The 2020s has been, so far, the decade of romantasy. The subgenre mish-mash of lush fantasy, steamy romance, and high stakes drama has completely dominated the decade in publishing. Its success, a fan-motivated phenomenon with its foundations in the bookish communities of TikTok, has been driven in large part by the mega-success of two beloved romantasy series: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas and the Empyrean saga by Rebecca Yarros.
The eye-watering success of Yarros's books is the stuff of publishers' dreams. The series, currently four books long (three novels and a collection of novellas), is one of the biggest-selling of the decade so far. According to The New York Times, by the beginning of 2025, Empyrean had sold a whopping 12 million copies in its first two years. The third novel, Onyx Storm, was the fastest-selling adult novel published in the last 20 years, shifting 2.7 million copies in its first week on sale. At a time when there has been much hubbub over the state of modern publishing and whether or not people are even reading books anymore, Yarros is cementing her status as a paradigm-shifting author.
The Empyrean series currently features Fourth Wing (published April 2023), Iron Flame (November 2023), and Onyx Storm (January 2025), plus the recent publication of the short story collection Threshing Day. The heroine of this tale is Violet Sorrengail, the daughter of General Lilith Sorrengail and the youngest daughter of her family. In the kingdom of Navarre, students of the Basgiath War College must choose a quadrant to align themselves with.
Violet is expected to train as a scribe, due to her intellect and weak physical condition, but instead she chooses the Rider's Quadrant, where students train to become dragon riders. Well, those who survive it will. To get through the turmoil, she must hide her health issues, but also watch her back. As the daughter of a general, there's a target on her and many want her dead.
The shift to romantasy was an unexpected one for Yarros, who was best known for writing new adult contemporary romances, often with a focus on military families (this was inspired by her own life as a self-styled army brat and the wife of a soldier who was deployed to Afghanistan.) Books like Full Measures and The Things We Leave Unfinished earned her a fanbase but left her in the midlist of the book world: publishing steadily but not breaking out into the bestseller lists. Her lack of sales growth proved frustrating and she even considered quitting writing. Then Fourth Wing changed everything.
Featured image of Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros taken by Elin Melaas on Unsplash.
The timing was great, as romantasy was picking up steam on BookTok, but it was also the right book for the moment. Fourth Wing quickly became beloved among TikTokers, and word-of-mouth was intensely enthusiastic. The idea for the series came from Yarros's publisher, Entangled, making the move into romantic fantasy. She pitched several proposals and the Empyrean world was the one that piqued their interest. Inspired by her husband's military experience, her fascination with dragons, and her own struggles with chronic illness, Fourth Wing was born.
Stories of hot bad boys, fantasy schools, and dragons are everywhere in the romance world right now. Where once we had vampires and hockey players, there is now romantasy (although we would heartily welcome a combination of all three aforementioned tropes.) The genre as a whole has become the it thing of the moment because it offers a feminine-driven perspective in a genre that many of us, for generations, were told was the denizen of boys.
Check out enough old-school swords and magic books and you’ll quickly be overwhelmed by tales of frail maidens who are prizes to be won (or violently claimed.) Romantasy is a welcome flipside, one where women are the heroes and their desires are affirmed. But why does Fourth Wing stand out in such a crowded field?
Yarros came to the genre as a tried-and-tested romance writer. She knew how to build a strong, appealing relationship full of friction and chemistry thanks to her contemporary books. Her love stories are not mere window dressing to the fantasy backdrop. The balance between both parts of the romantasy portmanteau represented, and her love interest is pure genre catnip. Xaden Riorson, a third year student whose father was executed by General Sorrengail, is highly skilled, a bad boy but with a strong moral core, and chemistry to burn with Violet. It's an enemies-to-lovers tale with a lot of heat.
But this is Violet’s tale, and readers are very attached to their heroine. Inspired by Yarros’s own struggles with Ehlers-Danos syndrome, Violet is forever trying to prove herself while protecting her frail form. She deals with serious spasms of pain, all of which must be kept secret from her enemies, and it hinders her experiences a Basgiath. She’s a badass, yes, but not an invincible one. Violet must always fight to stay on her feet and ahead of the competition, all of which Yarros depicts with the firm perspective of personal experience.
Featured image of viral romantasy books taken by Elin Melaas on Unsplash.
While Empyrean’s world is familiar in many ways, Yarros is canny in her execution of beloved fantasy tropes. This is a world centred on a magical school with different factions and interpersonal dramas, which readers love (dark academia is very in right now!), as anyone who’s sorted themselves into a Hogwarts house or Divergent faction can attest to. But the world of Basgiath has one big deterrent: people die. A lot. The stakes are enormously high in Yarros’s books and you never know who could be killed off next. She is certainly not timid about disposing of fan favorites!
Yarros has said that she planned the series to be five books long. There is currently no release date for book four, but fans will be waiting with much anticipation for its announcement. As romantasy expands its reach in publishing and beyond, Fourth Wing remains at the head of the pack. And it's only going to get bigger. A TV adaptation is on the way, produced by Oscar winner Michael B. Jordan.
Featured Image: Unsplash / Elin Melaas
