The Empyrean Books in Order

The Empyrean Series by Rebecca Yarros is a romantasy series set at Basgiath War College, where the children of the gifted — those who can bond with dragons and become riders — train for a brutal, deadly military life. Violet Sorrengail was meant to be a scribe, but her mother forces her into the rider quadrant, where she must survive both the lethal training and the attention of Xaden Riorson — the most powerful rider at Basgiath, whose family was executed for treason against the kingdom Violet's family serves.

Yarros created one of the most commercially successful fantasy series of the 2020s with Fourth Wing (2023), a novel that dominated bestseller lists for months and introduced a massive new audience to romantasy — the hybrid genre of romantic fantasy that prioritizes emotional and romantic development alongside world-building and plot. The dragon-bonding premise, the enemies-to-lovers dynamic, and the military academy setting proved irresistible.

The Empyrean series combines genuine fantasy world-building with intense romantic development and impressive action sequences. Yarros brings her military romance background — she wrote the Flight and Glory series before this — to a fantasy context with effective results.

Begin with Fourth Wing — one of the defining fantasy novels of 2023. Read in order. Essential for romantasy readers and for anyone curious about why this particular subgenre has captured such an enormous readership.