Soulsmith

By: Will Wight

Narrated by: Travis Baldree

Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's Summary

Outside Sacred Valley, ancient ruins rise from the earth, drawing sacred artists from miles around to fight for the treasures within. 

Factions rise and fall as warriors bicker over rare resources, but time is limited. A powerful family from the Blackflame Empire is coming to claim the ruins, and when they arrive, no one else will have a chance at the prize. 

Lindon has reached Copper, taking the first step on the road to power, but the warriors of the outside world are still far beyond him. 

To advance, he turns to the arcane skills of the Soulsmiths, who craft weapons from the stuff of souls. With new powers come new enemies, and Lindon soon finds himself facing an entire sect of Golds.

©2016 Hidden Gnome Publishing (P)2018 Hidden Gnome Publishing

I love this series and it picks up in book two.

First off I have to say that I have read all four books htat are out right now and am a little miffed that they split them into four books. Honestly it seems like books 1 and two were one book cut in half and three and four were cut in half to sell more books for more money. I mean let's be honest in book one some stuff happens but not a whole lot of progress is made by the main character accept getting into copper. This book he gets into iron and the ending feels different than book one. It is a good ending and leads into ook three nicely. Same thing happens with book three to four only backwards. A lot of progress is made in book three but then ends with you waiting for a duel. Book four not a lot of progress is made with the main character accept the duel and him discovering stuff and becoming resolved to reach the peak of cultivation. Again book four ends well vs book one and three. Am I the only one seeing this? All in all the series is worth the credits.

11 people found this helpful

Esoteric dullness

Unlike the first, this book devotes far more time to fighting scenes and the esoteric details of the magic system. There has been very little character or relationship development. I am half way though and quite bored.

Furthermore, these books are not a bargain. Each one in the series is only 7 hours long. That's about a quarter the usual length of a sci fi book. Even on sale at $5, this book is very expensive compared to others in the genre.

At least the narrator is less over the top in this book.

6 people found this helpful

A rip-off of Dungeon Born by Dakota Krout

This story was ok. The characters are flat. The story is confusing and not really going anywhere. The side story about "the gods" is horrible and should be removed. The information dumps labeled as "query" need to be spread out and incorporated into the story. The author does not hold to his own standards set in the book, making things inconsistent.
Now for the pros, the book is engaging enough to keep me wanting to know how the MC will grow. A lot of the ideas are taken from Dakota Krout's series but that series was decent. I don't think I'd recommend this series to a friend because the books are too short. Really, two of the books equal one. It's kind of frustrating to spend money on half a book and then have to buy the next half. Did I say pros? I guess there really aren't any. I just like it for its video game aspect. I bought the third book, but just barely. We'll see if I stop there.

2 people found this helpful

Non-stop adventure

Hard to put down. Believable characters, amazing and well thought-out world with a mix of primitive and futuristic cultures with martial arts focus.

2 people found this helpful

Captivating

A 5-star rating for me is this: The combination of a great story with a medium level of details which is then told flawlessly with great voices. So far, the Cradle series delivers.

8 people found this helpful

Can’t say enough good things.

Great story, great narrator. My only complaint is that the author does not publish a new book every week.

4 people found this helpful

Keep a list of the new characters...

My review of book one applies to all six books that I have read!

Too many threads, and non-linear progression!

3 people found this helpful

The best series that I have ever read.

I lose sleep in order to listen or read these books. Highly recommended you will not be disappointed!

3 people found this helpful

Exceptional series

I read these books on Kindle but enjoyed them so much that I purchased on Audible once they became available.

Mr. Baldree nails the reading and the content is top notch. Can’t recommend this series highly enough.

5 people found this helpful

Great continuation to a fascinating story

compelling world and good characters, looking forward to more character development. This book kept my attention the whole time

3 people found this helpful

Fun but not as good as the first

This book falls a bit short compared to the first one. I think it's the setting and the secondary characters are what make it a bit boring. It's still enjoyable and introduces an interesting character but lacks the initial excitement of the first book.