Author Takes Year Off To Write Down To-Do List, Fans Swarve in Despair

KEY POINTS

•Rebecca Yarros published 'Onyx Storm' in January 2025, continuing her Empyrean series about dragon riding and dark magic.
•She took a deliberate break to focus on family and health conditions like Ehlers-Danlos and POTS before starting the fourth book.
•In January 2026, Yarros confirmed she began planning the fourth novel, promising new developments and status updates on missing characters.

Rebecca Yarros wowed the book world with 'Onyx Storm' in January 2025, breaking adult novel speed records typically reserved for teen heartbreaks. This third Empyrean series saga features Violet Sorrengail riding dragons (because horses are too pedestrian) and battling dark magic at Basgiath War College, presumably Hogwarts-lite. Yarros dropped the trilogy faster than you get a new iPhone — April and October 2023, then January 2025 — but hit pause on book four to live a human life 'mentally and physically,' battling Ehlers-Danlos and POTS, which may explain the delay. She's Instagramming vacations and her dragon-themed office (yes, a dragon fireplace sculpture) instead of typing furious notecards, though in January 2026 she promised 'Book 4's playlist is simmering' – clearly a very melodic cliffhanger. The ending of 'Onyx Storm' tossed fans into chaos: lost dragon eggs, missing riders, memory wipes, and an awkward sudden marriage with fuzzy details. Yarros, meanwhile, coyly assures everyone 'everyone in Navarre is still alive—for now.' Because who doesn't love suspense with a side of gradual anxiety?

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Watching an author take a family break between dragon battles is the most relatable fantasy trope yet. Apparently, chairs with built-in flame sculptures don’t write themselves.

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