Onyx Storm
by Rebecca Yarros
★ Top 5 book of 2025 · #4 on Best Books of 2025
After nearly eighteen months at Basgiath War College, Violet Sorrengail knows the lessons are over and the battle has truly begun. With enemies closing in from outside the walls, she has to decide how far she will go.
Best for: Romantasy readers following the Empyrean series.
Onyx Storm is #2 on BookWard's Rising chart for October 2026: the hottest new books published in the past two years.
What Onyx Storm is about
The third Empyrean novel picks up with Navarre, Poromiel and the revolution leaders of Tyrrendor forced into an uneasy alliance. Their common enemy is the venin, an invading army of evil magic-wielders. Violet and Xaden set out with allies, dragons and gryphons to explore the isles south of their continent. They are looking for more irids, a cure for Xaden's transformation into a venin, and friends worth having in the coming fight.
The journey brings personal discoveries as well as military ones. Violet finds manuscripts written by her father, and Xaden meets his mother, whom he has not seen since childhood. Alliances are made, but the cost is real, and the irids have sharp words for Andarna about the warlike culture that shaped her. Meanwhile the powerful venin Theophanie takes Violet's sister Mira. Romance, grief and war share the stage. Best suited to readers who have already followed Fourth Wing and Iron Flame.
Why Onyx Storm is on the Rising chart
Its Wikipedia page had 19,128 views last month; 1,032 readers have shelved it on Open Library since 2025; 61 are reading it right now. The Rising score blends six public signals, each scored from 0 to 100 against the other new books and weighted as shown.
| Signal | This book | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reader pace | 91 | 28% |
| Buzz | 85 | 24% |
| Growth | 7 | 18% |
| Being read right now | 91 | 12% |
| Reader love | 96 | 10% |
| Newness | 52 | 8% |
Holding strong Wikipedia attention is steady (within -20% to +25% of the two months before).
The numbers behind it
- Wikipedia: 19,128 page views last month, against an average of 22,888 in the two months before (down 16%). Read the article.
- Open Library readers: 908 want to read, 61 reading now, 63 have read it.
- Ratings: 4.39 out of 5 from 33 Open Library ratings.
Onyx Storm on the Rising chart: history
First on the chart this month. The history grows with every monthly update.
| Month | Rank | Score |
|---|---|---|
| October 2026 | #2 | 72 |
Onyx Storm on the Best Books of 2025
Onyx Storm came out in 2025. Of the 30 books first published in 2025 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #4 on our Best Books of 2025 list.
Why it made the list: 1,030 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.4 out of 5 (33 ratings); 61 are reading it right now. The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
It earns Reader favorite and being read right now.
Nearby on the 2025 list
- Katabasis R. F. Kuang, #2
- Atmosphere Taylor Jenkins Reid, #3
- If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies Eliezer Yudkowsky, #5
- Wild Dark Shore Charlotte McConaghy, #6
See all Best Books of 2025 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2024.
Questions about Onyx Storm
Is Onyx Storm a new book?
Yes. Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros was first published in 2025, and BookWard's Rising chart only includes books published in the past two years.
Why is Onyx Storm on the Rising chart?
Its Wikipedia page had 19,128 views last month; 1,032 readers have shelved it on Open Library since 2025; 61 are reading it right now.
More new books readers are finding
- Sunrise on the Reaping Suzanne Collins
- Alchemised SenLinYu
- The Knight and the Moth Rachel Gillig
- Fearless Lauren Roberts
Prefer proven favorites? See the Top 100, or all Rising books.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views. The description is paraphrased from real source text (Open Library or Wikipedia). A book is on the Rising chart only if it was published in 2025 or 2026 and its readers are active and its interest is not falling. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales. Read the full methodology.
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