Why it works

FOURTH WING by Rebecca Yarros

Jun 07, 2023

I’ve talked about this practice before — here’s the link — but one of the things I occasionally do, when a book is really taking off, is try to figure out why it works. What makes readers connect with it? Why is it so popular? Why is everyone and their parakeet telling me to read the book??

Recently, I decided to read FOURTH WING by Rebecca Yarros. This book, to me, came out of nowhere. Then, all at once, my Instagram feed was filled with photos of it (and its beautiful stenciled edges). I’m always a little of wary of hyped books, but after trusted friends said they enjoyed it, I went ahead and put a hold on it in my library, and when it came in, I listened immediately. I had to know why people could not stop talking about it, so I went in with my “what is working?” hat on.

And right away, I began to understand why this book became such a sensation.

I want to share some of my takeaways — things I think the author did well and caused so many readers to shout about it. This isn’t a review. (I did enjoy it, though!) Like I said in my earlier post — and here’s the link again in case you skipped it before — when I’m reading to understand why readers latch onto a book, I don’t worry about my personal preference or what I think an author has done wrong, only what the author has done right.

Some housekeeping: I’m planning for this type of post to be a irregular but reoccurring feature in my Extra Special section, under the tag Why It Works. That means, while I’m sending this post to everyone in the Writing and Publishing section, it will become a paid-only feature.1

Paid subscribers will also be able to make requests for what I should read (or watch or play) and talk about next. I can’t promise I’ll get to everything, of course! This post took a million years to write. But suggestions will get priority.

A caveat: This isn’t a complete analysis of the book. Every reader has different things that work for them. Every reader has different reasons for getting excited about something. Obviously I can’t hit every single aspect that works — and I’m not going to try. What I look for, when I read a book to figure out why the hype happens organically, is why it appeals to a wide audience.

Also: I listened to the audiobook and don’t yet have a physical copy of the book (I am hoping to get one, though!), so I can’t reference page numbers or exact lines.

Okay? Let’s get into it!

This is not a real photo of the book. This is a photo I took and then put the cover of FOURTH WING over a different book using Canva. Yes it looks fake. I’m not a graphic artist, people!

Organization and spoiler warning

I’m breaking this up into a few different categories: accessibility, first chapter, character, structure, and tropes. You guys know I like lists and categories. Hopefully, this is helpful for you too.

Because of some of the things I wanted to talk about in this, there will be spoilers for the book. Since this book is still very new, I tried to keep spoilers as vague as possible, particularly stuff that comes later in the story. But I couldn’t avoid them without just skipping entire sections.

Spoiler warnings will look like this: [spoiler] spoilery text. [/spoiler]

If you don’t want any spoilers at all, even from the first chapter (which I am not putting a spoiler warning on, but it’s labeled), uh, save this post to read after you’ve read the book.

Okay. Let’s do it. For real this time.

Accessibility

This book appears to be designed to have wide appeal. That means it must be accessible for a lot of different kinds of readers, including those who love fantasy stories, those who may not be as familiar with them, and everyone in between. That’s a big task.

But Yarros does a few things that lower any barrier to entry, making the book accessible to all types of readers.

Before the story even starts, there’s a note that says it’s translated from the world’s own language. While it’s safe to say that most fantasy books are, that note gives this book a lot of freedom to tell the story in a way that feels fresh and modern. They use slang we use. They use measurements we use (inches, feet, miles). And the prose is straightforward and intimate enough that listening to the audiobook felt like listening to a friend tell a story.

Yarros also didn’t ask the reader to remember details, like which gods were which. She reminded the reader every time it came up, except with, perhaps, the one or two that were referenced often enough that the reader probably figured it out by then.

And there was minimal worldbuilding. It started off with only what was immediately surrounding the characters (school) and gradually expanded, first by talking about history and different settings, and later through interaction. The world was delivered in a very digestible way, giving the reader a foundation for the world — and then deepening the world as a more casual fantasy reader was more likely to feel secure.

It’s a tricky balance, but given the range of readers I’ve seen raving about this book, I’d say Yarros pulled it off.

First Chapter

A lot of effort goes into crafting a gripping first chapter. An author has to introduce the main character and their world, motivation, conflict, and stakes. And it has to be done without overwhelming the reader, especially in a very commercial book intended for a wide audience. Even someone only passingly familiar with, say, an action-fantasy must be able to orient themselves in (what could turn out to be) a fairly complicated world. It’s the author’s job to ground the reader as soon as possible.

With all that in mind, the first chapter of FOURTH WING did a lot of work. While it was long — about 45 minutes — the pace was quick, with the sense of urgency ratcheting up thanks to the ticking clock and the main character’s fear and anticipation.

