Books Similar to Fourth Wing: 14 Romantasy Reads With Dragons and Danger

Fourth Wing works because Rebecca Yarros refuses to pick a lane. It's a full military fantasy with dragon-rider mechanics that actually matter to the plot, and it's a full-heat romance with real slow burn, not a subplot bolted on for marketing. What keeps readers turning pages isn't dragons alone, it's the combination of a war-college setting where losing means dying, a heroine who has to out-think opponents who could crush her physically, and a love interest who starts as a threat and stays dangerous even after he stops being one. This list is built around those three qualities, not just "also has dragons in it." ## A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (2015) Feyre trades her freedom for a debt owed to a fae lord and gets pulled into a court of politics, curses, and a slow-burn romance that keeps escalating book after book. It's the book most often named alongside Fourth Wing because both defined what modern romantasy looks like: high fantasy stakes married to a romance arc the author isn't afraid to make the actual engine of the story. If you started with Fourth Wing and haven't read ACOTAR yet, this is the other half of the genre's foundation. [Find A Court of Thorns and Roses on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=A+Court+of+Thorns+and+Roses+Sarah+J+Maas&tag=31813-20) ## The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent (2022) Oraya is the only human in a court of vampires, competing in a deadly tournament where losing means death, forced into an uneasy alliance with a dangerous ancient predator. Of everything on this list, Serpent nails Fourth Wing's specific energy closest: a heroine who is outmatched by everyone around her and has to win through cunning, plus a love interest who could kill her and occasionally reminds her of it. Start here if the tournament-stakes tension is what hooked you. [Find The Serpent and the Wings of Night on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=The+Serpent+and+the+Wings+of+Night+Carissa+Broadbent&tag=31813-20) ## Fireborne by Rosaria Munda (2018) Annie and Lee both survived a revolution that killed their families on opposite sides, and now train side by side as dragon riders in the same elite squadron. Fireborne takes Fourth Wing's dragon-bond mechanics and war-college structure and builds a genuinely political story around them, less romance-forward but sharper on the cost of loyalty and revenge. Pick this one if the dragon-rider bond itself, not the romance, is what you came for. [Find Fireborne on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Fireborne+Rosaria+Munda&tag=31813-20) ## From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout (2020) Poppy has been isolated her whole life as a Chosen One bound for a ceremonial fate she never agreed to, guarded by a masked warrior whose loyalty she can't quite trust. Armentrout writes the same kind of forbidden slow burn Yarros does: real chemistry, real obstacles, and pacing built to destroy a reading schedule in one sitting. [Find From Blood and Ash on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=From+Blood+and+Ash+Jennifer+Armentrout&tag=31813-20) ## The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen (2020) Lara is trained from childhood as a weapon and sent to marry an enemy king as a spy, only to find the marriage and the man both more complicated than her mission accounted for. It shares Fourth Wing's core setup almost exactly: a heroine who is dangerous in her own right, thrown into close quarters with someone she's supposed to see as the enemy. [Find The Bridge Kingdom on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=The+Bridge+Kingdom+Danielle+Jensen&tag=31813-20) ## Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas (2012) Celaena Sotheby is the kingdom's deadliest assassin, pulled from a slave camp to compete for a spot as the king's champion against other killers who'd rather see her dead. The series builds from a competition-arc opener into a sprawling political fantasy, and Celaena's arc from underestimated fighter to genuine power player mirrors Violet's growth across The Empyrean. [Find Throne of Glass on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Throne+of+Glass+Sarah+J+Maas&tag=31813-20) ## Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross (2023) Iris and Roman are rival journalists competing for the same promotion at a newspaper in a world where gods wage war through mortal proxies, exchanging secret letters neither realizes are reaching the other. It trades Fourth Wing's dragons for gods and typewriters, but the enemies-forced-into-alliance dynamic and the war looming in the background hit the same notes. [Find Divine Rivals on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Divine+Rivals+Rebecca+Ross&tag=31813-20) ## Powerless by Lauren Roberts (2023) In a kingdom where the powerless are executed on sight, Paedyn hides her lack of abilities by posing as an Ordinary while falling for a prince competing in a lethal trial by combat. The premise leans hard into the same "hide who you are while training or dying alongside someone who could expose you" tension that drives Violet's early chapters at Basgiath. [Find Powerless on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Powerless+Lauren+Roberts&tag=31813-20) ## The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang (2018) Rin tests into an elite military academy and discovers a talent for shamanism that could win her country's war, at a cost the book refuses to soften as the story goes on. It shares Fourth Wing's war-college structure and a heroine who has to out-perform peers who underestimate her, but Kuang takes the darkness much further and drops most of the romance in favor of a brutal examination of what winning actually costs. [Find The Poppy War on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=The+Poppy+War+R+F+Kuang&tag=31813-20) ## Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong (2023) Two rivals who can body-swap into anyone they touch enter a lethal royal tournament with hidden agendas, playing an enemies-to-lovers game where trusting the wrong person gets you killed. The body-swap mechanic gives it a sharper edge than most romantasy, but the tournament stakes and the snarky, morally gray dynamic between leads land close to Fourth Wing's tone. [Find Immortal Longings on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Immortal+Longings+Chloe+Gong&tag=31813-20) ## House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas (2020) Bryce Quinlan is a half-fae party girl dragged into a murder investigation alongside a fallen angel assassin bound to obey her, in a modern-meets-fantasy city full of demons and politics. It's a longer, denser read than Fourth Wing, but the slow-burn romance between two people who start as adversaries and the escalating stakes across the series will feel familiar. [Find House of Earth and Blood on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=House+of+Earth+and+Blood+Sarah+J+Maas&tag=31813-20) ## A Shadow in the Ember by Jennifer L. Armentrout (2022) Sera has been raised her entire life to fulfill a prophecy, promised to a mysterious, dangerous figure whose true identity she doesn't learn until it's too late to walk away safely. Armentrout leans further into mythology and prophecy than Yarros does, but the forced-proximity romance with a love interest who's more than he appears keeps the same addictive pull. [Find A Shadow in the Ember on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=A+Shadow+in+the+Ember+Jennifer+Armentrout&tag=31813-20) ## Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon (2019) A single massive volume spanning multiple kingdoms, dragon riders, and a looming apocalypse, built around several women protecting their worlds from opposite ends of the map. It has almost none of Fourth Wing's romance heat, but if the dragon-and-rider bond itself is the part you can't get enough of, nothing on this list goes deeper into how that bond actually works. [Find Priory of the Orange Tree on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Priory+of+the+Orange+Tree+Samantha+Shannon&tag=31813-20) ## Legendborn by Tracy Deonn (2020) Bree enrolls early at a university with a secret society of modern-day Arthurian knights after her mother's mysterious death, and starts uncovering magic she didn't know she had. The academy setting and a heroine who has to prove herself against peers who think she doesn't belong echo Violet's early struggles at Basgiath, with the romance kept lower-heat and the mystery plot pushed to the front. [Find Legendborn on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Legendborn+Tracy+Deonn&tag=31813-20) --- ## How the Genre-Defining Traits Line Up | Book | Dragons | War-college setting | Romance heat | Series status | |---|---|---|---|---| | Fourth Wing | Yes | Yes | High | Ongoing | | A Court of Thorns and Roses | No | No | High | Complete, 5 books+ | | The Serpent and the Wings of Night | No | No | High | Ongoing | | Fireborne | Yes | Yes | Low | Complete trilogy | | From Blood and Ash | No | No | High | Ongoing | | The Bridge Kingdom | No | No | High | Complete, 4 books | | The Poppy War | No | Yes | Low | Complete trilogy | | Priory of the Orange Tree | Yes | No | None | Standalone | ## How to Pick Your Next Book If you loved **the dragon-rider mechanics specifically**: start with Fireborne or Priory of the Orange Tree. If you want **the same tournament-stakes danger**: The Serpent and the Wings of Night or Immortal Longings. If you want **the closest romantasy formula** (enemies to lovers, high heat, escalating series): A Court of Thorns and Roses or From Blood and Ash. If you want **the war-college setting with the darkness turned up and the romance turned down**: The Poppy War. If you want **lower spice without losing the academy danger**: Legendborn or Fireborne. For more reading lists in this vein, see our guides to [books similar to Game of Thrones](/blog/books-similar-to-game-of-thrones-2026), [books similar to Harry Potter](/blog/books-similar-to-harry-potter-2026), and [books similar to Dungeon Crawler Carl](/blog/books-similar-to-dungeon-crawler-carl). --- ## FAQ **What is the closest book to Fourth Wing?** The Serpent and the Wings of Night for tone and tournament stakes, Fireborne for the dragon-rider mechanics specifically. **Are there books similar to Fourth Wing without spice?** Fireborne and Priory of the Orange Tree both deliver dragons and war-college stakes with little to no romance content. **Is Fourth Wing part of a finished series?** No, Rebecca Yarros is still actively releasing new books in The Empyrean series. The picks on this list are a good way to fill the gap between releases.