Lynnie 
romantasy, fantasy, romance
Following the events of Fourth Wing, Violet must survive another year at Basgiath war college while Xaden begins his service as a lieutenant guarding Navarre. As secrets are revealed, will their bond and their dragons be enough to see them through the year?
We don't normally make separate posts about sequels. We tend to just add the sequels' reviews to the posts for the original books in the series. This is because there aren't usually too many new things to say about sequels that differ from our comments about the original novels. But we both had a lot to say about this sequel so it warrants its own blog post.
Amy's Review
Wow.
WOW!
This really long novel, the second in The Empyrean series, was one of the most entertaining and engrossing novels I’ve read in a while. I listened to the Iron Flame audiobook and it was 28 hours long! Rebecca Yarros is an experienced romance author but I believe this series is her first foray into fantasy and I’m, frankly, stunned at how much I loved it! I’ll have to check out more of her novels.
This sequel picked up right where Fourth Wing left off. The quick pace of the story was never-ending, continually moving somewhere, and exciting. It kept me glued to the story and I would find myself creating opportunities to listen. Violet was a kick-ass heroine, there was a particularly evil new villain, Violet's relationship with Xaden seemed more balanced, all the old friends were there in addition to new ones, and we learned more about the dragons. Iron Flame was one of those rare and special second novels in a series that was better than the first!
I’m so happy that Yarros didn’t split this novel into two novels, which would have been very easy to do. There was even the perfect spot to do it. Rather, she packed this story full of fun and adventure! There were some rough sections in terms of cruelty and violence. I did have to take a few breaks when I was dreading what was to come. But I always dove back in to find out what would happen next. I have grown to really care what happens to these characters.
Was it a perfect novel? No. There were definitely some holes, ridiculous character decisions that were only made to add drama, and Yarros made some convenient changes to “the rules” of Violet’s world along the way. For example, Andarna was supposed to be such a secret but everyone in Violet’s inner circle in this book knew everything that Violet knew about Andarna without any fanfare or anger from the dragons. Still, it was a great tale overall and I really loved it. I’ll definitely read it whenever it’s released.
The main audiobook narrator was Rebecca Soler who I’ve heard several times before reading other novels. She’s always good. However, for this novel, I wish she’d used more differentiation between Violet’s and Xaden’s voices because dialogues were often hard to follow. Also, she gave the listener no clues to tell us when Violet’s and Xaden’s conversations were via their connection versus out loud. I feel that made me miss some subtleties in the story. While she had a little repertoire of different voices, I really wished for more. I’ll give her a A- because she did a lot of good vocal acting with some crazy source material which was often frenetically paced. She made it exciting and not silly. Teddy Hamilton narrated the very end from Xaden’s point of view and he was excellent. I hope we hear more from Xaden’s point of view in future novels and that Hamilton narrates. I don’t know if Hamilton has a good vocal repertoire or not from this short narration, but I love his voice and his voice acting. It was perfect. A solid A for his small part.
WOW!
This really long novel, the second in The Empyrean series, was one of the most entertaining and engrossing novels I’ve read in a while. I listened to the Iron Flame audiobook and it was 28 hours long! Rebecca Yarros is an experienced romance author but I believe this series is her first foray into fantasy and I’m, frankly, stunned at how much I loved it! I’ll have to check out more of her novels.
This sequel picked up right where Fourth Wing left off. The quick pace of the story was never-ending, continually moving somewhere, and exciting. It kept me glued to the story and I would find myself creating opportunities to listen. Violet was a kick-ass heroine, there was a particularly evil new villain, Violet's relationship with Xaden seemed more balanced, all the old friends were there in addition to new ones, and we learned more about the dragons. Iron Flame was one of those rare and special second novels in a series that was better than the first!
I’m so happy that Yarros didn’t split this novel into two novels, which would have been very easy to do. There was even the perfect spot to do it. Rather, she packed this story full of fun and adventure! There were some rough sections in terms of cruelty and violence. I did have to take a few breaks when I was dreading what was to come. But I always dove back in to find out what would happen next. I have grown to really care what happens to these characters.
Was it a perfect novel? No. There were definitely some holes, ridiculous character decisions that were only made to add drama, and Yarros made some convenient changes to “the rules” of Violet’s world along the way. For example, Andarna was supposed to be such a secret but everyone in Violet’s inner circle in this book knew everything that Violet knew about Andarna without any fanfare or anger from the dragons. Still, it was a great tale overall and I really loved it. I’ll definitely read it whenever it’s released.
