Genre/Tags: Fantasy. Series Side-line. Based within a Romantasy Series but with no Romance.

Author: Rebecca Yarros

Story Rating: 4 Stars

Narrator: Various. See blurb below.

Narrator Rating: Across the board I’d give 5 Stars

Length: 5 hours and 52 minutes

Audiobook Buy Links: Audible, amazon

Welcome to Threshing Day, the brutal, high-stakes trial where would-be riders at Basgiath War College fight to earn the bond of a dragon or die trying. Amid ruthless competition and dragon fire, these thirteen cadets must survive a battlefield where desperate rivals will do anything to gain an advantage and dragons decide one’s ultimate fate—and where a single choice can forge a rider … or destroy them.

Xaden Riorson, the powerful leader. Rhiannon Matthias, the clever friend. Dain Aetos, the dutiful rule-follower. Liam Mairi, the kindhearted protector. Ridoc Gamlyn, the jokester. Sawyer Henrick, the underdog. Garrick Tavis, the dependable aide. Imogen Cardulo, the impulsive fighter. Bodhi Durran, the second-in-command. Mira Sorrengail, the fearless rider. Brennan Sorrengail, the brilliant tactician. Aaric Graycastle, the restless royal. Sloane Mairi, the determined sister.

On Threshing Day, there’s only one rule: don’t die.

The Empyrean series is best read in order:

Fourth Wing

Iron Flame

Onyx Storm

Though Threshing Day can be enjoyed as an introduction to the series, due to contained spoilers, it is best read after Onyx Storm.

Narrated by John Skelley (Thadeus Palme), Zion Jang (Brennan), Frankie Corzo (Mira), Teddy Hamilton (Xaden), Anthony Palmini (Garrick), Jake Bordeaux (Dain), Giordan Diaz (Bodhi), James Aaron Oh (Sawyer), Robb Moreira (Ridoc), Nick Mills (Liam), Laura Knight Keating (Sloane), Chase Brown (Aric), Justis Bolding (Imogen), and Jasmin Walker (Rhiannon)

Review: 

**THERE WILL BE SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN’T AT LEAST READ FOURTH WING**

This book sits on the back of the three books to date (there will be 2 more) in the Empyrean series – Fourth Wing, Iron Flame and Onyx Storm. It’s a series of primary characters experiences of their individual Threshing Day on their way to becoming a rider at Basgiath War College in Navarre. Threshing Day is where the Empyrean, the dragons, choose who their rider is going to be after the already gruelling Parapet, Gauntlet, Presentation, enduing the mats, and at anytime your fellow cadets can kill you if they don’t like you or they want a crack at your dragon. And look, you can also be chosen and fall off the dragon’s back – splat, see you! It’s a dark and fickle world. 

I listened to this as well as read it. There were some interesting emotional nuances, feelings and processes we weren’t privy to before now. The e-book has absolutely beautiful dragon illustrations before each dragon and their rider’s Threshing Day chapter. All the narrators were good, some were outstanding, at capturing the essence of who they were narrating – both cadet and dragon. TLDR at the  bottom of my review.

Brennan Sorrengail and Mabh – I like how Brennan believes that orange dragons are erratic and unpredictable and his dragon believes Brennan is “boring.” He’s the oldest of the three Sorrengail siblings. The first of the three into the Rider’s Quadrant. His mother, currently colonel but soon to be general, has Brennan as her favourite. For Brennan, failure is not an option at Threshing Day. His father took their mother’s surname because the Sorrengails have a long and illustrious lineage of dragon riders, and their dad was just a scribe. Brennan feels caught up in the meaning of the Sorrengail name.  

Somehow dying is preferable to Mom feeling like she needs to change my last name on my headstone because I didn’t live up to it. 

Ironic how Dad turns up at his son’s Threshing. There’s emotion around that because we know he is dead by the time we start the Empyrean series proper. It’s not by the Codex, Brennan’s father being there, but his father was ever the clever rulebreaker anyway. The Codex being thrown out the window is a theme throughout this book. A lot of Codex-breakers in these pages. I was happy for Brennan. That he saw his dad and he helped centre him. That his dragon gave him what he needed. 

