Will Wight

In the world of Cradle, family is everything. It shapes your destiny by defining your powers and your path. It determines who you can trust, and who you must fight. For Yerin and Lindon, being adopted into the Aurelius family has done all this and more.

This is the first time I have listened to, or reviewed, the audiobook version of one of Will Wight’s books. I was emailed asking if I wanted a review copy of the audiobook, and despite generally preferring reading to listening for mental show more bandwidth reasons, I agreed to give it a try this time. I was planning on reviewing the book anyhow, having purchased the ebook on Kindle on my own, but since audio has been gaining in popularity recently I thought I would see what all the fuss is about.

I still think I prefer reading, but I did really enjoy the narration of Travis Baldree. His voice work is excellent, with each character easily distinguishable in terms of accent and inflection. My favorite by far is Akura Fury, who I imagined as something like an aging surfer dude from reading the book first, which is very much the mode in which Baldree voices him. Well, if an aging surfer dude had phenomenal cosmic powers. Now, when I read the Cradle series, I am going to hear Baldree’s voices.

Now, on to the book! Uncrowned gives a clearer look at the highest levels of advancement on Cradle. When Lindon started out in Sacred Valley, Gold was nothing but a rumor, spoken of only in myth and legend. When Lindon’s fate was altered by the return of one of the lucky few who managed sufficient mastery of the Sacred Arts to ascend beyond his homeworld into the Heavens, we got a glimpse of just how far one could go, especially when Suriel, Judge of the Abidan, intervened and dealt with the ascended one as easily as one of Lindon’s clan Elders might have dealt with him, an Unsouled.

That intervention was the key event in Lindon’s life, setting him on the path that brings him to the Uncrowned King tournament. However, in some as yet unrevealed fashion, this event also altered the fate of everything else in creation. Through the eyes of Suriel, Lindon’s savior, and later Makiel, we have slowly seen an unfolding of what amounts to the politics of Heaven. Although the Abidan, composed of those Sacred Artists of a thousand worlds who have grown powerful enough to leave the world of their birth, would surely insist that they are above the petty concerns of the mere mortals they have left behind, in practice their relations with one another are much the same as we see on Cradle. Endless jockeying for position and status internally, and ruthless war against anyone outside of their circle of trust.

Admittedly, the Abidan do seem to have intellect and foresight that have grown in concert with their power. However, it is not at all clear that they will not face a reckoning for their hubris. The Abidan face a celestial nemesis, the Vroshir, with sufficient power to contest their control of the Iterations. The Abidan expanded their territory far beyond what could be maintained, and the Vroshir are ready to take advantage of that. It also seems clear that Lindon and his friends will have some part to play in the coming Götterdämmerung. This anticipation is one of the most delicious bits of Cradle. We know that eventually Lindon will ascend to the Heavens, and his reflexive crouch towards everyone will be hilarious.

And in some curious way, this may all turn upon that most familiar and prosaic of institutions: the family.

In the clannish shame culture of Cradle, an intense source of social pressure comes from the fear of not living up to the expectations set down by your ancestors. However, since sufficient advancement in the Sacred Arts also results in unusually long life, that social pressure can become quite personal, since the revered ancestor can make their disapproval known in person.

Any individual of sufficient advancement can not only found a dynasty, but personally lead that family in its struggles for supremacy. This neatly solves the typical succession problems arising from regression to the mean by making successors superfluous. What makes me really curious is the question of whether any of the Abidan have children? Particularly the Judges, the council of seven who rule. The only one we know of who did is Ozriel, distant ancestor to Eithan Aurelius, and Ozriel was always at odds with his fellows.

It was the disappearance of Ozriel that brought Suriel to Cradle in the first place, which then brought Lindon to her attention, setting in motion the events that bring us here. Ozriel seems to have been interested in his descendants in a personal way, which is very different than the way Makiel, Suriel’s opponent among the Abidan deals with the rest of humanity. I’m curious to know if Wight intended for Makiel to have been a father before he ascended to the Heavens, because it certainly seems that he is missing that most basic of all connections to humanity.

Which brings us to the real monster of Cradle: Eithan. Lindon continually surprises people with his determination and his power, not to mention his appearance. But Eithan is capable of far more, including the ability to deceive others about his true intentions and capabilities. I first truly grew suspicious in book four, when Eithan effortlessly foiled every attempt of the humiliated Jai Underlord to seek revenge upon Eithan. Until he let him bring a forbidden treasure from the Western Labyrinth and thereby awaken the Dreadgods. I’m not sure that is really what he meant to do, but I can’t discount it either.

Everything is subsumed in his goal: his dandyish appearance, his recruitment of Eithan and Yerin, even his failures seem to advance his goals. It is not that Eithan never makes mistakes or is never thwarted, never in danger. It is that absolutely everything slides off of him. Here, in Uncrowned, we get hints that Eithan, while technically an Underlord, already has glimpses of power far above his current level. Faint echoes of the power of Ozriel, his ancestor. It actually seems that Eithan might have some limited ability to see the future. Enough, in fact, that he can deflect attention from himself when someone notices this about him. Lindon is the star of the show, but Eithan is the director.

As always, waiting is such sweet sorrow, but I trust that Wight will keep to his current schedule and treat us to further adventures and further revelations in the future. show less

I saw a line in another review that I'm going to steal: these books are like candy. I just can't stop reading them. Although I worry the implication of the phrase may be unfair to Wight; while fast and fun reads, the Cradle series has been anything but empty calories.

