Iron flame & Onyx Storm

Quotes

*There may be spoilers in this review. I will try to avoid major spoilers but some need to be brought up to be discussed.

Summary

Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky.

Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves.

Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits—and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.

But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year.

Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.

Details

• Author: Rebecca Yarros
• Series: The Empyrean 2
• Published: November 7th, 2023
• Page Count: 640 (Hardcover)

Personal Stats

• Start Date: February 16th, 2024
• End Date: February 18th, 2024
• Format: Audiobook
• Rating: 5/10

Summary

After nearly eighteen months at Basgiath War College, Violet Sorrengail knows there’s no more time for lessons. No more time for uncertainty. Because the battle has truly begun, and with enemies closing in from outside their walls and within their ranks, it’s impossible to know who to trust.

Now Violet must journey beyond the failing Aretian wards to seek allies from unfamiliar lands to stand with Navarre. The trip will test every bit of her wit, luck, and strength, but she will do anything to save what she loves—her dragons, her family, her home, and him.

Even if it means keeping a secret so big, it could destroy everything. They need an army. They need power. They need magic. And they need the one thing only Violet can find—the truth. But a storm is coming…and not everyone can survive its wrath

Details

• Author: Rebecca Yarros
• Series: The Empyrean 3
• Published: January 21st, 2025
• Page Count: 527 (Hardcover)

Personal Stats

• Start Date: January 29th, 2025
• End Date: February 1st, 2025
• Format: Audiobook
• Rating: 4/10

Characters

• Violet Sorrengail – our lead, wanted to be a scholar but is forced into the Rider track
• Xaden Riorson – Wing leader, son of one of the rebels, grudge against the Sorrengails love interest
• Rhiannon Matthias – Violet’s friend
• Dain Aetos – childhood friend of Violet
• Mira Sorrengail – Violet’s older sister
• Ridoc Gmalyn – Violet’s friend
• Jack Barlowe – Wants to murder Violet and now has the oomph to back it up
• Brennan Sorrengail – Violet’s older brother
• General Lilith Sorrengail – Violet’s mother
• Tairn – a black dragon paired to Violet
• Sgaeyl – a blue dragon paired to Xaden
• Andarna – a rare yellow feather tail/ Irid dragon paired to Violet
• Prince Camlaen Aaric Tauri/Aaric Graycastle – King Tauri’s third son and a first-year rider at Basgiath War College
• Prince Halden Tauri – The first son of King Tauri and Violet’s ex.

Setting

Basgiath War College Navarre

Tyrrendor a province of Navarre

Isles of Soneram, Deverelli, Hedotis, Unnbriel, and Zellyhna

Venin-infested Anca

Samara, a military outpost located in eastern Navarre

Overview

Disappointing? Redundant? Shallow?

I don’t know, I wanted to like these. I was excited about these. I just found myself not caring about what happened. Like at all. It all felt the same as the book before it and I was bored, bored, bored.

And frustrated? I mean how do you make dragons boring? By not developing the dragons really, I guess, but they didn’t even feel like “dragons” by Onyx Storm. But the really frustrating thing is this is a good premise. Violet could be a great main character. Xaden… well I don’t know about Xaden because at this point he doesn’t feel at all like a character to me. He’s a cardboard cut-out of so many other romantasy characters that he’s lost any real definition in Onyx Storm.

Okay. Breathing. Let’s get into it.

Pros

We’re going to start with the positive. Because honestly there are some very good things going on here.

I really do like Violet. She has a touch of the main character syndrome but I appreciate her narration and her actions make sense for her character. When she’s consistent. She has hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS) and there is effort to make that a factor but sometimes I feel like it’s there for convenience and differentiation from other protags. Her development is a little shaky but I do still like her overall so that counts for something.

I really appreciate the squads relationship. When Ridoc finds out about the shenanigans going on he calls Violet out in a really rather refreshing way and he sets up ACCOUNTABILITY. Like within the team. To make sure. That everyone. Is safe.

I was very moved by this streak of rationale.

There are dragons here and I am going to cling to this as a positive even if I don’t particularly love what is being done with said dragons.

Cons

I’m not going to rant and rave too much because to be honest I don’t think I have the energy. There were more little things that added up quickly and some rather large disappointments that I’m not sure more volumes can fix.

Xaden is everything wrong with this genre. Not the book series, not Violet but all of these things with Xaden involved. On paper he should be fine, he checks all the boxes, he is perfect book boyfriend material. I can’t stand him.

There was one moment in Iron Flame where he declared his feelings but that is just about the one and only time I have felt real personality from him. He feels like a cardboard cutout of all the other male leads in the genre and it is getting frustrating. He has the tan, the shadow powers, the undying devotion and love to a person he couldn’t stand a volume ago, and let’s not forget the underlying corruption that makes him too dangerous. He also seems to have not a single thing that makes him his own person. It’s not attractive, it’s not dreamy, it’s boring. Xaden is boring and that should be a crime.

I think I am getting sick of the relationships that have half of it just existing for the other. There is no point in being in love with a shell and there isn’t anything interesting about witnessing a relationship like that either. There’s is little to no development for them as characters or in their relationship and it is just getting more obvious with each volume in the series.

So as much as I am clinging to them existing the dragons are still a big part of my problem. They are such an important part of the story but then it feels like they do very little apart from travel assistance and battle mode. There was a bit of effort in Onyx Storm with Andarna but that felt a little off too. Tairn is a bit better but he is mostly there to be big and sassy. When I’m reading about them I don’t feel like I’m reading about a dragon.

In a nutshell there feels like there is little to no real development going on for the characters or the story. It has made these two volumes feel really redundant and forgettable; pretty impressive for a collective 1,167 pages. I don’t know how much of this is coming from the publications being so close together.

A lot of these romantasy series are getting churned out in little to no time and I think it truly is affecting the quality of the writing. I know excitement and hype is a part of marketing but this is affecting the product here.

Final Thoughts

I think I am the most frustrated by the potential that is being squandered here. I know there is a thriving fan base but it is hard to be a part of it when I’m feeling so frustrated as a reader. I want this genre to do well and I don’t want it to turn into a publishing machine thing but I really feel like it might be too late.

I am going to keep up with the series still, I am pretty invested if a bit disappointed. I want to see what we’re building to and how it works out despite the frustration.

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