Latest / Fated / It's almost Threshing Day! Special Recap of Fourth Wing
Transcript
- Tay: Welcome to the podcast where your next favorite story is already written in the stars. April: We're your new book besties, April. Tay: And hey, here to get your book craving started and satisfied. April: Why? Tay: Because around here it's faded. April: So grab your current read, maybe a cozy drink, and hide your TBR list because today we're discussing all things Fourthwing. Woo! Tay: In time to refresh y'all because we have threshing day on the horizon. April: Yes. So in case you guys haven't read the Tay: Mm-hmm. April: first three books, so my gosh, these things are kind of chunky. They're not the chunkiest, but Tay: Mm-hmm. April: they're pretty chunky. first three books in the Empyrean Tay: Mm-hmm. April: series. this will be a spoiler-friendly episode. So if you're curious about these books and the world that Rebecca Yarros has created and you don't mind spoilers, this episode is for you and we hope you'll Tay: Mm-hmm. April: stick around and enjoying the fun. Tay: Yes, we're so excited. this is definitely one of my favorite, I would say, fantasy that centers around dragons. we have April: Mm-hmm. Tay: other romances that like have that fantasy, have those things, but this is definitely top tier for me in terms of getting that dragon rider, dragons are everywhere, like cool, April: Mm-hmm. Tay: fighting. I really, really enjoy this book. And then the romance, you know, the romance April: Yeah. Tay: is so good, y'all. Like That's you know, April: Chef's kiss. Tay: if it wasn't there, it wouldn't be on this podcast, so April: Right. But speaking of Threshing Day, that releases Tay: Yes. Mm-hmm. April: September 29th, which is next week. So this podcast goes live this Thursday. And then Threshing Day comes out the following Tuesday, which is super exciting. And for those who don't know, Threshing Day, it it's like a companion novel. They're calling it 3.5 in the series, but it's a companion collection of 13 short stories. about your favorite characters, their dragons. And if you happen to purchase, Tay, I don't know if I told you about this, but if you happen to purchase the Deluxe special edition, it's rumored to come with 16 full color illustrations in it. And decorative and pages. And I'm like, my gosh, wow. for a novella? That's awesome. Tay: Yeah. And you know what kills me about this and Rebecca Yarros is when I was going on my shelf to retrieve these books, I have like six, maybe actually, I have seven. Seven copies of a book that only has three books right now. But that's because April: Right. Tay: I have other editions of her books. April: Mm-hmm. Tay: Because like some of them have these like glorious sprayed edges. Some of them have secret chapters, like Dog. April: Mm-hmm. Tay: Like, do you just want me to keep spending money? And I'm so gullible, I do it every time. Like, you know, April: Seriously. Tay: like there there's people that are here's the chapter. I'm like, that's great of you to share that, but also I'm still buying it because I want that addition, no matter if it's like four pages worth of a chapter. I need it. And she knows that. Yeah. April: Right? If it's something I'm super invested in, give your money. Tay: if y'all have not seen this series, is also gonna be turned into a graphic novel. I did purchase April: Mm-hmm. Tay: the first novel that's supposed to be coming out, and I got it with her autograph because your girl was not gonna miss on that. but I also, if y'all are, you know, wanting to get into maybe a graphic novel for the first time and like this would be I'm so curious to see what the illustrations and everything for this book will be. It's also rumored to have a TV show on the horizon produced by Michael B. Jordan. So April: So fine. Tay: he he is so fine. And I honestly love the movie that he did centers and all of the things. And I can only imagine like it's probably gonna be a very well done series. And I'm even more grateful that it's a TV series because to me in movies, movies, they're always never gonna hit everything. Like, I think an opportunity to have it as a TV show gives them more room to like stretch it out. I mean, they could easily if they wanted to make us yearn folks, they could turn this into two seasons. I don't April: Mm-hmm. Tay: want that. I want everything. I want one season, two season, three season, but let's be real, they're gonna get as much money of us as they can and they're probably gonna turn this into two seasons easily. And when it does come out, it's gonna probably be Blow whatever platform it is on into the number one spot. So our April: Hands down. Hands down. Tay: yeah, our first book we're gonna talk about is the very first one, which is Fourth Wing. April: Yes. So Fourth Wing, I feel like was a standout hit almost like instantly from its release. And Tay: Instantly. April: and I can remember when I picked up this book, it was in Walmart, okay? And then people are like, what? it was in Walmart, it was release week and I had never heard of it before, but what caught me was the dragons on the sprayed edges. And so I was like, ooh, I like dragons, I like fantasy, it's