The main audiobook narrator was Rebecca Soler who I’ve heard several times before reading other novels. She’s always good. However, for this novel, I wish she’d used more differentiation between Violet’s and Xaden’s voices because dialogues were often hard to follow. Also, she gave the listener no clues to tell us when Violet’s and Xaden’s conversations were via their connection versus out loud. I feel that made me miss some subtleties in the story. While she had a little repertoire of different voices, I really wished for more. I’ll give her a A- because she did a lot of good vocal acting with some crazy source material which was often frenetically paced. She made it exciting and not silly. Teddy Hamilton narrated the very end from Xaden’s point of view and he was excellent. I hope we hear more from Xaden’s point of view in future novels and that Hamilton narrates. I don’t know if Hamilton has a good vocal repertoire or not from this short narration, but I love his voice and his voice acting. It was perfect. A solid A for his small part.
Lynnie's Review
So, I feel a bit like the Empyrean party pooper,
because everyone else loves these books. Similar to my feelings for
Fourth Wing, I DID enjoy Iron Flame overall. There is a lot to enjoy
within its pages - excellent world building, a strong heroine, dragons
(!), family, found family, love, adventure, sacrifice, and betrayal...
And yet.
The relationship between Violet and Xaden is still completely unhealthy. They act every bit of their 20-something years old — immature, selfish, co-dependent, possessive, unable to have a normal conversation, playing games instead of just being honest with one another and yet completely obsessed with each other. Possibly more disturbing, they are willing to sacrifice anyone and anything including their entire society or themselves for each other; I found them infuriating.
I also found Violet somewhat tiresome during her forced separation from Xaden during Part 1. However, I really enjoyed getting to know the marked ones better as she spent more time with them and we got to know other members of the squad. Then, the second half of the book brought about a complete shift in tone and other things to enjoy and new frustrations.
I was fascinated and horrified by Delores Umbridge... oops, sorry... Vice Commandant Varrish. I listened to the audiobook of Iron Flame and the voice acting during some of the pivotal scenes with Varrish and Violet were some of the most outstanding and heartbreaking of the book. I'm sure they were equally gripping while reading but Rebecca Soler's voice acting during those scenes- wow!
And yet.
The relationship between Violet and Xaden is still completely unhealthy. They act every bit of their 20-something years old — immature, selfish, co-dependent, possessive, unable to have a normal conversation, playing games instead of just being honest with one another and yet completely obsessed with each other. Possibly more disturbing, they are willing to sacrifice anyone and anything including their entire society or themselves for each other; I found them infuriating.
I also found Violet somewhat tiresome during her forced separation from Xaden during Part 1. However, I really enjoyed getting to know the marked ones better as she spent more time with them and we got to know other members of the squad. Then, the second half of the book brought about a complete shift in tone and other things to enjoy and new frustrations.
I was fascinated and horrified by Delores Umbridge... oops, sorry... Vice Commandant Varrish. I listened to the audiobook of Iron Flame and the voice acting during some of the pivotal scenes with Varrish and Violet were some of the most outstanding and heartbreaking of the book. I'm sure they were equally gripping while reading but Rebecca Soler's voice acting during those scenes- wow!
I was not surprised by the ending. After all,
Yarros spends much of the novel telling you that it's coming. I guess
the next novel is expected in November and I've heard there will be five
books in the series so there is plenty of time for Yarros to figure out
how to get the squad out of this particularly trouble. Time will tell.
Interestingly, I think I like the secondary characters more than I like Violet and Xaden. Regardless of my frustrations, I do want to know what happens next. I like the cast of characters and want to know how things work out for them.
As with the first book, I also enjoyed the one chapter that Teddy Hamilton narrated as Xaden. As I said after Fourth Wing, I would love to hear more chapters from his perspective, not just because I think Hamilton has a lovely voice, but because I think the change in perspective could really add something new to the story.
Interestingly, I think I like the secondary characters more than I like Violet and Xaden. Regardless of my frustrations, I do want to know what happens next. I like the cast of characters and want to know how things work out for them.
As with the first book, I also enjoyed the one chapter that Teddy Hamilton narrated as Xaden. As I said after Fourth Wing, I would love to hear more chapters from his perspective, not just because I think Hamilton has a lovely voice, but because I think the change in perspective could really add something new to the story.
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