What is Fourth Wing about?

Violet Sorrengail is sent to Basgiath War College against her will to become a dragon rider. She is small, her joints let her down, and her mother is the general who expects half of these cadets not to make it through the first year. At Basgiath there are only two outcomes: graduate or die.

Rebecca Yarros turned it into romantasy: a fantasy story with a love story that carries just as much weight as the war around it. That is also why the series grew so quickly on BookTok, and why most readers carry straight on after book one.

What are the Dutch translations called?

Fourth Wing is called In steen gebrand, Iron Flame is Een ijzeren vlam, Onyx Storm is Door duisternis gesmeed and Threshing Day is De Verkoring.

This is where most people get stuck, and it is not their fault. Publisher Z&K prints the English title large on the cover with the Dutch one underneath. Search a webshop for "In steen gebrand" and you will find the book; search for the cover title and you end up with the English edition. We keep both in the same collection, so it does not matter which name you use.

Is Threshing Day book four?

No. Threshing Day is a collection of thirteen stories around Threshing, the ritual the series opens with. For a while the publisher even used the working title "Untitled Empyrean (Not book four)", precisely to head off that misunderstanding.

Book four has not been announced. There is no title and no date. Anyone waiting for a sequel to Onyx Storm is still waiting; Threshing Day is new material in the same world in the meantime, with sixteen colour illustrations by Joe Requeza.

Which editions have sprayed edges?

The three hardcovers of the Wing and Claw Collection have sprayed edges. All three editions of Threshing Day have them too: the UK special edition in silver, and the US Limited Deluxe Edition and the Dutch De Verkoring both with a dragon design. The US edition also has a cover that appears on no other edition.

Read in English or in Dutch?

That depends on what you want from the book. The Dutch editions are hardcovers, they are easier to read if English takes effort, and they are cheaper. The English editions come out earlier, have the special editions with sprayed edges, and the quotes you come across online are taken from them word for word.

A practical point that is often forgotten: the translation lags behind. Threshing Day is the exception: it came out on 29 September 2026 in both languages at once. So if you read the series in Dutch, you did not have to wait this time.

In short

The Empyrean series by Rebecca Yarros has three novels and a story collection. The reading order is Fourth Wing, Iron Flame, Onyx Storm and then Threshing Day. The Dutch titles are In steen gebrand, Een ijzeren vlam, Door duisternis gesmeed and De Verkoring. Threshing Day came out on 29 September 2026 in three editions: Dutch, a British special edition with silver sprayed edges, and an American deluxe edition in a limited print run. It is not book four; book four has not been announced. The graphic novel of book one comes out on 6 April 2027 in three formats. All twelve editions are available at Tea & Tales in Rotterdam and online.