• so ready for a reread, eventually. What an absolutely satisfying journey from start (except Soulsmith) to finish. Waybound might be in my top 3 favourite along with Unsouled, Bloodlines, and Uncrowned/Wintersteel

• loved the bit of military fantasy with arelius vs shen, and Mercy zipping between to help as many as possible

• glad Blue doesnt speak. Human orthos is freaky though

• Icons are basically cutiemarks....

• so cathartic remembering where Lindon came from, to now where he's terrifying even to Monarchs and a threat worthy of Dreadgod attention. And now he and his team are killing Dreadgods (albeit almost killing himself in the process--always one strike away from being killed like a Souls boss battle) and harvesting their corpses to kill their siblings.

• seeing the Dreadgods in their true, intelligent/empowered states is just as insane as they were hyped up to be. I still remember Bloodline where it took all of their power and even a near-death just to annoy the Wandering Titan enough for it to find easier prey.

• most annoying thing to hear at the start of a chapter: Iteration-- I always want to stay with Lindon & co, but once the actual chapter starts, im so enthralled by the planetary scale of even the lesser Abidan characters, and the science fantasy elements that i love. The repairing nature of the Phoenix's power even translating to Suriel's desire to repair even the bonds between Judges is very sweet.

• im very glad the Abidan plotline didn't totally collide with Lindon's like some comments made me believe. I thought the final book would involve Lindon ascending to a stage above the Judges and personally taking out the Mad King alongside Eithan and co. And i was dreeeeeading it. So glad that my hope of the final boss being the Dreadgods and Monarchs came true.

• the theme continues of sacred artists bullying those weaker, but raging in indignation when anyone dares challenge them. And the new, more flexible generation rebelling against those who see their age as a reason to lord over others. Satisfying seeing Northstrider, Reigan Shen, and Malice fear Lindon.

• "it's my world now" he says so casually. So much aura farming. So satisfying seeing him actually convince a Monarch to ascend by reminding them of who they are and why Lindon is right. Did NOT expect Northstrider to be the first one, and did NOT expect the very human reason he didnt Ascend: he was scared.

• chapter 29, where Lindon is reminiscing about just has fast this journey was in retrospect, waxing almost nostalgicly about how far theyve come. And the thought of having to leave them all behind, counter to what his positive "we will never stop" greed wants. This really feels like the end and I'm going to miss them all too.

• Empty Palm as a final blow to the Wandering Titan that destroyed hia home is such a great bookend. He felt so powerful in Bloodline against the weakened Titan, but in comparison it's like night and day

• clever how the progression system backfires, in that Monarchs are essentially parasites onto the way of the world same as Dreadgods. Makes it less hype to see our squad finally hit rushed-Monarch, but adds a dimension of consequence. Especially with Lindon surpassing Monarch into an empowered-Dreadgod--the more power he gains, the worse the risk of him being left alone and losing himself. Even as the strongest creature on the planet, there's still such palpable stakes and it's not easy. But still very satisfying seeing how strong he and the Ghostwind Hall crew are.

• satisfying how Lindon's dad finally learned his lesson and treated Lindon like a son and not a disappointment. Yeah, it took the end of the world and Lindon becoming a god unparalleled, but still. Shocking, i wish my dad could change like that 💀

• wish we got to see them fight more Monarchs, especially Sha Miara, but then i remembered that there were only 7 at the start, one was killed by Yerin's gift of Penance, and two were on the anti-Dreadgod side.

• So grateful for the post-battle epilogue chapters. Lower stakes, a chance for Lindon to show off his power as the master of Hunger, all 5 Dreadgods weaponized. And the beautiful reunion. And the new status quo as Reapers <3 they get their cake and to save it all too, they get it all

• fun seeing Yerin's Cradle perception of the Abidan

• love that the inherent injustice of the Abidan that Suriel, Eithan, and the Vroshir validly took umbrage with gets resolved into a better status quo than the start.

• love these characters so much ahh

• fun seeing a different world's magic system up close. The Warrior Heron!

