FOURTH WING Series Ordered And Michael B. Jordan Is Producing It

Plus, PEN America reports on the increase of writers jailed globally, The Guardian releases the best novels published in English, and more

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FOURTH WING Series Ordered And Michael B. Jordan Is Producing It

Plus, PEN America reports on the increase of writers jailed globally, The Guardian releases the best novels published in English, and more

Erica Ezeifedi

May 12, 2026

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Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.

We’re Getting a FOURTH WING Series Through Amazon Prime

And Oscar Winner Michael B. Jordan is producing it! He’s joined by executive producer Lisa Joy (Westworld), executive producer/showrunner Meredith Averill (Wednesday), and Rebecca Yarros herself. The development of the series actually began in October 2023—a mere five months after the book was published—and has been stalled until September 2025. I haven’t actually read any of the books in The Empyrean series, but I love the excitement it’s brought about. I’m also excited to see what Jordan’s production company (Outlier Society) can produce, especially after he won the Oscar for Sinners.

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The Jailing of Writers Has Increased Globally to 400

PEN America has alerted us to a disturbing trend. Since the organization launched its Freedom to Write Index in 2019, the number of writers behind bars has increased by 68%. In 2025, 401 writers were incarcerated across 44 countries. China still has the biggest number of writers behind bars (119), while countries—like Iran, Russia, and Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territory—engaged in armed conflict also ranked highly. Additionally, new countries were added to the Index: Togo, Mozambique, and the United States. It’s thought that the writer who was detained by the US—British opinion writer and columnist Sami Hamdi—is a victim of this administration’s weaponization of ICE.

The Guardian Begins Countdown of the Best Novels Published in English and Lets Readers Cast Their Own Votes

The Guardian’s rollout for their list of the 100 best novels ever published in English is really interesting. They’re releasing it 20 books at a time, and have the next batch scheduled to come out tomorrow. Books ranked 100-81 include a range of published years, a few translated works, and a few authors of color. The list was compiled with the help of 172 authors, academics, and critics, who listed and ranked their top 10 novels.

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You can also get in on the listing fun by voting for up to three books that you think are the best ever published in English by filling out a form.

Dig Into What Makes F. Scott Fitzgerald’s THE GREAT GATSBY a Classic

Speaking of the best books published in English, I wonder how The Guardian’s cast of voters will rank Fitzgerald’s ’20s-set champagne-poppin’ classic The Great Gatsby. My money is on it making it to the top 20.

Join Jeff O’Neal and Rebecca Schinsky as they examine just what makes Gatsby All That in this episode of Zero to Well-Read , and let us know how you think it’ll rank in the comments.