Iron Flame
Rebecca Yarros
Little Brown
Review: Lauren O’Connor-May
This series feels like Hunger Games meets Dragons of Pern.
Iron Flame, which follows on from Fourth Wing – romance author Rebecca Yarros’ first foray into her “favourite genre” – picks up the story of Violet Sorrengail, the physically fragile but spiritually fiery dragon-rider, after the cliffhanger of the first book – and sticking with the romantasy series staple – this book ends on a cliffhanger too.
If you’ve read Fourth Wing – which has a 12-week waiting list in the Libby app by the way – then you can expect more of the same in this very spicy follow-up.
Violet and her love interests again spend a significant amount of story dancing around their mutual attractions before finally succumbing and, as always, several people have put a lethal target on Violet’s back, which she evades with a mix of cunning, skill, luck, and protection.
Iron Flame, however, moves the story away from the war college Basgaith for longer periods of the narrative, which is refreshing, and introduces more characters and storylines.
I liked how Violet was able to use her academic background to greater effect in this book and that more of the dragons’ characters and lore were explored.
In Fourth Wing it felt like the fantasy took a bit of a back seat to the romance but in Iron Flame it was brought more to the fore.
If you like sexy, magical stories with lots of spice, death, gore, and twists and can handle your favourite characters potentially losing their lives tragically, then you will like this series.
If you prefer your fantasy to be more epic, with more lore and less spice, then approach this book with care.
