Onyx Storm: 3 (Empyrean, 3) Hardcover – 21 January 2025

The Empyrean series is nothing sort of a journey to revel in. One would think the hype, drama perhaps is a bit much, only show? Let me burst this bubble, Yarros once more delivers an epic tale of love packed with characters that jump out alive, plot that will twist your gut and emotions that swirl in and out like a storm.Violet and Xaden's struggle in saving the continent, once again takes a different turn. Not only does Violet have to find the irids, but also she is determined to find a cure for Xaden. And boy is she relentless, ruthless and a riot. Will she find it? Xaden's control, battle within himself and his intense love for her is nothing short of heart crushing.The landscapes, scenery, backdrop for each isle they travel to, makes one marvel at Yarros's imagination. Each one more captivating than the last. The intense drama, nail biting action sequences and the friendship the characters invest in all make it an absolute dream come true. All I can say, is that one cannot get enough of this series. You enter this world to only get hungover for a really long time.

It's beautiful plus the fanart inside is just 🤌

The quality was a bit off. But boy was the plot good!!! Rebecca yarros did a really good job but the first book's writing is still unmatched.P.S. Rebecca doesn't have to give us heart wrenching cliff hangers at the end of every book to make us stay because we'd be there anyways but the lowering of emotional hurt will be appreciated.

It is very beautiful, definitely worth it. But one can buy more books in this price , so the price is a little more. But sokher dam to lakh taka , tai it is worth it

Keeps you hooked till the end!!Can’t wait for the next book!!!!!!!!

