Now that we know the MC is not as hopeless in magic as his clan thought we follow him and his swordmagic master friend girl into the world outside of his home valley. He finds insight, new goals and in the end a new mentor.
While the MC was weak in the first book he gets stronger this book but on the other side we learn that the magic in his home was very weak. so the scales get re-adjusted and even if he is at the end of the book as tough as his parents he is again at the bottom of the food chain.
The interesting world building continues.
Was so interesting that i read it till 1:30 in the morning. ( )

Soulsmith was a worthy followup to Unsouled. Our hero keeps making progress, and enemies, and suffering... Oh, how he suffers.

Lindon's path is definitely an iteration of the movie-montage-of-pain trope, as he is broken, scarred, and poisoned... All to get stronger. The story really kicks up the "no pain, no gain" elements in this volume.

If you are into action, fantasy, and martial arts, this series is pure written crack. ( )

Soulsmith does exactly what I hoped it would: it builds on the foundation set in Unsoulded and kicks everything up a notch. There's a great big world outside of the Sacred Valley. In pursuit of advancement, Lindon and Yerin find themselves drawn to an ancient ruin rising from the jungle. Many sacred artists have gathered to fight for the treasures inside.

I am enjoying the growth of both our characters. Lindon's handicap of being unsouled has forced him to develop his mind and learn to be clever. I can see that being very, very handy as his soul progresses and he finally has the physical power to match. It has definitely been helpful for him to navigate of a world of people much more powerful than he is and stay alive through his wits. Yerin, too, starts on a small character arc. She's starting to have more personality and I like how her friendship with Lindon is developing. Eithan, a third main character is introduced. I loved him from the start! His ability of always knowing the present moment is insanely useful. Plus how he helps Lindon advance has given me much speculation for the future.

The author does an amazing job of expanding upon the world building and on the powers of the magical martial arts system. Its funny how very sheltered the Sacred Valley is. Outside it, Golds are found in abundance and they have varying levels of power within Gold that has a wider gap than a Copper has to Iron. It makes me excited to see just how many levels beyond Gold there are and how far along Lindon will be able to progress.

This book is a fun, quick read. I like where Lindon's progress is heading with the "help" of his new mentor. It makes me wonder if he'll pass Yerin up. I also hope we learn more about Yerin's past soon as she obviously is keeping a pretty big secret. We are left with a great set up for book 3. I'm looking forward to it. ( )

Great sequel thst built on the foundations of Book 1, Unsouled. Where as book 1 struggled a little bit to find itd legs, book 2 took off running. The characters and the clans that we meant were all interesting in different ways, and Lidian continued to grow at a much faster pace than he did in book 1. The fishers might be the most interesting group we have encountered so far and I hope to see them again in the future. ( )

Enjoyed this book very much, and picks up right after book 1 concludes and gives us a lot more information about Lindon's world, the other clans outside the valley and more about the path of improvement that Lindon has begun.
Yerin is a valued teacher and friend who protects him in there flight from the mountain. I didn't like the way that Lindon treated her as he struggled to find a teacher.

But I like Eithan and I think he will keep book 3 very interesting.
( )