Cradle: Foundation

Books 1-3: Unsouled, Soulsmith, & Blackflame

Author: Will Wight

My rating: 4.8 stars

This is a combined review of the first three books in this series. I began reading it back in 2018, read some of the sequels over the next few years, and still need to catch up on the more recent books.

This series reads like reading a slow moving train, but that train takes you across the entire planet. We start off with a powerless boy, who over the course of the first few books, slowly reaches the basic magic level of others. Having been denied a magical education all his youth, Lindon yearns to learn a cultivation path. His attempt is finally rewarded in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but with dire consequences. Not only can he learn cultivation magic, but if he doesn’t quickly become one of the strongest cultivators on his planet, his clan will soon be exterminated.

What I found unique here, is that Lindon didn’t become a super power cultivator overnight. Each book is another level up for him (kinda like gaming, since this falls under the LitRPG genre), but it happens gradually, and we get to experience it with him. There’s a lot of detail on each of his levels. The magic system is well developed, and each book is a unique plot with new magical aspects, cultures, and characters.

The characters are nicely drawn. There are several backstories and subplots running around in the background.

All in all, it’s a great book of poor boy fighting his way to the top with all he’s got, and still fighting after that, because he’s got an Ultimate Goal to reach.

Almost the entire series is FREE on Kindle today, Oct. 5th, 2020.