“There is only us,” Marbh tells me again as we fly for home. “Marbh and Brennan.”
I’m no longer just a Sorrengail. I am Marbh’s rider.

~*~

Mira Sorrengail and Teine – Mira follows on after Brennan. I’ve always liked and admired Mira. She’s a straight shooter. She also has a whole lot of chutzpah. She can quite literally punch first and ask questions later and I was always here for it. She’s a firm but fair and protective sister who loves her siblings. If Brennan’s their mum’s favourite, Vi is their father’s. Not great to feel that way. Shouldn’t have to feel that way. She was horrified when their mother ordered Violet to be a rider instead of a scribe, like her father, even after Mira and Brennan were already part of the Rider’s Quadrant. It was never meant to be. She helped Violet survive Parapet and gave her a bit of an edge for the rest, thank you Book of Brennan.

Mira also knew after Presentation that she wanted Teine. That Teine was hers. It isn’t exactly that simple, the dragon chooses its rider, and Teine has never bonded with a rider previously n- there’s a couple of them in this book. Teine wants a rider who knows who they are and that they will not shy away from pressure. That Mira likes a dragon who’s also a straight shooter and will kick her arse if needed, it’s a great pairing. 

Backing down. I inhale sharply. That’s it.
Never back down from a green. That’s what Kaori lectured.

  ~*~

Xaden Riorson and Sgaeyl – Xaden is the MMC of this series. Seeing him is ALWAYS a treat. Getting his POV? Fabulous. I also happen to like Teddy Hamilton’s narration of Xaden, he gets the occasional POV chapter in a couple of the main books, so it was nice to hear him and be with him at his own Threshing Day. He turned up at Violet’s in Fourth Wing. Very much against the Codex. Sense a theme? It seems he also turns up at quite a few of the marked ones Threshing Days, or he sends his most trusted when there are multiples.

We’re the ones with something to hide, the ones whose parents led a just rebellion for the greater good, only to lose, the ones every other cadet in this hellscape of a college wants dead. 

The children of the rebellion leaders are all marked with tattoos along their arms to their wrist. Where others can choose, they are conscripted into Basgiath. They get plenty of shit thrown their way. From fellow cadets/riders. From the hierarchy. Why Xaden started to like Violet, falling for her when he had good reasons not to, is patently clear. Sgaeyl may have been the first to choose him, knew he was going to be a force of nature with her as his dragon, and she has lineage attachment to him as well, but Violet felt the good along with the complex and dark in Xaden. She couldn’t see his memories like Sgaeyl, didn’t have history. Just sayin’.  

    “Forget what Kaori said about going in alone and stick to pairs, like we talked about. Remember, we have just as many threats on two legs as we do four. Don’t hesitate to defend yourselves, and give no mercy, for you will get none.”

Sgaeyl is a badarse dragon to go with a badarse MMC – and she cleans the crumbs up right from the beginning. She knows what’s what. What dragons are sympathetic to the the Tyrrish cause, including her. Xaden carries a HUGE load, being the Tyrrish Rebellion leader’s son. He carries the scars of 107 children on his back and he takes that seriously. He wants all of them to get through Threshing. His was an action-packed Threshing Day.

She’s not just majestic, she’s terrifying, and I am here for it. 

Also,  I can see why there’s such animus surrounding the Navarrian royals. Alic, the first born prince, what a piece of work. He didn’t make it through Threshing Day like Xaden and co. Buh-bye, Alic!

“I’d love nothing more than to burn this place to the fucking ground.” To a dragon, there’s nothing as sacred as the Vale, their hatching grounds Basgiath was put here to protect. I’ve just pulled the dragon equivalent of baring my throat.
Sgaeyl lifts her head. “And thus, we begin.”

~*~

Garrick Tavis and Cradh – I know a lot of readers love Garrick and I like him a lot. I like his dedication to Xaden and his people, he’s Xaden’s aide as his father was to Fen Riorson before him, but his Threshing Day just… was.

“Will you always put others before your own interests?” he asks as the snow picks up. 

