Waterstones celebrates Rebecca Yarros' Onyx Storm with late-night ...

The third instalment of Rebecca Yarros’ Empyrean series, Onyx Storm (Little, Brown), is being celebrated across the UK with special Waterstones openings, dragon filters and a London-based scavenger hunt for influencers.

It will be published at midnight on Tuesday (21st January), with late store openings and events across the UK for readers to celebrate one of the most hotly anticipated releases of 2025.

Around 60 Waterstones locations across the country are hosting events on the eve of publication, or early opening on the day itself, so that fans can get their hands on a copy as soon as possible. Shops include London Trafalgar Square, Leeds, Durham, Canterbury, London Piccadilly, Birmingham, Newport Gwent, Glasgow Sauchiehall, Manchester Arndale and Trafford Centre stores. 

There will be a range of celebratory activities ranging from quizzes and decoration packs through to special videos and social media dragon filters, theory questions and a QR link to a video message from Yarros herself.

Gaby Lee, books and campaigns manager at Waterstones, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to welcome fans of Rebecca Yarros into our bookshops for the hotly anticipated launch of Onyx Storm. Brilliantly supported by the team at Little, Brown, almost 60 shops across the estate will be celebrating the publication, hosting midnight launches, early openings, and publication evening parties. We are delighted to give the biggest Yarros fans the opportunity to be the first to get their hands on a copy and cannot wait to share the excitement with our customers.”

The launch also includes “a major PR and marketing campaign designed to target hundreds of thousands of eager readers”, according to Little, Brown. This includes “highlights including two eye-catching billboards, one in Manchester and one in Shoreditch and an extensive unmissable digital and social advertising campaign”.

Little, Brown added: “Alongside the billboards, digital and social campaigns, the launch activity includes stunning point of sale for bookshops globally with bookmarks, posters, standees and window clings.”

Additionally, the publisher ran an independent bookshops exclusive pre-order campaign using collectable emblem patches with several indies celebrating with special events – stores such as Padstow Bookseller, The Imaginarium Lymington, Bookshop by the Sea in Aberystwyth, Night Owl Books in East Lothian, The Book Stop St Helens and Toppings Bath.

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