book breakdown: fourth wing universe

hi guys welcome to a new segment i'd like to call book breakdown! this is where i breakdown my favorite books and series. i want this series to help people who are thinking about starting books that could potentially be a little complicated to understand. if you are interested in starting a book but don't know if it will be a good fit for you, book breakdowns serve as a way for you to evaluate that! this first portion of the blog will contain zero spoilers, but will explain the general concepts and principles of the book. 

the first book i chose for a book breakdown is fourth wing! i thought this was the perfect series to start with because of the release of the third book in the series, onyx storm. the fourth wing universe isn't too complicated, but it can be confusing for newer readers (especially people who don't read fantasy often). i think this whole series is great so far, and once you understand some of the more complex world-building, you will realize how intelligent rebecca yarros (the author) truly is. 

so let's get into a breakdown of the fourth wing series!

i always say that fourth wing is like a simpler game of thrones (with no incest and less murder). so if you enjoy tv series with a fantasy vibe like that, you will probably love reading this book. 

let's talk about the structure of this world-building first. in this universe, when people turn about twenty years old, they take an written and physical exams. when those are passed, they must choose a quadrant to join. they choose their quadrants on a day called conscription day, which occurs in july. 

there are four quadrants to choose from. the first option is infantry, which basically means becoming a soldier. this is the most popular choice and has the most numbers. infantry fight on the ground, learn survival skills, thrive on hand-to-hand combat, and are highly adaptable to different environments. the next option is healers, which pretty much means becoming a nurse/doctor. they don't have any magic so they heal using actual medicine and medical training. you honestly don't hear much about this quadrant in the book and i kinda forgot it existed. sometimes the characters will just talk about "seeing a healer" and that's it. the third quadrant is scribes, and this quadrant is talked about a ton in the book. scribes are basically fancy librarians who learn about, protect, and preserve the history of the kingdom (navarre) and everything. this job is more important than you may think because they basically hold all the knowledge of everything ever. the final quadrant is the main focus of the book series and it's the riders quadrant. this is by far the coolest option, but it's also the most dangerous. these people are basically the dauntless (from divergent) of this universe. they wear all black, have to train in dangerous challenges, and have to be adrenaline junkies. they also bond with dragons, if they survive through all the trials, and obtain magical powers when they do so. 

all students, no matter their quadrant, attend basgiath war college. the college is located in the mountains in the middle of navarre. the college is split into two parts: the upper and lower sections. the lower section is dedicated to a place called the archives, which is where the scribes reside and where all the historical documents are. The healers and infantry also on this level, but have their own separate buildings for their studies. The upper part is solely reserved for the riders quadrant, and they reside and study in a building called the citadel. all the students who attend basgiath war college spend their first two years studying and learning. then when they begin their third year, they get more real-world and battle experience. 

students in the riders quadrant are called cadets until they bond with a dragon. they have to take classes and train in hand-to-hand combat throughout their first year. there also are three main trials these individuals must go through. 

firstly, they must cross the parapet. the parapet is a large bridge located two hundred feet in the air. the cadets must cross the bridge to enter the citadel on conscription day and it is the only way in or out without flying. the bridge is only eighteen inches wide with no railing. the stones are extremely slick and uneven. about fifteen percent of the cadets fall off the bridge and die during this challenge. 

the second challenge is the gauntlet, which in my mind i imagined as a deadlier version of the show wipeout. it is basically that but on the side of the mountain and a high potential for death. the trial is supposed to mimic the challenges are riding a dragon, but i'm not 100% sure how some of these would help with that. there are five ascents in this challenge and you get higher and higher as you complete each one. the first ascent starts with a spinning log that is parallel to the cliff. then there are four pillars that you have to climb, each one going higher than the last. then there's a giant wheel that rotates and only has one opening. the second ascent is just five hanging balls on chains and the cadets have to jump or swing across (literally wipeout). the third ascent consists of three giant metal rods that hang parallel to the cliff and the cadets have to use their momentum to swing from bar to bar, as the bars get higher and higher. the fourth ascent has seven timber logs that spin in opposite directions. then after that there's a giant hollow column where cadets have to grab the sides by forming an x with their bodies and hop up (not really sure about the physics of all this?). the final ascent is a giant wooden ramp that juts out from the cliff and the cadets have to climb it (like american ninja warrior). again, i'm not really sure how this helps with the dragon stuff but it is fun to read about. 

the final challenge for those who are still alive is the threshing. the threshing is when the dragons choose their rider. basically the cadets have no choice over which dragon they want. they just get what they get i guess. but some dragons don't choose anyone (even after all the challenges they had to complete). if a cadet is not chosen by a dragon they have the option to repeat the whole year. during threshing, the cadets walk around in the valley and just hope a dragon comes up to them at some point and chooses them. there are six colors of dragons: blue, black, red, orange, brown, and green. when chosen, each rider obtains a magical power (called a signet) and this power is unique to them. in some cases, some individuals may obtain two signets, if the dragon had previously bonded with a close family member in the past. 

so that is a simple explanation of the world-building, now let's get into the plot of the first book! this is mostly the beginning of the book and contains no major spoilers.

