Warning! All spoilers for previous books in the Cradle Series are UNMARKED!
Eight Monarchs rule the world of Cradle. Emriss Silentborn, the Memory of the World. Tiberian Arelius, the fallen Patriarch. Akura Malice, the Queen of Shadows. Seshethkunaaz, the King of Dragons. Reigan Shen, the Emperor of Lions. Luminous Queen Sha Miara. The Eight-Man Empire. Northstrider.
When they feel the time is right, these Monarchs hold the Uncrowned King tournament, a match between promising young Underlords to prove the might of their patrons on the world stage. Victory or defeat can shift the balance of power throughout the world. This year, with the rising threat of the Dreadgods, the tournament will be bigger than ever.
Lindon and Mercy have been selected for the Akura main team, while Yerin and Eithan are on the Akura vassal team. Separated by thousands of miles for almost a year, Lindon and Yerin struggle to live without each other for the first time since they met. Both of them throw themselves into their training, desperate for a chance to see each other again.
But all is not well when the tournament begins. The dragons have already begun sabotaging other teams, and their champion has a personal grudge against Lindon. Reigan Shen, the Emperor of Lions, has decided that the best way to deal with the Dreadgods is to ally with the strongest of their cults—so all of his fighters are from Redmoon Hall, Abyssal Palace, the Stormcallers, or the Silent Servants.
Also, Yerin's step-mother is back.
However, there is some good news. Northstrider, the Monarch of the Hungry Deep, one of the great enemies of dragonkind and therefore a defender of humanity, has returned from his self-imposed exile to oversee the tournament. He will ensure the tournament is fair and balanced, and anyone who dies in the course of a match will be resurrected by his power.
Now they just have to win.
Uncrowned is the seventh novel in the Cradle Series by Will Wight. It is the first of the Path of Lords collection.
This novel provides examples of:
- Curb-Stomp Battle: After months of being beaten up by the Akura Underlords who resent his selection as participant, Lindon shows up at the tournament where the final participant will be chosen and easily beats fourteen of them at once, most with only one or two moves.
- King Incognito: Sha Miara pretends to be a normal Underlady despite actually being the Monarch of the Ninecloud Court that is hosting the tournament. The only reason this works at all is because her mother's death was kept secret from all but the Monarchs. Lindon decides not to tell anyone, in case he offends her. At the end of the book, with a much larger prize on the line, Lindon realizes he needs to warn his friends right now.
- Mistaken for Romance: Pride spends the entire book telling Lindon he is not fit to even look at Mercy. At the end, he sighs and says he will acknowledge him as worthy of his sister.Mercy: Wait, what?
- Wham Episode: At the very end, the Abidan publicly descend to Cradle to offer their own prize for the Uncrowned King tournament, in order to accelerate everyone's advancement and force more people to ascend.
