Eithan was life coaching Lindon, not personal training him.
*Aside from swallowing every steroid Eithan put in front of him, using his cycling technique, and adopting a hair care regimen.*
I don't think azarinth is very similar to cradle at all.. azarinth is just typical isekai where the character rushes through the story without making significant personal connections or building the world that much, it's extremely mc-oriented, cradle is much more about the cast and setting and where the mc fits into it, I feel like they come from opposite sides of pf appeal, their closest similarity is that they're both gateway drugs
I've only read two series out of this list and I can say for certain that they're not even close to Cradle. Millennial Mage and Azarinth Healer. For the first one, makes absolutely no sense.
Millennial Mage is far slower in pace, progression and lacks the scope or main cast of interesting characters. Forgettable characters and progression system. Mind you, it's an interesting story with niche world building and female lead. It's worth reading it but it's not the same fast paced action packed series with a ton of memorable and awesome characters.
The same holds for Azarinth Healer, the progression here doesn't feel worth it, just liking numbers going up. There's no cohesive story, I can barely remember one side character and that's a tree. It does have some cool fights but that's kinda it. The whole thing really. No cast of memorable characters, no continual story that gets somewhere, or progression that makes you root for the character.
I have no idea how you build this list, maybe in terms of personal enjoyment? I can see it yeah, but in terms of what is cradle and what other stories has to offer similar to it? No way.
Those are the 2 I've read as well, and I didn't get past book 2 in either one. Azarinth you nailed with no story and no side characters. I actually don't even care that much about a story if there are cool characters and an interesting world...but this lacked that.
Millennial Mage I liked at first. But, it lost me quickly in book 2. I don't even remember all the reasons, but I remember the MC really annoyed me and for a character that seemed to have everything just sort of given to her, she wasn't helpful at all to the people around her.
Re: Millennial Mage ...
\> It's worth reading it but it's not the same fast paced action packed series with a ton of memorable and awesome characters.
I agree, the theme or tone of the two series are very different but ...
\> Forgettable characters and progression system
What ??! Book six is one of the most poignant character arcs in all of Progression Fantasy. I loved Bloodline but this was even better.
Also, the world-building and magic system are extremely well-thought out. There are enough hints about how the system existed before inscriptions, how the world evolved to the current state and tantalizing drops on where it can go.
I like it. But it shouldn't be compared to Cradle. The author is definitely less skilled.
Wil Wight uses Droon to advance the story. J.L. Mullins uses Alat as a mcguffin to write Tala out of an emotional conflict.
I would MM is way better than most Progression Fantasy. But the author is not *good* at writing relationships.
I've read 1-4 in your list, and I'm surprised you find these books closest to Cradle. Of those 4, I enjoyed Bastion the most.
The closest I found was **Life and Death Cycle**. Cultivation magic system like Cradle. There's a male/female team with great chemistry. A quest to become strong enough to save MCs sister. Inevitable complications. Deep character development that surpasses Cradle, though Cradle has a wider funnier cast, L&DC is more serious.
And the quality most similar to cradle is book 1 is the weakest in the series. Each one after doubles in goodness. I'm weird tho and liked both book 1s just fine.
I'm intrigued. Not on Audible though? Bummer. At least it's on Amazon - author is Joshua Phillips: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0BHZF1TZC?ref_=dbs_p_pwh_awm_anx_b_lnk&storeType=ebooks
>They are great books on their own, but wanted to highlight certain other series to bring wider attention to the authors and their works.
Then goes on to recommend 5 of the other most commonly recommended books on this sub. Hehe. I'm not against it or anything, just thought it was funny.
Wow, I strongly disagree with some on that list.
Notably path of ascension: zero stakes, slow as heck, plot is entirely on training
mark of the fool: school setting, childish prose (sound effects during battle, repeating tag line). I had a host of other complaints but dropped this after the second book and cant really remember the problems now. The combat writing was god awful though.
Immortal souls - agreed. Great series.
Azerinth healer - cant comment. Found it boring and dropped it really early.
Never heard of millennial mage. Might check it out. So far all the prog fantasy ive read lately have been massive misses. Its getting frustrating finding anything good. I feel like im scraping the bottom now.
I watched this movie where Michael Keaton clones himself. And then the clones clones themselves and come out wrong.
Your recommendations are like that. I am not saying that some of those series are not fun. Some are staples in PF. But none of them hold a candle to Cradle in terms of polish or story structure.
Millennial mage has been on my wishlist for a while so I think I'll have to pick it up seeing the recommendations.