He also pines for Imogen but Imogen is not letting anyone close, even though she wants Garrick. Yearns for him in return. Unfortunately, for now, there’s a lot of being noble in between him and Imogen. Not on his behalf, he makes it clear how he feels. However, he gets the right dragon for who he is and what he wants to achieve. I’m happy with that because I’m sure something will occur with Garrick and Imogen later… but you never know, there’s a lot of screaming in the background of every Threshing day as dragons fry the 20-something cadets, and not everyone makes it through the first 3 books. Also, Anthony Palmini as Garrick’s voice was so good.

 ~*~

Dain Aetos and Cath – I really like Dain. He felt like Captain Codex for most of Fourth Wing. He made some bad decisions around Violet who was his primary childhood friend, now with a dollop of she’s all grown up. You know he’s torn, it was easy to think it was because Violet chose Xaden but here you get to see the machinations behind what he did or said. He has pressure in the background. Not the same as Xaden, but still familial issues conflated with rising through the rider ranks. Clearly add spying on his squadron and other cadets as it suits his father as well.   

“I can’t tell you because it’s classified, but you can’t trust them. Not any of them, but especially not Riorson.”
“Dad, if they’re committing crimes, then bring them up on charges—”
“I don’t have enough proof. Yet. That’s why I need you.”

Aetos Snr is a colonel who hovers throughout Dain’s training. He’s a manipulative bastard that uses whatever means he can to abuse and twist Dain’s love for him. Dain’s mother left his father, and by way of that, him. So he wants to please his dad. It’s a soul-deep thing – as a rider but especially as a son.  

We have the same brown eyes, same build, same brown hair, and even the same mannerisms. Maybe that’s why Mom left me behind, because I’m a reminder of him.

Ouch. That’s so gut-wrenching. 

It was beyond good to see Dain choose the dragon he wanted and who wanted him. Not like his father had preordained and went all nepo about behind the scenes with the Empyrean.

“Do you give allegiance to the Codex while you ride the edge of Malek’s doorstep?”

He’s right. Codex isn’t going to save me here. “No.” 

That choice was one small step for Dain, one huge step for starting to be his own man moving forward, and he ran with that in the next two books. It was very interesting to see him involved in another character’s Threshing Day later on in a very un-Codex way. Good for you, Dain. I’m going to mutiny if Rebecca Yarros kills Dain off. I enjoyed the narrator, Jake Bordeaux.

~*~

Bodhi Durran and Cuir – Bhodi is Xaden’s cousin. He’s the checks and balances guy around Xaden being too extra. He also worries about him. That’s because Bhodi is not anywhere near as, uh, passionate as Xaden. He’s a tad more grounded.

It’s a fine balance between supporting my cousin and making sure his ruthless ass doesn’t end up executed, too. 

Bhodi is very big on being someone who never goes back on their word because his father prided himself on that. Made sure Bhodi knew how important it was. It is. He wants them all to be safe. He wants Xaden to be able to lead his people. He looks a lot like Xaden, and would like half of his confidence, but as much as caring for the people around him is important, he wants to be his own man. A man who wants peace. Not so easy in these times they find themselves in. Being at Basgiath War College. Being marked. I loved that while Xaden, meaning Sgaeyl, has a dragon organised, Colonel Aetos isn’t the only one running that deal, Bhodi wants to have the only say, along with the dragon, of course. 

Cuir.
“I know what agency means to you, what has been taken from you.” A light, mellow male voice cuts into me, and a feeling like home clicks into place. “I will always give you a choice.”

~*~

Imogen Cardulo and Glane – Imogen is one of the marked ones – love that she has pink hair – and is probably the most outspoken or direct outside of Xaden. She is pretty much a mix of sarcasm and pissed-off. She does not like many people outside of her people and Quinn, a Navarrian. She is the other half of the Garrick yearning/pining. Everyone around Imogen has died and she’ll be damned if she’s going to let anyone close to her heart because she feels like the harbinger of death.  

Fuck this day.
Fuck this kingdom.
Fuck everyone who put us in this godsforsaken torture chamber disguised as a war college.

