The latest book in the Empyrean Series, Onyx Storm, by Rebecca Yarros has launched to the top of the NYT Bestsellers list, along with the first and second books in the series, Fourth Wing and Iron Flame. Onyx Storm, which was released on Jan. 21, was met with large amounts of fanfare, with many bookstores across the country hosting midnight release parties for the launch. The book has sold over 2.7 million copies since its release.
Yarros can’t believe Onyx Storm‘s success and is still trying to wrap her head around it. “It’s wild. I’m absolutely humbled by it. It’s insane. I don’t think it’s registered,” she told Variety. “I’ll probably burst into tears at home when I’m actually in my real life with my children and my husband. But right now, it’s like two different segments of my life.”
In that same interview, Yarros also teased some things about the fourth book, which will mark the end for one of the series’s characters. “I think it depends on– I mean, yes, always. But it’s also, who do you love? Everybody loves different characters. So it could be someone you don’t love, but someone someone else does. But I think when you’re writing a book that examines war, it’s very important to make sure that people know that losses are real, right?”
These teases are just making fans want to the fourth book even more. So when will the fourth book in the The Empyrean Series be released? Here’s what we know so far.
When Will The Fourth Book Be Released?
Unfortunately for fans, Yarros has said she has not yet started to write the fourth book yet, telling Variety that she plans to write a contemporary romance novel before she continues working on the Empyrean Series. So far, there’s no release date or timeline for the fourth Empyrean Series book, but Yarros has confirmed that this collection will be completed after five books.
“I think people are scared that I’m gonna go lay on a beach for a year or something, when really what I want to do is get to an eight-hour work day, five days a week,” Yarros said. “I just want to get to where I go to work and I stop working when my kids are home, and I go to their hockey games, and I sleep in my bed with my husband, and my entire life isn’t based off of a deadline and trying to write thousands and thousands and thousands of words a day.”
FAN THEORIES ARE Going Around About The Fourth Book.
Spoiler Warning: Spoilers for Onyx Storm follow. Fans are especially waiting for answers after Onyx Storm ended with such a dramatic cliffhanger. Personally, I was shocked (and a little confused) about the ending of this book. The second that I was done, I looked up fan theories about what the ending meant, just to see what fans were saying online (and they were saying a lot). I also wanted to speculate about what the plot of the eventual fourth book would include, and although this might not be accurate, these are my predictions (and hopes) for what the fourth book (or even the rest of the series) will hold.
I think that the fourth book is going to go much deeper into the backstory of Violet’s brother, Brennan, because Onyx Storm ended with some pretty dramatic moments of him using his power, and even pushing burnout, in order to save his sister, Mira, after her throat is slashed by the venin Theophanie. I’m also obsessed with the theory that Tairn’s previous rider, Naolin, the one before Violet, was in love with Brennan, and turned venin in order to save him. Tairn mentions multiple times in Onyx Storm not to talk about his previous rider, so I definitely think that readers will learn more about that in the upcoming book.
I’m also dying to know what Imogen did during the 12 hours that Violet was unconscious at the end of the book. Violet wakes up, and suddenly, she’s married to Xaden, even though when she wakes up, he’s gone. All Violet is left with is the document that shares her legal marriage, a ring, and a note that reads, “Don’t look for me. It’s yours now.” She then turns to Imogen, and asks what she had done, and all Imogen says is “What you asked me to.” And then the book is over!
There are a ton of theories circulating online about what the “it” Xaden refers to in his final note to Violet. Some think that the stone in the ring is actually Xaden’s soul, which he imbued into the stone in order to save himself from going fully venin and losing Violet forever.
There are also theories that Xaden left Violet Tyrendorr, as she would officially be the Duchess of Tyrendorr now that they are legally married. Either way, the fans were left with so much mystery, especially since we don’t know where Xaden ended up, as he and his dragon, Sgyael, made cryptic plans to set something in action at the end of the Onyx Storm that we never quite figured out the meaning to.
I’m hoping to see the end to all these mysteries and more come together in the fourth Empyrean Series book. I don’t know about you, but I will be imagining and thinking about more potential theories until the fourth book is in my hands.
When will the ‘fourth wing’ TV show be released?
Even though there’s still a sense of uncertainty with the fourth book’s release date, there have been increasing developments with the Fourth Wing TV show, which will help to give Empyrean fans something to distract themselves from the wait for the fourth book. The show is currently in the works at Amazon MGM Studios, and Yarros said she has already read several different versions of the pilot episode.
“I was kicking my feet the entire time I read it,” Yarros said. “”Really, just no notes.”
Fans have been busy attempting to “fancast” the TV show, sharing their picks and opinions about who should play the beloved characters from the series. There has been a lot of sharing about who should play Xaden Riorson, a powerful shadow wielder who is the epitome of “tall, dark, and muscular” and the primary love interest for the main character, Violet Sorrengail.
Although the release date for the fourth book is still up in the air, we know that it’s coming eventually, and it’s exciting to know that there is more to look forward to with these characters. Although the wait is hard (trust me, I get it), I’m sure it will be worth it in the end.