romantic. And so I got it. Not Tay: Yeah. Yep. April: knowing that the hype train for this book was coming and that that thing is still chugging along, like in major ways. Hello, spirit of Halloween. But it is. Tay: It is, truthfully. I mean, I could not even describe probably how Rebecca Yarris probably was feeling because y'all, her background April: Yeah. Tay: is not in fantasy. She writes a April: Yeah. Tay: lot of like military romance. So this was totally out of her element. She probably is like, you know, probably to her publisher. I would imagine the conversation was probably like, let's just see. Let's just see if people are into me writing fantasy. And they're like, Girl, leave the military behind. please produce all the April: Yes. Tay: Fantasy from now on. April: All the fantasy. Yeah. And it's a great book for people who are curious about romantic, which is fantasy and romance together. And you maybe don't want to dive into like a super complicated world that's a lot to digest. In my opinion, this world and this book series that she's created. is super easy to digest. In fact, there's like some words that are way modernized and that you wouldn't see in a typical high fantasy novel. And so it doesn't feel like you're sitting there reading really to me like an actual fantasy. It feels way more modern than that. And so most of us, you know, who have read this book would probably agree it is really newbie friendly for those out there who are wanting to pick up something like that. Tay: Yes, I think it's nice too because while yes, the characters have like powers, they're not like inherently April: Yeah. Tay: like a monster or like a elven or anything like that. And some people that's hard April: Yeah. Tay: to digest. They're like, I just don't want where they're like ogres and stuff walking around or April: Mm-hmm. Tay: like they're elves or whatever they are. so this one's nice because they are in fact human. they just inherit dragons and ride dragons, and then their April: Mm-hmm. Tay: dragons give them things called signets, and those signets bring out powers in them. So like April: Yeah. Tay: To me a little more doable on the front of like if if fantasy is hard for you to get into like that, it made it a little easier. 'Cause it's like, Okay, well they're still human April: I think for Tay: beings, like, you know, I don't know. It just made it April: Yeah. It still makes sense. Tay: mm hmm. April: Yeah. And so in Fourth Wing, I'm just like kind of the whole series here. We have Violet and we know Violet, you kind of learn and it's it's never specifically named, but Rebecca Yarros did actually name what it is that she kind of has it's similar to in that world. but it's called Ellers Danlow syndrome, and I'm sorry if I mispronounced any of that. but it's like never explicitly called that because it is still a fantasy world, but she has been very open about suffering from EDS herself. And then that's exactly what she kind of based on the things that Violet suffers from too. so essentially it's like Violet has weak joints, she's got weak ligaments, she actually has to bind her limbs like numerous times throughout the stories to prevent injury. her bones are really brittle, she suffers from fatigue, and it's all really, in my opinion, beautifully woven into the story. And I feel like as a reader, we're given a good glimpse glimpse at something that many people deal with on a daily basis that you may not necessarily be aware of. Tay: Yeah. And I I think that's nice too, because it's probably giving like more of like the unseen that, you know, diagnosis that a lot of people have. You know, people look for something April: Mm-hmm. Tay: on the exterior to kind of give notice, like, hey, this person suffers, you know, maybe from something that's, you know, disabling them in some way, shape, or form. But she's like, no, I'm turning this ability into an or disability into an ability. Like she's still a person. She's still able to do these things. But yeah, she is suffering from this hidden ailment. So definitely April: Yeah. Tay: really cool that she tied that in from her own personal experience. April: for sure. And made Violet a badass. Like she's not exactly a badass right in the beginning, but I'm telling y'all by book three, you're like, holy Tay: Yeah. Yeah. April: Yeah. But Violet's mother, she is General Soren Gale, and she heads up this I guess it's like a war college called Bazgayath. And when students enter this college, they kind of determine what quadrant or like future job of choice that they want. So it's like choosing a major is kind of like how I pictured it in my head, which I feel like is very easily like for us to understand. That's why I said this is a really good Introductory romancy book. there's the healers quadrant, which is obviously focused on medicine and healing. We have the infantry quadrant, those are your foot soldiers, boots on the ground people, the squybe, scribe quadrant who Violet has like intended for pretty much her whole life to join. they are like your historians, they record history, laws, they manage the archives, and they also work as intelligence. and then finally, and probably