Fiction review - Fourth Wing

Fourth Wing

by Rebecca Yarros

Entangled: Red Tower Books, 2024, 544 pp. (paperback) 

I don't do novels in this blog very often, and when I do they are about space or cryptozoology. But Fourth Wing has so much buzz around it that I, a fan of classic Tolkien-type fantasy fiction, decided to see what the fuss was about before the streaming adaptation hits. 

In real-life countries at war, people who fail in flight training serve in other areas. In Navarre, dragon riders who don’t make a merciless cut die uselessly – if they are not shanked by competing cadets, which is legal in this best-selling romantasy.  Rebecca Yarros uses this and surprise romantic eruptions to amp up the tension, but the illogic nagged me all through Fourth Wing. It’s an unfortunate flaw in a tale with exciting action and some interesting ideas about how dragons and humans work together. Neither species’ magic is adequate to defend their homes from the encroaching gryphon-riders: effective magic requires synergy. That’s a good foundational idea for a story that mixes modernity and classic fantasy, though the execution is uneven. On the one hand, we have a compelling main character in the frail, unwilling dragon cadet Violet. A great group of friends, a nasty clique of enemies, and a varied group of dragons are developed alongside her. On the other, the medieval dragon college has a weight room, sex is vividly over-described in modern wording, and it’s unclear  why Violet’s mom, a hardass general, has forced her into a program almost sure to kill her.

It’s not a spoiler that Violet beats the odds, and it’s tense fun to watch her use brains, luck, and allies to just barely survive while more prepared cadets bite the dust. Her bonds with the dragons are equally complex, and she’s not the only person surprised at how they develop. I figured out early on that the high command has some shady hidden motives, but the reveal was more dramatic than I expected. Be prepared for anyone to be a liar – about missions, the history of the conflict, and who is allied with who. Violet has to make choices on the fly (often literally) as her worldview is wrenched apart. Yarros has some good points about control of history.

I see the appeal of the story but didn’t like it as much as I wanted to. The main romance seems based wholly on unwise sexual attraction turned up to 11, and not much of the military detail or organization makes sense (for example, everyone is combat, medical, or Scribe – where are the support forces like supply)? A military school that should foster healthy rivalry but MUST breed mutual trust and instead suborns outright murder makes no sense. The common penalty for failures and violations is death - again, insane in a country fighting for its life.  There’s enough good stuff that a lot of readers will continue the series, but I’m afraid not me.