Sacred artists follow a thousand Paths to power, using their souls to control the forces of the natural world.Lindon is Unsouled, forbidden to learn the sacred arts of his clan.When faced with a looming fate he cannot ignore, he must rise beyond anything he’s ever known…and forge his own Path.
This is a new series from Will and goes in a totally new direction. Always creative and interesting in his storytelling, I can’t wait to see where this series will go! The main character is likable, the culture interesting, and the challenges keep the reader rooting for the relatable underdog.
What happens when your life has no purpose? This MC has been labeled “unsouled” which brands him as meaningless, futureless, and unworthy of even life. Book one takes you down this characters journey to try and be better than the nothing fate has branded him for. At this point I feel for this character all the while I want to smack him for his penchant for aiming towards shortcuts. Of course I’m hooked, and need book 2!
Phenomenal. If Harry Potter’s life had been harder, and instead of the Sorting Hat announcing him as being Gryffindor, it had said, “This one’s broken and belongs no where!” every year until he was fifteen in front of all his friends and family, then this would be the outcome. Lindon is like Brandon Sanderson’s Kaladin… a hero in the refiner’s fire. The result is somehow more poignant and heart-wrenching. Read this book.
This was a really fun read, more than I was expecting. It’s a very deliberate progression-based plot, with elements of Wuxia and LitRPG, but the writing is engaging and keeps the reader interested. There was some literal Deus-ex-machina to really get the plot going, but it was also an integral part of the overall structure, and drove the plot. I’m looking forward to progressing (ha) through the rest of the series!
On book 3 in the series. It is really entertaining.
What a way to start a series! Lindin is the only one in his family unable to cycle and cannot access his core. It leaves him an outsider in his village and the brunt of their cruelty. His sister helps him and somehow he manages to the 1st rung of a discipline. He leaves his village after being visited by a being and given instructions to find Yerin. He has no idea what waits for him but on his journey, he encounters many obstacles. He finally gets to a school where he hopes to learn a discipline but once again encounters bullies, after all he has no soul, so they feel he has no right to be there. Through the help of a teacher, he perseveres and acquires a few artifacts that help him. He sets off again on another adventure but this time with more confidence. Enjoyable
When clans and schools compete use the magical Sacred Arts to compete for esteem and power, what use is a boy born without magic? Nothing. Lindon grows up with no help at all from anyone outside his immediate family, which only contributes to his powerlessness. Anyone older than ten or so could kill him out of hand, and the only reason Lindon can survive is because the murder of such a weakly Just Isn’t Done. That and he cheats.
The magicless character in a magicful world isn’t a new idea, but I haven’t seen it approached before with such brutal honesty. The main character is crippled and in constant danger from a community that either ignores or despises him. I rooted for this clever and pitiful underdog as he slowly put together one careful scheme after another, hording and re-investing each tiny sliver of advantage he managed to accumulate. And the magic system is a fun one, too.
Naruto & Dragon Ball esque in all the best possible ways.
Will Wight has some truly incredible and original ideas. I am really excited to see where he takes this series. The book is smaller in scope than most fantasy I read, focused almost entirely on a young boy, who is Unsouled, basically magically handicapped, as he sets out on a path to overcome this and set out on his own path beyond his secluded home of Sacred Valley. This takes him to a tournament and a magical school, though the school part felt a little rushed. The plot is interesting, and hints at much much bigger things to come. Lindon is a very likable character. Despite being Unsouled, he is clever and persistent and brave.
The first in the Cradle series pulls no punches, plunging the reader straight into a society segregated into warring, bickering clans. It has a distinctly manga/eastern feel to it and the magic system, whilst still a little confusing, promises to be as deep as Mistborn’s alomancy. The main character is an underdog who, I’m assuming through the progression of the book’s gameLit elements, is destined for great (or terrible) things. There is also a second POV character that hints at a much wider scope than initially meets the eye. This aspect, to me, seems even more interesting than the principal plot. I’ll admit I got lost at times with elements of the magic system and the rules to which it adheres, but I’m assuming it will become more clearly defined in subsequent books. That being said, the story has enticed me and I will most definitely be reading on to see how things play out. A promising start to what is reputed to be a great series.
Talk about a page-turner! If you love Asian-inspired settings and following characters on truly epic quests to level up, Unsouled is your book! Wight writes with a very easy and clear style, his characters are all loveable, his world interesting, but the main draw of this book is the contrast between our basically-magicless main character and the super-powerful people he is surrounded with, at home and later when he enters into training. And the fun is in seeing how he leverages the few skills he has to get more and defeat the powerful people threatening him and his home. Super fun story that opens up tons of questions for the (seven!) sequels. Great airplane read–prepare to not want to put it down.
It was a fun story, a bit difficult to start with as the author setup the characters and background events, but once chapter 5 arrived it was non-stop action to the end. I am definitely looking forward to what happens next to the unsouled.
Will Wight’s Cradle series is one of a kind. The magic system and world building is in a league of its own and the character growth throughout the books is profound.
I thoroughly enjoyed this read by Will. The world he is building here is truly awesome. It seemed like every chapter a new portion of the world surfaced more grand than the previous. I found myself on a journey with the MC, rooting for him at every turn and cursing the many protagonists (virtually every single person in the book). I definitely binged book one and I’ve only done that three times in the last year. Well done and already started on book two!
Unsouled was a fantastic ya fantasy!! Immediate instant favorite!! I’m not sure how I hadn’t heard of Will Wight until now, but he has a strong voice and is an excellent addition to the genre! I saw a recommendation on Andrew Rowe’s website and I immediately picked up the book and whirled through it! Great characters, great magic system… absolutely loved it! The only flaw I found was that the reports were sometimes slowed the action, but not much. And the epilogue really stole the thunder from the last chapter. Nothing that would make it lose a star though! I am excited to read the next book in the series!
Will Wight, isn’t as good as Brandon Sanderson, yet. All of the Cradle books are interesting and that’s primarily because of the characters and the magic system, but the pacing is also quite good with regular scenes of action. This is one of my favorite series in the last couple of years.