Original novel

Fourth Wing cast: Esther McGregor and Emilio Sakraya will play Violet and Xaden, plus an original dragon-rider romance to read tonight

Original title: Fourth Wing cast: Esther McGregor and Emilio Sakraya will play Violet and Xaden, plus an original dragon-rider romance to read tonight

Prime Video cast Esther McGregor and Emilio Sakraya as Violet and Xaden in Fourth Wing. The facts, plus an original dragon-rider romance opening.

Original fiction. Characters and events are invented.

Edited by: Huangguo Drama · Updated: 2026-10-16

Start reading →

Stories

[Tea · Romantasy] It's official. Prime Video has cast the leads for its adaptation of Rebecca Yarros' "Fourth Wing," and "fourth wing cast" shot up Google Trends in the UK, Canada, Australia and Germany overnight, while "Xaden" trended on X in the US and Brazil.

The casting

According to the X news summary, citing the trade reports, Esther McGregor will play Violet Sorrengail and Emilio Sakraya will play Xaden Riorson. The series is produced by Michael B. Jordan's Outlier Society, with Meredith Averill as showrunner and Lisa Joy directing the pilot. "Fourth Wing" is the first book in Yarros' Empyrean series, a 2023 bestseller that sold millions of copies with a huge boost from BookTok.

Fans' early verdict

Reactions focused on fit. Fans pointed to McGregor's streaming experience, and to the intense screen presence Sakraya showed in "Warrior Nun" and "One Piece." The enemies-to-lovers dynamic between Violet and Xaden is the heart of the books, so the pairing was always going to be judged on chemistry. No release date has been announced yet.

Why romantasy is everywhere

Romantasy is romance plus high fantasy: dragons, magic, battles and a love story with real heat at the center. "Fourth Wing" helped turn it into one of publishing's hottest categories. If you're searching "books like Fourth Wing," you want danger, banter and a slow-burn rivalry.

While you wait: an original opening

Here's the first scene of an original story for our night-novels section. It's our own world and our own characters. Both are adult soldiers. It has nothing to do with the books or the actors.

"Ash Over Varr"

Captain Ilse Maren, thirty-one, had flown the northern border for nine years, and she had never once been late to a muster. Tonight she was late, because the new wing commander had landed his black dragon on her bunkhouse roof.

"You're in my light," she called up.

Commander Teodor Hale, thirty-four, looked down from the ridge of the roof. He had a scar through one eyebrow and the patience of someone who'd been shouted at by better officers. "Your light," he said, "is a lantern. My dragon is cold."

"Then find him another roof."

"He likes this one." Teodor slid down, landing in the mud beside her. Up close he smelled of rain and smoke. "I read your reports, Captain. You're the only flier on this line who writes down what actually happened."

"Someone has to."

"Fly lead with me at dawn," he said. "I want the truth about this border from someone who isn't trying to impress me."

She should have said no. Instead she watched the black dragon shift on the roof tiles, and realized she wanted to know what kind of man flew a beast like that. "Dawn," she said. "Don't be late."

He grinned. "I'm never late."

Above them, his dragon exhaled a long, warm breath that turned the drizzle to steam.

Read the full story in our romantasy tag.

Other dramas

No same-genre drama for this story. These are other dramas on the site, not an adaptation of it.

One more story

English text available
The Lawyer's Late Return
When the lights of the firm go out, she finds her partner still waiting downstairs. The unsigned agreement keeps them silent the whole way, until she admits that what she truly wants is not to win or lose, but a chance to be heard in earnest. The car stops at the gate of the old park. They decide to walk first, and talk about tomorrow after.
Start reading →
English text available
The Unfinished Spell After School
In an empty classroom at Star Lantern Private High, Shirasaki Rin draws the same magic circle every day—one corner always missing. The afternoon the class monitor, Aoba Toru, pushes the door open, he sees the glyphs light for the first time, and sees her cry for the first time. They say that once the spell is complete, this after-school will end. Unwilling to let the bell cut the two of them apart again, the boy decides to become the puzzle piece that stays missing on purpose.
Start reading →
English text available
The Transfer Student of the Colossus Nation
High schooler Kanzaki Eiji falls asleep on the train. When he wakes, a skyscraper the colossal beasts use as a stepping stone fills the window. Here, people raise their cities between the spines of beasts and treat courage like a traffic law. He meets Roki, a lancer girl in the middle of special training, and an instructor built like a bear. All Eiji brought from home is a folding umbrella—until a blade that does not belong to this world slides free from its ribs.
Start reading →
English text available
The Elf Senpai's Gardening Notes
The gardening club has only two members. Its president, Tsukimi Kaze, tends a whole season of night-blooming flowers in the greenhouse—blooms she never shows to anyone outside. One evening the new member, Nakamura Haru, stays late to water them and watches her take off her hat. It is not an ornament. It is a real pair of elf ears. Kaze says, "An elf whose ears are seen by a human must make the one who saw them part of the garden." Haru is sure he is about to be planted in a flowerpot. Instead, he is simply pulled in to write the observation notes with her.
Start reading →
English text available
Failed to Become a Normie Again Today
Upon entering high school, Kurose Yota swears he will shed his otaku identity and become the kind of normie who says “Where should we hang out?” after class. The plan collapses on the third day of term—Amami Rika, top of the school, hauls his limited-edition figure back from beyond the rooftop railing and declares, “From today on, I’m supervising your normie training.” And so Yota’s high school life becomes a public execution.
Start reading →
English text available
The Counter Miss Is Actually a Legendary Summoner
Hiiragi Makoto, the desk clerk of the adventurers' guild Amber Pavilion, has been voted the most hopeless receptionist in the city. No one knows that after work he lets the slumbering golden dragon Oro out of his ring for a walk. When an S-rank subjugation order falls and the guild faces total ruin, the young man who only stamps forms and brews tea takes off his nameplate—the legendary Summoner King, long thought missing, has been sitting behind the window filling out timesheets all along.
Start reading →
English text available
The Failing Prince's Year of Frames
Five years after the empire fell, Prince Klaus buried his name and enrolled at the new kingdom's Frame Academy. He meant only to be an ordinary failing student, yet at the entrance ceremony he blundered into the women's baths and came face to face with the reigning princess, Lina. Worse still, the slumbering frame Dawn Eclipse chose him as its master that very night. Within a year the failing prince must win the frame duel at the academy festival—or the remnants of the old dynasty will use his childhood friend as kindling.
Start reading →
English text available
The Confession Was Where the Penalty Game Began
After losing a round of truth or dare, Kirino Aoi is sentenced to confess to Nanjo Makoto, the most unremarkable boy in class. She thinks that once the words leave her mouth, the game will be over. But Nanjo nods. From the next day on, he waits for her at the school gate, remembers that she hates cilantro, and holds out an umbrella the moment she wants to run. The penalty game never ended. It only changed its name to love.
Start reading →