Ravensburger has done something we've been quietly hoping they would — they've turned all three books in Rebecca Yarros's runaway-bestseller Empyrean series into 500-piece jigsaw puzzles. Fourth Wing, Iron Flame, and Onyx Storm are all open for pre-order now, with stock expected between September and October 2026. Reserve any of them and we'll dispatch the moment they land with us.
First, what is the Empyrean series?
Even if you haven't picked the books up yourself, you've almost certainly seen them. Rebecca Yarros's Empyrean series is the dragon-rider phenomenon that has dominated bookshops, BookTok, and "what should I read next?" conversations for nearly three years now.
It's romantasy — fantasy with a strong romance thread — set at Basgiath War College, a brutal training academy where young recruits compete to bond with dragons and become riders. The heroine, Violet Sorrengail, is small, chronically ill, and frankly shouldn't be there at all. She is, however, exactly the sort of character readers fall hard for. There are dragons with very strong opinions about who lives and who doesn't, an enemies-to-lovers thread with a man called Xaden whose loyalties are extremely complicated, and a war creeping in from the edges of the map.
Onyx Storm, the third book, sold 2.7 million copies in its first week — one of the biggest adult-novel launches in decades.
So when Ravensburger announced official puzzles for all three covers, the reaction in the puzzle world looked a lot like the reaction in the book world.
Fourth Wing — book one
Fourth Wing, published in 2023, is the natural starting point — for the books and for the puzzle collection. The cover is unmistakable once you've seen it once: a dark, dramatic image built around a stylised wing motif, all rich tones and stark contrast. It's the cover that filled bookshop windows for most of 2024.
As a puzzle, it's a really pleasant build. The image has plenty of tonal variation across the wings and background to keep you problem-solving, but it doesn't tip over into a punishing "find the last piece of sky" exercise.
Iron Flame — book two
Iron Flame picks up exactly where Fourth Wing left off, and the cover follows the same striking visual language — bold, fiery, dark, with that same wing emblem rendered in a slightly hotter palette. That continuity matters when you build the puzzles as a set: stand them side by side and they look like the trilogy-so-far they are.
Same 500-piece format, same Ravensburger precision cut. If you've already built Fourth Wing, this one will feel familiar in the best way — a similar building rhythm, but a different image to lose an evening in.
Onyx Storm — book three, the latest
Onyx Storm arrived in January 2025 and broke a remarkable number of adult-fiction launch records on its way out the door. It's the third book in what's planned to be a five-book series, and the cover continues the visual lineage — same wing motif, same fierce energy, a deeper and more atmospheric palette this time around.
For readers who've kept up with the series, this one is the satisfying "I lived this story" build. For people coming to the puzzles without having read the books yet, it's arguably the most striking of the three covers — and a brilliant gateway in.
Why 500 pieces is the right size for these
500 is the sweet spot for cover-art puzzles. You get enough variety in the image to make the build genuinely interesting, but it's small enough to finish in one or two sittings rather than colonising the dining table for a fortnight. The finished puzzle is a manageable size too — easy to frame on a wall, or to box back up for next time.
Ravensburger's 500-piece sets use exactly the same precision-cut pieces and matte anti-glare finish as their larger ranges. That precision is a big part of why they have such a devoted following: each piece fits one slot, with no ambiguity, and the matte finish keeps the artwork looking right under any lamp.
How the pre-order works
All three puzzles are open for pre-order now, with stock expected between September and October 2026. Reserve any of them and we'll dispatch the moment they land with us.
Pre-ordering is the safest way to make sure you get a copy — official book-tie-in puzzles from Ravensburger tend to sell through their first run quickly, and the Empyrean fanbase is, to put it mildly, not small. If you'd rather browse everything we currently have on pre-order before deciding, the full pre-orders collection is the place to look. Otherwise, secure one — or all three — of the Empyrean puzzles above.
Further Reading
- New Pre-Orders: Ravensburger's Autumn & Winter Drop
- Ravensburger's 2026 Championship Puzzles
- Ravensburger 2026 Winter Releases: Every New Puzzle in the Collection
Browse more: all current pre-orders
Browse our latest puzzles
Fresh arrivals added weekly — from 250-piece gifts to 2000-piece challenges.
Shop new arrivals →
