Today, three more dragon book reviews and some recommendations.
Iron Flame & Onyx Storm – After a little research (and by research, I mean reading reviews and watching a bunch of BookTok clips), I have come to the conclusion that there are two types of readers of the Empyrean series. The first falls into a category of Love is Blind – no matter what happens, they will love this series until the end of time. They fell in love with the first book, and nothing will ruin it for them. The second is Everyone Else – readers who are able to be more objective and realistic about the quality of the story and the writing.
If you read the first Dragon Books post, you already know that I fall into the second category. So far, each book in this series, for me, has been worse than the last. I gave Fourth Wing four stars, Iron Flame three stars, and Onyx Storm two stars. If this trend continues, I’m going to run out of stars by the time we get to the last book. And yes, despite the decline in the series, I do plan on finishing it.
Unlike a lot of Iron Flame‘s critics, I really enjoyed the addition of Catriona’s storyline in this book. She created a lot of fun tension and really got under Violet’s skin, and I loved that. In fact, I really liked most of Iron Flame until the end. The ending felt incomplete and left a terrible feeling in my gut. It ruined the book for me.
What I was looking for in Onyx Storm was some kind of resolution to what happened in Iron Flame, but that resolution never came. There were too many new places and new characters in this book, on top of trying to remember all of the new characters that were introduced in Iron Flame. There were also no reminders of who these characters were and what they looked like.
I enjoyed the humorous aspects of the page filler side quests, especially Ridoc’s banter and his cat Broccoli that was gifted to him by a god whose name I can’t remember during a risky game of chance.
I felt nothing, though, for the character that died during that same game because I had no idea who he was, what he looked like, or why he was even there, and I can’t even remember his name; it might have started with a T, I think.
The ending of Onyx Storm was once again an unsatisfying cliffhanger. I really needed something to be resolved for me to find this book enjoyable.
I wouldn’t say this series is a no. It’s a definite maybe.
The author does use effective and compelling dialogue at times (but it’s also sloppy sometimes, as mentioned in my previous post), and even though I didn’t care for Onyx Storm overall, there are a lot of humorous moments in the book that I really enjoyed.
Whether you are a fan of this series or not, there’s no denying that Rebecca Yarros is the queen of world-building. From Basgiath to Deverelli to Tyrrendor, every location is crafted beautifully.
The romance between Xaden and Violet (or “Violence,” as Xaden refers to her) is reminiscent of Twilight’s Edward and Bella. The biggest difference is that Twilight felt like a love story, while Fourth Wing feels more like a lust story.
The dragons are fun too. Some of the best moments are the dragons speaking to Violet so read at your own peril.
Eragon – I enjoyed the first act of this book. The worldbuilding was interesting and the characters relatable. Solembum was a fun character, and I loved every scene with him. But… the amount of secrecy that every character was carrying was too much; I started feeling bad for MMC Eragon, as all he wanted was answers, and yet no one would tell him anything. Everyone hiding everything was overdone.
The second and third acts were so slow I just found myself wishing the book was over already. There was a bit of redemption in the final battle but not enough to resolve anything or answer any of my questions.
(possible spoiler ahead)
My prediction is that the twins are so obviously the Varden traitors—though this hasn’t been figured out by Eragon or the Varden at the end of the book. It’s my assumption because it’s so blatant, which makes me wonder if this is intentional by the author. Is this a misdirect or just bad writing?
The same goes for Eragon and Murtagh – they’re clearly brothers, but again, this hasn’t been revealed yet by the author. It felt especially clear at the end with them bearing twin scars. Again, is this too obvious/easy to figure out, or intentional?
Brom’s death, being foreshadowed by Angela, lacked all subtlety and once again returns to the question of whether this was intentional.
The only thing that surprised me even a little was Morzan being Murtagh’s father; I suspected he might have been the son of Galbatorix because he clearly had something to hide.
Am I interested in knowing if my assumptions here are correct? Yes. Do I want to put myself through this kind of reading drudgery again? No.
Maybe I will pick up more books in this series, but it won’t be anytime soon. And to be totally fair here, this trope where the hero’s journey is a literal journey (not a figurative journey) is one of my least favorite tropes, so maybe there is some bias in this review because this book just wasn’t for me.
At this point, you may be wondering if I enjoy reading books and if I ever give any a five-star review. The answer to those questions is yes. I have started 16 books so far this year and completed 13. I had to DNF three of the books. Only two have earned 5 stars, in my opinion, and three others have earned ratings of 4 stars or higher.
I will share my thoughts on all the books I have read later in the year as I continue to knock down my TBR list. For now, I will leave you with this recommendation.
If you enjoy Fantasy books and haven’t read One Dark Window, then what are you waiting for? It’s the most unique and interesting magic system I have seen so far. It’s part of the Shepherd King duology by Rachel Gillig and is definitely worth the read.
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