Unsouled Review: Why Will Wight Makes Every Small Victory Count

When Wei Shi Lindon puts his hand into a bowl of madra, nothing happens. In Sacred Valley, that childhood test is supposed to reveal how he’ll practice the sacred arts. Instead, it earns him a wooden badge that tells everyone he’s Unsouled. It’s a terrific opening for Will Wight’s Unsouled, the first Cradle novel. Before we see what a powerful sacred artist can do, we see what it costs Lindon to be told he’ll never become one.

This review discusses the premise and leaves the ending unspoiled.

Lindon is worth rooting for before he gets stronger

The best thing about Lindon is how resourceful he has to be. His clan has little reason to spend scarce training resources on him, so every scrap of instruction or usable technique matters. He pays attention to rules other people take for granted because knowing exactly what the rules say might be the only advantage he has. That makes even a small success satisfying. You can usually see the work that went into it.

Sacred Valley’s ranks also do more than tell you who would win a fight. They influence who gets taught, who gets resources and whose ambitions are taken seriously. Wight makes the magic system easy to care about by showing what it does to one person first. When Lindon tries to get stronger, he’s also trying to gain a say in what happens to him.

The story gets better when Lindon has a reason to leave

The early chapters take their time establishing clan politics and the rules of advancement. A few stretches are heavy on terminology, especially while Lindon is still finding his footing. The payoff comes when a vision shows him a future in which Sacred Valley is destroyed. The place that has spent years limiting his options is still his home, and he has to leave it if he’s going to have any chance of saving it. That gives his training a purpose beyond moving up a rank.

Yerin brings a welcome change of pace. She’s a swordswoman with the practical experience Lindon badly needs, and their scenes have an energy the earlier clan chapters sometimes lack. He’s spent his life trying to find a way into a system that has shut him out. She gives him a glimpse of what it takes to survive beyond it. Their partnership is as good a reason to pick up Soulsmith as the promise of more powerful sacred arts. See where Soulsmith fits in the Cradle reading order.

Is Unsouled worth reading if you usually read LitRPG?

Yes, especially if your favorite part of LitRPG is watching a character figure out how to survive with the abilities they have. Unsouled is cultivation-focused progression fantasy. Training, techniques and advancement ranks give Lindon’s progress a clear shape. You feel the change when a skill opens up a new option in a fight or gives him a chance to make a decision that used to be out of reach. For a closer look at what the two genres share, see our LitRPG vs. progression fantasy guide.

The verdict

Unsouled is an easy recommendation for anyone who likes an underdog with more ingenuity than power. Its deliberate opening pays off because the first few victories are small enough to believe and hard enough to celebrate. By the time Lindon has a chance to see what lies beyond Sacred Valley, it’s hard to resist following him there.

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Find Unsouled by Will Wight on Amazon (Kindle edition)

Three LitRPG books to read if you liked Unsouled

• Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman is the pick if you liked watching Lindon exploit rules that favor everyone else. Carl and Princess Donut bring that same ingenuity to a televised dungeon with explicit game mechanics and much darker humor. Read our Dungeon Crawler Carl review · Amazon Kindle edition
• He Who Fights With Monsters by Shirtaloon is a good next step if you want more time spent developing abilities and watching a newcomer learn how they work together. Jason Asano is also considerably more likely than Lindon to talk his way into trouble. Read our He Who Fights With Monsters review · Amazon Kindle edition
• The Grand Game by Tom Elliot is the closest fit here if you like a protagonist who has to improvise with limited resources. Michael wakes up in a dungeon where his survival depends on the choices he makes about skills and alliances. Read our The Grand Game review · Amazon Kindle edition

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