Man, what a blast. After a relatively lengthy break to reread the Red Rising series, I am back in the world of Cradle, and having just as much fun as when I left it.
Ghostwater is a return to form of sorts. Skysworn, while enjoyable, felt like a short lull in progression in some ways, whereas this fifth book is back on the level of Blackflame, which I think is still my top book in the series thus far. In Skysworn, we did not see Lindon advance, but in Ghostwater... well, it delivers. We see our core group of characters sent on a mission to Ghostwater, a pocket world created by Northstrider that is on the verge of collapse after the appearance of the Bleeding Phoenix. Ghostwater and its many habitats turn out to be an invaluable adventure for Lindon, Orthos, and a new character that I absolutely love, Dross.
The fun continues, I'm sure, in Underlord. These books have a tendency to pick up exactly where the last one left off, and I don't feel like stopping.
“The prize is an illusion. The mountain has no peak. You keep climbing and climbing until you fall off and break yourself at the bottom. Highgold is one step, Truegold is another step, but there's no end to it. You could walk forever, but every Path ends in a fall. Just make sure you have something else to keep you going. Sacred arts are not enough to live for.”