Approx length: I believe all the books are between 50k and 100k words? The shortest book is marked ~280pgs on Goodreads, the longest 540pgs. (I know, I'M SORRY. In my defense they go by very quickly. I think I read them in a month and a half, and that was while also reading other books at the same time)
Where to find it: Kindle/Kindle Unlimited and Audible. Unfortunately amazon-locked, so you can't request them at libraries; I had to borrow my sibling's kindle to read them. They are fairly popular for the genre though, so maybe they also exist elsewhere? I haven't checked.
What is it, in summary?: A xianxia-style progression fantasy in which a teen with no power and, according to everyone he knows, no way of ever gaining any, is shown a future in which his homeland is destroyed. He decides to leave to find someone strong enough to save it, and teams up with a powerful, angry teen girl along the way, who realizes she needs to protect this guy from literally everything because everything he's been taught up to now is wrong.
That's book one, and it's twelve books, so a lot happens. But it's a progression fantasy involving magical martial arts: the core plot line is that the characters Progress. They meet a ton of fun and awful people along the way, and in anime style realize that the Most Important Power of all is, of course, Friendship.
(these are the covers for the omnibus editions! The characters on the first cover are Lindon and Yerin, the protagonists mentioned in the summary)
What do you love about it?: So Much. It is a very anime coded series: The characters are dynamic and distinct, the magic system is creative and fun, and the characters really tap into my favorite dynamic of "two generations of powerful/talented individuals team up to make the messiest mentorship-group-dynamics known to man". If you like Sk8 the Infinity or Jujutsu Kaisen for that, you will probably like Cradle too!
The cast comes together over the course of the first several books, but the fan-favorite, Eithan, shows up in book 2 (Soulsmith). Some recommend skipping book 1, especially if you're not already a fan of the genre: I got through it just fine, but I will admit that things really pick up when Eithan shows up. He's just That Bitch and I love him SO MUCH. If you're a Gojo JJK or Oikawa Haikyuu enjoyer, you are almost guaranteed to love Eithan. Exact same genre of person.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Any sort of interactions between Eithan and Ziel (who first shows up in book 5 and then reappears properly in book 7). They foil each other so well, and even though I do crack-ship them, they're also really interesting as-is in canon. There are moments between them where they both sort of.. give up the masks they wear, but only for the briefest of conversations, and it's so! it's so,, (wordless yelling). The power of those moments comes from the contrast with literally every other situation they're in, in which Eithan is so so annoying (his default mode) and Ziel Doesn't Care At All (his default mode). [Edit: my friend reminds me that in this way he's very Nanami-JJK-coded. Quote: "he is on the clock, he is doing his duty, he is NOT enjoying it". king. I love him]
Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: Yes and no? There's an animated trailer for the series, if you want to take a peek at the world and vibes and characters!
As mentioned, Eithan (the blond guy with the broom) shows up in book 2, but it really is a series that is worth reading in full. But that being said, the main group is solidified by book 8, and most of the dynamics can be understood even before then. (There is a Major Reveal in book 10 though, and it's extremely worth it to actively avoid spoilers. EXTREMELY worth it. So I do recommend reading the whole series and not deep diving in fandom tags before then, even if you're normally chill about spoilers. If you like living life close to the edge and need to check wikis for information, I highly recommend NOT using the .fandom.com wiki to double check stuff, because they spoil things right out the gate for most things. As an alternative, the wiki.abidanarchive site is purposefully tries to avoid major major spoilers, though it's still a wiki and does include a lot of things from later books.)
Content warnings: Genre-typical violence and character death: some battles are described in pretty vivid detail, and there are sometimes fairly permanent physical and magical-physical injuries involved. Apart from that it is a surprisingly tame series!
Cradle Series - Will Wight
Cradle Series, by Will Wight
Media:
12 book series
Approx length:
I believe all the books are between 50k and 100k words? The shortest book is marked ~280pgs on Goodreads, the longest 540pgs.
(I know, I'M SORRY. In my defense they go by very quickly. I think I read them in a month and a half, and that was while also reading other books at the same time)
Where to find it:
Kindle/Kindle Unlimited and Audible. Unfortunately amazon-locked, so you can't request them at libraries; I had to borrow my sibling's kindle to read them. They are fairly popular for the genre though, so maybe they also exist elsewhere? I haven't checked.
What is it, in summary?:
A xianxia-style progression fantasy in which a teen with no power and, according to everyone he knows, no way of ever gaining any, is shown a future in which his homeland is destroyed. He decides to leave to find someone strong enough to save it, and teams up with a powerful, angry teen girl along the way, who realizes she needs to protect this guy from literally everything because everything he's been taught up to now is wrong.
That's book one, and it's twelve books, so a lot happens. But it's a progression fantasy involving magical martial arts: the core plot line is that the characters Progress. They meet a ton of fun and awful people along the way, and in anime style realize that the Most Important Power of all is, of course, Friendship.
(these are the covers for the omnibus editions! The characters on the first cover are Lindon and Yerin, the protagonists mentioned in the summary)
What do you love about it?:
So Much. It is a very anime coded series: The characters are dynamic and distinct, the magic system is creative and fun, and the characters really tap into my favorite dynamic of "two generations of powerful/talented individuals team up to make the messiest mentorship-group-dynamics known to man". If you like Sk8 the Infinity or Jujutsu Kaisen for that, you will probably like Cradle too!
The cast comes together over the course of the first several books, but the fan-favorite, Eithan, shows up in book 2 (Soulsmith). Some recommend skipping book 1, especially if you're not already a fan of the genre: I got through it just fine, but I will admit that things really pick up when Eithan shows up. He's just That Bitch and I love him SO MUCH. If you're a Gojo JJK or Oikawa Haikyuu enjoyer, you are almost guaranteed to love Eithan. Exact same genre of person.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?:
Any sort of interactions between Eithan and Ziel (who first shows up in book 5 and then reappears properly in book 7). They foil each other so well, and even though I do crack-ship them, they're also really interesting as-is in canon. There are moments between them where they both sort of.. give up the masks they wear, but only for the briefest of conversations, and it's so! it's so,, (wordless yelling).
The power of those moments comes from the contrast with literally every other situation they're in, in which Eithan is so so annoying (his default mode) and Ziel Doesn't Care At All (his default mode). [Edit: my friend reminds me that in this way he's very Nanami-JJK-coded. Quote: "he is on the clock, he is doing his duty, he is NOT enjoying it". king. I love him]
Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?:
Yes and no? There's an animated trailer for the series, if you want to take a peek at the world and vibes and characters!
As mentioned, Eithan (the blond guy with the broom) shows up in book 2, but it really is a series that is worth reading in full. But that being said, the main group is solidified by book 8, and most of the dynamics can be understood even before then.
(There is a Major Reveal in book 10 though, and it's extremely worth it to actively avoid spoilers. EXTREMELY worth it. So I do recommend reading the whole series and not deep diving in fandom tags before then, even if you're normally chill about spoilers.
If you like living life close to the edge and need to check wikis for information, I highly recommend NOT using the .fandom.com wiki to double check stuff, because they spoil things right out the gate for most things. As an alternative, the wiki.abidanarchive site is purposefully tries to avoid major major spoilers, though it's still a wiki and does include a lot of things from later books.)
Content warnings:
Genre-typical violence and character death: some battles are described in pretty vivid detail, and there are sometimes fairly permanent physical and magical-physical injuries involved. Apart from that it is a surprisingly tame series!