most. popularly is the Riders Quadrant and these of course are the soldiers who will go on to hopefully if they survive all sorts of terrible things meant to kill them, bond with a dragon and become the ultimate weapon, I guess. Tay: Yeah. And I think you said an interesting thing too is like most of the time when these cadets get to go into this war college, they do in fact choose which quad quadrant they want to go into. but that's not necessarily true for our girl Violet. Violet April: Mm mm. Tay: doesn't get that opportunity. Her mom's like, You're doing what I want you to do and you're gonna like it. But Violet's pretty cool because she's like, you know what? I'll show her and if I die, you know, that's kinda on her. April: Yeah, exactly. My mom don't love me, I'm gonna show her. Tay: Yeah. She's like, you know what? I, you know, but cause she was very much supposed to go to the scribe quadrant. Her father was April: Mm-hmm. Tay: a scribe, not a war general like her mother was, which I think it's nice to see that alternative as well and like having a female be that because I feel like I have read multiple stories where the dad is like the leader of the general and the mom April: Mm-hmm. Tay: does all the scribing. So I kind of like where that that is flipped. and it kind of makes you feel like, man, Violet's mom must be a badass And she is. so I think that's kind of interesting parallel there. But when Violet goes off to this school, she's like, well, at least I have book smarts to back me up because I was supposed to be a scribe, but she ends up having to go to the writer's quarter. Yeah. It does help her. April: And it really does help her. It does. Her book smarts really help her. I'm like, get it, Violet. and of course, you know, she does, she ends up in the writer's quadrant. And of course, there just so happens to be a mysterious shadow daddy named Zaiden, because of course there has to be a shadow daddy. Has to be. So Tay: Yeah. Has to be. Yep. April: against all odds, Violet ends up becoming a writer. Surprise, surprise. She joins the fourth wing, hence the name. And against all odds, she managed manages to snag the super hot shadow daddy too. Kudos to her. Tay: Yeah, and and he and her hate one another. They genuinely April: Yeah. Tay: hate one another. And let me tell y'all, when the moment comes when like that hate turns into lust, it is like igniting a match. Not even a match, April: It's so hot. Tay: it is like kerosene. It just because April: Mm-hmm. Tay: both of them are like, this isn't supposed to happen because his dad was a war criminal and his dad killed her brother. So she has reasons to hate this guy. Like she's like, No, April: Mm. Tay: your dad was a war criminal and he killed my brother and blah, blah, blah. April: Yeah. Tay: But it was like it's like that kind of made it better. That they kinda hated one another. April: Is so good. Might as well. And of course, to make things even better, she's a rarity because she bonds with not one but two dragons. And one that just so happens to be a very young dragon. And the other one is an older and mostly grumpy dragon who is my favorite. Tay: Yes, I freaking love Terran. He is so So great. April: Yes. And then sweet little Andarna, who is so cute. I love her, especially in the first book. She's just adorable. I love her. Tay: I do. And I okay, y'all, if y'all have not listened to the graphic audios of this, you need to. It is too good. there is an edition though with Anthony Palmini, and he does a fantastic job. but Andarna and like Taryn's voice are perfect because and Andarna sounds just very much like a teenager. She's like, Come on, like, I wanted to do that. And then like you get Taryn and he's like, I know exactly what who and what you are, Violet Swingale. I'm like, dang, like his voice just gets so April: It feels so good. Tay: deep. But then also too, he's just like so inherently grumpy, but he's also like, I chose you for a reason. Show me why I chose you. don't give me that. April: Right. Tay: And I think that's good. She needs that like internal monologue. Meanwhile, Andarna is the other one that's like, do it, do it, do it, do it. Like she is like Miss Like, April: Mm. Tay: let's just think later. We'll just do it now. Very much teenager. So April: Exactly. And I just have to brush on this for a little bit because I've seen like really good TikToks like explaining some of the issues people have with the names of the dragons in this, particularly in the series. it is, and I'm so sorry, I am not a native speaker to this language, but they're actually come from the Scottish Gaelic language. And I know a lot of people feel pretty strongly about like the pronunciation of the names and how they're kind of being given to the readers. And I do want to say like I did see a thing where Rebecca Yarros went back and she said that she's gonna treat it better, do more research and include people who are actual native speakers of this language to be involved in the books, and how she herself is going to pronounce them. So I apologize if anything that we are saying sounds funny, but we are saying the way that it sounds in our brains here. But I also understand that