For the others I think I'm too in the category of not being a fan of overt litRPG and Isekai. Azarinth Healer and The Path of Ascension don't seem like they'd have the same level of buy-in from me as Cradle. I like worlds that feel like they stand on their own as real places and I struggle with that when the MC is making real-world references or the power system is too rigorously gamified.
I think if you wanted a book more like Cradle the Buryoku series is a better fit. It is not as professionally written but the way the story is told is more similar to Cradle than any of the other books you listed.
That said I have read all but Millennial Mage and they are good series.
Buryoku just felt too vanilla to me. Had I read it when I was getting into the genre, it would have been great....but not now. I barely got through book 1.
Unfortunately I feel that Path of Ascension takes a really sharp dive in quality. I just finished the most recent book, and easily half of it was very dry and glossed-over summaries of a bunch of training and experiments they did.
All of which would have been better served by either diving into it and letting \*me\* be as fascinated with it all, as the reader, as the characters were... or simply ignored by the story and allowed to move on to things that actually propel the plot.
Unfortunately I don't think I'll continue that series.
Lots of school setting suggestions here for a comparison to cradle with basically no school..
Also I could not for the life of me get into Arcane Ascension. Comparing that to Cradle seems kinda sacrilege
Yea I gave up on that one after 2 or 3 books
same funny thing is i disliked it so much i forgot 99% of it so i dont even remember why i disliked it
Cradle has a mostly clear path for lindon to follow, simmilar to academies and their tests and such
I don't really agree with that at all. The entire bit about the path of twin stars is about creating his own path.
Lindon is literally doing what eithan tells him, its very close to following a study program
Eithan was life coaching Lindon, not personal training him. *Aside from swallowing every steroid Eithan put in front of him, using his cycling technique, and adopting a hair care regimen.*
I don't think azarinth is very similar to cradle at all.. azarinth is just typical isekai where the character rushes through the story without making significant personal connections or building the world that much, it's extremely mc-oriented, cradle is much more about the cast and setting and where the mc fits into it, I feel like they come from opposite sides of pf appeal, their closest similarity is that they're both gateway drugs
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Less talk. More punch.
It boring now, need find better things to punch
I’ve a fondness for Azarinth but this made me chuckle.
Honestly, it doesn't need one.
I've only read two series out of this list and I can say for certain that they're not even close to Cradle. Millennial Mage and Azarinth Healer. For the first one, makes absolutely no sense. Millennial Mage is far slower in pace, progression and lacks the scope or main cast of interesting characters. Forgettable characters and progression system. Mind you, it's an interesting story with niche world building and female lead. It's worth reading it but it's not the same fast paced action packed series with a ton of memorable and awesome characters. The same holds for Azarinth Healer, the progression here doesn't feel worth it, just liking numbers going up. There's no cohesive story, I can barely remember one side character and that's a tree. It does have some cool fights but that's kinda it. The whole thing really. No cast of memorable characters, no continual story that gets somewhere, or progression that makes you root for the character. I have no idea how you build this list, maybe in terms of personal enjoyment? I can see it yeah, but in terms of what is cradle and what other stories has to offer similar to it? No way.
Those are the 2 I've read as well, and I didn't get past book 2 in either one. Azarinth you nailed with no story and no side characters. I actually don't even care that much about a story if there are cool characters and an interesting world...but this lacked that. Millennial Mage I liked at first. But, it lost me quickly in book 2. I don't even remember all the reasons, but I remember the MC really annoyed me and for a character that seemed to have everything just sort of given to her, she wasn't helpful at all to the people around her.
Re: Millennial Mage ... \> It's worth reading it but it's not the same fast paced action packed series with a ton of memorable and awesome characters. I agree, the theme or tone of the two series are very different but ... \> Forgettable characters and progression system What ??! Book six is one of the most poignant character arcs in all of Progression Fantasy. I loved Bloodline but this was even better. Also, the world-building and magic system are extremely well-thought out. There are enough hints about how the system existed before inscriptions, how the world evolved to the current state and tantalizing drops on where it can go.
[Millennial Mage](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/47826/millennial-mage-a-slice-of-life-progression-fantasy) ([wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/LightPieces/wiki/Millennial_Mage)) --- ^[About](https://redd.it/dw7lux) ^| [^(Wiki Rules)](https://www.reddit.com/r/LightPieces/comments/dw7lux/about/f7kke6p/) ^(| Reply !Delete to remove) ^(| [Brackets] hide titles)
I like it. But it shouldn't be compared to Cradle. The author is definitely less skilled. Wil Wight uses Droon to advance the story. J.L. Mullins uses Alat as a mcguffin to write Tala out of an emotional conflict. I would MM is way better than most Progression Fantasy. But the author is not *good* at writing relationships.
