Unsouled

the newest book came out, I had read the series to this point and loved it so much I started over at book 1 audible and bought them all. that should say something by itself.there are bloopers at the end. and I absolutely love them. I wish more authors showed us glimpses of where their mind goes when creating a story. what could have been or just when they get frustrated with their own creation. that's it! a meteor wipes out the planet and the story is over.without trying to spoil the future series but to set expectations I'd say the first 2_3 books are Lindon figuring out his place\direction. he can be frustrating. it's the innocence of the undedicated. this series is epic the character growth and potential for the rest of the series is exciting. solid world building and set up. but let's face it, every story the protagonist does crap no one thought possible. it's why we devour these stories. we love the underdog.if you still need reason to buy it, and you like anime, you'll enjoy this... think black clover... underpowered dismissed protagonist becomes OP...just don't expect that in this book. he actually has to work for it...

Unsouled - the story of a teenager living in an isolated valley among his clan of magical martial artists, surrounded by powerful, younger peers who could squish him without really trying. He must step softly or be stepped upon. Yet when the heavens show him the path he must take to get what he wants, he can only rely on quick thinking, determination and the right allies to pull him through.[This review is after my first reread after going through most of the series with the exception of the final book to be released.]Unsouled didn't rank high enough at first read except to say it (and everybody talking about the series) made me curious enough for the next book. It felt like a good engaging start and perhaps that's what it will feel like for others at first glance.A reread makes me look back on this with more positivity. Sure, there's lots of details in the world building that go on to become more significant but they also serve the narrative to make Unsouled a strong fantasy fiction in its own right. There's good narrative beats, potential world ending stakes in a distant future and an admirable, if overly humble main character who takes you along an intriguing journey as he seeks to find his path.Recommended reading with the caveat that there's more reading to do if you're looking for a great series.

Well, that was fun.Anyone who frequents the same stretches of Reddit that I do will likely know that Will Wight's Cradle series has an extremely dedicated (if somewhat small) fanbase. The type of enthusiasm displayed in fanbases like this one always intrigues me. If these people love these books so much, might I not also? Add to this that the series is self-published by the author, he interacts with his fans often, and playfully, and that I've been generally hungry to jump into new series lately, and you have a good mixture for positive reception of these books. But that's not all.Cradle falls into a genre that I've been aware of for some time, but that I wasn't necessarily sure of a name for, and until relatively recently I'm not sure it even had one that was agreed upon. Now, it does. Progression fantasy. The idea being that it falls into a sub-genre of fantasy in which the main character(s) steadily increases in power and/or skill as the series progresses. You typically see stories like this in anime, in xianxia/wuxia-inspired web novels, etc. So its emergence into the western sphere is more recent, and Wight's Cradle series is often pointed at as a good a place to dive in if you're craving that type of story. I am, in fact, craving that type of story.Unsouled is not written in stand-out prose. Wight does not have a mastery of language, and he is not writing characters of limitless depth. But what he clearly does have is a mind for stories, a solid foundation for world-building, and a penchant for fast-paced plotting. I say it all the time; not every book has to have everything. Most just have to do one thing well enough to be engaging, and I think Wight achieves that here.Lindon's story is engaging from the start. Who doesn't root for the underdog? We get to watch him take his first steps on his path, with a host of fantastical characters around him, a deep and involved magic system, and a system of progression that feels like the tip of a much larger iceberg (as does this whole book). Wight employs the same type of storytelling that you see Sanderson use a lot. The whole 'question/answer' thing, where as soon as you get an answer to one question, it raises three more. So you get the satisfaction of having a question answered, and you maintain the mystique of having questions still to uncover. You end up feeling like you're always learning, always discovering something new, but with more around every corner. That's something that just works for me. And if he can keep it up, and engaging throughout, I think I'll like each book more and more.And like I said, for those like me who may be dipping their toes into progression fantasy, this is just pure fun. I have extremely positive nostalgia for stories like Dragon Ball, and Cradle checks a lot of those boxes, while mixing in more western fantasy elements and even some elements that you'd more often find in a video game, but it still just works. Immensely powerful beings; schools of power; training paths; clear stages of advancement. And we're just getting started.If you like: supernatural martial artists; giant snowfoxes; myriad artifacts of power; illusion magic; floating swords; winged immortals; flying clouds; underwater dragons; unbreakable armor; soul remnants with six swords for arms... Oh! And a multiversal organization overseeing hundreds of worlds and capable of manipulating reality itself (yep). Then, hey, Will Wight has something for you. I'm excited to see where it goes.

