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Foundation
Long ago, the gods bestowed the divine arts upon all creatures, so that they might better themselves.
In the Maro Province, Du Enkai dreams of cultivating the divine arts and becoming a great warrior like his father. However, after undergoing the Ritual of Waking, he is met with a startling revelation. He is Forsaken, born with a corrupted spirit and cursed by the gods. Afraid and confused, Enkai must accompany his father away from the life he has always known in the hopes that his accursed soul can be restored.
In the Maro Province, Du Enkai dreams of cultivating the divine arts and becoming a great warrior like his father. However, after undergoing the Ritual of Waking, he is met with a startling revelation. He is Forsaken, born with a corrupted spirit and cursed by the gods. Afraid and confused, Enkai must accompany his father away from the life he has always known in the hopes that his accursed soul can be restored.
- GenresFantasy
457 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 17, 2019
81 people are currently reading
71 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 7, 2020
tl;dr - This book was VERY much like Will Wight's Cradle series. Annoyingly, I still liked it.
Even before I downloaded this I thought "Wow, that description is a lot like Cradle". But honestly, I've thought that about a lot of cultivation stories. It's a pretty specific genre. This is a common story line.
Until I read the book, and item after item made me say "Wow, just like in Cradle". Sometimes it reads more like a fanfiction with a twist than something new.
Despite all this it was a decent read. But from here on out I'm just going to make a list of things that remind me of Cradle. I'll try to keep it in the book's order.
That's all I got for now, maybe I'll come back someday and add more.
Also, a number of spelling errors/typos.
Even before I downloaded this I thought "Wow, that description is a lot like Cradle". But honestly, I've thought that about a lot of cultivation stories. It's a pretty specific genre. This is a common story line.
Until I read the book, and item after item made me say "Wow, just like in Cradle". Sometimes it reads more like a fanfiction with a twist than something new.
Despite all this it was a decent read. But from here on out I'm just going to make a list of things that remind me of Cradle. I'll try to keep it in the book's order.
That's all I got for now, maybe I'll come back someday and add more.
Also, a number of spelling errors/typos.
October 27, 2020
This book is so tough to review. First I'll start with the admission that I purchased the book by mistake.
This book could have been really good if the author let go of trying to stick to the cradle concepts and truly just took the books as inspiration.
I read the whole book, so I can't give it a 2-star or fewer and there were these sections that were just great to read. The characters would finally have a consistent voice, the magic system and the world concepts would all flow together then something would shatter it and we'd be back into a mess.
This author has promise, if there was a sequel or a new book I'd give it a shot for sure.
This book seems like a fine rough draft where with some cutting and expanding it could be a solid novel.
I would want to see the author do their own world building. The things taken from cradle clashed with the homegrown concepts that they brought to the book. Refining the world and making it their own would have been huge.
I'd want each character to get their own consistent voice. Every character ended up sounding like the others too often and their individuality got lost. Nin was the best done I think.
Please stop telling us and not showing us and more so towards the end stop telling us and then showing us. Don't have nin tell us she forgot how perceptive children can be just have her chuckle softly at the perceptiveness of youth. Just show the antediluvian as levitating rather than saying the feet don't touch the ground and that's because because they are levitating.
And as a personal pet peeve the repetition of the same word was grating. Using bastion 3 times in as many paragraphs or the old owl's old mistress (old, old) just hurts the flow.
Reading the book starts with an intro to our characters then it abruptly ends and we get a new intro that begins building the world and our actual characters.
Throw out the first intro and drip in portions through stories and flashbacks. This then forces our protagonist to need a real motivation to leave Old Omen. The kid literally knows jack diddly about the divine arts yet he's gonna go get real wise and bring it back to his clan that shivved him under a tree at 6 years old? Just not believable especially after how he found a real family in OO.
I think it's really telling that the good parts were enough to keep me around until the end. A first effort that shows promise, I look forward to see how this author grows.
This book could have been really good if the author let go of trying to stick to the cradle concepts and truly just took the books as inspiration.
I read the whole book, so I can't give it a 2-star or fewer and there were these sections that were just great to read. The characters would finally have a consistent voice, the magic system and the world concepts would all flow together then something would shatter it and we'd be back into a mess.
This author has promise, if there was a sequel or a new book I'd give it a shot for sure.
This book seems like a fine rough draft where with some cutting and expanding it could be a solid novel.
I would want to see the author do their own world building. The things taken from cradle clashed with the homegrown concepts that they brought to the book. Refining the world and making it their own would have been huge.
I'd want each character to get their own consistent voice. Every character ended up sounding like the others too often and their individuality got lost. Nin was the best done I think.
