So this book was a collection of short stories related to Cradle, not always set on Cradle, sometimes in space with the Abidan, sometimes on other worlds, but always related to the characters from Cradle.

There were some stories here that I was just indifferent to. There were stories about characters I truly didn't give a shit about, that explained what went on with them during the events of other books or after. Maybe other readers liked those characters and cared, so that's for them, but for me personally, I'd have preferred more stories of the Reaper Squad and how they were doing after ascending from Cradle.

I wrote notes about how I felt per story, so I'll share them here but I'll mark some of them as spoilers:

The First Uncrowned King:
Didn't like it all that much. It was about Reigan Shen and a snapshot into his past and how he was crowned the first Uncrowned King.
Pretty meh.
If you're going to do a story from the perspective of the bad guy, I'd have preferred more depth to him. Instead it was just "I'm bad because everyone else is weak and I will be the best, because reasons" 🤣

A Light Chat in a Dark Place:
A fun little conversation between Eithen and the echo of Ozmanthus in the Labyrinth. Nothing amazing and nothing shit, just an interesting exchange between a modern and past self.

Anagi's Regret:
Probably a 7/10, I liked it as it went on.

Loved how Eithen spared her and later Lindon saved her because Eithen let her go.

Testing Northstrider:
My favourite so far, it was really interesting.
It was nice seeing how Northstrider still had the arrogance of a Monarch but trying to adjust to this new world where he is no longer top of the food chain.

A Bloody End:
The first half of the chapter was super confusing, I'm thinking "What the hell does this have to do with Cradle?", I started thinking it had to do with the Traveler's Gate series set in the same universe which I have not read yet.

So then the second half of the chapter got interesting, as we saw the main character, Zeth, use magic. His magic was interesting as it seemed like he was using Authority from Cradle, but in unique way. It was literally self-gaslighting magic 😂 He had to lie to himself and then believe it, and then it became reality. Once I realised what it was, it made me laugh so hard, gaslighting magic 😂 It reminded me of the quirky funny magic from Brandon Sanderson's Alcatraz Vs the Evil Librarians series 😂

Overall, I liked it, but only in the second half, it was confusing as fuck in the first half.

The Wolf and the Reaper:
Liked this as much as the Northstrider chapter, loved seeing Fury and Mercy's interactions and loved seeing how they work in the Abidan.
The enemy was a little interesting, but I do think the chapter ended so suddenly,

I thought we'd see Mercy figure out a way to destroy it and save everyone and show her path and how it's different than the rest of the gang, instead Ozriel just showed up and killed it, sorta anticlimactic.

Threshold:
By FAR the best story so far!
Absolutely brilliant!
I want an entire book about all this!
I want a new series from Wight featuring the Cradle gang in space!

Daughter of Dread:
This was fun and interesting, not one of the best but still alright.

The Return of the Prince:
This was just a little story about Seishen Daji returning home after being a prisoner of the Akura Clan for betraying them and getting a bunch of their family killed. He was "tamed" and returned home. I could have lived my life never reading this honestly, wasn't bad nor good, it just, exists?

A Day in the Life of Pride:
It was sorta funny and interesting seeing Pride, being the weaker power-wise of the characters, trying to grow.
What's pissing me off is how the Abidan are trying to use Pride to fuck with the Reapers, fuck off you fuckers, leave Pride alone, he's a softy beneath his grumpy surface and he shall be protected 🖕♥️

Harness:
Great story, makes me want a full book or series.
This world felt like a mix of His Dark Materials and Pokemon, with little monsters partnered with people.

The Gang Creates a World:
A fun story and an awesome exploration into more of the possibilities of working with the Way.

Homecoming:

A lovely little ending that made me smile so hard ☺️ Lovely seeing everyone back on Cradle again, even Larian, who is as charming and annoying as ever 😂

Alternate endings for the series:
I legit can't stop laughing this shit is ridiculous and so funny 😂
It's going through all the books and Will Wight is giving funny alternate endings, like Poor Seishen Kiro in Underlord bumping into Lindon, and each time Lindon just pulls out a cannon and shoots him, knocking him unconscious. And everytime Kiro politely tries to speak with him, he pulls out a cannon 🤣