Warning! All spoilers for previous books in the Cradle Series are UNMARKED!
Lindon has finally succeeded. He has saved his family and most of his home. The vision Suriel gave him has come to pass, and he survived.
Now what?
As the leader of the new Twin Stars sect, Lindon begins training followers in his pure madra techniques and in cultivating two cores. At the same time, he and Yerin begin to explore their new relationship, and his family has to deal with the fact that he is much, much more powerful than them.
Reigan Shen, however, has not given up on his goal of controlling the Dreadgods. He has infiltrated the Labyrinth through the entrance in Sacred Valley, and spends months slowly working his way through the traps despite the suppression field sapping his strength every moment. Over time, he is able to alter ancient mechanisms, setting up a plan he has been working on for years.
Above it all, the Abidan continue to clash with the Vroshir. The damage has been greater than expected, but it is nothing they cannot fix. All they need to do is rest and withdraw, to lick their wounds and recoup their losses slowly.
All it will take is sacrificing a few more worlds to the rampage of the Mad King.
All it will take is Cradle, the birthplace of the Abidan.
Everything would be different if they still had Ozriel. Everything would be different if they still had The Reaper.
Reaper is the tenth novel in the Cradle Series by Will Wight.
This novel provides examples of:
- Abandoned Laboratory: The Dreadgods were created in the Labyrinth, and before that the Arelius Patriarch studied soulsmithing in it.
- Batman Gambit: The Abidan withdraw in the face of the Vroshir advance because it's ultimately not worth the risk. Yes, the entire Court could probably fight them off, but the raids will end soon, with only a handful more worlds lost. If a battle goes badly, they could suffer permanent damage for eons. Suriel faces the advance alone because her life is valuable enough to risk the rest of the Court to save. She is proven right when her peers arrive to save her.
- Dark Secret: Monarchs are fully ascendant beings who should not be on the planet anymore. Their refusal to ascend creates Hunger aura, which in turn creates dreadbeasts and empowers the Dreadgods. If all the Monarchs left, the dreadbeasts and Dreadgods would wither away in relatively short order. Anyone who discovers this secret is forced to either swear an oath to never reveal it, or ascend.
- Dungeon Crawling: Most of the book is spent in the Labyrinth.
- Hyperspace Arsenal: This book really shows the advantage of Reigan Shen's King's Key Path. While he is brought down to the level of a Jade by the suppression field, every new weapon or construct he brings out starts at full power. And he has a lot of weapons and constructs hidden in his dimensional spaces. He's able to blow through multiple challenges that would be simply impossible for a Jade because he can pull out an Archlord weapon.