the first book of this series follows violet sorrengail. violet is twenty years old and the daughter of a war general/ dragon rider (her mother) and a scribe (her father). her father is dead, and her two siblings are riders who have left home, leaving her alone with her mother who seemingly hates violet. violet has a health condition of some sort that makes her more fragile and breakable. the condition is never named, but fans speculate she has ehlers-danlos (brittle bones, hypermobility, joint pain, etc). she also has brown hair that turns silver at the ends. no one knows the true cause of the graying hair, but she views it as a sign of her weakness. the hair also makes her extremely recognizable. violet believes her mother hates her because she sees her condition as a weakness. because of violet's condition, and the influence of her father, she plans to become a scribe on conscription day. however, her mom forces her to become a rider. both violet's older brother and sister were riders and her mother wants to her to do the same. violet's sister, mira, is outraged, because their brother, brennan, recently died in combat and she doesn't want the same fate for violet. 

violet accepts her fate and the disappointment that she will never become a scribe fairly quickly. she basically accepts that she's going to die in the challenges and that she is too weak for a dragon to choose, even if she made it that far. 

when violet arrives at the war college, she meets rhiannon and dylan in the line for the parapet. the two notice her hair and identify her as the daughter of general sorrengail. at the front of the line, about to cross the parapet, violet meets a wingleader named xaden. xaden is the son of rebellion leader fen riorson, who was killed at the order of violet's mother. fen was also the person who murdered violet's brother. the two instantly hate each other and violet is scared he is going to kill her. it is later explained that all the children of the members of the rebellion were forced to enter the riders squad, and were given the name "marked ones". all marked ones bear rebellion relics (tattoos) to show everyone that they are descendants of traitors. the government forced the children to become riders in the hopes that they would be killed, but many of them excelled instead, and now have bonded powerful dragons. marked ones are not allowed to gather more than two a time because the government fears another uprising. 

dylan and rhiannon start to cross the parapet and dylan slips and falls to his death. his death makes violet realize that the odds of her dying here are very high. as violet starts to cross the parapet, another cadet named jack attempts to kill her on the bridge by chasing after her. violet makes it to the edge right before he can reach her. 

after narrowly surviving the parapet, she finally enters the war college. there, she is greeted by her childhood friend, dain, who is instantly concerned for violet's safety because he knows about her condition. dain encourages violet to look for a way out of her situation and still go to the scribe quadrant, but violet has already accepted her fate. dain is a squad leader and places her in his squad to try and protect her. violet and rhiannon are assigned to the same squad (iron squad) in fourth wing with xaden as their wingleader (in charge of all of them). so, for reference, the rank in this situation (from lowest to highest) is cadet -> squadleader -> wingleader. 

we are now going to get into some potential spoilers so be aware reading the next section! most of this information is relatively well-known though. 

violet eventually survives the gauntlet as well, and excels in hand-to-hand combat by poisoning her opponents. she becomes friends with several of her squadmates including rhiannon (who she met at parapet), ridoc, and sawyer. she also works in the archives as part of her chores and frequently visits with her friend from school, jesinia, who is in the process of becoming a scribe. during this time, violet also accidentally spies in on a meeting between xaden and other marked ones (which would have been illegal). xaden spots her because his signet (power) is shadows and he could feel her presence. after being exposed, violet promises not to tell anyone about the meeting. as violet continues to train, it is obvious that xaden takes a special interest in her and she's still scared he's going to try and kill her. 

at threshing, people begin to talk about the appearance of a small dragon. jack and some of the other guys decide to try and kill the dragon if they find it because anyone that bonds it will be at a huge disadvantage. in the valley, violet sees the small dragon, and she also sees jack and his friends approaching it, wanting to kill it. she goes to defend the small dragon, feeling a connection due to its small size and weak appearance. she also sees that xaden is observing in the distance, as leaders are allowed to watch the threshing. while fighting against jack and his friends to protect the small dragon, a giant black dragon lands in the field, and bonds with violet. the dragon is basically the biggest and baddest one of them all. he takes violet back to the college along with the small dragon. when you bond with a dragon, you can hear their voice in your head and communicate telepathically. violet can hear the big dragon speaking to her and she can also hear the smaller dragon, meaning she bonded with both of them. this has never happened before. 

everyone at the college freaks out that violet bonded two dragons and she's ultimately allowed to keep both of them. she also discovers that the big dragon is "mates" with xaden's dragon. therefore him and violet are bonded and can also communicate telepathically. this complicates their relationship since they both hate each other, but if one of them dies, it's possible they both die. now that their lives are intertwined, xaden assigns other marked ones to keep an eye on violet and make sure no one kills her. when her signet manifests, she discovers she has the rare power of lightning. 

there is still a tonnn of stuff that happens in this book but that is a general run-down of the beginning portion! 

hopefully this helped explain the plot and world-building of fourth wing a little bit more for you guys! fantasy universes can get confusing to understand but i think that once you break it down, it gets easier to comprehend. there is still a ton of stuff that happens in these books that i didn't want to spoil for you guys so if you found this interesting, definitely give it a read! this book series is super popular right now and there is a ton of content on the internet about it. 

next week i might talk more in the depth about the third book of the series, onyx storm, so stay tuned :)