these are pronounced, you know, completely different in the native language that they were pulled from. So And that's that's another point of, you know, making sure as a especially as a I feel like a fantasy writer doing your research or maybe not like probably why a lot of them do come up with their own languages and things like that so that you're not ever worried Tay: Yeah, and honestly I would still be even afraid even if I made up one, I'm gonna be like, No, it's actually not made up, it's a real language and I just said something insulting. So I'd be like, you know what? April: Fail. Fail. Tay: All these people in this thing are gonna speak English because that's the language I know. April: Right. Exactly. So obviously, romance is a huge focus in this story. And it really begins to set up the plot for the other books. I feel like Fourth Wing is really good in the way that it's not just like info-dumpy. you are really invested in the story. You are sold on the romance by the end. You're like, this is the best thing I've ever read. there is at like the same time, there's these threads that have been woven in the background. That you don't even really recognize until later on in the series that they actually become super important. Is it the most, you know, like intricate book series? Absolutely not. And that's why I think Fourth Wing is a great romanticy, is because it's not hard to understand. There's nothing too crazy or complicated going on plot wise. I do think Rebecca Yarros has done a great job though in her later books, making the plot more complicated, more convoluted, and kind of keeping the readers guessing and not not making it so predictable. Tay: Yeah, it goes really from just honestly, I think we have Violet most of the book and book one. we may have gotten a z yeah, a Zaden chapter April: Yeah. A little bit of Zaiden, I think. Yeah. Tay: at the very end. And that was like the first time you hear Zaden, you're like, my God, like I've never heard his POB before. Well, you get to book three and she has multiple POVs throughout the book, and then that's what I think is great in a lot of these other fantasy writers and y'all can hate. I'm talking about her because we're gonna be talking about her a lot in October. April: Yeah. Tay: So get over it. But Sarah J Mass can pull plots from all types of point of views and somehow tie them back to one another. But April: Yeah. Tay: also, too, I think it builds an incredible depth with all of these characters because you really get to know them internally. I loved in Onyx Storm that we had so many different points of views by that third book for Rebecca that April: Mm-hmm. Tay: is just like, my gosh, I'm getting to hear all these different things going on and they kind of collectively give that. depth that you're talking about that really I think first book surface level wasn't getting, but story told really well by the end to where it's like, okay, now I'm invested in everybody. April: Yeah, now it's not as yeah, exactly. You're you're super invested in the story and you're like, you're questioning things that you read in the first book, which is awesome. I love that. That always is really good when I have to go back and think, ooh, was there something that I missed, you know? And there always is. I'm like, I'm a Tay: Mm-hmm. April: vibes reader. I'm like, ha ha, they love each other. They kissed. and then meanwhile, it's like this whole overarching plot has gone over my head. Tay: Yeah, I love when people can like really nitpick on stuff because I'm like, wow, I missed that completely. Like I did not connect the dots there. April: Yeah. Tay: But I was. I was so in love. I just like, you know, I just looked past that. I was like, I'm so sorry. April: Yeah. There's people who are probably like, Why are you guys not talking about this when you're talking about fourth wings? Sorry, y'all. We are vibes reader. Yeah. Tay: I'm a vibes reader. I'm also like, I'm gonna tell it very to you very surface level. This is a four-demy guide to reading romance and books. We're not gonna don't expect, yeah. We're not April: Yeah. We are not experts. Tay: experts. we're not getting deep to the point of like where it's very, you know, up there. We're speaking to you on this level. Yeah. April: Yeah, I'm not gonna whip out my tinfoil hat and give you my theories because I do not have enough brain cells left in me at the end of the day to come up with all these crazy theories. Sarah J. Mass has burned me enough times when I thought of a crazy theory. Taylor Swift burns me all these times with her theories. Like, yeah. Tay: Yeah. I you know, I can't. I can't do it. That's as much as I can contribute to those those people in my life. I can't contribute to anything else. So I let everybody else do that research for me and then I just I just nod along and like, yeah, that sounds good. Yeah. Good job. April: Yeah. yeah. You're so smart. Yeah, that's me. Okay. So then we have year two. Whoop, whoop, whoop, iron flame. Big thing you learn at the end, brother or brother is not dead. Violet's long lost dead brother, Brennan, is not really dead. Surprise, surprise. And that happens like super early in the