Unsouled

Executive Summary: This is a short, fast-paced fantasy adventure series in the vain of many shonen fighting series, especially Naruto which definitely puts this series into my wheelhouse. I really enjoyed it and plan to continue reading.Full ReviewA good friend of mine who I innendate with book referrals almost constantly has been telling me to check out [a:Will Wight 7125278 Will Wight https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1442891069p2/7125278.jpg] for awhile, but like most (all?) of you on this site my backlog of books to check out is huge and I just never seemed to get to him. He actually recommended [b:House of Blades 18047306 House of Blades (Traveler's Gate, #1) Will Wight https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1370699959s/18047306.jpg 25327975], but when the new book in this series came out they were giving this book away for free so I figured it was finally time to give him a shot.The idea of a protagonist whose less powerful/an outcast than everyone around him is not a new one. One of my favorite fantasy series, Codex Alera does a very similar thing. Then of course there is Naruto. I'm sure there are numerous other examples but those are the first two that come to mind.There are some similarities to both series but Mr. Wight definitely does a good job putting his own spin on the trope. The magic system is interesting enough, but so far it doesn't seem to be too well explained or very unique.The supporting characters and the world building are both pretty good. I was hoping for a bit more of the magic school trope as our protagonist strives to rise above his station in life, but we'll see what the latter books hold.I do like the contrast of a character whose much less powerful than everyone he encounters because it forces them (and therefore the author) to explore interesting ways to either use the limited magic they have or to simply work around it. Many of the work-arounds proved to be some of my favorite part of the story so far.Things took a turn for the unexpected about 25% that definitely ramped up my interest in the series beyond just a story of an outcast whose determined to “level-up”. These books seem pretty short (about 250 pages) compared to most fantasy I read which tends to be door-stopping epics. It makes for a nice change of pace and I already bought the second book to jump right into it. I haven't seen too many people talking about Will Wight, but I feel like he's one of those Indie authors going under the radar of many readers who'd enjoy his work like myself.