Skysworn (Cradle Book 4)

The brilliance of Will Wight’s world building & character development skills are in full bloom in Skysworn. The story is built to a crescendo & leaves the reader thirsting for more.

A good follow-up within the Cradle series but not necessarily a great follow-up. This is a book that is tasked with the set-up of the rest of Will Wight's story imo. As a result, it feels almost like half a book. Don't get me wrong, it's still entertaining and I have no regrets about purchasing it as soon as it was out. A lot of incidents occur in this book and they seemed rushed. Lindon's development seems halted (even though his growth will be picked up in the following books) while Yerin continues to be awesome as usual (but isn't fleshed out as well int his book as with the previous books). I think Will Wight could have gotten away with another 50 or so pages to tell the same story but giving it a little more time to develop while allowing himself more space/time to flesh everything out. All in all, I'd say this was the weakest book in the series so far but that won't stop me from buying the next as soon as it's out. I appreciate what the author is doing. It's not easy being a fan and waiting years for the followup book in a series and the author understands this based on the fact that Will has managed about 2 or so books in this series every year. I appreciate that and look forward to continuing this journey with Lindon and the rest of the team. I hope the coming books as just as good if not better than the first 3. I re-read those recently and am still amazed by them (the second book in the series is probably my favorite). Thank you Will for bringing us along on this journey :-D

I would consider this the best book in the Cradle series to date, if not Will Wight's best book overall. This is the first book where I feel like we've gotten to see Eithan really shine as a strategist, as well as the first book where he runs into any significant challenges. As a result, he's more interesting to read about in this volume than in any of the previous books. Yerin finally gets to be included in the main plot in a major capacity - something I've been looking forward to for ages. And finally, we get to see the culmination of two books worth of setup for the confrontation between Lindon and Jai Long. I won't spoil this with any details, but it's solid. Overall, this was well paced, and kept me engaged throughout the entire book. It also introduced new elements that made me more interested in seeing where the series as a whole was going. All in all, it was a great book and I'd strongly recommend it.

I'm really enjoying the series. Truly great and engaging characters, interesting world building, and a well developed and unique magic system. Add exciting, fast-paced plots and, joy of joys, a ten book series. I'm in fantasy genre heaven! The one slight downside for me is that the books are short, I'm burning through each in a couple of days: average reading time is around fives hours. At $5 an ebook that feels a little pricey

Kind of like Book 2, this one is essentially setting up the more climactic conflicts to come. But unlike Book 2, I found this one extremely satisfying in its own right. Wight unfolded his world and multiverse to a significant degree, illuminating much of what's going on at the vastly different scales of the clan politics of the Blackflame Empire and the cosmic concerns of the Abidan. My biggest complaint is that the major climactic set piece in book felt truncated. I think it would have been possible to have spent more time on it. It felt like Wight was running low on paper and had to wrap it up quickly. But, no matter. I'm dying to know what comes next.

Let my start by saying I love this series. One of the things I have consistently liked about it is the steady progression Lindon makes in progressing his power. The work he puts in is felt by the reader and at the end of Blackflame I was looking forward to seeing how Lindon would continue to push in order to surprise Jai Long at the duel. I was disappointed that this book does not have any of this. It practically skips the remaining time between the end of Blackflame and the beginning of the duel. I enjoyed reading through the story and it certainly packs a lot of action, but I feel like the times of reflection that helped the pacing for the previous story were largely missing. This book focuses on action and a crisis, and while these are probably necessary to the plot, it was a whole lot all at once without much space for the reader to absorb it. Considering that it's only been about 5 months since the last book released I can't really fault the story for feeling short, but as a standalone novel this feels short. One of the things I've always liked about Will's writing is that he doesn't bog down his story with unnecessary details, his descriptions convey enough to be interesting but don't wallow in the setting to the point that I'm bored. It feels like he gave the plot this same treatment and I don't think it works as well on the plot as it does on his scenes. What I've said is mostly negative but I largely enjoyed the book, those were my biggest complaints. At the end of the day if you've read through the series up to this point you should definitely buy the book, but be prepared going in for it to feel shorter than the previous installment.

Another excellent entry in the Cradle series. Jai Daishou is making trouble for Eithan, which means trouble for Lindon. Jai being alive causes a serious problem as he becomes increasingly desperate for a way to hurt Eithan, personally. Great world building in this novel. SPOILERS BELOW *************************************** Jai Daishou grabs a piece of treasure from "the labyrinth" and just having the door open was enough to stir a Dreadgod, the Bleeding Phoenix, which is related to the red (not) rope Yerrin has. He picks up the Archstone and pulls it out during the duel between Lindon and Jai Long, right after Jai Long severs Lindon's right arm (winning the duel). Eithan kills Jai Daishou (for keeps this time), then is summoned to the emperor because anytime someone breaches the labyrinth, bad things can happen. Which they do. During the ensuing chaos, Lindon gets a new arm, made with the Ancestor's Spear that was such a big deal in the last 2 novels. Yerrin defeats her parasite and now controls her Blood Shadow. We meet a new friend, Akura Mercy, who is from the larger Empire. And finally learn about Eithan's marble, which shows a message to Lindon and Yerrin. Time for the next book!

I have had the pleasure of reading Will Wight's books since the beginning and I can say that while without a doubt I loved the earlier books, he has actually gotten better over the years. Each book can't be put down and leaves you yearning for more. Skysworn was not an exception. Lindon's growth continues in unexpected ways, the reader gets to see more of the Empire and even a teensy bit beyond it, and Fisher Gesha gets some much needed fleshing out (how could one not like Fisher Gesha¿!?). That said the true beauty of the book lies in character interactions and the wry wit that lurks beneath the surface of each exchange. One can't help but smile in even the most absurdly horrible situations, because the characters are so REAL, so human, and so much fun. I highly suggest you read Skysworn if you've read the previous three books. If you haven't read the previous books, go buy them now, read them immediately and then read Skysworn.

So first off, I’ve got to say that this begins with one of my favourite chapters, maybe ever. It’s funny, well constructed and leads perfectly into the rest of the novel. And what a novel it is. Lindon has spent the past year training to fight Jai Long, learning a new destructive path in the process. Will he succeed? This is a book that packs a lot into it. While the initial focus is the duel it also deals a lot with the consequences of it. The humour and the action that by this time you’ve come to expect are all there. There’s also more nice character moments and the world is expanded even more. It’s still a short book, there’s only 285 pages according to my Kindle, but every page is well utilised. By this point, if you’re like me, you’re probably fully on board at this point and this review will matter little. So if you’re even slightly wavering I’ll just say, this book continues the series you’ve come to expect.

And still, I enjoy it. I rarely read a book more than once, but Wight's writing is compelling and fun and makes me desire more and more. It is not only for the action, it is the personality of the characters and the weaving of the stories that make Wight one of the best Fantasy authors for me. If you usually side with the Underdogs, if you like to be entertained, and thrilled, and even surprised by a tale, I can only recommend you this series.

Ich bin ein großer Fan der Cradle Serie und hoffe auf eine baldige Verfilmung. Ich habe alle Bücher schon mehrfach gelesen und kann sie jedem Fantasy Fan nur ans Herz legen.

This is pure awesomeness. The world & the cradle system is too awesome. And some of the plot lines are completed with so much satisfaction to the reader. Everything is revealed why some characters did something and still we will be eager to what comes next. Thank you Will, and love you!

Essa coleção de livros é tão boa que eu não consigo fazer minhas coisas, é dificil parar de ler de tão bom! Recomendo muito.