House of Blades is a fantasy book written by Will Wight. It’s the first novel in the Traveler’s Gate Trilogy. It details the story of Simon becoming a traveler. Also, it brings you along Simon’s journey to save a group of citizens of his home village from sacrifice.
I was quite nervous to start this series. My love for Will Wight’s cradle series makes me think of him in high regard. I didn’t want anything to taint my perception of Will. Knowing that the Traveler’s Gate Trilogy is some of his earlier work gave me caution. However, realizing that the trilogy took place in the same universe trumped all of the preconceived worries that I had.
The place where I find fault in this book is actually one of the reasons that I love Will Wight’s writing style. Will Wight’s style consists of very complex plot theories and exponential scope. When it is pulled off correctly it’s awesome. However, in this book at times I felt lost. There are a lot of different moving parts. The kingdoms, the territories, and the magic system are all very complex. I found the story overwhelming and had trouble keeping track of all the moving parts at certain plot points.
With that being said the story was still a blast. I have a feeling the complexity and scope would do much better with a re-read. Simon is a great protagonist. He’s very easy to root for. Will Wight does well bringing you along SImon’s journey of becoming a traveler. He shows you all of the sacrifices that Simon has to make and the lengths to which he will go to protect his people.
The inclusion of advisors was amazing. An advisor is (basically) an inanimate object that helps characters during fight sequences.
Overall, House of Blades is a solid start to an interesting series. I would like to see Will Wight tighten up the scope and complexity of the storyline in future books.
I’m super excited about book two!
Thanks for another installment, Will!
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