Now that Lindon and Yerin are no longer constrained to the Sacred Valley, we learn just how backwards that isolated location was. The Elders of Lindon's clan were Jade rank sacred artists and they had amazing powers, but out in the larger universe, Jade is nothing. The next rank up, Gold, has three levels of its own, Lowgold, Highgold, and Truegold and there are plenty of ranks above Gold. In fact, outside of Sacred Valley almost everyone is at least Lowgold, so Lindon is even more of a fish out of water; however, he does learn that he is not actually unsouled. This means that Lindon actually can progress through the ranks, if only he can find someone to teach him.

As the world gets larger, the magic system it is based on also becomes much more complex. At first this was a bit of a turn off for me, but eventually as more factions got involved in the story, it did get more interesting. It is also nice to see that this series is not going to lean into the trope of Lindon being powerless in a world full of powerful people. Rather, his growth in the ranks is off to a slow start because of his sheltered upbringing, but his clever approach to problem solving is going to turn that liability into a strength. Lindon's path through the ranks is turning out to be a unique one, and once Eithan Aurelius enters the story, things finally begin to take off for him. This sets things up for the next book to be when Lindon and Yerin will finally start coming into their own, and I'm eagerly looking forward to it. So Soulsmith is a solid transition book that sets the stage for bigger things to come.

Travis Baldree narrates the audiobook version, and I must admit, I am not as enthusiastic about his performance as everyone else. In fact, this is the first time ever I have adjusted the speed while listening to an audiobook, and in this case, I have slowed it down. Baldree's pace just feels like he is rushing through the story and I am enjoying it a lot of more after tweaking it down to .95x.