Will Wight Books in Order
Browse Will Wight books in order, with quick summaries, series guides, and where to start with Cradle, Traveler's Gate, Elder Empire, and more.
Last updated: June 10, 2026
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Publication Order
28 books
House of Blades
by Will Wight
2013
Simon watches enemy Travelers kill his family and carry off the people he cares about, while another boy is named the prophesied savior. Since destiny has no plans for him, Simon decides to save everyone anyway.
The Crimson Vault
by Will Wight
2013
War builds between Enosh and Damasca, and Simon is caught between prophecy, politics, and Travelers from rival Territories. As Leah and Alin question their loyalties, a far worse enemy moves behind the coming conflict.
City of Light
by Will Wight
2014
Simon has spent months hunting Incarnations and learning that strength alone is not enough. With the Territories growing stranger and the Incarnations suddenly vanishing, Simon, Leah, and Alin have to face a larger threat together.
Of Sea and Shadow
by Will Wight
2014
After the Emperor's death, captain Calder Marten hunts the Heart of Nakothi, an artifact that could raise a new Emperor. Guild politics, rival hunters, and something much older than empire stand in his way.
Of Shadow and Sea
by Will Wight
2014
Shera serves the Consultants, the secretive guild that keeps dangerous rulers off the throne. When the Heart of Nakothi resurfaces after the Emperor's death, she is pulled into a deadly race against Calder and the Navigators.
Of Darkness and Dawn
by Will Wight
2015
Shera has won, but her new Soulbound power comes with a brutal cost. As Calder pushes toward the throne, she fights enemies outside the guild and a growing darkness inside herself.
Of Dawn and Darkness
by Will Wight
2015
Calder survives Gray Island and sees a path to the throne, but the Empire is splitting apart around him. To hold it together, he has to outmaneuver Shera, rival guilds, and the ancient powers rising behind the chaos.
The Traveler's Gate Chronicles
by Will Wight
2015
This companion collection gathers short stories from across the Traveler's Gate world. It explores different Territories, side characters, and corners of Amalgam the main trilogy only briefly visits.
Soulsmith
by Will Wight
2016
Outside Sacred Valley, ancient ruins draw sacred artists eager for treasure and advancement. Lindon has finally taken his first step, but to survive stronger enemies and keep growing, he turns to the dangerous craft of Soulsmithing.
Unsouled
by Will Wight
2016
In Sacred Valley, Lindon is born Unsouled, shut out from the power system that defines his world. After a heavenly visitor shows him a future where his home is destroyed, he leaves to chase strength no one thinks he can reach.
Blackflame
by Will Wight
2017
A duel is coming, and Lindon has only a year to become someone worth fearing. Training in the Blackflame Empire offers him a forbidden path to power, but mastering it could burn away his body and mind.
Skysworn
by Will Wight
2017
Now feared as a Blackflame, Lindon is treated as a threat before he is treated as a person. His coming duel is interrupted by a larger crisis, pushing him into the Skysworn and into far deadlier battles.
Ghostwater
by Will Wight
2018
Lindon enters Ghostwater, a collapsing pocket world filled with treasures, traps, and rivals far stronger than he is. To survive, he has to gamble on rapid growth and seize whatever advantages he can before the world closes.
Uncrowned
by Will Wight
2019
The Monarchs gather Cradle's greatest young sacred artists for the Uncrowned King tournament. Lindon and Yerin step onto the biggest stage of their lives, where every match matters and every faction is watching.
Underlord
by Will Wight
2019
A world tournament is approaching, and the Blackflame Empire needs young Underlords fast. Lindon, Yerin, and Mercy train under crushing pressure, knowing the next step in power will shape their place in a much larger conflict.
Of Killers and Kings
by Will Wight
2020
Shera now leads the Consultants while open war and Elder cults spread through the streets. She wants peace, but any truce with Calder could save the world or hand it to corruption.
Of Kings and Killers
by Will Wight
2020
Named Imperial Steward, Calder finally has authority, but not the control he imagined. With war, distrust, and awakening Elders threatening everyone, he has to prove he can lead before the world breaks apart.
Wintersteel
by Will Wight
2020
As the tournament reaches its final rounds, alliances strain and powerful rulers maneuver for advantage. Lindon and Yerin are pushed toward their hardest breakthroughs yet, with a Dreadgod stirring in the background.
Bloodline
by Will Wight
2021
Lindon finally returns to Sacred Valley, far stronger than the people who once wrote him off. But a Dreadgod is coming, and saving home means convincing a stubborn valley to flee before it is too late.
