Threshing Day Is a Trap for New Fourth Wing Readers
This Tuesday, September 29, Threshing Day arrives, and Rebecca Yarros flagged its place in the series the day she revealed the title: "not book four!" She is still writing that one. This is a companion collection of thirteen Threshing stories, one legendary day told from thirteen angles, each built around a rider and a dragon that fans already know.
The publisher's copy names some of the pairs. Xaden Riorson and Sgaeyl are there, and so are Sloane Mairi and Thoirt. The copy also spells out the one rule of the day in capital letters: DON'T DIE. The ebook carries sixteen black-and-white illustrations by artist Joe Requeza, and a deluxe hardback gets silver-gilded edges and sixteen full-colour illustrations.
A side book, then. The useful question is who should open it, and when.
The verdict for fans: buy it now
If you have finished Onyx Storm, yes, get it this week. Two more novels are planned for the main series, and a collection that goes back to one legendary day is the right kind of book for the wait. There is no new war to keep straight, just the same day lived thirteen times by thirteen riders.
Xaden is the draw, and he should be. A whole story built around his own Threshing, with Sgaeyl, is the thing fans of Fourth Wing have wanted since his first scene. The rest of the lineup is a reason to reread with fresh eyes: minor riders you skimmed past become people with their own worst day.
The verdict for newcomers: not yet
Do not start the series here, and if a friend who has never read Fourth Wing picks up your copy, take the jacket away from them. One of the rider and dragon pairs named in the publisher's own description gives away a reveal that Fourth Wing keeps hidden for most of its 512 pages. We will not name it. You will know it when you see it.
A collection like this is written for people who already know how the story goes, and the pleasure is in the gaps it fills. A newcomer gets the gaps with nothing around them.
Where it goes in a reread
Rereaders get a different answer. If you already know every twist, try this order: reread Fourth Wing, then read Threshing Day while Basgiath is fresh, then carry on into Iron Flame and Onyx Storm. The collection works best as an echo of the first book, and slotting it in right after it turns thirteen short stories into a reread with extra rooms.
There is one more reason to be caught up. Prime Video is building a Fourth Wing series with Michael B. Jordan's company Outlier Society, with Meredith Averill as showrunner and Lisa Joy directing the first episode. Yarros is an executive producer. When the show arrives, the fans who have read everything, side stories included, will be the ones spotting what made it in.
So: if you have finished Onyx Storm, buy it on Tuesday. If you have not opened Fourth Wing yet, start there, and let the jacket wait.
