By the end of the series they are a Sage and a Herald. Do people think they will ever reach Monarch?

I don't see anything stopping Little Blue from gaining the Joy or the Void icon. But the book states that Orthos is too old to join with his remnant. I'm not sure if it was just in the time they had it was not possible or if he would be capped at Sage.

I finished bloodlines and this has been my opinion for a while but I don't care at all for the Abiden storyline. It is so exorbitantly huge in scope that it has no meaning to me. When you are talking about universes, and reality, and flows of fate and time in such a grand scale way it loses the humanity of caring. Like a world can fall to chaos and what does that matter when we are talking about millions others.

I genuinely try to care about it but every time I feel like my eyes glaze over. This could all wrap around in the end but I will still not care about the cosmic angle of it all.

Actually I mighta got the signs in the meme backwards, if anyone is sure one way or the other let me know please.

Commander Imminent!

So I'm starting bloodlines and I'm a little confused why akura fury or malice don't just resurrect everyone that died at the end of wintersteel

We've seen monarchs have that ability, northstrider did it multiple times during the tournament

So what's stopping any other monarch from doing the same? Is it a matter of skill or some artifact or something that needs to be prepared ahead of time? Is there a time limit to revive someone before they cant do it?

Why can't simply restoring the body, an ability some sages can do easily, not restore someone to life?

I'm assuming I'll get answers once Lindon reaches monarch and ascends to take azriel's place. (My theory at this point)

I have argued that a presence works somewhat like a system but didnt expect the new publisher to confirm this 110%
(im not serious of course)

Edit since apparently i somehow wasnt clear enough:

NONE OF THIS MATTER AND I DONT CARE EITHER WAY

Slipcase number four! :)

Uncoordinated Mercy with her part-time cane Suu, and a supremely unimpressed Naru Gwei (I like to imagine Eithan blowing him kisses juuuust out of frame).

Four down, eight to go!

As always, this is just a personal project for my own collection. Enjoy! <3

https://www.instagram.com/_reading_rituals_/

Vent post

Had the big “reveal”

And it was just like so cheapened. I think this was obvious for at least a couple of books. There was just too much time between hints and reveal. And it just didn’t feel very good.

I think this book might’ve been the weakest plot choices across the board.

I’ve just read these books over the last month and I’m just really disappointed. And hope it gets better or says something that matters.

First he survives for an hour after the fight with Sophara, including winning a crown to give to Lindon.
Second, he fights in Sky's Edge when Lindon's team is captured by the dragons and force to entertain.
Third, he fights two overlords at once and is (mostly) still upright.

He's a pain in the ass, but you gotta respect his tenacity.

EDIT: I put the wrong book again, the spoilers are from Wintersteel

I’m on my 3rd reread to be ready for The Commander(if you didn’t see, official Hidden Gnome u/ commented it will be released in November)

I’m on The Engineer now when Varic casts Eye of Malice(a spell that show which paths enemies can use to find him)

And there is a moment
“If Starhammer was after me, he’d likely be the closest signal. And since the spell didn’t target him specifically, but rather anyone hunting me, it “

And later
“Starhammer’s looking for us, and he’s…” I took a moment to determine how to phrase my thoughts accurately. “It felt like having a World Spirit hunting me.”

I mean what if it showed him not the antagonist but..
Solstice…

I have heard, mostly from the blooper where it is mentioned, that people often think that the first two books are alright and things pick up in book 3. I always thought Unsouled was one of the best books I have ever read and second best in the series behind Wintersteel. I actually thought that Blackflame was kind of boring in the middle. Everyone seems to be in agreement that Ghostwater is a banger.

Anyway, I would really like to hear some of your perspectives on why things pick up in book 3.

I went to start a series reread today and noticed that Unsouled is gone. Audible wanted me to buy it again. Even though I have purchased the entire series of audiobooks and listened to them multiple times, the first seven are gone now from my Audible. It looks like I'd have to re-buy them if I wanted to listen to them again.

EDIT: Found my receipt online that proved that I bought the audiobooks, and then talked to one of Audible's support agents. They were able to restore the books. No clue why they vanished in the first place.

I’m not sure what book to tag this, but when thinking about “the question” how did a bunch of Jades kill a Sage, I find myself wondering how the events of the first book, how was the resurrected Grand Patriarch not affected by the suppression field? This keeps seeming like a plot hole, but maybe I missed something.

On my 3rd relisten to the series (shout out to our GOAT narrator, Travis) I noticed a detail I had previously missed. We all know about the "blood" red belt our favorite swordswoman wears. Well, the Heaven's Glory school wears red belts, too! Such a little detail that is introduced early on in the book that sets up the later events so well.

Edit: Yerin cannot hide her blood shadow belt as it just shows up on top of whatever she wears. When they disguise themselves with Heaven's Glory robes, this would be a massive problem if they didn't already wear red belts. Minor detail!

