Fourth Wing Empyrean Series Returns in Two Weeks With a Catch

Rebecca Yarros is one of the biggest names in publishing. As the author of The Empyrean Series, Rebecca Yarros is part of a pop culture phenomenon that matches Harry Potter and the Twilight Saga in sales and reach. The book series began with 2023’s Fourth Wing. It follows Violet Sorrengail, a young woman whose scholarly dreams are dashed when her mother enrolls her in a dangerous academy for dragon riders. There, she meets her rival and love interest, Xaden Riorson.

Three novels have been published in the planned pentology. Book four remains untitled with no release date in sight, but fans can return to the world of Navarre and Basgiath War College in two weeks. Rebecca Yarros wrote Threshing Day, which is set in the same universe and features favorite characters, but it is not the next entry in The Empyrean Series.

What is Threshing Day about?

Threshing Day is a companion book collecting 13 short stories about riders and their dragons. It features side stories highlighting key characters. A Google Books listing names Xaden Riorson and Brennan Sorrengail among those featured, while promising many more.

The book’s name refers to the dangerous ceremony when riders bond with wild dragons. Many potential riders wind up incinerated or devoured. Those who successfully forge a bond go on to become official riders.

Rebecca Yarros initially intended for Threshing Day to be a surprise release, but industry rules prevented that.

“The publishing industry told me we couldn’t do that because someone would inevitably leak it,” Rebecca Yarros wrote in a since-deleted Facebook post.

The book’s details have been mostly kept under wraps. Rebecca Yarros continued by writing that if anyone works for a retailer and encounters Threshing Day before release day, they should not be the person who proves the industry right by leaking it for clicks and engagement.

Given the title and structure, each short story likely chronicles the day familiar characters first bonded with their dragons. Xaden Riorson and Brennan Sorrengail are already dragon riders by the time Fourth Wing begins. That makes Threshing Day a prequel that fleshes out their backstories.

The future of The Empyrean Series

The Empyrean Series began in 2023 with the release of Fourth Wing, tracing Violet Sorrengail’s journey at Basgiath War College. The sequel, Iron Flame, arrived a few months later. Book three, Onyx Storm, came out last year. Two more books are expected to complete the five-book arc, but no further details have been released.

Earlier this year, Rebecca Yarros shared that she was writing the franchise’s fourth book.

“In the next few (hopefully couple) weeks, I’ll be back in the Empyrean world for the foreseeable future!” Rebecca Yarros wrote in an Instagram post in January. “Book 4’s playlist is simmering, and I’m almost ready for the index cards and plot board. Don’t worry, everyone in Navarre is still alive. For now.”

Prime Video is adapting the franchise into a TV series. Michael B. Jordan serves as a producer, with Meredith Averill from Wednesday on board as showrunner, and Lisa Joy from Westworld as a producer and director of the pilot episode.

“Rebecca’s books have become one of the fastest-selling franchises of the 21st century, with a fandom so passionate, so devoted, they don’t just read these books, they live in them, and it’s because Fourth Wing is everything at once,” Meredith Averill told Deadline. “The emotional stakes are sky high, the battles are epic, power dynamics are thrilling, and underneath it is so much humor and heart and a romance that will consume you.”

Threshing Day will be released on Sept. 29, 2026.

Source: Polygon