TLDR: A really good start to a Progressive Fantasy/LitRPG.
I’m relatively new to LITRPG but after loving Arcane Ascension and the rest of Andrew Rowe’s books I went looking for another series in the genre. The forums tended to point in the direction of the cradle series and so I decided to give it a shot. So far it is exactly what I was looking for. It has all the hallmarks of what I understand LITRPG is supposed to be while also completely distinct and different from what I’ve seen from other fantasy series that I’ve read. For starters the world is a distinctly dominant eastern fantasy setting rather than the more “typical” western setting (traditional sword and sorcery). It took a moment for me to get used to it the tone shift, but the incredibly interesting world that was built drew me in quickly.
What Wight does really effectively is simultaneously telling a very micro-story with an extremely macro story. I won’t say more because I’m wary of spoilers, especially in the first book in a series, but suffice it to say that there is a lot going on and yet I never felt overwhelmed by it all. It also felt like everything had a purpose in the greater narrative, even if the payoff may come many books down the line (As of writing this review, book 8 was recently released). If you’ve read your share of fantasy then you are probably pretty good at being able to see where most stories are going to end up very early on. While reading this book I began to have that feeling early on, that it was an enjoyable story but that I could read the tea leaves so to speak. Within a chapter or two, Wight Zagged where I expected him to Zig and the story was so much better for it. From that point on I was hooked. Definitely recommend this if you are looking for a good start to a fantasy series that isn’t traditional sword and sorcery.
My only complaint is that I wish the book were longer and allowed for a few more quiet moments, but I understand that not all fantasy series have to be made up of books as intimidatingly long as the Wheel of Time or the Stormlight Archive.
The narrator did a good job and has a great hold on the main character’s voice. It could be that I’ve just listened to enough audiobooks that I’m used to it but I also think he does a better job with the female voices than many others do but we’ll see if that continues into the future.