Imogen’s Threshing Day is an emotional one for the reader. Imogen always holds it together, however-

My mom and sister may have been executed in Calldyr, but they never feel far from me.

***

 Everyone who gets close to me winds up dead. Dad. Mom. My sister, Katrina. Elyse—the only friend I made that first year being fostered at Ivyndelle. It doesn’t matter how mad I am at him, I’ll be damned if Garrick winds up on that list.

It’s beyond moving. It’s why Xaden fights so hard for them all. It’s why Imogen, and the other marked ones, follow him with utter faith. Garrick turns up to help her on Threshing Day but she isn’t having it. 

 He laughs. “Swear to the gods, you have the patience of a saint for every marked one but me. Why is that, Imogen?” 

She’s not saying. Even her dragon, who she’s not quite bonded with, gives her stick about it but she has her reasons and it’s nice to understand the deeper feelings for Imogen’s aloofness. Her, at times, abrasiveness. Good narration by Justis Bolding.

“Tell Grandma I took her dragon.” More accurately, her dragon took me.

~*~

Rhiannon and Feirge – Rhiannon knows which dragon is going to be hers from Presentation, the one that didn’t torch Violet that day. Feirge is a bit of a sarcastic dragon but Rhiannon is up to the task. Rhi is a great best friend to Violet. A good team member and eventually leader but there’s nothing new here in her story.  

~*~

Sawyer and Sliseag – Sawyer has always appeared to be the most considerate of the riders. He wasn’t bonded the first time around and is back at his second attempt at Threshing Day. It’s hard on everyone, but the first attempt left Sawyer struggling to believe he’s worthy of a dragon because if he was, he would have bonded the first time. I’m pretty sure every reader was so, SO glad to see him bond and also to understand the depth of hurt and anger he’s barely contained.

Swear to Dunne, I need an emotional blacksmith to twist all these feelings back into the unbreakable weapon the quadrant expects them to be.

As it just so happens, Sawyer’s dragon has the ability to do just that. Plus he won’t take any of the self-doubt and self-loathing Sawyer has garnered over his first two attempts at joining the Rider’s Quadrant. He also sees something this Threshing Day that makes him appreciate the opportunity he’s been given. James Aaron Oh does a good job as Sawyer. 

“I seek you,” he snarls. “That is the second time you have insinuated that I am incorrect, and you will not live if you repeat the offense.”

~*~

Ridoc and Aotrom – Ridoc is the group clown. He likes to joke. He likes to muck around. We already know Aotrom is the same. Of all the Threshing Day candidates, Ridoc’s was just a leaf out of the book. During the trip to the isles, Aotrom doused Ridoc with water, he does it again here as well as drooling on him. I’ll be honest, I really like Ridoc, but I found this Threshing Day story to be quite juvenile and repetitive. Okay. We learn that Ridoc was the ‘Mascot’ in his family – meaning the role he took as he grew up, being the child who uses humour to placate his parents.

~*~ 

Liam Mairi and Deigh – Seriously?! Break my heart all over again!! I know he was Xaden’s foster brother after their parents were executed. That he will do anything, like the others, for Xaden.

 If one of us proves disloyal to Navarre, his life is forfeit, so my loyalty to him will never come into question.

I read his chapter but it was hard. I’ve never recovered from Liam’s death. Unless Rebecca Yarros has some Deus ex Machina planned, this was mean. I already knew how much of a good guy Liam was. Kudos to Rebecca Yarros for writing characters that make me feel like I do, but I can’t with this POV. I will add, though, that the narrator, Nick Mills, did justice to Liam. 

“I’m lingering exactly where I was told to. My dragon will find me.”

~*~ 

Sloane Mairi and Thoirt – Thoirt is Deigh’s ^^sister so there’s something extra special about them bonding. That Thoirt sort out Sloane, who is full of anger and grief after losing Liam in the hellscape that is Basgiath is important as she’s only had one other rider. Sloane doesn’t want to fight the godsdamn Navarrian war. Not any of them. 

Except this Mairi doesn’t want to be wearing rider black. 

