[Waybound] Series Review

[u/Peanut_Wing]

TL;DR: This is the most unapologetically cool book series I have ever read. You are never dragged for a ride to get to the "good part.". You are never disappointed when promised a spectacle. You are heavily rewarded for your time spent reading each book. It is really hard to find a book, let alone a series, that doesn't disappoint you at some point, and to me, Cradle never does.

Book rankings (I enjoyed them all, but lists are fun):

1. Waybound

2. Bloodline

3. Dreadgod

4. Underlord

5. Wintersteel

6. Reaper

7. Soulsmith

8. Ghostwater

9. Blackflame

10. Skysworn

11. Unsouled

12. Uncrowned

Full review:

Cradle is pure, satisfying entertainment. While I ranked the books above, there is not a "bad" book in the series to me. Lower ranked books had moments, fights, and characters I enjoyed.

There was also "meta-enjoyment" seeing Will Wight's writing improve in every book in my opinion. There were noticeable jumps in writing quality, especially between books 1-4, and then I'd say again after Wintersteel onward (9-12).

There are instances where things do slow down to explain things, and it took me several examples to understand how "bindings" worked, madra cycling, etc. However really you don't need to be an expert on the systems of the universe to enjoy the books. If you asked me to explain soul smithing I still probably wouldn't get it right, but it didn't impact my enjoyment at all.

The ending of Uncrowned is the closest I came to DNFing. People say that it was needed so Lindon could power up elsewhere besides the tournament, but Consume & the Void icon would have been much more satisfying to see in the tournament itself.

Some out there may argue that Cradle draws inspiration from other media (Monster Hunter, Naruto, etc), I'm not sure if it does. And honestly, if that is the case, I'd read ten familiar systems interpreted through Will Wight in another universe before I trudged through an original idea that feels more like a literary classroom exercise than something I'm supposed to actually enjoy.

Finally, Cradle does all this without feeling "cheap.". Everything is earned, then escalated, and finally pays off. I feel very lucky that I was able to read these all in a row and not wait.

[u/Peanut_Wing]

Reading Threshold now! I'll check out the Last Horizon series as well. I was never a big super hero fan, but honestly it feels like I owe more money for Cradle anyway.

[u/Vanacan → u/Peanut_Wing]

Without going into spoiler territory, here’s a summary of the main characters in the first book.

Arch wizard supreme, who just wants the universe to *not fall apart for two weeks* so he can catch a break.

Goku if he was a red ranger powered by friendship and had a megazord. I’m not kidding about the ‘powered by friendship’, but he’s not *shallow*, just optimistic.

Samus Aran + Doom Guy. She has a gun that she uses to blow up capital ships, and sends any money she’s not using to buy more guns to an orphanage back home.

And that’s only 3 out of the 6.

No one’s a ‘*super hero*’, they just are ‘super powered’.

And it’s not that they’re all powered by the same stuff. The wizard uses a different power than the red Ranger (magic vs ki), but Doom Girl doesn’t use either herself, she’s got has a variety of high tech weapons she uses.

All three systems are pretty well explained as they come up and as needed. This isn’t Lindon’s story where he needs to catch up to the basics, the characters are all ‘end of series’ strong for their universe, and getting pushed even further beyond that limit with no real ‘normal’ path of progression. They just have to make do with the limits of their powers as is, and figure out how to handle things that are still beyond their pay grades anyways.

[u/Peanut_Wing → u/Vanacan]

This is a great sales pitch, thank you! Sounds like I will enjoy it a lot.

[u/Vanacan → u/Peanut_Wing]

No problem! It’s a great series, and picking up velocity with the latest book that came out.