The book opens with the main character — Violet — minutes away from “volunteering” to attend the war college as a dragon rider. We learn immediately that this is a death sentence for most people who volunteer, and for Violet, this is especially true, given her lack of training and her physical disadvantages.

We’re also immediately introduced to an antagonist: her mother. Violet’s mother is a general, who insists that all of her children become dragon riders. (Though Violet wanted to be a scribe.) Violet’s sister is currently a dragon rider, and introduced as an ally — she helps Violet prepare for the first challenge — and we also learn that their brother (who survived through graduation) died in action.

So: instantly, the reader feels strong feelings about Violet’s family, the ally and antagonist, and has a sense of personal stakes and injury: the brother is dead.

While Violet is counting down to the first challenge (ticking clock, urgency!), the sister helps Violet prepare and delivers some useful information and advice, like don’t make friends. It’s clear this school is cutthroat.

At this point, setting and worldbuilding are minimal. We know enough to understand that dragons are real and there’s a war college. That’s basically it.

(This is a sort-of spoiler warning for the rest of chapter one. I don’t think an event mentioned is a huge spoiler for the overall story, but again, if you don’t want to know anything, here’s your warning to go to the next section.)

When they go to the school and we begin to get a sense of the first challenge: the would-be dragon riders must walk along an incredibly high parapet and avoid falling to their deaths. Violet and other hopefuls climb the stairs, and at this point we are introduced to a few more character: potential friends and potential enemies. We also see Violet make a choice to help one of these potential friends, even though she was repeatedly cautioned not to do this. She trades one shoe with another girl, because hers are better for crossing the parapet, and she doesn’t want the other girl to fall. This one action shows a lot about who Violet is as a character. (Future actions will reinforce this.)

All the while, the tension is heightening because they are really close to the parapet, but one guy is outright saying he wants to kill Violet and another guy is really, super extra special hot — but he also seems to hate her because of who her mother is. So, a villain and a love interest. All the major (human) players have now been introduced.

Then the chapter comes to a climax: one of the potential friends begins to cross the parapet . . . and he falls. To his death.

Oh yeah. STAKES.

Instantly, the reader is even more worried for Violet, because she is in no way cut out for this. If a guy who has been training for this can’t do it, what hope does she have?

(There’s a whole book after this point, so we know she’s going to make it. The question is how?)

So by the end of the first chapter, major and minor conflicts are set up, different types of characters are introduced, and the tension is ridiculously high. Because even if Violet survives this, we know this is only the first challenge. Everything else is going to be even harder.

This first chapter works because it works. It’s long, but there’s no wasted time, no chance for the pace to slow down or the tension to ease. The chapter gives the reader everything they need to know (and nothing they don’t) while it’s building anticipation as high as it can go.

By the end of the first chapter, the reader is being pulled right into the next one.

Character

Character is key. Main characters especially, because the reader is spending hundreds of pages with them. It’s handy if the reader likes them, or can see something of themselves in the character. A little relatability goes a long way.

And in this case, I found a few things that make Violet a relatable, sympathetic character for a lot of readers.

1. She’s a bookworm. Most of the people reading FOURTH WING also like books. So there’s already something everyone has in common.

2. She is an unlikely hero. She’s physically small. She’s not athletic. And she has a physical disability. Violet is not equipped for the position she lands in. She is an underdog. This makes her sympathetic to a lot of readers who would also be unable to complete even Violet’s first challenge, let alone any of the following ones. (It’s me. I would die on the parapet.)

3. She doesn’t want to kill anyone. Even though she’s in a war college. Even though many of her classmates would kill her. Violet maintains her moral line and goes out of her way to avoid crossing it. [spoiler] As long as she can, anyway. And when it does happen, it’s intensely traumatic for her, as it would be for most of us. [/spoiler]

None of that means Violet is a wet napkin, though. She’s got opinions. She has flaws. And she makes mistakes. But these three major traits help connect a large number of readers to her.

There’s also an aspirational quality to Violet: she has grit, she’s whip smart, and she’s beautiful. Time and again, when she’s given the opportunity to retreat, she stands her ground instead. Like most heroic characters, she makes the choices we mere mortals would want to make, both on a grand scale and a smaller, more personal scale. (The shoe thing again.) But it’s not always the choice we would actually be able to make.

Structure/pacing/tension building

The last thing an author wants is for the reader to feel bored, to wonder when the next cool thing is going to happen — whether that’s romance, action, a reveal . . . anything. Keeping the story moving at a good pace (generally, I expect a story to keep going around the pace it establishes at the beginning!) is important for keeping a reader engaged. And having a good grasp of structure can help out with this.