The main character is extremely likable and his challenges believable and difficult. The author throws the deus ex machina trope on its head and then feeds fantasy readers plenty of the tropes they want. The reports seem like a fairly weak veil for authorial exposition and were my least favorite part. It felt like lazy world building but that said, the world itself is fantastic and deep. The Enjoyable book. Best self-published fantasy I've ever read.

Since harry potter i didnt got so anxious to finish a book. Very good narrative, characters and and grrwr fantasy book in general

I'm definitely interested in reading the second book to see if the potential is realized, but I wouldn't say this was my favorite start to a series ever.Definitely worth a look if you're a fan of shonen manga and fantasy.

Without any real magical skill, Lindon is an embarrassment to his clan. Soon, it won't matter, as he is about to set out on a new path that is beyond everyone's imagination.Lindon is an Unsouled - one of the blips in genetics, when someone doesn't have enough magic in their soul to follow one of the traditional paths. Without this, he has no future, he will never be trained, and he will never be allowed a family. He will exist as a stain to his clan, subservient to everyone, even the weakest child.All he wants is to prove himself to his clan, and to his family - highly skilled sacred artists that find him a disappointment.A chance encounter with someone from outside the Valley suddenly shrinks Lindon's world into insignificance, and he is suddenly set on a new path.I really liked the Asian-inspired setting, and the magical system that's been created.Everyone has a wooden badge as a child, and they progress to copper when they start their training. These train tirelessly to progress to iron; and only the best get to jade.You can understand Lindon's frustration, that he has to wear his wooden badge, a visible sign of his shame. That he has to rely on the (reluctant) kindness of others, and can never be independent.The not-so-good:I found this very slow and meandering. For a book with less than 300 pages, this story seemed to go on forever.There were sections that got very heavy, lecturing on the sacred arts. Perhaps if I read the rest of the series, these will make sense and be more appealing, but as a newcomer, it felt more like unnecessary filler.There were also sections involving the "higher being" where we are treated to excessive info-dumps to explain the Valley, the geography, history, politics, magic system etc. As these were all very well established in the main narrative, I found these unnecessary and skimmed over them.I wasn't a massive fan of our main character, Lindon. I found him annoying, with all the emphasis on respect being valued above everything else, Lindon was a bit of a bitter hypocrit in his thoughts and actions.I had been really looking forward to this series, and have the second book lined up. I will be continuing, but it's not top of my reading list at the moment.

This was the first progression fantasy book I have ever read, and the experience was pretty much as expected. I enjoyed this book, but I didn’t love it - I do think the series has the potential to make me obsessed with it though, so we will see!A True HeroLindon is our underdog hero and he’s fantastic! The only thing I have absolutely no complaints about is this character.He is unsouled, which, in this society means he is forbidden to learn the magic the rest of his clan is. This essentially means he is powerless…Lindon faces many threats and always finds a clever way out of them - despite being totally underpowered.After reading The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, I love this kind of book - what I mean by this is Harry Dresden in Butcher’s series begins book 1 at a low(ish) “level”, meaning he has to use his brain rather than brute force to achieve his goals and survive.And the Other Characters?They’re alright. I really enjoyed the family dynamics between Lindon and his sister - his mum was also a stand-out character.Other than that, many of the people in this book were there purely to serve a purpose, a cardboard cutout. I found that I didn’t really care about this though, as the book was more a story about Lindon finally advancing in his skill level (this isn’t a spoiler as the premise of the books is “progression”).The WorldThis is where I will be careful not to get into any possible spoilers - I’ll be super vague!Unsouled is set in a very remote village surrounded by remote landscape - remote, remote, remote. The outside world is a mystery - one I am very excited to find out more about!The things Will Wight has revealed so far about the different “levels” of progression, the larger world/universe and more sound really cool. I’m really excited to see this series become even better over the next few books.Final Thoughts on the Unsouled Book ReviewOverall, I think Unsouled is a great introduction to the world and the main character, Lindon.I do think the first 50% is a little slower than I would have liked, but it introduced the magic and class system, the characters, and the plot. The writing style is quick and easy, and with something happening on every page, we are pulled along and can’t put the book down.

My first Will Wight book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Fantastic worldbuilding, plot, the Asian inspired setting and magical system he has created for us to get lost in for awhile is brilliant. If love unusual magical worlds, then you will love this. We follow a young character Lindon who is an Unsouled, when someone doesn't have enough magic in their soul to follow one of the traditional paths. Without this, he has no future, he will never be trained, and he will never be allowed a family. He will exist as a burden to his clan, subservient to everyone, even the weakest child in the clans will have more opportunities. All he wants is to prove himself to his clan, and to his family. When a near death experience and a chance meeting with a God like magical being saves his life, his destiny will change forever. I will definitely be checking out the rest of this series after reading this, highly recommended...😁💥🔥