Reaper
by Will Wight
2021
With Sacred Valley barely saved, Lindon descends into the ancient Labyrinth in search of lost Soulsmithing knowledge and a way to kill Dreadgods. Every discovery draws more attention from Monarchs, old enemies, and dangers beyond Cradle.
Dreadgod
by Will Wight
2022
The Monarchs see Lindon as a threat just as the Dreadgods surge back into motion. He needs time, allies, and impossible growth if he wants any chance to stand against enemies on every side.
The Captain
by Will Wight
2023
Archmage Varic Vallenar gains the memories of several alternate lives and learns galaxy-ending threats are coming. He claims the legendary starship The Last Horizon and starts building a crew bold enough to fight them.
The Engineer
by Will Wight
2023
The Last Horizon is crippled after its last battle, and Varic needs master technician Mell to save it. Rescuing her from a superpowered prison is hard enough, but delay could let an old enemy become unstoppable.
Waybound
by Will Wight
2023
Lindon goes to war over the future of Cradle itself. With Dreadgods, Monarchs, and battles beyond the world all converging, the final book turns his long climb into a fight he cannot avoid.
The Knight
by Will Wight
2024
The crew's growing legend brings new enemies, from secret rulers to perfected armies to the returning D'Niss. Raion takes center stage as he tries to protect his friends and earn the redemption he still thinks he owes.
The Pilot
by Will Wight
2025
Omega finally gets his chance to go after Solstice, the hidden power behind the Galactic Union. What should be a clean revenge mission turns dangerous fast once Zenith Devices enter the fight.
Threshold: Stories from Cradle
by Will Wight
2025
This collection returns to Cradle through side stories, old legends, and glimpses of life after Lindon's main journey. It is a treat for readers who want more worldbuilding, familiar faces, and a little extra closure.
Overworld
by Will Wight
2027
Butler Eldric Altmoore is pulled into a collapsing game-like world after a near-death experience. With only ten days and a young girl to protect, he has to save a world whose rules keep changing around him.
Where should I start?
If you want his signature progression fantasy: Unsouled → Soulsmith → Blackflame
If you like portal fantasy and underdog heroes: House of Blades → The Crimson Vault → City of Light
If you want knives, spies, and moral gray areas: Of Shadow and Sea → Of Darkness and Dawn → Of Killers and Kings
If you prefer pirates, sea adventure, and imperial politics: Of Sea and Shadow → Of Dawn and Darkness → Of Kings and Killers
If you want space fantasy with a wizard starship crew: The Captain → The Engineer → The Knight → The Pilot
Author bio
Will Wight was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and spent most of his life in Florida. He later studied creative writing at the University of Central Florida, earning both a bachelor's degree and an MFA. Long before he was publishing novels, he was the kind of reader who got hooked on fantasy worlds and started wondering how books were built. He has said that by middle school, writing already felt like something real people could do, not just magic made by strangers.
That practical streak still shows in his fiction.
Wight came into publishing through the independent route. He wrote House of Blades while finishing graduate school, released it in 2013, and suddenly had proof that readers would follow him into the kinds of fast, high-stakes stories he liked to tell. For a while he expected a more ordinary path, possibly teaching English, but the success of that first novel opened the door to writing full time much sooner than he expected.
He kept walking through it.
Traveler's Gate gave readers a portal fantasy with weird pocket worlds and a hero who is very much not the chosen one. Then came the paired Elder Empire trilogies, which tell the same larger conflict from two opposing sides, one through the eyes of an assassin, the other through a ship captain trying to hold an empire together. In 2016, he launched Cradle with Unsouled, and that series became the book set many readers now most closely connect with his name. Later, he moved into space fantasy with The Last Horizon, beginning with The Captain.
Readers tend to come to Wight for speed, clarity, and momentum. His books like power systems with rules, training that actually matters, and characters who have to earn each step forward. He has spoken openly about drawing inspiration from anime and from cultivation fiction, and you can feel that energy in books like Blackflame and Ghostwater. Even when the stakes get huge, the stories usually stay focused on a small group trying to solve the problem in front of them.
A lot of his work turns on a few recurring ideas: underestimated people, the price of ambition, found family, and what strength is for once you finally have it. His settings change a lot, from haunted seas to pocket realms to magic-heavy starships, but the engine is usually the same. Someone starts behind, gets pushed hard, and refuses to stay there. Over time that approach helped build a very large readership, with Cradle hitting bestseller lists and turning Wight into one of the biggest names in progression fantasy.
He still lives in Florida, and his public author persona keeps some of the same dry humor that shows up in the books. His website bio jokes about swamps and strange creatures, which feels fitting. Under the joke, though, the outline is simple: he writes a lot, writes fast, and keeps giving readers another world to disappear into.
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