Skip to content
Bookworm
All books-like lists

Books like Fourth Wing

Fourth Wing sends a frail young woman to a war college where cadets must bond with a dragon or die trying. These seven books bring dragons, deadly trials and romance, from teen reads to adult fantasy.

Books to read next

  • Eragon

    Christopher Paolini

    A farm boy finds a stone that hatches a dragon and is pulled into a war against a cruel king, in a classic dragon-rider adventure.

  • Throne of Glass

    Sarah J. Maas

    An assassin competes against thieves and warriors to win her freedom as the king's champion, in a young adult fantasy with romance.

  • A Court of Thorns and Roses

    Sarah J. Maas

    A huntress is taken to a land of dangerous faeries and falls for her captor, in a romance-heavy fantasy with sexual content, for adults.

  • The Cruel Prince

    Holly Black

    A mortal girl raised in the High Court of Faerie fights for a place among the fey, in a young adult tale of court intrigue and a tense rivalry with a prince.

  • The Priory of the Orange Tree

    Samantha Shannon

    A queen, a hidden order of mages and a dragonrider across the sea, in a huge, self-contained epic with a slower build.

  • Red Rising

    Pierce Brown

    A miner from the lowest caste joins the ruling class and is pitted against its young in a brutal contest, in a violent novel for adults.

  • The Hunger Games

    Suzanne Collins

    A teenager volunteers for a televised fight to the death to save her sister, in a fast young adult classic with a love triangle.

How to choose

Fourth Wing is an adult novel with graphic violence and sex scenes, so decide how far you want to follow it. For dragon-rider fantasy in a gentler form, Eragon is written for younger readers. Throne of Glass and The Cruel Prince are young adult, with romance and fighting but milder content. A Court of Thorns and Roses and Red Rising are for adults: the first leans on romance and sexual content, the second on brutal violence, including sexual violence. For dragons in a vast, slower epic, The Priory of the Orange Tree stands alone. If you want deadly trials at a fast pace, The Hunger Games is the easiest place to start. Most of these open series, so a favorite can lead to more.

Want something more personal?

Tell Bookworm what you liked and what you didn't, and get a short list chosen for you.

Get picks tailored to you

More books like this

Browse by mood