Ghostwater is a book that is very much a natural progression of the Cradle series while also being noticeably different from the books that came before. In every book before this, much of the story has been focused on how Lindon makes it in the world at large with the help of those he meets along the way. While he becomes stronger and more capable as the story goes on, and relies on his natural wits and cleverness to survive, much of the narrative relies on his growing relationship with the powerful people he has aligned himself with and taking advantage of the moments of the opportunity presented to him. In this book, Lindon is very much on his own and the exploration of this works on so many levels that I didn’t realize I wanted to see. Wight has created truly distinct and enjoyable characters and the relationships they have built together shine here as for the first time since the beginning Lindon is separated from everyone and he is forced to survive on his own (for the most part) all while we see the reactions of his surrogate family to being separated. I won’t get into specifics but suffice it to say the author nails the exploration of these relationships all while staying true to the nature of one of the flagship series of the progressive fantasy subgenre.