The Empyrean is a five-book series. The first two books have been published: Fourth Wing and Iron Flame, both released in 2023. Fourth Wing introduces the characters and the world; it provides an exposition on the world’s geography, politics, and history and sets up important relationships that will grow and evolve over the course of the series.

Fourth Wing introduces the two warring kingdoms of the Continent: Navarre, native to dragons, and Poromiel, native to gryphons. Navarre is surrounded by magical wards that block all non-dragon magic, protecting the people and dragons—which reproduce in a highly protected area called the Vale—from both gryphon magic and, more secretively, the magic of dark-wielders known as venin who ride beasts called wyvern and forcefully leach magic from the earth. Venin and wyvern are widely believed to be make-believe creatures of folklore. Six hundred years ago, Navarre leadership erased all written records of them and continues to hide the truth from its citizens by passing off disturbances as gryphon attacks orchestrated by Poromiel. Fourth Wing begins nearly six years after a failed rebellion led by the Tyrrendor Province, which lies on Navarre’s shared border with Poromiel, and its leader Fen Riorson.