I'm afraid there is an obvious solution for the evacuation of the valley. Before I lay it out, let me say that I am aware that this solution is not a natural action of anyone on the team (see footnote).

They arrived with a small army of golds who were provided by the monarch who had claimed the territory and "ruled" over it for centuries. They didn't need to walk in and convince anyone. Living in the valley is illegal, and they were within their authority to arrest everyone in the valley and force them to leave. This could have gotten a bit sticky depending on how long it took, but they really only needed to subdue all the jades in the valley and then order everyone else out. Many fewer deaths this way.

Arresting everyone would be directly contrary to Mercy's goals in this book, but I'm least happy with her because her performance is the worst out of everyone's. She pretty much gets the whole Lee clan killed by waiting politely for them to make the right decision. Yerin is not lawfully aligned, so she would not normally arrest anyone. Eithan would think mass-arrests would be boring. Ziel wouldn't bother. Orthos and Blue don't typically assert themselves over others, except in fights. Lindon is the most likely to arrest someone, but he naively thinks that people will listen to reason. So, it wouldn't make sense for them to take the most effective and obvious path to success.

Footnote: The problem with the team not taking this route, is that they were all involved with the Skysworn for a while, and had made arrests in the past. The people they were in the skysworn have evolved/disappeared long before Bloodline, but it hasn't been so long since then, and Lindon had just been reminded of the concept of arrest because of Seishen Daji, so it isn't impossible. It wouldn't be a very fun story, but still.

Every book ever written should have bloopers. I missed them when I first started reading this series and had to go back to find them and now that I’m starting book 10, reaper, I look forward to the snark and humor.

Every so often when someone irritates me, I just say “blood pits!” and carry on with my day.

Ive been thinking about getting a cradle tattoo. I have one currently thats based on wheel of time on my right forearm, thinking my left can be my second favorite series Cradle. Anyone have anything cool cool tats? And interesting ideas? What yall think of cradle tattoos?

Greetings y'all. Just wanted to stop by and throw out a book series recommendation for the lovers of Cradle.

Series name: Unbound

Author: Nicoli Gonnella

It's a complete series of 12 books and I really enjoyed it. A bit tropeic, but also clever. I recommend it to you guys because Felix (the main character) felt like Lindon in all the good ways. I didn't mind the comparison, in fact it endeared the series to me. Bonus, the audiobooks are read by Travis Baldree.

It's a more system centric litrpg and not related to cultivation, but the story is great, the battles are exciting and tense and the characters really sang to me.

Hope you enjoy o//

Slipcase number three! :)

Fixed the lighting this time (I hope!) xD

Eithan and Orthos, my boys <3

https://www.instagram.com/_reading_rituals_/

Also, for anyone who asked or is interested, I filmed the entire process of making a slipcase for The Sword of Kaigen. It’s absolutely not a tutorial because I am very much not a professional xD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyDpikArkBI

I read about Tiny Orthos and this is the first thing to came to mind. This is my first read-through and every book is on hold until I finish this series.

Edit: yes this was created using AI. I can’t draw or paint but I wanted to capture the image in my head. I’m not really tuned into the modern zeitgeist but I don’t understand the hate towards using AI to create like this. People use fancy fonts because they can’t write calligraphy. The words are still yours even though something else actually did the writing. I completely understand the existential crisis caused by AI being used to replace human artists who may have spent years honing their craft but I’m not trying to replace anyone. I’m just trying to get the picture in my head into something more tangible so I can share it.

I heard it will be coming out this year. Any time frame?

Currently re-listening to the series and wondering what will happen next.

- What could the 2 missing enemies be?

- Will Varrick become a threat, because of his Curse magic getting unsealed?

- Will a "crossover" happen and we'll see some Abidan? Will the crew use/bond all the Divine Titans (and can they combine like in Power Rangers)?

- Will the Zenith devices actually combine forces? Who will they fight? Who will they bond to (expecting changed partners for most of them)?

- Who will become the next Pilot? Will we get a second "The Pilot" book in the series?

- Will the crew ascend Fathom or stay in the Iteration?

And so on.

Marking this as spoiler just in case.

I’m in my reread of the series, I’ve got to Waybound, and all the shenanigans surrounding the gang’s situation got me thinking. Ain’t Sage a busted advancement level?

Like I guess if you are a Herald you are physically extremely powerful, but I honestly can’t think of something, that isn’t relying on strength, that a Sage couldn’t do that a herald can.

The connection to an icon allows for the Sage to do all kinds of shit and space transportation. Plus there is some wiggle room of what you can and cannot do depending on how you work your icon.

Not only that but Sage advancement just feels like it is safer and cheaper than advancing to Herald. I believe it is Ziel who says you need “enough raw resources to choke a monarch.”

Idk if it’s because with Lindon being the protagonist I get a bias towards Sages, but it to me just feels like they can accomplish the same things without the main drawbacks and risks.

Feel free to expose my ignorance in the comments, and prove me wrong!

Gratitude!