Threshing Day by Rebecca Yarros — Thirteen Cadets, One Morning and a Dragon's Choice

Every first-year cadet at Basgiath War College eventually walks into the same forest on the same kind of morning. Somewhere among the trees, a dragon is waiting. It may choose you as its rider. It may decide you aren't worth choosing. Or it may simply kill you. That morning is called Threshing, and in Rebecca Yarros's Empyrean series it is one of the most dangerous days of any rider's life. Threshing Day, published on 29 September 2026 by Entangled's Red Tower Books imprint, returns to that morning thirteen times. It isn't the fourth Empyrean novel that fans are waiting for, and it isn't a novel at all. It's an illustrated collection of short first-person accounts, numbered 3.5 in the series, that sits between Onyx Storm and the next main instalment. The standard edition includes black-and-white illustrations by Joe Requeza, and a deluxe edition adds colour artwork and gilded edges. A book built like an archive The structure is the most interesting thing about it. There's no continuous plot. Instead, each of the thirteen accounts follows one cadet through their own Threshing. According to the detailed review at Bookishelf, the accounts span about ten years and are framed as an in-world archive, with an introductory essay from a retired colonel, two scholars presented as translators, and a dragon compendium entry before each story. The publisher lists all thirteen cadets, and the range is wide: Xaden Riorson, Rhiannon Matthias, Dain Aetos, Liam Mairi, Sloane Mairi, Ridoc Gamlyn, Sawyer Henrick, Garrick Tavis, Imogen Cardulo, Bodhi Durran, Aaric Graycastle, and Violet's siblings Mira and Brennan Sorrengail. Some are central characters, others riders we've met only briefly. Seeing familiar characters on the day their lives changed is the main appeal. One account in particular, according to the reviewer at Bookishelf, reframes an important character's earlier behaviour in a way that may change how you read the novels. Who it's for This is a book for existing fans and nobody else. It assumes you know the world, the characters and the events of Fourth Wing, Iron Flame and Onyx Storm, and the publisher itself recommends reading it after Onyx Storm because it contains spoilers. New readers should start with Fourth Wing. It's also, like the main series, for adult readers. Content notes include violence, gore, burning, executions and suicidal thoughts. Where it shines Yarros is good at making a single tense morning feel different through different eyes. Cadets with different backgrounds and different reasons for being there all walk into the same forest with very different stakes. The dragons are sharp-tongued and often funny, and the framing device, with its compendium entries and scholarly notes, gives the book a playful sense of history. Bookishelf's reviewer gave it 4.5 out of 5, praising the cleverness of the frame and singling out a handful of standout accounts, including one in which a dragon is offered power and turns it down. Where it drags The structure that makes the book interesting also limits it. Every account follows the same basic beats: the walk into the forest, the search, the meeting, the choice. By the tenth time, that rhythm can feel repetitive. And because readers already know which major characters survive, their chapters carry little real danger. Caitlin Lloyd at Fanfiaddict was blunter, calling the book filler that adds little to the series and noting that most characters gain little new depth. Even the more positive reviews note that many dragons sound alike, and that the framing story is set up but never fully developed. Reading it well The best way to approach Threshing Day is as a collection to dip into, not a novel to race through. Read an account or two at a time, ideally after a reread of Fourth Wing, and enjoy it as a set of character studies. Fanfiaddict's reviewer also suggests it works well as an audiobook, since it's driven by voice and dialogue. Worth it? Threshing Day is a fan's book, and a generous one. If you love the Empyrean world, the chance to stand in the forest beside familiar characters on their most frightening day will be reason enough. If you're waiting for the story to move forward, it won't: this is a step sideways, not a step ahead. Read it while you wait for the next novel. Skip it if you've never been to Basgiath, and start with Fourth Wing instead.