It’s too good

As much as I wish I could write a 100% spoiler free review, I deeply apologise as it’s impossible to do so with this book (and series) given the nature of all the elements that require some level of description to be understood in a review. You have been cautioned, so please do not walk into this review if you’ve not read (at least) Iron Flame. There are also some references to things in Onyx Storm. They may not be BIG spoilers, but they can be depending on your definition of spoilers. Also, this review will be long, I apologise for that as well. I think it’s not an understatement to say that this whole series has taken the world by storm. Well, technically, Fourth Wing took the world by storm. Iron Flame made everyone upset and Onyx Storm was largely anticipated with both, dread and great hope. I was among the many that both anticipated for the release of the book and at the same time was not happy with the cash grab methods that surround this whole series that was becoming clearer and clearer with each book that was being released. I feel it deserves a mention, if not for anything else, but for the way it makes the readers feel. I shall start with the writing, as always. The reason Fourth Wing worked was because of how much more straightforward the writing was, how much more space was awarded between each event and all the strategy and surprises that was revealed throughout the book. But both Iron Flame and Onyx Storm—in my opinion—have suffered greatly on this front. There are simply too many things happening (often at the same time) that are all chosen to be mentioned at the same time. While, I understand this is important, I also just want to say doing it all at once is what throws the reader, making it feel like it’s too much information in one sentence. For example, the following paragraph (quoted from Onyx Storm, Chapter 5): “The gathering hall is less than a quarter full and the perfect place to wait for news, so that's what the three of us do while Sawyer naps and the first-years tour with the fliers: sit—with our backs to the wall in case some Navarrian rider decides they want to make a point—and wait for Brennan and Mira to bring news.”This paragraph is essentially a good example of what can be expected in books two and three of this series; where one primary sentence has three sentences worth of information included in it before it’s completed. Thus, you often lose context of what the primary sentence was going to say and get confused and then forget what the intermediary sentences are trying to say. Additionally, there’s the issue of dialogues not being assigned properly to the speaker—wherein you aren’t sure who’s saying a particular dialogue—that has influenced and leaked through into the graphic audio versions of this series as well. Both the Fourth Wing and Iron Flame graphic audiobooks have the wrong character delivering a dialogue another character is supposed to be saying because it wasn’t clarified in the book and thus no one’s sure. The only reason I can tell (for the most part) who is likely saying something is because I’ve read (and listened to) both the books several times, slowly and with deliberate intention to separate the many overlapping strands of dialogue, context and narrative in search of clarity. Some additional insight into the author’s choice versus the editor’s choice is visibly seen in the books. I saw the author speak about how she wished to turn Violet venin but that wasn’t approved and they came to an agreement that, instead, Xaden would turn. So here’s the deal with that, you can tell in Iron Flame, with how that situation was written, it would’ve been the perfect set-up for Violet turning. Even when Xaden gives his perspective on how and why he turned, the moment isn’t as compelling. Why? Because that’s not how the book played out in the author’s mind and thus the writing doesn’t support that storyline? Maybe. However, I think we all just rolled with it. Of course, it adds tension, angst, pain and (hopefully) purpose (which is the only thing I was hoping for) to the storyline with regard to how this opens up pathways for there being more revelations on the inner workings of the Venin. I understand 100% that this is the third book of the series and thus cannot reveal everything and I also know third books in a five book series is where everything gets really bad. So, I will agree that could be cause for us not knowing as much as I hoped for us to know by now, but I guess… let’s see? The world building in this book—in both this and Iron Flame to be honest—only works if you’re extremely well versed in the book that comes before it. If you’ve read Fourth Wing enough to know it by-heart, Iron Flame is easier to understand on perhaps the second or third re-read. If you’ve read both FW and IF multiple times, you’ll not be immediately lost while reading OS. I would say that this isn’t an ideal way to progress only because not everyone re-reads books or retains information on so many characters/situations especially when new ones are constantly being introduced. Perhaps a glossary, or a swift recap would go a wonderfully long way to help readers. (Also, I’m pretty sure a break-down of Venin levels was supposed to be there in the beginning of this book… but… wasn’t?). Additionally, the main character chooses not to remember the names of a large batch of first years in the second book (until maybe the last 10%) which means even for me, the new names of the first years or characters felt completely new. Additionally… the rules of the world and the places of the world expand like a blast that throws you seven mountains away from where you were in your understanding. There are several new isles, rite of passage ceremonies/events that are both believable and not and connected to all these is the focus on Gods and temples. Here’s my take on this, while yes, we were aware of the basic existence of some of the Gods’ names because they’re mentioned in moments of shock or quick prayer, they’re never spoken about (at least in my understanding) in a way that you would find in, say… a book about Greek Mythology. Where the Gods have great influence over what’s happening or that they have a certain power that works on the world/plot and it’s unraveling. I did not expect this and was taken aback when it came up on page. There’s nothing wrong with this aspect of a world, it just came out of absolutely nowhere when all that’s ever been focused upon before this is magic in the land, the misuse of it, the balance/price it exacts and the consequences of that. Where … where did Gods and temples come from suddenly that’s a big part of what needs to be understood to follow the story? That’s my question. Politics has always been a big part of this series, so of course I wasn’t surprised when large figure heads, power struggles, treaties and a deciding council make an appearance in this book. What did become a lot was when just as these figure heads are introduced and established in the first few chapters, the world expands in an explosion that causes an influx of many other figure heads and leaders that throws in about seven hundred other politically charged situations. Sure, to stay in the moment is easy enough. “Okay, this is where they are, this is what is happening.” However, when there’s a callback, or interconnected call-outs, where someone’s talking about another isle leader and their influence or decision, as a reader it’s easy to lose the thread of who and what. Maybe two or three re-reads might help… but do I want to do a re-read, let alone three? I’m not sure yet. The plot…. I mean, it’s hard to particularly explain the plot of this book because….Well, look, here’s the thing. In my head, the difference between IF and OS is that the former had a sense of rushed development that the latter doesn’t. OS comes off as more streamlined and also the protagonists have a better relationship communication-wise. However, there’s always something happening, which I understand has become something perhaps the publisher thinks is what made this series famous? I’m not sure. While I will agree that yes, the charged moments and power packed instances in FW were what made it so addictive, it’s the silences in between with lots of thought, growth and tension that helped majorly. I would not say IF and OS have these gaps and sure, this means there’s lots of edge of the seat moments but the drawback is that it saturates us to a point where even the charged moments begin to feel… less than. Circling back to the plot, there’s obviously a big purpose this book is tackling but how much of it was actually tackled….? I’m not sure. Again, even if something is revealed, it’s not. There are lots of gaps created in timeline, dialogues and writing to add to the tension and suspense and create a shocking reveal. The above mentioned saturation comes into play here which is unfortunate, honestly because some of them are quite good. However, I will admit I was engaged and riding the edge of anxiety for most of the book. It began to fade a little towards the end because—to me—the story took a turn straight into Where’s-This-Going-Ville. There’s also a plot thread about family that personally for me confuses the narrative and doesn’t make sense from how it was represented before and what the significance is now. It’s confusing and makes me wonder about what messaging is being discussed there. Perhaps more clarity on it in book four and five will help, but as of now, I’m not sure what is trying to be said or where it’s going. There was enough foreshadowing about most of the plot threads in this book, so honestly even the ending felt like nothing to me? Correction, it made me feel nothing. On the other side of this coin, was that some of the aspects of this book did not have enough of a foundation established earlier on, for them to amount to a reveal (be it devastating, surprising or otherwise). Thus, none of the revelations in this book had the air of a reveal—in fact one of the more important moments I nearly skipped right by, with how little it had been built upon. They were expected at times, surprising at times, but began to slowly fade into scattered confusion for me eventually. This made me feel like the series is drawing less interest from me overtime, which is unfortunate. The one thing that I thought was an interesting aspect to explore and bring back in the next book was cancelled out before the book ended, which made me wonder again… why…? Perhaps there’s a reason, I don’t know. I think there are great dangers in making the antagonist(s) of a story this strong. While, of course, it has a lot of merit—be it giving a lot of complexity to the unraveling of a story or the emotional tension within the protagonists and their situations—it has a gigantic drawback. The pay-off. If something is built up to this extent, it means the pay-off (aka the resolution of it) must far outweigh the aforementioned build up. Of course we’re all hoping it does, even though as readers we’re yet to see the glimpse of this miracle solution. Then again, two more books to go, so let’s see. All this being said, the book can also be a lot of fun. But, perhaps not for emotional investment. If you want to be engaged, laugh for a bit and lose yourself a little mindlessly at times, then go for it. The pace is fairly even and it’s easy to get lost into the book. There’s a lot of funnies, excitement, tension, action, romance, drama, magic and of course dragons. But if you’re here for the plot, the writing, the dialogue and the world… I would not recommend this series as of today. However, I want to see what happens in book four and five to confirm what I would recommend this series for.Happy reading. This series has lots of themes in it that can be difficult for some, so please check trigger warnings before reading.

A little damaged. I’ve requested for exchange.