3.5/5 starsA foundational start to a series that feels like the beginning of shonen anime in prose form.I’ve promised many readers—my impatient co-bloggers included—that I’m going to read Cradle as soon as 2020 starts, and so here I am. I’ve been eyeing this series for quite a while now, it also has been recommended to me more than thirty times by more than thirty different readers. That number is not an exaggeration; I’ve received that many messages and recommendations from readers around the w...

Actually, I've stopped reading this book around 70%, because all its flaws were getting worse and worse every passing page. I've never, never stopped reading a book! But this simply... kept getting off my nerves for so many different reasons, I had to quit to preserve my sanity.Needless to say, I'm very disappointed. I'm a big fan of Wight works, but this book just didn't have all the creativity I love about the author. Sure, the magic it's interesting, but the plot it's simply nonsensical and t...

Update 9/29: RereadOne more week until Wintersteel! So cool to notice so many more little things during this reread.“When a traveler cannot find a path, sometimes he must make his own.”I had almost no idea what to expect when going into this book. I knew it was Asian inspired and that a big part of it was the magic system, but that was about it. I started this book with no other expectations other than that I would enjoy it, and oh did I enjoy it!My favorite part about this book was the magic s

Okay, I’m officially jumping on the bandwagon! I listened to the audio of this (and have already bought the audio of book two), which was brilliantly narrated. Excellent voices, pacing, humour. Easy to listen to and understand!I’d heard an awful lot about the Cradle series before deciding on a whim to grab the first audiobook. I have a feeling that I’ll be joining the legions of people devouring each book one after another, then going back to re-read the series from the first book.We follow Lind...

A wonderful introduction, Unsouled is a promise of magic to come.First and foremost, I want to thank my friend, TS, for recommending this series to me as many times as was needed for me to pick it up. You have the BEST taste in books and I endeavor to JUMP on any future recommendations. All hail the book recommendation Queen!!!This story is set in a world with a strong eastern influence and is a fast, tremendously fun read that features a mix of martial arts and a magic system based around progr...

The young of the Sacred Valley come twice a year to be tested. Children the ages of 6-8 have the content of their souls evaluated to see what sort of sacred artist they will become in life. It's a test that no one is supposed to fail, but Lindon failed. He was labeled unsouled, powerless and unworthy of teaching in a society that power is as important as honor. Lindon isn't giving up though, he's determined to find a way to become a sacred artist.Unsouled left me unsure of what to expect. It was...

This was pretty cool. There are some really cool concepts and the characters are fairly interesting too. I felt that there were many things that could have been expanded on and perhaps made slightly detailed, so it will be interesting to see in what direction the sequels takes the series in. I want to say RTC but I honestly don’t know if I will get the time to get round to a review any time soon. 6.5/10

An enjoyable, quick read that gives this series a good start with much promiseI was pleasantly surprised by this book even though this first entry did not have the "epic" scale that I have heard often described by readers. You get a wonderful sense towards the end of the book at what this series is marching towards, and it leaves you salivating to get reading so you can march on this journey with the main characters. This book has a somewhat predictable arc though most of the book, but then slam...

5 Stars Unsouled, Cradle #1 by Will Wight lives up to the incredible high standards that he set with his The Travelers Gate Trilogy. As a result of my love for his trilogy I had very high expectations for this book and series and let me tell you, I was not let down. This is simply epic fantasy at it's finest. Will Wight deserves to be mentioned in the same sentences as the genre giant Brandon Sanderson. Both of these men excel in their fantastical story telling, character creating, and depth to

So after interviewing Will Wight on the Wizards, Warriors, and Words podcast, it turns out he's not the evil android sent from the future to top all the charts I thought he was. He's actually a really nice guy. So I figured it was time to give Cradle a go as it's his premier series. Turns out... it's pretty damned good. At least book 1 is.This is definitely a progressions fantasy with the magic system and levels within it clearly defined from the get go. It's about a young boy who has the world

I have heard great things about Will Wight's books. If Unsouled was just a taste of what the Cradle series has to offer, I will say those praises are well-founded.Cradle is an Eastern-inspired fantasy with complex worldbuilding and a cool magic system that reminds me of the Chinese martial art genres of wuxia (heroic) and xianxia (immortal). The narrative follows a young man, Wei Shi Lindon, an Unsouled who was not allowed to learn the sacred arts of his clan in the Sacred Valley. There are myri...

Odd and not very fun.This wasn’t bad and it’s actually quite original and imaginative. The lore and world building is based on chiefdom culture with a mix of a magic system that was pretty well explained. The fantasy sci fi cross over was surprising but not unwelcome. The overall prose was adequate. My main issues are the inconsistent characterization. Lindon doesn’t always make a lot of sense. He’s very understandable in the beginning and is compelling to read. But by the end of the book his mo...

OhhhhhReview to come ✍️

3rd Read,The 9th book in this series, Bloodline, came out back in April. Reading Will's blog, his has finished the 1st draft of book 10, Reaper, this month and he hopes and plans on having the 10th book out by the end of the year, hopefully in November. I wanted to give the whole series a read through again before it comes out. I do find, it's quite nice reading this and having a really good idea where the story is going to go and how Lindon is going to achieve his place in the world. It must be...

DNF 44%Tried it cause it was free, I wanted something light and fun, I still need a self-published book for the r/Fantasy Bingo square, and I know a lot of people who love it. I went into it with an open mind - from the positive reception, there was a chance of it winning me over - but it just confirmed that nope, that stuff's not for me. And that I should trust my gut, no matter how enthusiastic friends are.Like Sufficiently Advanced Magic Unsouled is another book that's built around the magic

Will Wight always manages to craft such intricate and tasteful magic systems, even when they initially threaten to overwhelm the reader with their ecstatic colour. House of Blades, for example, was initially off-putting to me when I downloaded the Kindle sample. The effect was of a simple, mousey librarian parachuted into the chaos and madness of a Warhammer flash point. Magical airbursts and organic monstrosities erupting around me, I hadn't a clue what was happening. Clapping the eBook shut in...

This is a first book of a continuing series. So, the author made a promise the world building will be much more grander than what had been revealed on this first book.The setting is heavily influenced with Eastern fantasy Xinxia theme, although there are some aspects that still fresh, like the storytelling in some chapters that as if the POV is reading from an artificial intelligence.For now, 4 star.

This Review ✍️ Blog 📖 Twitter 🐦 Instagram 📷 Support me ☕ “When a traveler cannot find a path, sometimes he must make his own.” I have seen this series mentioned a lot as one of the best indie series out there. I always thought it was a long historical fiction series and I was not ready for that kind of obligation. Then my friend David got into the series and he liked it so much and he mentioned it has a great magic system and it turns out that it is a fantasy series after all and tha...

Buddy read with SnezanaUnsouled has been on my tbr for more than a year, I purposefully refused to read it because I thought it was another generic YA book, how wrong I was. This book is unlike anything I’ve read in forever, it’s so unique and addictive. “Fate is not fair, but it is just. Hard work is never in vain…even when it does not achieve what you wished.” This book is set in a world where everyone have a place in society, at the age of six or seven, children do a test that shows them w...

Solid first book, wasn't really feeling it at the start, but it really picked up. I'm still confused with where the story is going with Suriel. Looking forward to the second one.First reread: Really loved it more the second time around. I enjoyed all the foreshadowing all stuff he does early on that I didn't catch at first.