There romanticasy is in some way the (il)legitimate child of dark romance and fantasy. Its most prominent offspring in recent months, Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros, has just arrived in French, published by Hugo Roman. Its sequel, Iron Flame, should take off in the French-speaking world at the beginning of the summer. In jubilation, most likely: released in November, the original version of this second volume of The Empyrean Saga (which was supposed to have three, but which could now be spread over five) was in fact the subject of “Harry Potter-style” thematic launches among our neighbors to the South, with book boxes opening at midnight and fans overexcited.
Only the dragons were missing. They are at the heart of this series which is located at the confluence of Game Of Thrones (without the political complexity), Harry Potter (because the Muggles of Yarros are at the school of witches… oops, dragon riders), of Twilight (for the toxic relationship between a vulnerable young woman and the dark male that she will of course manage to change), from Hunger Games (death awaits the “elect” at every turn) and Fifty Shades of Gray (for the toxic relationship again, the soft porn and because, officially, the novel is intended for adult readers).
A French translation is added to the recipe which exclaims “damn!” » and “mess!” “. We spice it all up with thoughts like: “[…] I know that in this moment, he has the power to break me. And I would let him do it,” “Is he jealous? It’s…strangely comforting.” This is to tell how Violet Sorrengail – physically compromised by an illness causing the brittleness of her bones – finds herself at the academy training the dragon riders, advanced warriors of a kingdom eternally at war. There, she sees her best friend again and meets her worst enemy… whose roles will change very quickly, as we suspect from their appearance. She will also discover strengths in herself that are unsuspected by everyone (except the reader who has had some exposure to the genre). All ending with a finale that will whet the appetite of those who are not yet satisfied.
On arrival, a megasuccess. If takeoff proves slower in Quebec (this week, respectively 12e and 15e positions in the Renaud-Bray and Les Libraires charts), its original version, launched in May 2023, squats the charts of the New York Times for 49 weeks (including 13 at the top). On the Goodreads site, it has more than 200,000 reviews and more than 1.5 million opinions — for an overall rating of 4.6 out of 5. But it’s on TikTok, particularly on its powerful BookTok subsection, where the (now won) war of numbers is being fought. The “booktokers” were the first to take an interest in the novel. Since then, #FourthWing and #RebeccaYarros have accumulated more than a billion views. And it’s growing at great speed with the publication ofIron Flame.
We don’t wonder why Prime Video, in partnership with Michael B. Jordan’s production company, Outlier Society, bought the adaptation rights. Who knows, maybe they will get something better out of it, like Netflix with the series Bridgerton by Julia Quinn, better put together (on a bed?) on screen than on the page.