In Soulsmith, we pick up right where we left off at the end of Unsouled, Wei Shi Lindon is desperately fleeing the vengeance of the Heaven's Glory School, whom Lindon has robbed blind and shamed by killing one of its highest show more ranked members. Out in the wilderness beyond the Sacred Valley, adventure awaits. The fun lies in learning about the world at the same time, and mostly in the same way that Lindon does.

While this is fantasy, and thus not really an attempt to present some insight about the world in the context of an adventure story, there are nonetheless interesting elements of the world Wight has built. For the most part, fantasy relies upon historical examples of human societies to provide building blocks which are then reshuffled as needed to create the fantasy world intended without straining credulity too much.

A critical part of the culture of the world of Cradle is shame. I'm using the word in the same sense as Ruth Benedict did in The Chrysanthemum and the Sword.

True shame cultures rely on external sanctions for good behavior, not, as true guilt cultures do, on an internalized conviction of sin. Shame is a reaction to other people’s criticism. A man is shamed either by being openly ridiculed and rejected or by fantasying to himself that he has been made ridiculous. In either case, it is a potent sanction. But it requires an audience or at least a man’s fantasy of an audience. Guilt does not. In a nation where honor means living up to one’s own picture of oneself, a man may suffer from guilt though no man knows of his misdeed and a man’s feeling of guilt may actually be relieved by confessing his sin.
Benedict, 1946, p. 223

The sacred artists of Cradle live within an honor code of vengeance and shame, like many real-world human societies, both past and present. Justice is mostly of the vigilante variety, with your blood relations the only people you can really trust.

Another building block of the culture of Cradle is the natural hierarchy that results from the ranks of sacred artists. I call it a natural hierarchy because the ranks seem to be natural kinds. There really is something qualitatively different about an Iron artist compared to a Copper, and between all the other ranks as well. Unlike many such theories in our world, whether social, racial, occupational, or what have you, there is an essence of Ironness that underlies the social distinction.

However, those essences are also very meritocratic. Ranks are earned, through hard work and discipline, and above all, through competition. When you put all these things together, a shame culture with a social hierarchy built on real distinctions of ability and power, and the need to compete not only for social distinctions, but for power itself, you get unending war.

This last bit is perhaps the most interesting to me. Lindon's home in the Sacred Valley has the same shame culture as the world outside, but the power levels to be found within are far lower. Perhaps in compensation, it is also a far less brutal place to live. Not only is life easier there, but there are valuable materials and items available there. I'm genuinely curious why someone hasn't rolled in from the wilds outside and taken everything, because it would be easy.

I'm hoping this turns into a plot point later. It would be genuinely interesting to see why the most pleasant place we have seen so far that is also the most undeveloped in terms of sacred arts hasn't been sacked and looted. As for the rest of the world, it must be something very much like Hobbes' state of nature, although we haven't yet been to the Blackflame empire, purported bastion of civilization. I suppose we shall see.

I'm pretty happy I picked up Soulsmith, and I'm looking forward to volume 3. show less

You just can't go home again, forever being changed by your experiences since leaving. Lindon learns this the hard way in Bloodline. So many reunions, some great, some terrible, my emotions were all over the place. Poor Lindon!

I'd also forgotten just how horrible the people in the Sacred Valley were. That ending though, I hope it didn't permanently damage Dross. Fingers crossed it's like we've learned throughout the series in that pushing yourself to the edge and beyond helps you grow, show more bringing Dross back stronger than before. I also find it pretty funny that Lindon now has a sect and doesn't even know it. And it's being led by Eithan! Oh my, the potential for future hilarity. The Monarchs do not seem happy either. Guess I'll find out all the ramifications in the next book.

As always, be sure to read the Bloopers! The nod to, ah, avoiding copyright infringement had me laughing. show less

Soulsmith does exactly what I hoped it would: it builds on the foundation set in Unsoulded and kicks everything up a notch. There's a great big world outside of the Sacred Valley. In pursuit of advancement, Lindon and Yerin find themselves drawn to an ancient ruin rising from the jungle. Many sacred artists have gathered to fight for the treasures inside.

I am enjoying the growth of both our characters. Lindon's handicap of being unsouled has forced him to develop his mind and learn to be show more clever. I can see that being very, very handy as his soul progresses and he finally has the physical power to match. It has definitely been helpful for him to navigate of a world of people much more powerful than he is and stay alive through his wits. Yerin, too, starts on a small character arc. She's starting to have more personality and I like how her friendship with Lindon is developing. Eithan, a third main character is introduced. I loved him from the start! His ability of always knowing the present moment is insanely useful. Plus how he helps Lindon advance has given me much speculation for the future.

The author does an amazing job of expanding upon the world building and on the powers of the magical martial arts system. Its funny how very sheltered the Sacred Valley is. Outside it, Golds are found in abundance and they have varying levels of power within Gold that has a wider gap than a Copper has to Iron. It makes me excited to see just how many levels beyond Gold there are and how far along Lindon will be able to progress.

This book is a fun, quick read. I like where Lindon's progress is heading with the "help" of his new mentor. It makes me wonder if he'll pass Yerin up. I also hope we learn more about Yerin's past soon as she obviously is keeping a pretty big secret. We are left with a great set up for book 3. I'm looking forward to it. show less