Here’s what I noticed while reading:

There were no scenes that didn’t move something forward. Whether it was the main storyline with Violet trying to get through dragon-riding school, relationships growing closer together or farther apart, or what appears to be a series storyline [spoiler] with the bad magic guys, wyverns, and the rest of the world outside their kingdom. [/spoiler]

The entire book kept a fast pace, but it slowed and sped as needed. The “slower” sections of the book built and deepened relationships, and gave the reader a bit of breathing room, before something major happened and Yarros put her foot on the gas again.

Having a little breathing room helps keep the faster scenes exciting and fresh — and keeps the reader from feeling exhausted.

Yarros also spent a lot of time building tension, raising the stakes and adding pressure until it was on the brink of going from good tension to annoying tension — and then giving the reader a big reveal/reward. But that didn’t mean things were easier. Almost every time, the reveal/tension release made things more complicated.

Two examples of this were [spoiler] the question of whether Violet would get a dragon or not . . . but then she got two. Yay! Big reward for all that tension. But then there was a question about whether such a bond was even allowed. Or, the slow build up to whether she would get a power, what it would be . . . and then she does. Yay! But it’s exactly the kind of power she doesn’t want (even if it’s incredibly useful for the war effort) and she struggles to control it.[/spoiler]

In both of those cases, Yarros asked a question, made the reader wonder, built up all kinds of suspense and doubt regarding the outcome . . . and then delivered an answer that served to both reward the reader and guide them into the next part of the story.

For the climax . . . okay let’s spoiler tag this whole thing just in case, though this is vague: [spoiler] The characters were presented with a choice — risk everything they’ve worked for, but be true to themselves and their own values . . . or return to the (non-) safety of their former lives, turning their backs on their moral beliefs. So it was a choice to fly into battle, into danger and certain death. And the battle itself continued to escalate the stakes, ratcheting the tension up and up with every close call and the constant threat to their lives, all the way until the death of a character the reader loved. It was a painful, personal consequence for the choice they made in the beginning of the climax. It was also true to all the characters’ character.[/spoiler]

The climax was visual, tense, and constantly escalated the stakes. There was also a lot of personal tension, too, because Violet cared about the outcome, and because the reader cares about Violet, the reader cares about the outcome, too.

And, as before, the release of tension is complicated by the result.

If I had to chart the structure of this book in one of those triangle graphs, it would have a lot of different peaks, each one higher than the last. And there would never be a point where a valley dipped below a previous valley.

There’s probably a lot more to say here about the pages spent on plot, romance, other relationships, and how all those things balance out, but a) this post is super long already and b) I’d need a lot more time, a physical book, and maybe a spreadsheet. Regardless, I have a feeling these elements were deliberately weighed and distributed to keep readers engaged.

Tropes

I think of tropes like shorthand for what kind of tension or relationship a reader can expect in a book. They give your readers certain expectations, which means you, the author, can use that to your advantage.

Here are a couple I’ve seen discussed online and how they’re addressed in the book.

Enemies to lovers. (Look, maybe it’s a spoiler, but it’s telegraphed from the beginning and it’s the trope everyone talks about — besides dragons — so blame the internet.) What I found interesting about the use of this one was that Violet repeatedly recognized that her attraction to her enemy was not healthy. She called it toxic. To me, it shows the author is aware of conversations around this particular trope and ensured that her main character had thoughts about what she was going through.

Dragons. I don’t think dragons themselves are a trope (are they?) but let me spoiler tag some of this section because I do think the rest of this warrants one: [spoiler] Animal companions. Readers love animal companions. And here we have two — a giant, sarcastic dragon, and a sweet little one. This leaves room for the reader to pick a favorite (how could you??) and to feel satisfied that both the dragon Violet saves (same type of choice as giving her shoe to another student) and the one that makes her even more badass become her companions.[/spoiler]

Both of these are about relationships that span the entire book or a large section of the book. Having this type of shorthand to describe the relationships make it really easy for readers to pitch the book to friends.

WHEW that is a lot, isn’t it?

I know this doesn’t cover everything for every individual reader, but again, my focus was on trying to get a broad sense of what made the book blow up for such a wide range of readers in such a quick amount of time.

And my takeaway after writing all this? It was an easy book to read. (That does not mean it was an easy book to write.) The author did a lot of work to remove friction from the reading experience. That, combined with the high tension and tight structure — and a character who was easy to root for — led to a book that was not only a quick read, but had a lot of twists to talk about with friends, and was simple to pitch to other readers.

What do you think? Have you read FOURTH WING? Do you agree with my assessment? Remember, this discussion is about what works!

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