She doesn’t want to be around these people who hate her. Them. She doesn’t want to be around. Period. So much understandable sadness. I wasn’t always Sloane’s biggest fan but like her dragon predicts, she grows so much. You get to hear her thoughts about Dain Aetos and Violet Sorrengail, both of whom she blames personally for Liam’s death. She’d like them to pay. That Violet makes her earn the letters she saved from the mandated pyre to Malek is a kindness Sloane doesn’t recognise. Yet. It’s what Basgiath does when someone dies. Everything burnt to commend the dead rider’s soul to Malek. Imogen being the unlikely voice of reason about Violet is interesting. Helping Sloane understand a bit more about what Violet is really doing. The moment at threshing with Dain Aetos not being Captain Codex was a foreshadowing, I’m guessing. But most of all, that Thoirt was a gentle dragon – as gentle as dragons can be – is just what Sloane needs. Sloane’s narrator, Laura Knight Keating, was also very good at making you feel her pain.

“Only when you are ready will I channel to you.”
“And if I choose never to?” My breath shudders.
“Then we will be excellent companions,” she says gently.     

~*~

Aaric Graycastle and Molvic – Aaric’s POV is short and I understand why. He’s an enigmatic but incredibly intriguing character. Part of the royal family of Navarre, he couldn’t be any less like his 2 older brothers. His motives got a lot more interesting after his Threshing Day chapter. Molvic was on point for Aaric. Has had zero prior riders. Highly selective.

Others are in here hoping for acceptance or praying to gods who never bother to answer.
I’m hunting.   

…

“You must know: I intend to tear this kingdom apart.”
His eye flares. “I accept your terms, Aaric Graycastle.”

*~*

TLDR version-

• These are all stories based on one day over different candidates in the same year or over multi-years. It’s their unique experience of Threshing day. You either make it that far. Past Parapet. Past Gauntlet. Past Presentation. Maybe don’t get fried beforehand. Maybe, while looking for a dragon who wants to bond with you, you survive Threshing Day. Or maybe you don’t get bonded and you have to retry all over again at the punish that is Basgiath the following year.
• It’s kind of like the movie Groundhog Day only with different characters, some who overlap in a significant or meaningful way outside of what we already know from the series.  
• The Navarrian cadets predominantly hate the Tyrrish marked ones. Because of the Rebellion/Revolution – depends on whose side you’re on. The marked ones work for each other all the time and that includes Threshing Day.
• Codex (Basgiath’s rulebook) says you’re not supposed to but there are quite a few rulebreakers on Threshing Day as it turns out.
• Trees, for various reasons, are a thing in this book. 
• Everyone at Threshing Day that bonds does so because the dragon finds the rider worthy. The dragons, or the Empyrean, have the say on who gets bonded. The dragons don’t always choose to take part. If they don’t like you, if you look at them the wrong way, if they’re not your dragon and you simply look at them, you’re toast, and Basgiath and Navarre have no problems with that. 
• It’s made patently clear in Threshing Day that all the bonded rider/dragons have similarities or a way of balancing out the pairing. 
• This book is not romance although it’s written off the back of a romantasy series. Romance is alluded to, but that’s it.
• I’ve reviewed by rider and dragon pairing like the book. The dragons speaking or thinking into the head of a rider, are in italics. The colour I’ve added to the dragon’s name is their colour – with my limited range of colours to choose from.
• If you’re unsure whether to get this, know that it is costly for what it is. As lovely as the dragon artwork is, and it is lovely, it doesn’t particularly add a whole lot to the overall, but it does give you some extra nuance to primary ensemble characters. It also adds some pathos and some understanding as to why some of the characters behave/d like they do or have.  

Overall: 

There are a number of Threshing Day POV that are really worthwhile reading if only to know some of the rider’s inner workings and backgrounds a bit better. A couple were not really necessary. That’s my take, I’m sure you’ll have your own. It’s probably a good place to start your journey if you would like to dip your toe in, but again, it’s a pricey introduction, especially if you live outside the US. I love this series and I enjoyed being back in this world. Overall, it was worth it to me. Hence the review. For Threshing Day, it’s 4 Stars!