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Violet Sorrengail trained to be a scribe. In Fourth Wing (2023), her mother, the general who commands Basgiath War College, forces her, with her fragile joints, into the dragon riders’ quadrant, where she becomes the first rider bonded to two dragons and falls for a man whose father her mother had executed. Rebecca Yarros, born in Washington, D.C., in 1981, gave Violet the physical fragility of her own Ehlers–Danlos syndrome, and began writing while her husband was deployed in Afghanistan. Fourth Wing sold more than two million copies in six months; Iron Flame followed that November, Onyx Storm in January 2025, and the story collection Threshing Day on 29 September 2026. The ten writers below share her ground: dragons or war, a heroine everyone underestimates, and love that arrives in the middle of danger.
By Lisanne Swart · 10 authors · Romantasy · Dragons and war · Updated October 2026
Quick answer
The closest matches are Sarah J. Maas, whose A Court of Thorns and Roses reviewers compared with Fourth Wing, Jennifer L. Armentrout, who also moves between romance and fantasy, and Anne McCaffrey, whose dragonriders shared a telepathic bond with their dragons in 1968. Further down are a British writer who reimagined Saint George and the dragon, and a war-academy novel that follows the fighting all the way to atrocity.
10 authors like Rebecca Yarros
Where to start if you loved Rebecca Yarros
If you want more romantasy, read Sarah J. Maas.
A Court of Thorns and Roses (2015): the series reviewers compared Fourth Wing with.
If you loved the dragons, read Anne McCaffrey.
Dragonflight (1968): the classic story of riders bonded to dragons.
If you want the war at its darkest, read R. F. Kuang.
The Poppy War (2018): a military academy, a god’s fire and the real cost of power.
If you want one long standalone, read Samantha Shannon.
The Priory of the Orange Tree (2019): dragons and a sapphic love story in a single book.
If you want more Yarros, read the Empyrean books in order.
Fourth Wing (2023), Iron Flame (2023) and Onyx Storm (2025), then the stories in Threshing Day (2026); for her romances, try The Last Letter (2019).
Frequently asked questions about authors like Rebecca Yarros
Who writes like Rebecca Yarros?
Sarah J. Maas, Jennifer L. Armentrout and Anne McCaffrey are the closest: Maas and Armentrout for fantasy and romance together, McCaffrey for the bond between rider and dragon. Naomi Novik, Samantha Shannon and Robin Hobb also write people bonded to dragons or animals.
Does Rebecca Yarros have a new book?
Yes. Threshing Day, a collection of thirteen stories set on the day Basgiath cadets first bond with their dragons, was published on 29 September 2026. She is still writing the fourth Empyrean novel, which has no release date yet.
When is the fourth Fourth Wing book coming out?
No date had been announced by October 2026. Yarros has indicated that the Empyrean series will run to five books.
What should I read after Fourth Wing?
R. F. Kuang’s The Poppy War (2018) for another military academy taken to its darkest end, or Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonflight (1968) for the classic dragonrider series.
Is Fourth Wing like A Court of Thorns and Roses?
Reviewers have compared them. Both put a heroine into a deadly magical world and build a romance out of danger; Fourth Wing is set at a war college and is more military.
Which Rebecca Yarros book should I read first?
Start with Fourth Wing (2023), the first Empyrean novel. Readers who prefer contemporary romance can start with The Last Letter (2019).
Sources
- Rebecca Yarros — Wikipedia
- Fourth Wing — Wikipedia
- New Fourth Wing Book Announced — Book Riot
- The Poppy War — Wikipedia
List last reviewed 31 October 2026.
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