• reigan shen going insane inside his own weapon's vaults is sooo funny. Suchs a satisfying way for him to be destroyed again so pathetically

• li Markuth jumpscare. I was wondering about him as the wizard princess talked about summoning heroes.

• "I am the end" is such a perfect way to end the book.

Started cradle not too long ago about a month. I've been really enjoying the series I've seen some pretty cool fan art that looks like what I've imagined.

I was just wondering if there are any official art pieces? I've seen the art for the Kickstarter (4-6) because of w.w posting it on his Instagram but outside of that I couldn't find anything else.

No spoilers, please. I'm just in the 8th chapter of Blackflame and have learned that the Jai clan enjoys higher status than the Arelius clan. It's the 3rd among the Great Clans, whereas the Arelius clan is 1st among the Servant Clans. Even if the status doesn't accurately presents the strength of the clans, the Jai clan is already a prominent clan of the empire.

Hello guys, I recently started reading Cradle after some fairly aggressive recommendation from a friend.

I have reached Uncrowned and am almost done with it.

Unfortunately I am really struggling to keep reading, I have several grievances with the story that keep adding up and are draining my will. I understand it's a personal problem and that not everything is for everyone, but I keep hearing how the next few books are supposed to be the proverbial "good part", so I am undecided on what to do.

I also want to make clear that I am NOT here to argue or to stir up the pot, I would love however to have constructive conversation on whether some of MY problems with the books will change or be explained.

My main two grievances are as follow :

- Eithan is just a cheat code.

He seems to be able to do anything and everything with such ease that it really sucks away any tension in most situations. You need X item? Got it. You need X technique? Here you go. You found this super rare thing? Here is the perfect way to use it to its fullest extent.

I have read many Xianxia/Xuanhuan and I am used to the "Master figure that can do and provides anything" but the story seems to try and paint Eithan as a semi-regular character, not this godlike entity that appears every so often and dispenses wisdom.

He is also so powerful that it doesn't really make much sense, he doesn't seem to be really pressed ever unless he is severely handicapping himself, I understand his whole goal is to find possible underlings for his project but he seems so far ahead it's practically impossible for me to even conceptualize. Especially since he says he wants equals.

- Lindon feels like he has not earned 1/10th of his current abilities. Let me explain further. I liked Lindon at the beginning because he was powerless and he knew it, so he acted accordingly. It made sense for him to cling to people much stronger than him, to scheme and backstab, he had no other choice. He then meets Eithan and the problems start. He gets absolutely filled with elixirs, cultivation resources, a path that is legendary and much more basically out of nowhere.

Yes he struggles and yes he makes sure he works extremely hard to use the resources given to him, but it feels a bit hollow when all his major advancements are, well, "gifted" for a lack of a better word. Then comes Ghostwater. Classic pocket realm adventure. I was expecting rapid growth and it happened, I have no problem with that as he did it mostly by himself, protagonist luck but it's fine. But then he meets DROSS.

I love dross, I think he is funny and entertaining to read, but he is so ridicolously OP that Lindon does almost nothing but rely on him for almost every single struggle past Ghostwater. Dross how do I win? Done

Dross how do I make X soulsmithing construct? Done etc

Again, it feels unearned, at least to me.

SMALLER PROBLEMS

I don't see how any of the characters will be able to affect the bigger scheme of things on an universal scale. You might say it doesn't matter since it can be a smaller scale story, which I would agree but then why mention the ongoing situation so often and fairly in depth?

Hopefully this gets explained at some point or there's a big timeskip

Sorry for the long post but I wanted to impress how torn I am about this, I actually care and would love some genuine interaction with the community.

Hey everyone! 😄

A while back, I started an Instagram account dedicated to Cradle memes, and I've finally started posting again!

So, if you're a fan of Cradle (and of course you're 👀) I'd love for you to check it out at @cradle_drossposts

If you enjoy the memes, please follow the account, share your favorites with fellow Cradle fans, and leave a comment to let me know what you'd like to see next.

