“A dragon without its rider is a tragedy. A rider without their dragon is dead.”
Rebecca Yarros’ Fourth Wing has undoubtedly made a splash as one of the best fantasy books from 2023. The opening instalment in her The Empyrean series, Fourth Wing whisks readers off to the brutal and ambition-filled world of dragon-riding through the eyes of Violet Sorrengail. Entering Basgiath War College as a newcomer, she soon learns that the fire-breathing of the dragons she is hoping to tame is just one obstacle to attempt to overcome. Scheming, plotting and intrigue play central themes across this pulsating read, with Yarros’ enthralling storytelling also weaving elements of romance and politics into the mix. To celebrate Fourth Wing, join us at What We Reading for the best books like Fourth Wing!
Who Wrote Fourth Wing?
Before introducing the best fantasy romance books like Fourth Wing, who is the author behind it? Rebecca Yarros is a bestselling novelist with over twenty books already behind her. She has won the Colorado Romance Writer’s Award of Excellence and is a Kirkus Book of the Year recipient.
Fireborne (The Aurelian Cycle #1) – Rosaria Munda
Kicking off our list of the best books like Fourth Wing is Rosaria Munda’s Fireborne, the opening book in her The Aurelian Cycle series. Perfect for those readers out there who love dragons and Dragonriders, high-stakes competitions and plenty of political intrigue and warring, Fireborne follows Annie and Lee.
Both are rising stars in the new generation of dragon riders, but both come from very different backgrounds. And when the old guard returns aiming to reclaim the city as their own, both Annie and Lee are forced to decide whether to remain loyal to the beliefs they’ve always known, or stick with the friend they have known all their life.
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One Dark Window (The Shepherd King #1) – Rachel Gillig
Rachel Gillig starts her The Shepherd King series with One Dark Window, a gothic horror/fantasy mashup. Elspeth Spindle resides in the mist-covered kingdom of Blunder with an ancient spirit locked in her head that she has dubbed ‘the Nightmare’. Her life takes a sudden and dramatic twist when she encounters a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, a man who is later revealed to be the king’s nephew.
The pair soon find themselves thrust into a dangerous mission to collect twelve Providence Cards and cure the kingdom from the dark magic infecting it. As the stakes, and the danger, are raised, their chemistry intensifies. But, with the Nightmare threatening to take over her mind and consume her completely, time couldn’t be less on their side.
The Last Namsara (Iskari #1) – Kristen Ciccarelli
In one of the best YA fantasy books like Fourth Wing, Kristen Ciccarelli introduces the world of the Namsara, the child of sky and spirit, and Iskari, the child of blood and moonlight, in The Last Namsara. Asha is the daughter of the king of Firgaard and has grown up attracted to forbidden legends and lost myths. Her prowess as her kingdom’s greatest dragonslayer, however, has led to a lonely existence, one where she feels more like a weapon than a person.
She is given a daunting challenge to potentially rewrite her fate and forge an identity of her own. Killing the most powerful dragon in Firgaard will not only require all of her skills but also the ability to open her heart to light, love and the truth about herself that has been kept hidden all her life.
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An Ember In The Ashes (An Ember In The Ashes #1) – Sabaa Tahir
Nominated for both Best Debut Author and Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction in the Goodreads Choice Awards, Sabaa Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes is a YA High Fantasy tale. Under the rule of the Martial Empire, defiance means death. And for a slave named Laia and a soldier named Elias, freedom is completely out of reach.
When her brother is arrested by the Empire, Laia agrees to spy for a band of revolutionaries from inside its elite military academy. There, she meets its greatest prospect, but also its most secret unwillingness in Elias. The pair soon find their fates intertwined, with their decisions and actions irreversibly morphing the face of the Martial Empire forever.
The Cruel Prince (The Folk Of The Air #1) – Holly Black
At the age of seven, Jude’s parents were murdered and she, along with her two sisters, were taken away to live in the intrigue-filled High Court of Faerie. She wants nothing more than to fit in alongside the beautiful fey inside, but in Holly Black’s The Cruel Prince, her mortality means that she is despised by those around her.
But as Jude attempts to navigate the tricky alliances and dangers that come with life at court, she soon begins to discover her capacity for trickery and bloodshed, even against the son of the High King, Prince Cardan. And when one betrayal threatens to drown the court in chaos, Jude will have to lean upon all she is capable of to save her sisters as well as the rest of Faerie.
A Promise Of Fire (Kingmaker Chronicles #1) – Amanda Bouchet
Cat Fiser is perfectly content disguised as a soothsayer in a travelling circus, avoiding the destiny the gods and her family have put before her. However, her illusion of safety is permanently shattered when she locks eyes with an ambitious warlord from the magic-deprived South. Cat is the kingmaker – able to divine truth through lies – and Griffin wants to use her as his powerful weapon. But, in one of the best fantasy romance books like Fourth Wing that incorporates classic Greek mythology into proceedings, will Griffin be able to convince Cat of not only his intentions to have Cat rule by his side as an equal but also of his growing feelings for her?
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His Majesty’s Dragon (Temeraire #1) – Naomi Novik
Noami Novik offers readers a pulsating reimagining of the Napoleonic Wars with dragons and aerial duelling in her historical fantasy Temeraire series. One of the best books like Fourth Wing for capturing the adrenaline-pumping, breathlessness and danger involved with these magical beasts, readers follow Captain Will Laurence and his kinship with the grand dragon, Temeraire.
Thrust into the Aerial Corps, Will embarks on a crash course that will teach him how to ride and fight as dragonborne. And these skills will soon be put to the test, with Napoleon Bonaparte and his squadron of dragonborne already planning their most ambitious move yet.
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Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
