Read-alikes
Books Like Fourth Wing
Nobody loved all of it. Each pick names which part it matches.
Updated September 2026 · By Sawyer V.
The short version
Work out what they loved. Fourth Wing readers divide sharply between the ones there for the dragons and the world, the ones there for the relationship, and the ones there for the sheer forward pace. Those three want completely different next books.
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How we picked
Each pick names the specific element of Fourth Wing it matches, which is an editorial judgment about the books rather than a similarity score we could not compute anyway. We have not read all eight.
What we do on every list: read the publisher’s own description rather than a summary of it, check print length and first publication year against library catalog data (last refreshed September 8, 2026), confirm the book is still sold in the format we suggest, and write the match line before the blurb. What we do not do is claim to have read every book here cover to cover. The full method is published, and it is written so anyone can check it.
The short answer
Who each book is for, at a glance. Select a row for the full write-up.
| # | Book | Give this if | Where to buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Iron FlameRebecca Yarros · 640 pagesThe obvious next step | they have only read book one | |
| 2 |  A Court of Thorns and RosesSarah J. Maas · 451 pagesMatches the relationship | they were there for the romance more than the dragons | |
| 3 |  The Knight and the MothRachel Gillig · 400 pagesMatches the tone, more recently | they want something newer rather than canonical | |
| 4 |  AlchemisedSenLinYu · 976 pagesMatches the intensity | they want something much longer and much darker | |
| 5 |  Six of CrowsLeigh Bardugo · 512 pagesMatches the crew and the stakes | they loved the squad more than the romance | |
| 6 |  The Will of the ManyJames Islington · 720 pagesMatches the academy | the school and the trials were the appeal | |
| 7 |  The Poppy WarR. F. Kuang · 522 pagesMatches the military school, harder | they want the same shape without the romance | |
| 8 |  StarsideAlex Aster · 512 pagesMatches the current wave | they want what everyone is reading now |
#ad — buying through these links earns us a commission at no cost to you. No price is printed because we do not run a live price feed, and a remembered number would be a guess.
Eight books, by which element they match
1. The obvious next step
Iron Flame
Rebecca Yarros
Give this ifthey have only read book one
The second Empyrean novel. Worth stating plainly because a surprising number of readers finish Fourth Wing without realizing the series continues — and if they have not read it, nothing else here is the right answer yet.
One caveat: Only if they have not already read it, which is the whole risk here.
- Print length
- 640 pages
- First published
- 2023
- Formats
- print, Kindle and audio where the publisher offers them
2. Matches the relationship
A Court of Thorns and Roses
Sarah J. Maas
Give this ifthey were there for the romance more than the dragons
A huntress is taken across the wall into a faerie court, in a retelling that turns much darker than it starts. It is the book that built the audience Fourth Wing inherited, and the emotional register is closely comparable.
One caveat: Explicit, and it is another unfinished long series.
- Print length
- 451 pages
- First published
- 2013
- Formats
- print, Kindle and audio where the publisher offers them
3. Matches the tone, more recently
The Knight and the Moth
Rachel Gillig
Give this ifthey want something newer rather than canonical
A 2025 romantic fantasy about a diviner who leaves the cathedral that raised her, traveling with a knight she does not like. Same enemies-to-something structure, with a more gothic atmosphere.
- Print length
- 400 pages
- First published
- 2025
- Formats
- print, Kindle and audio where the publisher offers them
4. Matches the intensity
Alchemised
SenLinYu
Give this ifthey want something much longer and much darker
A 2025 dark romantasy about a healer with missing memories held by the winning side of a war. It is close to a thousand pages, and readers who wanted more of everything are the audience for it.
One caveat: Very long and genuinely dark. Not a light next book.
- Print length
- 976 pages
- First published
- 2025
- Formats
- print, Kindle and audio where the publisher offers them
5. Matches the crew and the stakes
Six of Crows
Leigh Bardugo
Give this ifthey loved the squad more than the romance
Six criminals take an impossible heist job, and each has a separate reason for being there. If what they loved was the group of misfits under pressure, this is the closest thing available.
- Print length
- 512 pages
- First published
- 2015
- Formats
- print, Kindle and audio where the publisher offers them
6. Matches the academy
The Will of the Many
James Islington
Give this ifthe school and the trials were the appeal
A hidden survivor infiltrates the empire's most elite academy. The competitive-academy structure is the strongest match on this list, and the propulsion is comparable.
- Print length
- 720 pages
- First published
- 2023
- Formats
- print, Kindle and audio where the publisher offers them
7. Matches the military school, harder
The Poppy War
R. F. Kuang
Give this ifthey want the same shape without the romance
A war orphan tests into an elite military academy, in a grimdark fantasy drawing on twentieth-century Chinese history. Same opening structure, far darker destination, no romance to speak of.
One caveat: Extremely dark in its second half. Know the reader.
- Print length
- 522 pages
- First published
- 2018
- Formats
- print, Kindle and audio where the publisher offers them
8. Matches the current wave
Starside
Alex Aster
Give this ifthey want what everyone is reading now
A 2026 fantasy from the author of Lightlark, continuing the high-concept competition structure the romantasy shelf is built on. It is the newest thing in the same lane.
- Print length
- 512 pages
- First published
- 2026
- Formats
- print, Kindle and audio where the publisher offers them
Which element did they love?
| If they say | They loved | Go to |
|---|---|---|
| The dragons were amazing | The world | The Will of the Many, The Poppy War |
| I could not put it down | The pace | Six of Crows, Starside |
| I was so invested in them | The relationship | ACOTAR, The Knight and the Moth |
| I loved the squad | The found family | Six of Crows |
| I want more of exactly that | All of it | Iron Flame, then Alchemised |
The single most useful question is why they liked it, not whether. One sentence separates the reader who wants another academy from the reader who wants another relationship, and those two want almost opposite books.
The series problem, specifically here
Almost everything in this lane is an unfinished series, which creates two gift risks worth naming. The first is buying a volume they already own — with a fast-moving series the reader is usually ahead of you. The second is starting them on something that will not conclude for years, which some readers find intolerable.
If either worries you, the standalone options are thin in romantasy specifically but real in adjacent fantasy — our fantasy page marks which are complete. And a gift receipt covers the duplication risk entirely.
What we would skip
A slow literary fantasy, however good
Fourth Wing's appeal is substantially about pace: short chapters, constant escalation, and a hook every few pages. Handing that reader a beautifully written fantasy that takes two hundred pages to get going is a mismatch of tempo rather than quality, and they will put it down without ever getting to the good part.
Questions people ask
What should I read after Fourth Wing?
Iron Flame if they have not continued the series. Otherwise it depends on what they loved: ACOTAR for the relationship, The Will of the Many for the academy, Six of Crows for the crew.
What is romantasy?
Romance and fantasy in the same book, with the relationship carrying as much weight as the quest. Fourth Wing is the title that made it publishing's biggest category.
Is ACOTAR similar to Fourth Wing?
In emotional register and audience, closely. In structure, less so — there is no academy and no competition. It is the right match for a reader who was there for the relationship.
Are any of these standalone?
Very few in this lane, which is the genuine drawback. Six of Crows is a duology with a proper ending, which is about as close to standalone as romantasy-adjacent fantasy gets.
Sources
- Open Library Search API — First publication year, median print length and cover art for every book on this page. Queried 8 September 2026.
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