book. So good for her. Tay: Yeah. And I think that's incredible too that like Rebecca Yars at the end of each book somehow does like a mic drop at the end of it and you're like, Brother, April: Yeah. Tay: what? so her brother being alive was a huge one. It was like, What? How April: Yeah. Tay: is he alive? We thought he was dead and we thought Zaiden's dad killed him. So now we have no reason to hate Zaydan. Now we really love him more. Like it was April: Mm-hmm. Tay: such like a aha. But then she was mad because everybody knew about it. Everybody but her. April: Everybody but her, including Shadow Daddy Zaiden. Tay: Mm-hmm. April: We also learned that Venon are real. They're like these monstrous creatures. They wield Tay: Mm-hmm. April: dark magic. I need to look up like some character artwork because I feel like they're not that spooky in my head. Tay: I really Yeah, they have like a witch kind of look to them. And then April: Yeah. Tay: I'm also picturing too, they said about their eyes is really like the April: Yes. Tay: kind of signature that they're a Venon where they have a red ring. and April: Uh-huh. Tay: so like I'm really just picturing back to Sarah J. Mass, so sorry. I'm picturing Manon where they talk about her hands being pointed claws and stuff, like 'cause These people April: Mm. Tay: are magic wielders, but they pull from the earth and they're like dark wielders. So April: Mm-hmm. Tay: I picture them some be being kind of like spooky ooky, but still having that human look almost to them. But I I haven't looked them up either, to be honest. Yeah. April: Yeah. They can pass for human. Wink, wink, wink. Yeah. I love it. Yeah. And of course, we know at the very end of Fourth Wing that Andarna saved the day. And one of my favorite things about Iron Flame, and I feel like this is a really big fan favorite, is she's kind of gone into this sort of dreamless sleep, but now she's kind of grown bigger, but she's also still not full grown in Iron Flame yet. She's like, I think they compare to like a juvenile or a teenager age in the book. and so that you gotta get excited for because you're like, ooh, we had this really cute and Donna, what's she gonna be like when she comes out of this, you know, dreamless sleep? Tay: And she does wake up and she's April: Yeah. Tay: not only originally when she was like, go, go, go, do all the things, she's like that, but also moody. So like they're like, April: So funny. Tay: if she would have like a thing and she'd be like, ugh, and like fly away. And I just picture like, yeah, total April: Yeah. Total teenager. Tay: teenager wanted nothing to do with them and what they were planning, or got very like defensive when somebody would say something. And Taryn's just like, like this is April: Yeah. Tay: this big dragon's just like, how did I get stuck with this rider with two dragons? really enjoy that kind of aspect to it. Also too, it kinda probably gave her reperry from having to go like cause there was a lot of stuff going on with her as far as her development and cause Andorna has special powers and she you realize that she's April: Mm-hmm. Tay: not like other dragons or something a little different with her. so but it's really because they really don't know anything about baby dragons. And that kind of ties back even more because you think that all these people that are riding dragons, clearly they would know the history and like origin of dragons, but really it's like no, like Terrence, April: Unlocked. Tay: like dragons only tell you what they want you to know. And so April: Mm-hmm. Tay: hatchlings, they have no history on. There's no scribe history, there's no anything about what goes involved for these dragons, like what that process looks like, how they get to be this big old, you know, terrifying dragon. They don't know none of that. So it's kind of interesting. April: Mm-hmm. Tay: We kind of see the like build up to that of understanding, okay, like there's no, they don't I mean nobody's kinda everybody's kind of living in the same clueless state, which is kind of nice. Cause you sit there April: Yeah. Tay: clueless too as the reader, like, I'm confused and you're confused. You end up looking like the Spider-Man meme. Like April: Exactly. Yeah. You, you, you. Yeah, exactly. Tay: But I really enjoyed that. I really did enjoy that they're developing Indarna and they're getting her, like, you know, they're giving her that time to like grow and breed. So that was kind of fun. April: Yeah. Tay: This book does have a lot of plot development as far as like this is where she's really April: Mm-hmm. Tay: starting to build the world. This is where we get an iconic scene from Zaiden where they're in his kingdom. He's on his throne. And he says the line, My house, my woman, my chair, like mic drop. I April: Mic drop. It's perfection. It's perfection. Tay: cannot tell y'all. That is like probably one of my favorite scenes that was ever written in a book. Yeah. April: The mic drop is like that scene. The spice in this book is spicing. Okay. So Tay: Mm-hmm. April: we got some good payoff in Fourth Wing. We get great payoff in Iron Flame for sure. Tay: Mm-hmm. April: And one of my favorite things