Please stop telling us and not showing us and more so towards the end stop telling us and then showing us. Don't have nin tell us she forgot how perceptive children can be just have her chuckle softly at the perceptiveness of youth. Just show the antediluvian as levitating rather than saying the feet don't touch the ground and that's because because they are levitating.
And as a personal pet peeve the repetition of the same word was grating. Using bastion 3 times in as many paragraphs or the old owl's old mistress (old, old) just hurts the flow.
Reading the book starts with an intro to our characters then it abruptly ends and we get a new intro that begins building the world and our actual characters.
Throw out the first intro and drip in portions through stories and flashbacks. This then forces our protagonist to need a real motivation to leave Old Omen. The kid literally knows jack diddly about the divine arts yet he's gonna go get real wise and bring it back to his clan that shivved him under a tree at 6 years old? Just not believable especially after how he found a real family in OO.
I think it's really telling that the good parts were enough to keep me around until the end. A first effort that shows promise, I look forward to see how this author grows.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 13, 2020
This clone of the Cradle series is enjoyable but only rates 3.5 stars for me give that I've read the original. You'll probably like it more if you're encountering it first.
In the places that Foundation cribs directly from Cradle it is tight and well executed, and in places where it branches out into its own material it is clumsy and a bit mushy, with some confusing and poorly developed mechanics, obvious plot lines, and eye-rolling dialogue. As opposed to Cradle, Foundation develops into a grandiose ending in this first novel, which bodes poorly for its followup. I did appreciate the gray morality amongst the major players, which was both interesting and believable.
In the places that Foundation cribs directly from Cradle it is tight and well executed, and in places where it branches out into its own material it is clumsy and a bit mushy, with some confusing and poorly developed mechanics, obvious plot lines, and eye-rolling dialogue. As opposed to Cradle, Foundation develops into a grandiose ending in this first novel, which bodes poorly for its followup. I did appreciate the gray morality amongst the major players, which was both interesting and believable.
November 15, 2020
A fantastic start to a progression fantasy
I'd been searching for awhile for a book that would give me a similar feel as I have reading will wight's cradle series. And now I've found it. The cultivation style is similar but seemingly different enough to be a fresh take. The world building set up seems promising for epic plots in the future and the nature of the protagonist excites me for the possibilities of what he could become down the road in the series. Highly recommend giving this book a read.
I'd been searching for awhile for a book that would give me a similar feel as I have reading will wight's cradle series. And now I've found it. The cultivation style is similar but seemingly different enough to be a fresh take. The world building set up seems promising for epic plots in the future and the nature of the protagonist excites me for the possibilities of what he could become down the road in the series. Highly recommend giving this book a read.
May 13, 2020
Similar to Cradle, but has its own flare
As many of the reviews have noted, this book is extremely similar to the Cradle series. However, while there are characters and powers that are modeled after that series, the story is a bit different. So, if you like Cradle and think imitation is the greatest form of flattery, then this is the book for you. It is not as fleshed out as the Cradle series, but there is potential.
As many of the reviews have noted, this book is extremely similar to the Cradle series. However, while there are characters and powers that are modeled after that series, the story is a bit different. So, if you like Cradle and think imitation is the greatest form of flattery, then this is the book for you. It is not as fleshed out as the Cradle series, but there is potential.
August 13, 2020
Surpassed expectations!
This is the first cultivation novel I have read after Cradle that actually compares. This book, even though I'm not sure it's a better story, I think it is better written.
I will await the next installment in this series with great excitement!
This is the first cultivation novel I have read after Cradle that actually compares. This book, even though I'm not sure it's a better story, I think it is better written.
I will await the next installment in this series with great excitement!
June 18, 2019
Great start!
I really enjoyed this story. It had interesting characters, great world building and just enough mystery to keep the action interesting. This is just the start to the story. It felt like the meat of the story was just starting as the book ended. Seems the author has a long story planned. Seems like a good plan to me. I would buy 5 or 6 more books in this series. Ok now for the important question. When is book 2 releasing?
I really enjoyed this story. It had interesting characters, great world building and just enough mystery to keep the action interesting. This is just the start to the story. It felt like the meat of the story was just starting as the book ended. Seems the author has a long story planned. Seems like a good plan to me. I would buy 5 or 6 more books in this series. Ok now for the important question. When is book 2 releasing?
June 19, 2019
Good book
It was a really good book for this genre. Though i did not like the world building as much. I believe that he could have made it more unique
It was a really good book for this genre. Though i did not like the world building as much. I believe that he could have made it more unique
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews