Surviving her first year at Basgiath War College was only the beginning for Violet Sorrengail. The next stage of training is even more punishing, and the new vice commandant has made her a personal target, using his authority to press her toward a choice that would mean betraying the man she loves.

Wits, will, and the rules of Basgiath

Violet may be physically more vulnerable than her fellow riders, but she still has her wits and determination. At Basgiath, the leadership’s control meets a tradition of independence: dragon riders make their own rules, and Violet’s resolve becomes essential as the pressure mounts.

A secret beneath the college

Violet also knows a truth hidden at Basgiath for centuries. The threat it carries reaches beyond the demands of training, widening the novel’s conflict from one student’s fight to endure into a struggle over what the college has kept concealed. Iron Flame is the second book in Rebecca Yarros’s The Empyrean series.