to see is people who go and they try to like reenact some of these scenes from this book. Those are the funniest videos because they're like, Tay: They are. April: they're like this. They're like this in the ch and it's so funny. I love it. Tay: Yeah, I love anybody trying to recreate that, but I also love when they're like trying to explain. Cause there has been moments, y'all, in books when I'm reading a book and I'm like, has this person been touched by a man andor a woman? But I'm sitting there like, have they? Like, am I reading? Like, is is this author a virgin? Like, you know, like thoughts April: Right. Tay: that I have sometimes when I'm reading, because like the stars are like the dots are not aligning to like what I'm picturing. April: Yeah. Tay: So I think it's funny that like there's people out there that will put a like a voice and an action to that. They're like, this is what that scene looks like And you're like, okay, well that's not what I April: Uh-huh. Tay: pictured. So that makes more sense Or I'm watching it and I'm go, Okay, I wasn't the only one confused. Like, thank you. April: Yeah. Exactly. And of course, an Iron Flame, at the end, you know, there's always like we said, she always has these big moments that happen at the end the book because she wants to keep you invested for the next book. And of course, we have, you know, the big baddie venons, they attack, things go south really fast. Violet's mom essentially sacrifices herself to save Bazgayath and all of the people there. and she does not survive that, right? Which is a huge like moment obviously for Violet, who has had I feel like a really tumultuous relationship with her mom anyways. And so when that happens it's it's pretty bad. Tay: Yeah, I think it's hard too because her and her mom up until this point kind of still were at odds. and then April: Yeah. Tay: finally it's like I think within a couple chapters, she's helping the rebellion, she's helping them do April: Yeah. Tay: stuff, like, you know, all the things that you wanted her mom to give that to us. April: Yeah. Tay: And she was. She was giving that to us. And then that ends up happening to her where she sacrifices herself and of course it just devastates Violet. and I think then at that point too, like any person would, she feels like an orphan because she's lost her April: Yeah. Tay: father and now her mother. and she still has luckily Mira and now Brennan back from, you know, the grave himself. but April: Right. Tay: yeah, she's had a very like rocky, I mean, because even though he's back, you know, you still feel that loss from somebody, I would think. April: Right. And betrayal. There's definitely trust issues and things like that Tay: Like I can't imagine losing somebody and yeah. Yeah. April: all throughout this entire book. Tay: So I think it's hard for her. And that's kind of where you see Violet go into a more dark space and like a more April: Yeah. Tay: focused zone, which I think is good because obviously they're still at war. The Venom are still very prominent. and she needs to focus on doing what she needs to do, and that is leading this war that's about to happen. And so that is our mic drop at the end of that book, which then picks up with. Onyx Storm. Umyx Storm, right before we get to this, I also forgot another mic dropped because she had to have two in iron flame. But an iron flame at the end, besides her mother dying. we also like she pans over to Zaden, who like helps fight this big battle. And Zaydan looks up at Violet and he has a red. Ring around his eyes. So what does that mean? That means our shadow daddy is now a bad guy. And you're like, What? And then the book ends. And then we pick up with April: Yeah. Tay: Onyx Storm. April: And then like I just remember because we went to the release party for Onyx Storm and I'll just never forget like just like the the buildup of like my gosh, this terrible thing has happened. We waited. Honestly, I didn't feel like it was that long of a wait, but it was a long wait for Onyx Storm. all we know is that Zaydon has become a venom and we know that venom are bad. We know that their goal is to eradicate the venom and it's just like heartbreaking because you're like, my gosh, this poor girl lost, you know, her dad's been gone for a while. lost her mom. Now her shadow daddy boyfriend is a venom and it's just heartbreaking. And it really is. It's a very heartbreaking moment. But it is such a good moment as a reader because you're hooked. You're like sold. You're like, I need that book right now. I need to read it right now. Tay: Yeah. And I think that was why Onyx Storm had such huge release parties, bigger than any that I've seen in the past, just coming out. Cause people are like, I need to know. I need to know what's going on with Zaiden. Is he like fully bad? Like, what's going on? Is he gonna try and kill her? Like, we just didn't know. It was like going into the void. And April: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Tay: it does start really where the book light leaves off. It shows him, April: Mm-hmm. Tay: you know, as a venom, but like he's still Zaiden. So you're like, okay. April: Yeah, he hasn't like fully