
The late nights Violet spent researching solutions were tedious and really slowed the overall pace of the story. Apparently, we couldn't find this information out any other way, even with a mind reader on the home team. (More on that later.) Despite all that time together, Dain and Violet's relationship remained unresolved.
Aretia and the warding component was an interesting world-building addition. The dragons and gryphons coming together was also interesting enough. Cat and Violet spent a while trying to kill each other with some brutal emotional manipulation, so their beef was resolved way too easily.
Then, Xaden disappeared for huge sections at a time and the reasoning seemed weak. Maybe his character was inconvenient to the plot with his ability to read minds? Once a character becomes too powerful, some plot twists don't hold water. Extra note: Violet has two signet because she has two dragons, but why does Xaden have two signets if he only has one dragon? Violet spent so much time wondering about Xaden that I almost put the book down.
Finally, the change in POV in the end was so jarring left on a terrible cliffhanger. All I wanted was some modicum of closure for something, anything.
Despite the all the unresolved things, I enjoyed seeing Violet and her siblings come together, charging totems, and every scene with Andarna.
This book was entertaining enough but I won't be reading the next one.
Entretenido pero decepcionante. Es raro, porque me entretuve todo el libro, pero todo se siente como un relleno.
Se responden dos preguntas, quedan abiertas como diez y se abren como cinco más, asi que bastante decepcionante en general.
Los dragones, lo mejor, así que por ellos , si o si se lee el tercero.
I loved fourth wing, i don't think i realised how much I loved it until i read another book after and all i could think about was reading this book.I didn't think it could get better than Fourth wing but it did and I am sure i will love the third book when that comes out!From the very first page, the writing draws you in and refuses to let go. The world-building in the first book is expanded on more including how magic works, especially with XadenThe character development in this book is outstanding. Violet's unwavering determination, Xaden's internal struggles, I am in love with their relationship and the friendships throught this book. even tho it is definitely not primarily a romance the romance is incredible “I'm in love with you. I have been since the night the snow fell in your hair and you kissed me for the first time.”The plot is a lot faster than book 1 in my opinion, but that may just be because i read this quicker than book 1.Rebecca Yarros has created a world that is so vivid and immersive, I felt like I was right there alongside the characters, experiencing everything they were. If you're a fan of epic fantasy with a healthy dose of romance and adventure, do yourself a favor and pick up this book – you won't be disappointed![bc:Fourth Wing 61431922 Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1) Rebecca Yarros https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1701980900l/61431922.SY75.jpg 96945623][bc:Iron Flame 90202302 Iron Flame (The Empyrean, #2) Rebecca Yarros https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1706724269l/90202302.SY75.jpg 114498467][a:Rebecca Yarros 7539785 Rebecca Yarros https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1689003619p2/7539785.jpg]
OK so we read [b:Fourth Wing 61431922 Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1) Rebecca Yarros https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1701980900l/61431922.SY75.jpg 96945623] for Worst Bestsellers and I bravely spoke my truth that although it was kind of clunky and had bonkers worldbuilding, it was also kinda fun! I might even read the second one, I said!! And then I heard rumors that the 2nd one was so bad fans thought it was written by AI and I was like, well now my curiosity simply COMPELS me to check this one out!! And honestly I really don't get the negative hype–like to me this was approximately as weird and clunky as the first one. A bit longer I guess, DEFO could have used an editor to cut it down–but so could the first one! Nothing about it jumped out to me as obviously AI–no literary equivalent of a 6th finger on a hand or anything.Also I thought some of the reveals were pretty surprising and interesting! The mom's motivations were more complex than I imagined! Dain's change of allegiance! Etc!IDK! I thought this was fine!
I struggle to rate this one, but somewhere between a 3.25 and 3.5
It was still very compelling to me, but this one didn't fly by as seamlessly as the first. I'm still looking forward to the next, but just wasn't quite as fun to breeze through. I will say the last chapter really soured me a bit (not even because of the ending itself) but that the chapter from Xaden's point of view sounds exactly like Violet- they do not have seperate enough feels/tones.
i loved this book, but this had no business being THIS long... it put me in a slump i literally started this when it got published