Welcome back to Books With Cause. Let’s dive straight into my latest review.
At the risk of saying something that might make me highly unpopular: I don’t like Lord of the Rings. Or The Hobbit. I’ve seen all the films in the cinema, and I tried reading The Fellowship of the Ring when I was in school. I just didn’t get it. I chalked it down as one of those things that this wasn’t a genre for me, and I moved on. Similarly, I’ve never seen or read any of the Game of Thrones series. I don’t think they’ll be for me either. Anything with swords and dragons tends to pass me by.
I might be stubborn, but I’m not so stubborn that my mind is completely closed to changing. With enough time and space, I’m open to giving things a second chance. I am somebody who notoriously hated Coldplay right from my teenage years until I was about twenty-six. Then they released Adventure of a Lifetime and I found myself thinking, “You know what, I quite like this”. And I listened back to some of their other songs and quite liked some of them too. While I’d never consider myself a Coldplay fan, and I’m not about to be spotted on a kiss Cam anytime soon, I’d go far enough to say that I like Coldplay. And with that in mind, I thought it was time to give dragons another chance.
The Fourth Wing is the first in the Empyrean series and is told in first-person by Violet Sorrengail. At twenty years old, she is the youngest child of General Lilith Sorrengail. Violet is about to enrol at the Basgiath War College. Violet’s been preparing for this moment her entire life, but she had been preparing to follow in her late father’s footsteps and serve as a scribe – someone who documents the wars. However, at the eleventh hour, her mother insisted she enlist as a rider. Riders have the task of bonding with dragons and being the first in the line of fire at any battle. Due to her lack of experience and medical condition, Violet looks certain to die if she obeys her mother, but she has no other choice.
Violet’s older brother and sister both went on to be riders. Her brother died in battle while her sister, Mira, still serves. Mira doesn’t agree with their mother but does everything she can to coach Violet and give her the best chances of survival. Mira also advises Violet to stay well clear of Xaden Riorson. Riorson is a wing leader and Violet’s superior. Riorson’s family were also slaughtered under the orders of General Sorrengail, so he has reason to want revenge, and he makes it very clear that he has every intention of killing Violet.
This is a world where dragons are the superior creatures and are worshipped by humans. During the selection period, it is the dragons who choose a human to bond with and be their rider. And that’s where the problems begin. Violet bonds with a dragon named Tairn, who is mated to another dragon, Sgaeyl. And you can guess who Sgaeyl is bonded to. Yep. Xaden Riorson. Mated dragons cannot be separated from each other for longer than three days. And if a dragon loses a rider, it can be catastrophic for both dragons and the respective rider. Like it or not, Violet and Xaden are essentially bonded to each other for the rest of their lives. They’re going to have to learn to coexist.
The Fourth Wing falls into the romantasy genre. This book felt to me like Harry Potter for adults. The book is ambitious as it has to introduce the reader to a world that is different from our own. The language is stronger than that in Harry Potter books; there are also sex scenes, which are arguably gratuitous. But a lot of the folklore feels familiar. The dragons choose their rider just like the wand chooses the wizard.
It’s been a while since I’d read anything like this. There were elements which I found to be quite formulaic. Quite early on, I could work out where things were going. I don’t think this is a problem for the majority of readers, as the box office and bestsellers make millions from telling the same stories over and over again. The relationship between Violet and Xaden might leave you with that sick feeling from eating way too many sweets. For me, this book is comparable to Coldplay. I liked it. And most of the time that’s good enough.
My Goodreads rating: ★★★☆☆ (3 stars)