kind of like converted yet or something like that. Like you're just kind of waiting. Yeah. Tay: Yeah. Transitional phase is like what they call it. April: Yeah. And then we kind of learn Andarna, I mean, it was like it was kind of guessed at in Iron Flame. She's officially a special type of dragon. she's different than the others. You kind of learn exactly what she is and how she kind of it it's kind of like almost this different set of rules even for her. But it's all very mysterious, right? Because they always keep things down on lock. And that does cause some issues with Andarna and even Violet and Tarant in the story, which is kind of a plot point that I think will continue on into book four. I'm sure we haven't kind of seen a true end to all of this. Violet gets her second signet, which is dream walking. So she's got this super awesome storm calling lightning power and then dream walking, which is like, what? Tay: Yeah, and her dream walking like transitioned as well because her other signet before because Andarna's special power was stopping time, but only April: Time. Mm-hmm. Tay: baby dragons can do that. And so when she transitioned, she could no longer do that. But that meant that her signet changed. And so her signet went from this stopping time to now she could dream walk. So I mean, what a cool, like I never would have thought of powers like that. Me, I'm like, she's a water wielder. lightning and those are two, both things that are super unique. but also too, it starts to build a lot of tension in our book because not only is Violet dreamwalking, she starts dreamwalking into everybody's dreams. So she gets like Zaydan's point of view. She even, There's a big scary Venom lady and I cannot pronounce her name, so we're not gonna even gonna try. April: Theophany or something like that. I don't even know if it's supposed to be like Tiffany, but it's like Theophany. It's something weird. Yeah. Tay: Theophany? Yeah, I don't know. I'm not even gonna attempt, y'all. I did attempt, I guess, but no. April: Ha ha. Tay: but she is a very scary venom, head of venom kind of lady. And she ends up talking to Violet in these dreams, but she's sharing kind of like bits and pieces of what's going on too. Like, like, you know, you know, very cryptic, you know, like, April: Yeah. Tay: you'll find out about your man, you know, this and that. so it kind of leaves our reader, ourselves sitting there, we're like guessing along with her, what could that dream mean? we're trying to interpret it as it's happening to Violet. So I really liked that POV that we were getting from that. April: Right. And I think we definitely get a bigger glimpse at Violet being a very unreliable narrator, which is one of my favorite kind of tropes, especially for a fantasy series, having a a main character who we're getting her point of view, but her point of view has some holes in it. And that really comes into play later on in the story too. some big things kind of happen, you know. Obviously at the end, her big mic drop is, Hey, we're married, but well, where the hell is her husband? We don't know. Nobody knows. Yeah. Tay: literally, it is at the end of this. we just did this reread of all these books for y'all. I quite literally, not even an hour before I got on the phone here, heard the ending of Onyx Storm again. and I was sitting there just like, God, I remember how much this peeved me off to begin with, because April: Yeah. Tay: it was like this big gap of time. Like, so she actually, yeah. Missing. April: Twelve hours. There's a whole twelve hours that has been missing from her memory. And you find out that their friend Imogen has taken essentially her memory, erased her memories of this time. Tay: Yeah, erased her memory. So she's sitting there and she not only had just killed the big bag Venom lady. So she just killed her. And April: Mm-hmm. Tay: she's like, this dr storm is still might, you know, blow everybody away. She like, snap, forget, wakes up and they're like telling her about all this stuff. And she's like, What the hell are y'all talking about? they're like, What's what's the matter? And she's like, I I don't know. And then she looks at her hand and of course she sees a ring. And April: Yeah. Tay: she's like knows immediately it's from Zaydan because it's a family heirloom that she saw. So she's like, I know this is from my man, but like, where's my man? And why do I have a ring on my finger? What's happening? And they end up being like, well, like she like leans over, which I think is so funny. She like leans over and a piece of parchment falls out. I'm like, where did the parchment come from? But they pull it out. April: Who knows? Or bosom. Tay: I know the bosom, it was stuck. You know, so they like whip out this parchment and this parchment says like it's literally I I equivalent picture in my head is like a marriage license. And it's like, okay, well, there's the fact. I got married to Saden, blah blah blah. On the back in Satan's handwriting, it says, Don't look for me, forget me. Brother, what? Like what? What do you mean? Forget April: Yeah. I literally it's so awful. Who says that? Tay: you. Also, we're married. I'm so confused. yeah. April: