5 stars. One of the best examples of the genre.
The book series focuses on an unsouled boy named Lindon, and his journey mastering the natural magical power of the world.
(The series falls into a type of progression called cultivation. There are no stat points technically, but the characters progress through stages. Cultivation often involves some type of meditation or revelation required to progress, not just reaching the required experience points.)
Lindon was a boy from a small clan, from a part of the world that didn’t know much about magical power. Most children in his clan had their personal power evolve to a basic level but that never happened to Lindon. As such, he was branded Unsouled – someone who had no ability to wield magic.
Of course, Lindon embarks on an adventure and gains his path. Along the way, he makes friends, lifelong companions, and even makes enemies.
Things I liked about the book series:
- A classic progression story from being “level 0” to “almost a god”
- Amazing writing by Will Wight
- Great characters that I care about
- The friendship between Lindon and Yerin
- The mentorship between Lindon and Eithan
- The books are lengthy
Things that took away from it:
- 140 hours of listening to do all 12 books of the series…
- Some people would find this progression way too slow. An entire 10-hour book to go from “0” (unsouled) to “1” (copper) on the power scale.
After reading this series, one of the clever things Will Wight does is make sure Lindon has an appropriately difficult opponent that he is fighting against. Whether members of his own clan, members of another clan, monsters, or more powerful beings, he’s always weaker than them.
Eventually, he begins to team up with others. Even in his own group, he is never the “strongest” magic user. His friend Yerin is always a bit better than him, and there’s a friendly rivalry between them to advance. Their friendship is one of the highlights of the books for me. His mentor Eithan is mysterious and very powerful too. So it never seems like Lindon is clearly overpowered to everything else around him. But it’s clear that he’s destined for greatness.
Unlike “He Who Fights With Monsters“, the world’s most powerful beings don’t interact with him merely for entertainment. He might become friends with the daughter of a monarch because she’s an outcast and has been stripped of her real power by her mother. Fortunate, yes. But I don’t see this as being “Deus Ex Machina”. It’s woven well into the story and not some godly intervention to save the main character at the last second.
The series is complete, but the author is working on some side stories.
