Book review: Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

Finished reading: 10 June 2024
Rating: 4.5/5

We’re back in the world of dragons, stepping into book 2 of The Empyrean series, and boy, oh boy, this one’s a good one.

After the trials and tribulations in the first book, and the massive twist at the end, we step into a world with a new, reframed view of this world. The powerful are corrupt. History has been destroyed and rewritten. The truth is being covered up. And Violet isn’t taking a bar of it.
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Since we’re now heading into the review of the second book in this series, there will be spoilers in this regarding the big plot twists in the first book, and there's some spoilerly things for Iron Flame as well, so like… don’t read on if you don’t want to be spoiled, you know?

So, yeah, with that out of the way, what did you think of the big twist at the end of Fourth Wing?

Aka. Brennan is alive. And, not only that, has been hiding with the rebellion in Aretia.

It was quite the moment for me that when I finally closed Fourth Wing after finishing it, I had already grabbed Iron Flame to start the story ASAP. And, this book and the storyline… look, I was so locked in. So much so, I got through this real quick and was devastated I had to wait for Onyx Storm to be published to continue the storyline.

Nonetheless, Iron Flame starts off strong by having us right in the midst of the rebellion. Not only that, but there’s turmoil and tension amongst key characters, namely Violet and Xaden. Violet feels betrayed by Xaden’s dishonesty, and then that is even more pronounced with the fact that Dain was… well, an asshole to put it simply.

And, after a moment with the rebellion, we jet back off to Basgiath, and we're well and truly back into the grips of the brutal world of training to become a dragon rider, and the layers of institutional corruption.

We’re also introduced to the gryphons and their gryphon riders in this book, which is a really neat inclusion. What were once seen as the enemy are turned to allies who fight with the dragons and their riders against the venin and their wyverns.

Which, in turn, solidifies one of my favourite themes explored in this book, which is the corruption and abuse of authority as captured by the fact that the leadership of Navarre has literally destroyed records about the of venin and wyverns.

It’s argued that this is for protection, but it becomes in itself a thread of propaganda, which ultimately means that they are not ready for the onslaught. It’s not so much an if, but a when.

Ultimately, this book delves deeper into the political deception and the growing war that has been shrouded by lies, escalating the stakes to new heights, and really upping the ante with the action and politics.
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What’s also highlighted is the power of bonds. So much of the survival of these groups depends on trust, which is hard to come by when surviving Basgiath and becoming a dragon rider requires having to survive and come on top above others.

However, it’s the bonds between the characters that are really well thought out and written in this book. You have the bond between squad mates and the loyalty amongst each other. Then there’s the bond between Xaden and Violet—it’s romantic, but it’s also deeper than that. They are in tune with each other, as well as their dragons due to the bond that Tairn and Sgaeyl have.

This bond makes the ending all the more upsetting, but I’m not going to dive too far into that. You’ll need to read the book to experience it, just like I had to.

Can I also just mention the increased level of brutality in this book, as well? Like, I get that the riders need to be trained up and all but holey moley this book takes abuse of power and like… torturing kids to a whole new level.

As we learn in Fourth Wing, Violet’s signet of being able to control lightning is incredibly powerful. We learn through Violet’s experiences that her lightning is not something easily controllable, and it takes a lot of focus for her to actually aim her power for it to be of any use (and to make sure she doesn’t accidentally hit a squad mate).

The new Vice Commandant in this book, Varrish, pushes her to a whole new limit to gain control of this. So much so, she risks burning out completely. And, it is through this that we are once again reminded of a critical part of this whole series: the dragons.

The influence that the dragons have in this world is so cool to me. Right from the get go in Fourth Wing, we’re constantly reminded that it’s the dragon that chooses the rider. Not only that, but the dragons do not follow the command of the people. They know their strength. They do not forget. And they will not tolerate mistreatment of their riders.

With the way Violet is treated and nearly burnt out to death by Varrish, Tairn is basically ready to burn everything to the ground to stop this from happening. Not only that, but Tairn becomes a massive influence on the dragons and the rebellion. Tairn was already a highly respected dragon amongst all the dragons, but it's in this book that we see how much sway he has with both the dragons as well as the people.

But, I mean, like, when you’re a big, strong, scary dragon, I think most people would probably sway to whatever you’re saying to stay alive… you know?
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Anyway, this book was one I really enjoyed, and I think it followed Fourth Wing really well. I also felt the writing took a step in the right direction for me, feeling a bit more mature (don’t get me wrong though, there’s still a bit of cringe in it).

​So, what did I like? As I mentioned in the review for Fourth Wing, institutional betrayal is something I love in books when it’s done well. This takes it to a whole new level as we learn more about dragons’ sacrifice, how the wards and wardstones work and come to be, and the erasure of history.

It’s also so interesting to read these powerful entities within Basgiath and Navarre just… not acknowledging their fragility, and how the suppression of truth and rewriting history only sets them up for failure.

I also really like the exploration of loyalty vs morality. Violet continuously chooses the truth over anything else, and I think that it really highlights the qualities she brings as a character that was initially going to go down the Scribe Quadrant path. The journals she steals and the truths she learns, she champions these things all while flipping two-fingers to those who would choose blind loyalty to the leadership/machine that is so often found to be corrupt and toxic.

There’s this power in honesty and transparency. As I’ve gotten older, I have grown to value these wholeheartedly and embody those values as I’ve seen and experienced the consequences of lies and ambiguity. When the truth is hidden, or history is rewritten or erased, by the powerful for their own gain or control, it only benefits the powerful, not the people.

The power of the stories we tell is immense, and I love it when books delve into this by showing how removing the truth of stories, or changing those stories, can have lasting and devastating impacts to the world as we know it.

But, what didn’t I like? Hey, a 4.5 is a really good rating, and I did truly enjoy this book. And, while I mentioned before that I feel like the writing had elevated a bit and become a bit more mature, it’s not a writing style I deeply gel with.

It’s hard for me to explain how I feel about it. Ultimately, the tone of voice in the writing is not my favourite. However, this story is truly lifted with all I’ve mentioned before: The story is unique. I love the inclusion of dragons. And, the themes are so, so good, that the writing is something I can quite happily push past to eat up the lore and conflict.

What did you think of this second instalment to The Empyrean series? Did you find this a good follow up to Fourth Wing? Let me know in the comments!