Taking a character at rock-bottom and launching them skyward
If you have a presence in any fantasy fiction spaces online, it won’t be long before you stumble across people lauding the Cradle series by Will Wight. I was excited by how some described it as the epitome of ‘progression fantasy,’ wherein the protagonist progresses in strength/magical prowess in incremental and readily understood steps throughout the series, and I was equally intrigued by the length and pace of the series—a now complete collection of twelve novels, released over the course of only seven years.
Given the praise the series has received and the speed at which it was released, I had high hopes going into the first book, Unsouled.
Honour Above All
Set in the ‘Sacred Valley’ inhabited by a Chinese-style culture of honour-bound clans and schools, Unsouled follows a young man named Lindon who, despite a fervour to train in the magical ‘sacred arts,’ is forbidden from training after he is found to be ‘Unsouled’—physically hale yet spiritually crippled—and is unable to contribute to society or, more importantly, become a source of honour for his clan.
The honour and dignity of characters and clans plays an enormous role in Unsouled. Every single action a character takes is ruled by these factors, including Lindon. Interestingly though, Lindon never bemoans this fact. Honour is just as import to him as the Patriarch of his clan, despite him being at the bottom of the social ladder—outclassed in basic feats of magical strength by mere children.
Wight could’ve taken the easier route and have Lindon learn to live without the spectre of such a nebulous concept as honour hanging over his every move. Instead, it remains a unique facet of Lindon’s character throughout the book, helping him stand apart from other fantasy protagonists.
Generally, it is Lindon’s goal to find a way to start climbing the ranks of the local magic system, which is divided into distinct ranks, such as Copper, Iron, Jade, and Gold. Despite being ‘Unsouled’ this doesn’t mean he isn’t capable of harnessing ‘madra’—a kind of aura that exists in everything from rocks to dreams—it just means that his clan have deemed him too weak to be worth the resources and energy that would require him to grow.
A Hard ‘Hard’ Magic System
If I’m being honest, I did find the magic system a little confusing. It’s a hard magic system, meaning the ‘sacred arts’ have very regimented rules, but even after reading the first book, I’m still not sure how it all works. There’s madra and spiritual cores and Paths that grant different powers using different kinds of madra and spirit fruits and magic rings and four kinds of classes within each Path (I think). But even if the specifics sometimes confounded me, I was always understood what was happening in general, and more importantly, always understood what was motivating Lindon scene to scene.
Lindon’s a great character. He’s an underdog—constantly being underestimated and dismissed out of hand by everyone from his family to the clan elders. He is unequivocally the weakest member of the Wei Clan, so watching him gain the upper hand when he can is tremendously satisfying, as are the moments where he gets beaten down, which are much more numerous. I admire Wight’s ability to constantly create believable ways to foil Lindon’s plans at every step of the way, as well as his ability to find ways to work these defeats into new half-victories through Lindon’s unwavering determination. The story feels like a rollercoaster in the best way.
Structurally, Unsouled exists in a unique space. Being the first book of twelve, the novel takes time away from the primary narrative around halfway through to explain the scope of the threats to come; to foreshadow where Lindon might end up; and in a way, to justify the core concept of the series—that journeying with a character through near-endless self-improvement is going to be fun.
This deviation is a little jarring, but it does provide an immense amount of context for the greater series and does it in an engaging, character-focused way, so for that I praise the author. Wight really managed to pack a lot into this novel, which is shorter than a lot of fantasy novels, but still manages to feel epic.
A Look Ahead
Lindon faces many fascinating obstacles and antagonists just in this book alone, but if I were to have one complaint, it’s that the antagonist the Lindon faces off against in the climax didn’t really become a threat to him until quite late in the story. The antagonist is still interesting, threatening, and well-written, but I do wish that overcoming this force was a bit more of a personal and emotional affair for Lindon.
That said, it’s very clear that there will be very personal and emotional challenges down the line for him in future books, and I can’t complain too much given how thoroughly I enjoyed the story despite this one hiccup towards the end that I don’t think will even bother most people.
Overall, Unsouled absolutely lived up to the hype for me, and I’ll be reading book two soon. I’m excited to see where the series goes, and if you’re a fantasy-lover like myself, I would definitely encourage you to give the Cradle series a try.
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