Rebecca Yarros

The first book in the Empyrean series, Fourth Wing, was published in April 2023 by Red Tower Books. In May, it landed fourth on the Libro.fm bestseller list.^[2] By late June, it was a number one bestseller on Amazon.^[3] As of August 2024, the book had spent 65 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list, including in the top position.^[4] It also landed on the Libro.fm bestseller list in the second spot in August^[5] and third spot in September.^[6] Additionally, it was a top-ten book club pick for September.^[7] In October and November 2023, Fourth Wing was on USA Today's list of the top ten bestselling books.^[8][9] In March 2024 the title was shortlisted for the Young Adult Jury Award of the German Youth Literature Awards which was awarded at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October.^[10]

The sequel, Iron Flame, was released in November 2023.^[11] In July 2023, Waterstones indicated that it became the "fastest selling pre-order title in a single day on [the] website with [the] special edition selling out in just seven hours".^[12]

In October 2023, it was announced that Michael B. Jordan's Outlier Society and Amazon MGM Studios purchased the rights to adapt the novel series into a television series. Yarros and Entangled Publishing's Liz Pelletier will serve as non-writing executive producers.^[13][14]

The third book, Onyx Storm, was released in January 2025 which sold more than 2.7 million copies within the first week, according to The New York Times.^[15] Yarros has indicated that the series will ultimately include five books.^[3]

In 2019, Kirkus Reviews included The Last Letter on their list of the year's best books.^[16]

Fourth Wing was an Amazon,^[3] Libro.fm,^[2][6] New York Times,^[4] and USA Today bestselling novel.^[8] It was also a top ten book club pick for September 2023.^[7] Booklist included it on their "Top 10 SF/Fantasy & Horror: 2023" list.^[17] In January 2024, Publishers Weekly listed Fourth Wing at #3 in its "Top 25 list of bestsellers for 2023".^[18]

In the same list, Iron Flame was listed at #6.

Yarros began writing while her husband was deployed in Afghanistan.^[30] As of October 2023, she and her husband have six children.^[8]

Yarros has Ehlers–Danlos syndrome, as do her sons.^[3] Yarros and her husband initially fostered a daughter, eventually adopting her; their daughter is nonverbal and on the autism spectrum. Through the nonprofit OneOctober, which she co-founded with her husband in 2019, Yarros is passionate about improving the lives of children in the foster system.^[31][32]

Yarros is a fan of the NHL team the Colorado Avalanche, and a Fourth Wing Night was planned for a home game against the Buffalo Sabres on November 13, 2025.^[33]