Will there be more Lindon books after the Cradle series?
I really want to tell you about this, but I can't. I have ideas for stories after Cradle and one of them feels like fun. I was gonna say its one I'm particularly proud of, but that's not even necessarily true because I haven't written it yet. So, it doesn't exist, but its an idea I like. But, that would give away book 12 which I can't do.
Why is Reigan Shen seemingly breaking soul oaths left and right?
I do assure you there is a mechanism for that. He has a way to do it. It's something that I'm sure I'll get into if not in the next book, then the book after that. I'm certain that I'll get into that. It's not a huge thing. It's not a big universe defying...it's not another twist, right? He's not double Ozriel. It's just a mechanism he has that I'm sure will come into play.
If Cradle unified and managed to raise a group of 100,000 heralds, each of whom managed to advance to monarch at the same time, could they kill the Dreadgods?
Yes. The current monarchs could kill the dreadgods. They could find a way to do it. It's not an impossible problem. It is something they are reluctant to do because it would cause a lot of other problems.
At the beginning of the book [Reaper], is that memory from when Eithan was with Tiberian?
Yes it was, at the beginning of Reaper that's kind of the Easter egg, is that number is higher and therefore a more recent memory than the others. So what Eithan is doing through the course of the series, is unlike the marble that Suriel left Lindon, his isn't impenetrable to him, because he's the one who created it, so he's using it to actively store and access memories. So the memory he shows Lindon and Yerin in Skysworn is the original one or one of the original ones he left his descendants before. Other Arelius people have ascended, but they never did it the way he wanted them to, they never had the values he wanted them to have, so what they really had done over the centuries is enshrined that in a big shrine at the main Arelius mainland to the first patriarch, and he came back and was very disappointed in them for that. He got access to it by virtue of passing the first patriarch's tests. He'd left these for a descendant, and he passes them as an Underlord and that's how he gets everybody's attention and goes "oh he's such a wise Underlord" and he's like "yeah....I'm great".
When is Traveler's Blade gonna be made?
I don't know because I like to do new stories as I've mentioned before. I just really enjoy coming up with new ideas. That's the most fun part and that is the part that I would like to focus on in the future. Cradle by the end is going to be a six or seven year journey and that is a lot of time and I have a lot of other ideas that I would like to explore and I love making up new ones. So, I don't know, I do want to do more Traveler's Gate. I have a lot of new ideas for Traveler's Gate. I would love to come back to Traveler's Blade. I expected to have done that by now but I also didn't expect Cradle to blow up the way it has. So, I don't know. I don't know. I suspect within the next couple of years would be my guess, but again I don't know.
What is your least favorite cultivation trope?
I'll tell you right now. It is, there's a lot of these cultivation novels, and I know this has a lot of cultural baggage to it, so I'm not necessarily ragging on the cultural origin of this, but it is women characters are rarely as much a part of the setting as the male characters. And there is often a cultural expectation that the men will protect the women, or that the women aren't as capable as magic martial artists as the men are. Which is almost always contradictory to the magic system, because the magic system does not require you to start with inherent, biological, physical strength. The magic system does not favor men over women. It is completely neutral, and we see enough high level practitioners to go, so women can practice this, so therefore, where did that cultural expectation come from? So it is not only annoying, it is contradictory to the setting. So that is my least favorite trope.
Fisher Gesha? Will she come back?
Yes, she will. Fisher Gesha will come back. We'll get to see Fisher Gesha again. We'll get to see Cassias again. We'll get to see the Blackflame Empire people again, and we'll get to see Fury again. Now, maybe they'll die. Who knows? I don't know. But we are going to get to see them again.
Is Fury in the Abidan now and if so what division is he in?
That is a spoiler for later books. However, a lesser spoiler that I am going to give you for later books (so cover your ears if you are completely spoiler-averse) we are going to get to see Fury again. He's not gone forever. I did not abandon him. We're going to see him again. So we're gonna find out.
Have you or your team thought of updating merch?
So, merch is a bit of an interesting topic because the only reason we have it is because people asked for merchandise. And then once we put merchandise up people were like "Why don't you have more merch or merch that I like better?"
