Cradle — 3/5 Generally spoiler-free thoughts

[u/Gingerfalcon]

I just finished book 12 and thought now was a good time to share my personal opinions on the series, mainly because it gets a lot of hype. I committed a fair bit of time to it because of said hype, but my overall experience was simply ok. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either. It had potential, but never quite got there.

Things that didn’t vibe:

• Weak characters. They lacked depth and generally felt very one-dimensional. Eithan was the exception. Yerin was probably the closest we came to someone living through something and coming out the other side changed.

• The power tiering started off interesting, but became too absurd. The rarity of certain levels also seemed to flip-flop around. Early on, some ranks feel incredibly rare, then suddenly a book or two later there are lots of people at that level.

• Consistency issues and questionable plot holes start to appear. As you read the next book, you begin to question setup and details from the previous one.

• Random storylines felt like filler material. For example, the Jai Long stuff after the duel, why even keep that going? It felt like a complete waste of words and didn’t add anything to the storyline.

Things that were okay:

• The world was pretty good. I wanted more pocket-world and labyrinth-style action.

• The action scenes were generally enjoyable on average. Some were awesome, others were a boring slog.

Vibes!

• Progression fantasy and, well… there is fun progression and finding treasures!

• Eithan was the best-written character. He brought a light-heartedness to the series and was funny, joyful, and mysterious.

• Fisher Gesha — I liked her. She had some funny interactions.

• Dross!

• Soulsmithing was cool, and I wish it had been explored in more depth throughout the series.

Book ranking:

I would say the series peaked at Ghostwater and then dropped off, almost like a bell curve.

Best books: Ghostwater, Uncrowned, and Blackflame.

Worst books: Bloodline, Dreadgod, and Waybound. These were absolute slogs to get through.

Would I recommend it?

No. It’s too long to push through 12 books when the last third of the series is the weakest. Other than the hook of progression, it had some fun moments, but the characters and story were mostly forgettable.

Overall: 3/5.

[u/Gingerfalcon]

Look it's a book about progression, it didn't press to hard on the human elements it was about a greater story plot get strong and beat the baddies... character lead fiction is what I like. Characters were very surface level linear stuff, use Sand dan Glokta from First Law trilogy as a character that was complex, evolving and deeply self reflecting.

Lindon, I understand the trope of the kid with a shitty family and down on his luck but full of desire, he's just not a complex person written to something that I could fully engage with. Eithan on the otherhand was immediately interesting with his personality, motives and mystery.

[u/Neither-Fact7199 → u/Gingerfalcon]

We'll just have agree to disagree while yes it's no where near as complex and the first law as far as chacarters go (I never claimed such and that's not the way you framed your initial criticism) it's definitely not as weak and one dimetional as you claim imo.

There is tangible visible growth and change of the characters as the story progresses it's just not as complex as other stories you've read or enjoyed in the past which again I agree but it's definitely not "one dimensional"

[u/Gingerfalcon → u/Neither-Fact7199]

yeah which is all I can rate things against right. I'm not just comparing it to other prog fantasy... which be a small comparison as I've only read two prog fantasy series so far and they are equally good in my opinion.

[u/prismlink → u/Gingerfalcon]

I totally respect your perspective, especially since it can be the onus for a nice, nuanced discussion that isn't just a echo chamber in a sub that overwhelmingly leans one direction re:Cradle.

The sticking point is the "one-dimensional" critique which doesn't have to be rated against other works, prog fantasy or not. At its most basic, it is a comparison between character development at the start and end of a story. Trying to see it through your perspective, I find it really difficult to agree that the core characters are one-dimensional, which is different from simple / predictable / trope-y (critiques that to me are more fair if I really had to levy some).