Blackflame

Book excerpt: The third volume in the New York Times best-selling Cradle series! Lindon has a year left. When his time runs out, he'll have to fight an opponent that no one believes he can beat. Unless he learns the magic of the sacred arts the right way, from scratch, he won't have a chance to win...and even then, the odds are against him. In the course of their training, Lindon and Yerin travel to the Blackflame Empire, where they struggle to master an ancient power. Success means a chance at life, but failure means death. In the sacred arts, only those who risk the most can travel far. SERIES DESCRIPTION The Cradle series is the best-selling example of the Progression Fantasy subgenre, which includes works of fantasy where the primary plot revolves around a character growing more powerful in their use of magic. Cradle is high-stakes, fast-paced, and action-focused, with minimal time dedicated to world-building, and as such the books are lean and focused. The series is often compared to anime, with fans using phrases like "anime in book form" or "fantasy novels meet Dragon Ball Z," emphasizing the story's specialty of loud and colorful super-powered battles.