Fourth Wing: A Critical Christian Book Review (Spoiler Free)

Fourth Wing, by author Rebeccas Yarros, is a captivating, brilliantly plotted fantasy, full of action, danger, and intrigue. Presented in a rich, deep point of view format, this fascinating story grasped me in its claws from the first paragraph and did not let go throughout the climbs, turns and drops until the ending twist. From fantastic creatures to an inventive use of powers, Yarros has expertly crafted a world I would want to visit again and again, were it not for a few serious issues.

The story is set in a world with a pantheon of unique gods similar to that of our own ancient world. They are evidence of in-depth worldbuilding, but do not actively participate in the story. So, Theological issues aside, I have identified three areas of moral concern for Christians seeking appropriate and edifying entertainment.  

1. FOUL LANGUAGE

 The author’s frequent employment of foul language is problematic. After becoming immersed in this epic tale, crass cuss words pulled me right out of a wonderful dreamscape and back into the ugly reality from which I sought escape. For a book that is otherwise so inventive, simply swearing or dropping F-bombs when characters need to express strong emotion was disappointing. This approach lacked creativity and was simultaneously boring and off-putting. More creative word usage would have enhanced this book and my enjoyment of it.

2. LGBTQ INSERTS

The artistry of this novel suffers from a certain amount of shoehorning of LGBTQ ideals. Throughout the first two-thirds of the book, any sexual encounters occur off-page and are simply mentioned in passing as hook-up culture chatter. Yarros alludes to a significant female character engaging in sexual escapades with both female and male cadets. She does the same for one of the promiscuous male characters. These conversations do nothing to advance the plot or contribute to the character’s development. To me, they felt like nothing more than drop-ins to appease the secular masses, and, in my opinion, they cheapened the work.

The author also refers to an individual character by using they/them/their pronouns. Yarros is clearly an intelligent woman, so assuming she was present in school on the day pronouns were taught, I can only deduce that this was an ill-advised attempt on her part to engage in social engineering. He, him and his are singular, masculine pronouns. She, her and hers are singular, feminine pronouns. It is grammatically incorrect to use plural pronouns such as they, them or theirs to refer to an individual unless that person is possessed by demons, resulting in more than one entity residing in a single body. In this instance, the character in question plays no significant part in the story and is only present for the purpose of promoting transgender ideology which is sinful, dangerous and harmful to children. It is most unfortunate that she would dirty up an otherwise excellent work with such an obviously poor writing technique that looks embarrassingly foolish on the page.

3. PORNOGRAPHY

The most serious issue with this book for Christian readers is two lengthy sex scenes which cover a total of fifteen pages. The word pornography originally referred to written sexual content. These two scenes are explicit, graphic and detailed in such a way that the book should be excluded from school libraries. These scenes were gratuitous, lengthy and completely unworthy of the work. The author brought the story to a near stop in order to indulge a sexual fantasy that this reviewer believes to be out of place in serious literature. Though I must acknowledge the skillful use of tropes and build up to the events, her astonishing descriptive talents could be put to better use than mere smut.

I recommend that any Christian who wishes to read this book avoid chapter 30 from page 373 to the scene break in the middle of page 383 and then skip pages 415-420, reading only the last two lines of page 421. You will not miss any of the plot, though you will be subjected to some vulgar comments on the pages that follow.

CONCLUSION 

Rebecca Yarros is a phenomenal literary talent, of that there can be no doubt. I am, quite frankly, in awe of her imagination and writing skill. This incredible story is enhanced with spectacular worldbuilding, compelling romance, interesting characters, tense action and intriguing twists. This only makes the issues mentioned above even more unfortunate.

I am certain that many readers among her target audience have relished the pornographic scenes, foul language and LGBTQ inclusion. For some, these may have even been a highlight, but devout Christian readers will find these elements to be inappropriate and even offensive. They are a dark stain on what could have been a work for the ages. These aspects of the novel will forever banish this book to the realm of popular fiction, when it could have been shelved alongside the great literary classics of all time with a bit of self-restraint, better editing, and cleaning up.

Note: I felt like the second book, Iron Flame, did an admirable job of addressing the nature of good and evil and putting others before yourself.