And the answer is: merch is not the main thing we do. We don't make any money on it. It is something that only exists as a service. Like if you happen to want a shirt or to give us something to give away. And give me fourteen mugs. As long it pays for itself, that's all we can ask from it.
We have no reason to suspect that even if we did spend the time, energy, and money developing and adding new items to the merch store that they would sell at all. So there's no incentive to do that because it would take a lot. That's why we don't really spend a lot of time on merch. Because we're not a merch company, we're a book company.
Would you want to change the ending to Skysworn?
Someone was asking me about changing the ending to Skysworn and all I mean is I think Skysworn had a chance to have a really impactful ending like most of the others do but I think [trails into tangent about Subnautica Below Zero spoilers then begins reading another question].
What does Abidan armor look like? Common interpretation seems to be that it's skintight but I always imagined it more as actual armor.
It's armor. It's smooth armor that's not exactly jointed or plated. It moves with them because it's not exactly rigid, but it is plated armor. It's not a bodysuit.
Does the Void in the 'Void Sage' have any connection to the Vroshir 'Void'?
Ah, sort of, yeah. In the sense that the Void is just what they call the empty expanse outside of existence. And the Void Icon is the concept of non-existence or emptiness as reflected in the Way. So, its power does come from the Way, like any Icon does, so in that regard its not coming from The Void, it is coming from the Way. But you would be able to potentially, that is one potential use of the Void Icon is tapping into The Void.
What current Monarch is connected to the most Icons?
Ah, man. I have the answer for this. I want to say its Northstrider. That's what I want to say, I'm not certain about that. I think the oldest remaining Monarch is
Lil' Blue.
Is Lil' Blue, but the second oldest is Emriss Silentborn and she only has a couple of Icons. Her connection to them is just very thorough.
Are there chaos void Icons that draw from the Void?
No. There are not. There are powers that draw from the Void, but they are not Icons. Icons are inherently a function of the Way.
Students in the Sect of Twin Stars who will split their cores, what two Paths will they follow?
I plan on getting into that if I have time. This is another one of those things that is detailed that could be more fleshed out. Obviously, the Sect of Twin Stars will come into play later in the series even with what little time we have left or at least something that Lindon could sponsor later. My intention is that they follow different dual Paths and they don't just go like pure and blackflame all of the time like Lindon does. But, there are a few different combinations and dual paths.
Could you provide more description for some of the Judges that were introduced in this book?
I can. There is certainly more detail about them, but its hard for me to do that live because I'd just be like listing physical features but its something that I do intend to go into in future books is describing them in more detail. Of course, the reason I didn't this time is because you're introducing basically seven characters at once. And I know some of them we know before, but you got to remind them of their physical characteristics. We've got to be reminded of what Makiel looks like and what Gadrael looks like and what Suriel looks like and then we've got to introduce the other Judges that we haven't seen yet. So, it's just there was alot of detail, so I was trying to skimp on that as much as possible because I didn't want to just sit there and describe a bunch of characters you had never met before.
Are Icons unique to Cradle, or could anyone manifest an Icon in any iteration currently connected to the Way?
Different iterations have different, the mechanism is similar, different iterations have different ways of reflecting that. So, the particular Icon system and Sages and all of that is unique to Cradle, but other iterations would have other ways of representing that and manifesting that or seeing the reflections in the Way. So, there would be different ways, some ways would be more similar to Cradle than others, so there would be other mechanisms.
How did Ozriel develop two different madra types, one destruction, one pure?
He reset. So, when he reset his new body and came back to Cradle his madra type once again started as pure, like everyone does. Therefore, he this time he decided to keep it there because he didn't want to do destruction again. He was like 'alright, this is another aspect that is compatible with my path, but its not destruction because I don't like that guy.'
Did Ozriel have a goldsign? If so, what was it?
He did not. He did not have a goldsign.
Is the reference to the iteration where people ascend after completing a tower a reference to Tower of God?
Indirectly, yes. I love Tower of God. I think it's a great comic. I think the anime was really good. Some people had some complaints about the anime. I did not, I thought it was really good. So, indirectly, yes, it's not exactly a reference to Tower of God, that's not quite like the Tower, but it is a reference to that and other tower style worlds or cultivation.