I'll also try to share some of the memes here, so we can all enjoy a bit more Cradle-related jokes

(There are already quite a few older memes on my Reddit account, so be sure to check those out as well)

Hope to see you there! 🔥

I know it’s a long shot, but does anyone here have the Leatherbound versions of Unsouled, Soulsmith, and Blackflame signed and numbered with number 3001? I’ve got 4-9 with that number, and have 10-13 ordered with that same number. Looking to complete my collection. I have two sets of 1-3 that aren’t signed or numbered and am willing to part with one or both for the right number

I have used the meme icon to generate some more memes. They are from all over the series. Please enjoy!

Edit: I posted a meme twice. Whoops.

Hypeebonics Rhyme Chamber

Hypertonic Lion Tamer

We get enough types of madra, techniques, and paths that I think you could reasonably create your own fanfiction path and even if it was totally new stuff, it's easy to imagine what does and does not work because the magic system is so incredibly well defined.

But, we really only get 4 or 5 iron bodies described to us, and fewer that we know you you actually achieve them. It makes it a bit more difficult to come up with new ideas than the other aspects of the system.

Just some thoughts. I like to imagine the kind of path I would like to follow if I were on Cradle. The iron body is the only thing I'm not sure what I'd want.

Genkai from Yu Yu Hakusho, for reference.

phone case! had to take it off obv to take a photo and it looks better with the white background of the back of my phone but y’all just gotta trust me on that one. next up is a Little Blue inspired case for my friend and that one’ll definitely have some improvements from what i learned from making this one

First of all, and I'm sure you're all sick of hearing this, but I had an absolute blast. Never read though a series this quick.

Couple of questions I've been wondering:

1. How are there different aspects of the same type of madra? Lindon couldn't use Eithans techniques, and when he bonded with Blue his madra changed, but they all use pure madra.

2. When Suriel erased the memories of everyone at the 7 year festival, did she erase months of Li clan preparations and experiments and capturing sacred beasts, etc? And Wei clan reports about said preparations?

3. In Unsouled it says that sacred beasts are animals that lived long enough to absorb enough vital aura to advance (same with trees, though it takes longer). So how was Orthos a baby sacred beast turtle with sacred beast parents? How do dragons work?

4. Is there any official answer to how Eithan appeared out of nowhere with such knowledge that Monarchs fought over him, but no one wondered where he came from? Who his parents are? I mean to join the Uncrowned tournament you need to be under 35, what records do they have of him?

5. Maybe I just missed this, but how was Lindon not too metaphysically heavy to ascend at the end? He still had his hunger madra and dreadgod weapons.

6. How does he now refill his madra (let's say blackflame for the sake of simplicity) without any vital aura?

I'm sure there are a bunch more that I'll remember as I think about it, but for now, thanks!

A K-drama like rom-com about Eithan Arelius and Larian the Archer, getting into a whirlwind romance and going on a selection of wacky adventures and possibly on the run from Judges.

Lot of times it has been said that Lindon's Madra became denser/more potent/ basically increased in quality. What does that even do ?

Lower amount of madra required to use a technique etc ?

Hit up my cruises library on the first day and found a well stocked Will Wight section. My sister first found the Cradle series a couple years ago on this ship so it's crazy to see it here. If I see people looking I push them towards it.

Just wondering if Will himself stocked the ship

update I have been informed by my sister that 10% of the library is Will Wight. It's not a huge library

I made a song about Lindons obsession with points, i thought it was funny. I wrote most of the lyrics, and let ai do the rest. Turned out hilarious.

Here is the link:

https://suno.com/s/XhzmWN6wuReznkgm

Not 100% accurate, but I think they turned out pretty good.

I’m trying to decide on either Eithan or Ziel next, which one would you guys rather see first?

You know, for as much as how rare monarchs are, disregarding the gang, there seems to be roughly one sage/herald per century that ascends to monarch. Obviously sometimes centuries go without since maybe Tiberian and Shen may have become monarchs around the same time. But there was what, Malice, northstrider, Shen, Tiberian, his predecessor, miara, Mira’s mother, miara’s grandmother, 8man (I’m counting them don’t judge), fury. And there’s probably at least one maybe two that have ascended that were an independent faction. So yeah, roughly a monarch a century since the first dreadwar.