In early April the world of ‘booktok’ as we know it changed. And it changed pretty much overnight. All thanks to the Fourth Wing. Since then, there has been this expectation placed upon the community, the books we are reading, the books being published, all needing to meet ‘that hype’.
Fourth Wing has revolutionized the world of books as I know it, and for a lot of other booktokers as well. Fourth Wing has changed the world of fantasy as we know it, and I truly believe it is for the better.
Rebecca Yarros, known for her other highly acclaimed published novels, has taken a leap and landed the jump with her new high fantasy novel. Fourth Wing takes place in an insanely descriptive and seriously developed fantasy world. Our main character Violet finds herself attending Basgiath War College. Exactly what it sounds like. A war college for the young adults in Navarre. Choosing -some of them not being able to choose- which role they want to play in this 600 year war that Navarre is fighting to win. Violet must enter the Rider’s Quadrant, training in the art of dragon riding, hand to hand combat, and war strategies.
Unfortunately for Violet, her mother is a General in the military, and has forced her hand into joining the riders. Violet goes, without hesitancy, and finds herself in for a world of literal hurt. Through Violet’s training, she meets a whole crew of killer friends and enemies, our love interest, Xaden (insert mega heart eyes), (spoiler alert) uncovers the secret plot of the rebellion, and discovers herself through her actions and most importantly, her dragons.
Regardless of the plot, characters, page size, story arcs, or whatever literary element you’d like to name to satisfy your heart, Fourth Wing is revolutionary. It has changed the way readers approach high fantasy. Previously, our high fantasy options consisted of, The Wheel of Time, The Hobbit, Game of Thrones, stories of that essence. You get the gist. A lot of the titles I just named are seemingly inaccessible for a lot of readers. The reasoning on that being the size.
Fourth Wing is new. The classics have been around for a long time. For the new wave of readers that something like tiktok is bringing to the world, those series are extremely inaccessible and take a huge chunk out of a person’s time. All in all, it’s a lot of commitment, and with all of the new publications releasing everyday, there simply isn’t enough time to read everything we want to read. Books like the Fourth Wing, ACOTAR, and The Priority of the Orange tree, have allowed us access to feel all the feels. To read the high fantasy, without all the commitment. Most of this comes from the fact that these books are still growing, and as they grow, we read.
Growing with a series is a special kind of feeling, and a lot of readers take kindly to this fact, falling in love with the characters, the author’s journey, the progression of the stories. This type of story progression has allowed us accessibility. High fantasy has been inaccessible for a long while, but with books like this, it’s time for change.
Ariana Alexander 