You're gonna have to take more than twelve hours. Tay: And then of course when it connects the dots that she's like, Emogen stole my memory. She's like, What did you do? And that's like the end of the book. And I'm like, April: Yeah. It is Tay: First of all April: it's the most frustrating mic drop cliffhanger ending that Yaros has given us yet in the series. It makes me so angry. And I love Tay: Yeah. It does. April: that as a readership, I think a lot of people felt this like just energy of like, what the hell? Like we waited so long for this great big payoff. We think things are going all right. They're gonna figure out how to Tay: Yeah. April: somehow cure Zaiden, and then it's like just peace out, girl. We're married. Tay: No, I honestly I my theory is I think something major happened when she killed that like major mage. I think something like that set off like a catalyst or something after that. And it was like, April: Something. Tay: and I think I don't know, something the marriage had to happen in some way, shape, or form to where like because like I think Venon have some type of code. I think they are monsters, but they have some type of code. So probably he Zaiden would totally do anything he would to protect her. So his way of protection of her was maybe to marry her and like that gives her some sort of protection. That's my only thought to that. But other than that, April: Yeah. Tay: I think I I don't think he is at this point right now being saved. I think he is converting to like full bad venom at this rate. And I think we're gonna April: And so now Tay: have to live through a book of Zaiden being like a terrible person. April: I know. And there's so many theories that they're not end game. I feel like I've heard that she said they're end game, but I also feel like I haven't ever like I have never personally watched anything. So if y'all know of anything where she said they're end game, let me know. But I'm like also worried and I'm like, are you about to like break our hearts for real? Because and if you've read some of her other books, she does have some books that are not necessarily a happy lead ever after in terms of the couple's like everything works out okay. So I'm like, what is she about to do to us? I don't know. I Could probably research this for myself and find out. But like I said, we're vibes reader. We're just gonna roll with it. We're gonna go into Tay: Yeah. April: book four when it comes out. Probably super grumpy. Probably gonna wanna know and read it as fast as possible before TikTok spoils it for me. Tay: I think with Threshing Day, I'm excited for that book. I'm glad she's giving us a little something, something. Granted, it is being treated more like a novella, but there's plenty of people that I would love to see their POVs. And I'm kind of curious to see, is it a threshing day? Like the book is called Threshing Day. So I'm like, is it everybody's threshing day? Will we get to see like Zaydan getting to pick his dragon? Will we get to see like all of these main characters that we love and know now? Will we get to see that opportunity of like how them and their dragons bonded? I don't know. Like I'm just curious. Mm-hmm. April: And she's been super mysterious about this. Now, I will say I saw where Zayden's Threshing Day story is confirmed to be in it that she did that, but she's also been super mysterious about it all. She did say there's some reveals, but it's not like there's nothing for book four kind of coming. It's literally a companion novel. It's nothing that's gonna set up for book four. We've already been set up for book four. it's something you can read just as a reader to enjoy, these stories. I kind of want to see if it's gonna be having like snippets of the first six. So the first six dragon riders, I'm that would be a really cool thing for me to see in Threshing Day. I've heard some people and I agree with us, it would be fun to see like a threshing day story, but from a a dragon's perspective, that would be really cool to me. but I don't know if she'll do that because they're the dragons are super mysterious. And that's one of the big things in the series is that you don't know as much about them as you think you do. Tay: well y'all, the good news is you only have to wait like a week. April: Yeah. Less than that by the time this episode drops. Tay: I know. We're so excited. We can't wait to share this with y'all in that excitement. once me and April have it read, I can't guarantee by next episode, chill y'all. We have lives, work, jobs, but April: Ha ha Tay: by within two episodes, three episodes, we'll probably have it read and we'll we'll talk about it. April: Yes, but all right, besties. That's it for today's episode. Tay: Make sure to follow, download, and share our podcast socials with your other bug besties. We would love to hear your fan theories about Threshing Day or how you enjoy it. Please leave a comment on your favorite platform letting us know. April: And join us next week where we're gonna have a special episode about green flags and red flags and the books that match those flags. Tay: Yeah, and remember April: We're glad you're here because. Tay: It's faded.