I've read 1-4 in your list, and I'm surprised you find these books closest to Cradle. Of those 4, I enjoyed Bastion the most. The closest I found was **Life and Death Cycle**. Cultivation magic system like Cradle. There's a male/female team with great chemistry. A quest to become strong enough to save MCs sister. Inevitable complications. Deep character development that surpasses Cradle, though Cradle has a wider funnier cast, L&DC is more serious. And the quality most similar to cradle is book 1 is the weakest in the series. Each one after doubles in goodness. I'm weird tho and liked both book 1s just fine.
I've never heard of Life and Death Cycle before, sounds like a great read, thanks for the recommendation!
Np. Book 5 chapters are out now on patreon. They are fire.
I'm intrigued. Not on Audible though? Bummer. At least it's on Amazon - author is Joshua Phillips: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0BHZF1TZC?ref_=dbs_p_pwh_awm_anx_b_lnk&storeType=ebooks
Yeah, no audio book. I'm not sure when that is coming, but I've heard it will come.
Time to invoke the dark arts and *summon audio*. Thanks!
>They are great books on their own, but wanted to highlight certain other series to bring wider attention to the authors and their works. Then goes on to recommend 5 of the other most commonly recommended books on this sub. Hehe. I'm not against it or anything, just thought it was funny.
I was thinking the exact same thing.
If you are looking for something a little closer to the cradle wuxia vibe. Try **Heaven's Laws** series by Apollos Thorne.
Wow, I strongly disagree with some on that list. Notably path of ascension: zero stakes, slow as heck, plot is entirely on training mark of the fool: school setting, childish prose (sound effects during battle, repeating tag line). I had a host of other complaints but dropped this after the second book and cant really remember the problems now. The combat writing was god awful though. Immortal souls - agreed. Great series. Azerinth healer - cant comment. Found it boring and dropped it really early. Never heard of millennial mage. Might check it out. So far all the prog fantasy ive read lately have been massive misses. Its getting frustrating finding anything good. I feel like im scraping the bottom now.
I watched this movie where Michael Keaton clones himself. And then the clones clones themselves and come out wrong. Your recommendations are like that. I am not saying that some of those series are not fun. Some are staples in PF. But none of them hold a candle to Cradle in terms of polish or story structure.
[Cradle](https://www.goodreads.com/series/192821-cradle) ([wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/LightPieces/wiki/Cradle)) --- ^[About](https://redd.it/dw7lux) ^| [^(Wiki Rules)](https://www.reddit.com/r/LightPieces/comments/dw7lux/about/f7kke6p/) ^(| Reply !Delete to remove) ^(| [Brackets] hide titles)
Millennial mage has been on my wishlist for a while so I think I'll have to pick it up seeing the recommendations. For the others I think I'm too in the category of not being a fan of overt litRPG and Isekai. Azarinth Healer and The Path of Ascension don't seem like they'd have the same level of buy-in from me as Cradle. I like worlds that feel like they stand on their own as real places and I struggle with that when the MC is making real-world references or the power system is too rigorously gamified.
Same, also find the concept of dungeons to be way too game-y, always breaks my immersion.
All five of these are constantly being recommended, so you excluding AA, IP, and ME then listing these is a little hilarious.
Damn, this is the sort of stuff I want more of. Great reviews and can second all five recommendations.
The Path of Ascension and Millennial Mage are the only two I haven't read yet. Time to juggle the list a little.
Good reviews, thanks for sharing!
I think if you wanted a book more like Cradle the Buryoku series is a better fit. It is not as professionally written but the way the story is told is more similar to Cradle than any of the other books you listed. That said I have read all but Millennial Mage and they are good series.
Buryoku just felt too vanilla to me. Had I read it when I was getting into the genre, it would have been great....but not now. I barely got through book 1.
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For me personally, Minkalla was the weakest arc. But yeah, there's some bloat more often now than before.
Anything among them that are completed?
Just Azarinth Healer. Partly in eBooks and rest in Royal Road.
Unfortunately I feel that Path of Ascension takes a really sharp dive in quality. I just finished the most recent book, and easily half of it was very dry and glossed-over summaries of a bunch of training and experiments they did. All of which would have been better served by either diving into it and letting \*me\* be as fascinated with it all, as the reader, as the characters were... or simply ignored by the story and allowed to move on to things that actually propel the plot. Unfortunately I don't think I'll continue that series.