'Romantasy' on the rise in Sisters

Local fans of the smash-hit "Empyrean" books celebrated the release of the third installment, "Onyx Storm," with a theme party in Sisters.

The first two books in the series by Rebecca Yarros, "Fourth Wing" and "Iron Flame," each topped The New York Times Best Sellers list, where they have remained for more than a year.

A local book club last Tuesday transformed Paulina Springs Books into Basgiath War College.

Photo by Matt Van Slyke

Local fantasy fans turned out for a nation-wide book release party for the hit "Empyrean"series.

"It's a dragon rider school where, when you're a teenager and you get to go to college, you get to choose between four quadrants," said fan Nela Deutmeyer. "The book is about the ones who choose to be a Rider, and a girl who everyone thinks is not going to make it – kind of like that underdog type of story. Her name is Violet. She goes from being a fragile little girl to becoming a Rider. She trains, gets stronger, and gets one of the biggest, more badass dragons."

More than 1,000 midnight release parties – like those organized for the "Harry Potter," "Twilight," and "The Hunger Games" series sequels – were held across North America on January 21. The Sisters party reflected the community: smaller, more tight-knit, and not up so late.

Two dozen women clad in black (the color of the massive, powerful dragon Tairn), some sporting the protagonist's leather and braids, walked the Parapet into a "Fourth Wing"-themed room. They scanned QR codes to unveil their quadrant, bond a dragon, and discover their signet, or unique power.

"Party planning has always been my thing," said Michelle Aune, pointing to tables full of activities, raffle tickets, and prizes. "It was my college capstone. I like doing the crafts and putting the stuff together. We created the QR codes. The bookstore got an event package from the book company, and I just kind of put them together.

"I found information packets from a podcast by two sisters who have all these guides to the book, explaining in depth what things are, and in detail who the characters are, their different abilities, and the different types of dragons."

"The Empyrean" contains aspects similar to the titles above but the content is a bit more spicy. It's fantasy in more than one sense of the word. Following the quizzes, fans played a "Marry Kiss Kill" game to rate the heartthrob characters.

"We call ourselves the Not-So-Serious Book Club because we refuse to read anything serious. Not self help, not parenting, just nonsense," joked Julia Sarver, who helped organize the party.

"Onyx Storm" slayed Target's servers, causing the store's website and app to crash around the time it was released. The "romantasy" is almost certain to be a No. 1 bestseller for weeks to come, and a Prime Video series is in the works, set to span "The Empyrean" collection of what will be five books.