Fourth Wing
by Rebecca Yarros
At a brutal war college for dragon riders, a frail young woman must survive training designed to kill the weak. Romantic, action-packed, and adult in content. Read the full description
Best for: Adult readers who like romantic fantasy
Fourth Wing is #39 on BookWard's Top 100 books for September 2026, with a BookWard Score of 69 out of 100.
Fourth Wing: reading interest over the past 12 months
Sources: Open Library’s public reading-log and ratings data (dump of 2026-08-31), Wikipedia page views and Wikidata. Monthly counts are exact; they show relative interest among readers of these public sources, not total readership.
Ranked against the other books on this list, Fourth Wing’s reading interest has run from #26 to #55 over these 12 months. Interest rank blends shelf adds, Wikipedia page views and rating activity, each compared with the other 99 books that month.
Shelf adds by month
Fourth Wing was added to Open Library readers’ shelves 632 times in the past 12 months, peaking in September 2025 with 106 (101% above its monthly average of 53). Over the latest three months (Jun 2026 to Aug 2026) shelf adds were down 37% on the three months before. 84% of the adds were “want to read”, 7% “currently reading” and 9% “already read”.
Want to read Currently reading Already read
Wikipedia page views
Its Wikipedia article was viewed 1,018,692 times in the past 12 months, peaking in May 2026 with 99,784 views. The latest three months were up 3% on the three before.
Source: Wikimedia monthly page views for the article Fourth Wing.
What the data says about Fourth Wing
- Moderate swings. Monthly shelf adds averaged 53 with some ups and downs.
- Busiest and quietest months. September 2025 was its busiest month (106 adds), about 4.2 times its quietest, July 2026 (25).
- Against its genre. It had 36% fewer shelf adds than the average Fantasy book on this list.
- Share of the list. It accounts for 0.6% of all shelf adds recorded for the Top 100 over these 12 months, #56 of 100.
- Its age. First published in 2023 (3 years ago), it is older than 2% of the books on the list.
Each finding is computed from the public data above and shown only when the numbers support it.
Fourth Wing on the Top 100: rank history
First charted in September 2026. The chart gains a point with every monthly update, so its peak, climbs and falls will show here as they happen.
| Month | Rank | Score |
|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | #39 | 69 |
Is Fourth Wing rising or falling?
Holding steady Its weekly, monthly and yearly ranks are close together, so interest is steady rather than spiking.
On Open Library, Fourth Wing ranks #50 this week, #86 this month, and #79 over the past year. A longer bar means a higher position. Comparing the three windows shows whether readers are arriving faster than the book's long-term pace. Readings as of 2026-09-30.
Why Fourth Wing made the Top 100
Fourth Wing made the list mainly on momentum (+26.4 points) and reader love (+16.3 points). Its smallest contribution is rising (+3.5). The BookWard Score blends five public signals, each scored from 0 to 100 and weighted as shown.
The reading-now, rating and rank signals come from Open Library’s public data, not from BookWard’s own readers. The score measures reading interest, not quality or sales. How the score works.
Open Library reader stats for Fourth Wing
Source: Open Library public reading logs, as of 2026-09-30. BookWard’s own monthly snapshots are added to the picture, and anonymous BookWard reader data will be layered in as the community grows.
More readers have Fourth Wing open right now than 22% of the other books on this list. These counts come from one public source, so they show relative interest rather than total readership.
Where it sits among Fantasy books
It is #5 of the 10 Fantasy books on this month’s list.
About Fourth Wing
At a brutal war college for dragon riders, a frail young woman must survive training designed to kill the weak. Romantic, action-packed, and adult in content.
Why it’s here: It is one of the biggest word-of-mouth fantasy hits of recent years.
Best for: Adult readers who like romantic fantasy
At a glance
- First published
- 2023
- Genre
- Fantasy
- Also described as
- romance, romantic fantasy
- Series
- The Empyrean, book 1
- Length
- about 518 pages (the median across its editions)
- Original language
- English
- Languages
- editions in 4 languages listed on Open Library
- Editions
- 14 on Open Library
From Open Library and Wikidata public records. Missing rows mean the records do not list that fact.
Themes
- A war college for dragon riders
- Rivalry turning to romance
- Survival
What reading it is like
Fast, romantic fantasy with high stakes.
At about 518 pages it is a long read: roughly 10 hours at an average reading pace (about 250 words a minute, 300 words a page). Audiobook and edition lengths vary.
Good to know
First of the Empyrean series. Includes explicit scenes and violence, and is meant for adult readers.
The premise
Violet Sorrengail is meant to become a scribe, but her mother sends her to a brutal war college for dragon riders instead. To survive she must outwit stronger cadets and face rivalry and romance.
What you’ll get
- High-stakes dragon fantasy
- Slow-burn romance
- A fast-paced, binge-worthy read
You might skip it if you dislike steamy scenes or violence.
Pairs well with: A Court of Thorns and Roses · The Cruel Prince
Keep exploring the chart
Also on the chart at #38 and #40
Questions about Fourth Wing
What rank is Fourth Wing on the Top 100 books?
Fourth Wing is #39 on BookWard's Top 100 books for September 2026, with a BookWard Score of 69 out of 100.
Is Fourth Wing rising or falling?
Holding steady. Its weekly, monthly and yearly ranks are close together, so interest is steady rather than spiking. On Open Library, Fourth Wing ranks #50 this week, #86 this month, and #79 over the past year.
Why is Fourth Wing on the Top 100?
Fourth Wing made the list mainly on momentum (+26.4 points) and reader love (+16.3 points). Its smallest contribution is rising (+3.5).
How many people are reading Fourth Wing right now?
Open Library's reading logs show 171 readers currently reading Fourth Wing, 2,958 who want to read it and 200 who have logged it as read (as of 2026-09-30). These are counts from one public source, not all readers.
How much interest has Fourth Wing had over the past year?
632 Open Library shelf adds in the past 12 months (peak September 2025, 106); latest three months down 37% on the prior three; 1,018,692 Wikipedia views in the past 12 months (up 3% over the latest three months). Figures come from Open Library and Wikipedia public data.
Who is Fourth Wing best for?
Adult readers who like romantic fantasy.
Ask a question about Fourth Wing
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How we know
This page is built from public data: Open Library’s dated reading-log and ratings dumps, Wikipedia page views, Wikidata, and BookWard’s own monthly Top 100 snapshots. The interest rank blends shelf adds (45%), Wikipedia page views (30%), rating activity (10%) and, for months where a snapshot exists, BookWard’s own score (15%), each as a percentile among the Top 100 books. Every month shown is real data; nothing is estimated. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Last updated September 2026. Read the full methodology.
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