4.5/5 starsThe dragon advances; Blackflame advances Cradle into an addictive series to read.If I were to defined Unsouled as an invitation to Cradle, Soulsmith would be the appetizer, and Blackflame would be where the main course begins. Don’t get me wrong, the first two books were fun, they were great, and they were necessary installments full of proper foundations that made the ravaging Path of the Blackflame so compelling to read, but it truly felt like the meat of the story begins here. The

I think I am completely in love. Blackflame is an amazingly fantastic continuation of the Cradle series. Integrating the fascinating Eastern-inspired worldbuilding and magic-martial arts system with better characterisation, Blackflame was easily the best book in the series so far. Even though I'm still not wild about the main protagonist, Wei Shi Lindon, I was growing more invested in what his future may bring. At the end of Soulsmith, Lindon found himself being given one year to train and advan...

This Review ✍️ Blog 📖 Twitter 🐦 Instagram 📷 Support me ☕ “That was the real lesson: if you were powerful enough, you could accomplish anything.” Unsouled ★★★ 3/4Soulsmith ★★★ 1/2Blackflame ★★★★The more books I read in this series, the more it feels like watching anime. Each book reads like an episode here and usually an anime season has 12-13 episodes and this has 12 books planned. And as much as can be crammed in 20 mins anime episode, those books are relatively short but full of ac...

3rd reading:I am getting reading for the 10th book in this series coming out this fall. Will has bundled together in one volume, books 1-3 online and it feels like these 1st 3 books make one amazing story. The first book simply runs right into the 2nd and it really should be read as one story. Book 3 fits in with that so well.Lindon is able to level up twice in this story. Yerin levels up one more time. That battle with Eithan is everything. It's my favorite. I love the training scene in this bo...

Eithan has offered Lindon all he could want. A powerful family and instruction from a master. Eithan unfortunately also left Lindon in a predicament. In one year's time, he has to fight the Highgold Jai Long. Lindon is prepared to do anything to get strong enough to win, he just may not realize what that means. Eithan once again has dangerous plans for Lindon and he's made sure to include Yerin as well.Blackflame was a strong sequel. The scene shifts to the home of the Arelius Family, Serpent's

Executive Summary: This series started out pretty solid, but this book got really really good. I read the first half over several days, but I read the second half in one sitting. For that reason it was a pretty easy 5 star for me. Full Review A friend of mine was recommending I read Will Wight for a long time, but there are just so many books/authors out there that I never got around to it. It took getting a free copy of the first book of this series to get me to finally give him a shot.I keep...

The dragon advances and the stories continue to impress, climbing the stairs of progression and grandness.

Blackflame delivers on a whole new level and is a fantastic story, fully deserving of my first five star rating for this exciting series.At the end of Soulsmith our main character is assigned a seemingly impossible task. A duel with an opponent who is a lion to his mouse. The inevitability of Lindon’s defeat and death is scheduled for a year later with Blackflame picking up almost immediately after Soulsmith and with Lindon training in the hope of survival. Who doesn’t love a great training sequ...

8-23-21 - 2nd Reread done.... just over a year from the first time I read it. You could say I like this series just a little bit😁Reread done. SO ready for Wintersteel!4.75 stars.I loved this book! This series has been addicting and fun throughout and Blackflame has only increased my love for it. Narrator Travis Baldree continues to impress as he brings this world to life and gives each character a unique voice. After this series is up I am definitely going to be looking into other series that he...

3.5-stars rounded up to 4.As others had suggested this is the best book of the series so far.There seems to be more of a plot in this one, rather than just Lindon and Yerin jumping from one combat to the next. And now that Eithan has been added it gives us another character to focus on that has some more substance. I still prefer Yerin at this point, though Lindon did advance a lot more during this book. There was a lot of description of Lindon having to picture things in his mind in order for h...

Buddy read with SnezanaBlackflame is the third book in the cradle series, just like the previous books this book is fast paced and action packed. It took place in another location from the previous books. The setting of this book is different from that of the first two, this took place in the Blackflame empire. “That was the real lesson: if you were powerful enough, you could accomplish anything.” The world and new location was well depicted, the houses in this new location are built in the

"Someone," Bai Rou said, "is making a monster." I've reread the final chapters at least four times already. Each time, that line gives me chills.The world of Cradle is an engrossing, meticulously built fantasy smorgasbord of epic challenges. It's filled with murderous antagonists, literal soul crushing characters(normally that would be bad but these are the real highlights) and a hero desperately out of his depth.Boilerplate you may think but packaged so perfectly. It's amazing!Having read the f...

5.0 stars—-Had to bump this up half a star after my 3rd reread. This is where the series really takes shape and things start to get interesting. 4.5 stars---This series keeps improving book after book. I'm glad it is a long series

4.5 stars

5* This was the best Cradle book to dateWow this book was a big step forward from Book 3 in terms of plot progression, battle scenes and the advancement of our now not so helpless protagonist Lindon. I really loved this book it had a nice balance to it which kept me reading that extra chapter which is always a good sign for a book. Lindon levels up significantly in this story which is cool too as he has been pretty weak to date so that was fun to watch him learn and be tested both through trial

03/10/2022 Notes: 4th Time Around I didn't enjoy the plot process as much during this re-read, but that may be due to the other cultivation stories I've been reading. Most of them are not as well plotted as Cradle, and that's put me in critique mode. The only part that's a bit off in pacing was the last quarter of the book, but that's not a new thought from me. 10/07/2019 Notes: 1st ReadBook 2 was a transition piece. This one had a nice balance of overall progression in plot + characters and act...

4.5 - It's getting better and better!

This was the best book of the series so far and I was happy to learn that what I assumed was a trilogy is actually longer and that a fourth book is to be released. Which is great because I think there is a lot more story to tell in this universe. I'd highly recommend this entire series to anyone who would like an Asian influenced fantasy series, heroes that use their brains not hidden over powered skill sets.

If I were to read Cradle again (and I probably will), I might consider starting with Blackflame. Unsouled and Soulsmith are basically an introduction to this world. They're fun, and they're the foundation, so it's impossible to skip them as a first-time reader (and you shouldn't; they're great), but Blackflame is where the real story starts.Blackflame is where Cradle stops being an entertaining popcorn read and turns into a truly epic progression series.Action-packed and fast-paced, this book is...

The story and characters were slow to develop, but it is still an easy read/listen. Honestly didn't get good until 3/4 of the way through but I am still enjoying it. The way this book ended was fantastic. Travis does a great job narrating the characters.