It's not often that I pre-order a book sight-unseen, but when it comes to Rebecca Yarros' Fourth Wing series, I'm apparently willing to make an exception. Like many other fans of the romantasy series, when a book titled Untitled Empyrean (Not Book Four) became available to pre-order earlier this year, I didn't hesitate to add it to my cart. Despite not being entirely clear about what I was buying, I appreciated that we were being told up front it wasn't Book 4, and figured that if it was Empyrean-related and Rebecca Yarros wrote it, I'd read it.
Considering the way Not Book Four shot to #1 on Amazon (leaving Rebecca Yarros "speechless") after it was announced in April, it's evident I wasn't anywhere near alone in my enthusiastic take-my-money approach. It was later revealed that the title of the book was Threshing Day, and that it would focus on 13 Threshing stories from characters featured in the Fourth Wing books, including Xaden. Cool!
I Was Quick To Buy It, But Not Planning To Be Nearly As Quick About Reading It
When I say that I was on the fence about reading the new book, it was less an issue of if and more an issue of when. My annual obsession with Big Brother has once again contributed to me being behind on my TBR. Also, the upcoming Sarah J. Maas book A Court Of Splintered Harmony release (later this month!) has me in a frenzy to finish rereading the previous ACOTAR books before this new one comes out.
Excuses aside, as fun as Threshing Day sounded, it also sounded a bit like 224 pages of bonus material that I could read at some point in the near-ish future. But then it was in my hand and in my Audible library and one thing led to another... You know how it goes. Now that I've read it, I can confirm that it kind of is 224 pages of bonus material, but I'm also really glad I ended up picking it up sooner rather than later for a couple reasons.
I Forgot Just How Much I Love These Characters
Guys, Threshing Day had me mentally trying to figure out how to tackle my existing TBR while also working in a reread of the first three Fourth Wing books, because I miss these characters so much! Rebecca Yarros explored POVs outside of protagonist Violet Sorrengail in Onyx Storm, and we've gotten bonus chapters from Xaden's point of view, so Threshing Day's approach isn't entirely new. Still, it's really great to get a look into the minds of several characters from the Fourth Wing books, specifically during their first encounter with their dragons.
If your memory of the series is rusty, Threshing is the day cadets at Basgiath War College head out to interact and attempt to bond with a dragon (and try not to get killed in the process). Each of the 13 characters get a chapter in Threshing Day, and what transpires is a bit more than just a rider and dragon interaction. I'm going to avoid getting too specific here, but the relevance of the time period for each rider factors in, and there are other characters who appear in some of the scenes, giving us glimpses of things that were going on that we didn't see in the original novels.
This book is meant to be read after you've read the three Empyrean books, to be clear.
I went into Threshing Day not knowing much to expect beyond the general description, which is why I don't want to go into more detail about what I enjoyed about it, but among my favorite chapters were Liam's, Bodhi's and Sloane's. I loved getting a look at what was going on with each of them during this specific point in their individual timelines. These chapters are really just snippets of the characters' stories, but they're memorable snippets and feel significant. I'm sure I'll have more thoughts when I do actually reread the series and remember things that came up in these scenes.
I Loved Listening To The Audiobook, While Also Having The Hardcover Deluxe Edition On Hand
I ended up listening to the Threshing Day "Wing and Claw Collection" audiobook on Audible, but I have no regrets about preordering the Wing and Claw Collection hardcover deluxe edition as well, as I ended up referring to it several times while listening to the book. It was a really great reading/listening experience that I'm glad I didn't miss.
For one thing, each character's chapter starts with details about the dragon. While these notes are mentioned in the audiobook, the hardcover makes for a nice reference guide for that info for anyone who likes to revisit things like a dragon's species, age and recorded number of riders. There's also a color illustration of each dragon included, and that added an extra layer to my enjoyment and appreciation of the story.
Even if you're planning on listening to the audiobook, I'd recommend picking up a copy of the deluxe edition of the physical book for your collection while it's still available. There's also a standard edition, but the illustrations are black-and-white and you won't get the sprayed edges with that one.
In addition to the Wing and Claw Collection audiobook, it looks like there's a GraphicAudio dramatized version coming later this month as well.
We're still waiting for confirmation about Fourth Wing Book 4's release date and title. We're also eagerly awaiting updates about the Fourth Wing TV show that's in development for Amazon. Hopefully we'll hear more news about the upcoming book-to-screen adaptation soon. There's lots to look forward to for fans of the Empyrean series.
