Warning: This review contains major spoilers from Fourth Wing and Iron Flame - if you have not yet read either of those books, save this and come back later! There are also some minor spoilers for Onyx Storm, and while they don't give away the plot, there are some things that make it easy to infer what happens. You have been warned.
I had originally tried to avoid Fourth Wing when it first got popular, afraid it would not live up to the hype. However, I had multiple people recommend it to me, and decided to pick it up a few months before Iron Flame came out. And from that point on, an obsession was born. Violet became one of the first times I saw myself in literature, with her Ehlers-Danlos syndrome affecting her body similar to the way my fibromyalgia and unstable kneecaps affect mine. There was a little bit of everything: action, adventure, dragons, and romance. And I truly fell in love with the world of The Empyrean series.
So I had a countdown to Onyx Storm. I had theories, group chats, and got so many other people to read the books. The hype was real - and Onyx Storm fully lived up to it.
Onyx Storm picks up a few weeks after Iron Flame, dealing with the aftermath of the Battle at Basigath War College. There is still Venin who escaped death, Jack Barlowe is still rotting in the dungeon, and Xaden is off doing what he does best: destruction. Meanwhile, Violet is desperately looking for a cure for Xaden, refusing to believe his decision at the end of Iron Flame will result in him permanently becoming Venin. The story takes off from there with a hunt for a cure, a race-against-the-clock road trip, and a background of a war that seems impossible for our main characters to win.
I think my favorite part of this book is how much the world expands. While Fourth Wing and Iron Flame both exclusively took place on The Continent, with an emphasis on the kingdom of Navarre. In this book, they took a road trip throughout the various other island kingdoms. Each one has its own developed cultures, governments, and most only serve one god within the pantheon we have learned about in the past two books. I loved getting to know the way the world worked outside of Navarre - and if there is one thing I have learned about all the different countries: they all have pretty terrible leaders.
Another thing I loved about the book was its themes of disappointment and failure. Something I have noticed is a trend in fantasy is any time people are told something is impossible they reject it, and as a result through magical shenanigans find a way to make it happen. And throughout this book, multiple characters have this mindset - only for their goals to actually be unattainable. Magical shenanigans happen, dragon shenanigans happen, and they find clues and try to put together the pieces - only for the pieces to spell out what they already knew: their goals are impossible. Time after time we find characters failing, and I really look forward to seeing how this affects everyone's development throughout the next book. Both for good or for bad.
I found this book also was the perfect middle book in a series. Many of the side plots were resolved, and it opened up the world in an entirely new way. But it also created a lot of new questions - especially about the Sorrengail family. Asher Sorrengail, despite having died years before the story, comes alive as a character in a way I didn't expect. He's made questionable decisions, and his untimely death makes it hard to understand his rationale. And it's clear that as close as he and Violet were, she truly did not know his father. I cannot wait to find out more about him, because I have fully believed in my gut he is not actually dead, and there are so many questions I have for him if I am right and he turns out to be in hiding.
Rebecca Yarros has said she knew the ending of this book while she was writing Fourth Wing and has been excited to get to the scene. The last page of the book is her favorite, despite it ripping my heart out. It's a fantastic ending, one that truly hurt my soul as I navigated my pain with Violet. It's yet another cliffhanger for readers to obsess over, and I cannot wait until we start to get information about book four. Hopefully, it will come out next year, but I am willing to wait however long it takes for me to get my answers.
Onyx Storm is available through Entangled Publishing.