r/Iteration110Cradle

Will Wright constantly lies to the reader in the prose of his action scenes. He does this in a subtle way that makes the scenes more enjoyable to read. You like that he does this. To understand how he lies, let’s consider an analogy from cinema. Here is a punch:

https://i.redd.it/hyztrkau9qzg1.gif

The editor has taken two shots and put them together to create an illusion that the actress in this scene has actually punched the actor. The editor has lied to us about what has happened in order to make two separate things closer than they are actually in the mind of the viewer.

Wright does the opposite of this. He lies in action scenes to make things appear closer and more connected than they actually are so that he can pull them apart in the final conclusion. He does this throughout every book of Cradle, but here are some examples:

>“He hit the Skysworn with the back of his fist. The man was a Truegold as well, and he had been on his guard from the beginning. He raised one armored forearm to block, pink light shining out from his Enforcer technique. Lindon’s knuckles made contact. The skysworn blasted backward.”

>“Reigan Shen took another sip and then backhanded Lindon's jaw. His hand stopped an inch from Lindon's skin”

>“Crusher slapped her. Yerin caught the blow with both hands on her sword. And stopped it.”

>“So he slapped Larian instead. She was a projection of her consciousness, so it wouldn’t great harm her, but he still expected it to land. He was surprised she managed to block in time”

What do each of these scenes have in common? They contain what are called success terms. The subject “hit the Skysworn,” “backhanded Lindon’s jaw,” “slapped her,” and “slapped Larian.”  But then in each case, Wright clarifies that he was actually lying about the success of the action. The Skysworn wasn’t hit, he blocked; Lindon’s jaw wasn’t backhanded, it was stopped; Crusher didn’t slap her, Yerin caught the blow; Larian wasn’t slapped, she blocked in time. Wright should have instead said, “He tried to hit the Skysworn,” “he swung a backhand blow at Lindon’s jaw,” “Crusher attempted to slap her,” and “He slapped at Larian.” These all accurately signal an attempted action rather than a successful action.

The problem is that using “attempt” language would substantially weaken the writing of the scenes. If the author puts “tried to hit” instead of “hit” it usually signals to the reader that something is about to foil that attempt, since authors don’t randomly add attempt words in front of every action in a fight scene, but only those which will be foiled.

So, instead, Wright simply lies: He uses success terms and then takes them back afterward. The reader receives no spoilers about what will happen next; perhaps Wright will undo the action’s success, or maybe he won’t. The action flows together much more tightly. It only requires that readers accept Wright’s lies.

I’m rereading the series and am at the end of Blackflame. When Lindon finds out Eithan uses pure madra, Eithan tells him something along the lines of “pure madra paths aren’t as rare as people say”.
It makes me think we would encounter more in the series but I can’t remember any others.
Are there any other pure madra users in the series?

I made a PF2E campaign based on Cradle.

So the top 4 were made of 3 players and 1 NPC on the side of Reigan Shen.

In the end, a player who played an unlucky cat, and our player who was an undead turned living monster hunter were the finalists.

The cat got lucky and got the wish from the monarchs and got to use Penance. She was tempted between Reigan Shen, Eithen, and The Blood Phoenix as targets for the arrow. She chose >!The Blood Phoenix after forcing Reigan Shen to ascend!<

Now the players are heading to the valley to get their family and were told about >!The Labyrinth!<

It's the first Will Wight book I'm reading. Around page 90 or so there's suddenly a few pages about some woman coming to the planet from space, which seem to be completely unrelated to anything I read before. I know all of his books are part of the same universe/multiverse. Should I have read other books before to understand this scene? Will I have to read the other books to understand the scenes she'll be in? Or is just a small reference for fans?

Thanks!

As title says, anywhere to get the audiobooks cheaper or at a discount? I’m obsessed, but I’ve already used up my audible credits and can’t justify near 100$ for the remainder of the audiobooks, especially when they’re only 8-10hours each. And my library doesn’t have anything past unsouled :/

Thanks!

This series is so addicting. I love how much the stakes expanded with the Abidan finally intervening into Cradle. The Monarch political interplay in the backdrop is very fascinating and super cool. It's cool seeing Lindon find lateral upgrades to his base mechanics of Blackflame, Pure, and Hunger madra.

I loooove the complicated dilemma Yerin feels about her bloodshadow, being disgusted by it but growing to rely on it. Everyone wants her to scorn it, including herself, but she starts to hate it less.

But I've been a bit annoyed by Lindon's greed. Him using the evacuation as an opportunity to make money for advancement, and totally focusing on nothing else. I really wish he followed Mercy's advice to find something unrelated to advancement/conbat/Sacred Arts that he could spend his free time on. I keep being worried about him burning out, and how whenever he advances, he's already focused on the next level! This isnt me criticizing the writing, because this is very in-character for him, whose formative years were spent being treated as worthless for his lack of advancement. Very good, but frustrating aaaugh.

Has me excited for the next book when he finally goes home. But also I have no clue what to look forward to for Lindon's plotline in this book besides him advancing again.

I read the ENTIRE SERIES and i never actually learned this. Someone help please...

is it Eithan Arelius (Eyy-than Ah-reh-lee-us), Eithan Arelius (Eye-than - Ah-ray-lee-us), or something completely different 😭

How do you pronounce this guy's name?? Like the others are all self explanatory but I have a feeling I've been saying this guys name wrong

Hey, all.

I’m about 90% through The Knight. If my question is answered in the final 10%, feel free to just tell me "keep reading," but right now I’m a bit confused.

So... as I understand it >!the Prime Arena conflict centers on Raion appearing weak and taking a public beating.!<

>!However, it should be obvious, even with a partial or edited release of the fight, that he has won combats. They can't exactly show him entering a fight in peak condition and then suddenly being crushed without raising eyebrows.!<

>!Moreover, once Varic gets there, he would be able to access and release the whole series of fights, showing that Raion was being set up to lose.!<

>!So, this all doesn't make sense to me. Shouldn't it be obviously overcome? Wouldn't anyone watching it all instantly understand what was happening and take Raion's side?!<

Am I missing something about how the Arena's propaganda works, or is this addressed later on?

EDIT: Corrected spoiler tags

I just have to say, holy shit. This book has imo, the best climax to any work of fiction I've ever read/seen/played.

Spoilers up to Ghostwater…….

Damn they did RenFei dirty. I was hoping to see more of her, she seemed like such a cool character and POV with the gang. And even the hints that she may be more powerful than they thought since it was only her and Bai Rou guarding them all confidently. Goddamnit Will why’d you just cut her in half so nonchalantly

Currently at Chapter 18 and I'm so excited that Dross is back. Like, f**k yes! I really missed his actual personality.
Lindon is a madman with Consume. Like, brother, please chill. You do not need to consume until you kill yourself.
Akura Malice is irritating me; I wish Lindon would consume her instead. Full Herald Yerin is a menace. Also, I hope Orthos annihilates the other black dragons before the book ends. l hate anyone looking down on the legend that is Orthos.

That's it. That's the post. Just sharing my thoughts because I don't know anyone else who has read or is reading the series. Apologies.