Traveler's Gate Trilogy, Will Wight

Sup.

These books aren't new, and they're not even not particularly relevant at the moment, but f*ck it. I love them. It's probably the most refreshing series I've read in the last couple of years, completely different from the typical commercial paranormal romance crap the publishers seem to be pumping out to capture more and more readers. It genuinely makes me happy that someone finally decided to go in a different direction and did a bloody good job of it. Well done, Mr. Wight.

Since this is a trilogy, I'm not going to give you a summary like I usually do, and I'll try to avoid any spoilers 'cos I'm a nice guy. Straight up review, how does that sound? Good. Ready? Set? Boom, here goes the review:

The Traveler's Gate Trilogy isn't about the 'chosen one'. It isn't about the dude who is in the prophecy to save the world and get the girl. This is about the other guy. Now, for a moment I ask you to think back to Harry Potter (if you haven't read it, and I mean read, not watched the movies, get out). Imagine the story of Neville Longbottom. He's the guy with good intentions that doesn't really do anything but has good intentions. Now imagine that Neville becomes a badass swordsman with magic powers. If you don't think that's awesome, there's something wrong with you.

Our Neville's name is actually Simon and, in my opinion, he's the best character in the book. The most inherently flawed hero of late, he's useless. But he works hard and doesn't give up, becoming the most insanely cool super hero magic dude of them all (yes, 'super hero magic dude' is a thing). The other characters worthy of mention are Leah, who also shows more and more depth as the story moves along and Alin, who is actually the chosen one. In Alin, we see a realistic chosen one, seeing how big-headed he gets and how he keeps getting smacked down by his failures. The series is realistic (well, as realistic as a fantasy novel can be), not having perfectly heroic characters and showing us the flaws that every human being has. Each character displays cowardice, overconfidence and even downright stupidity at times, which is something I personally love.

The writing was the perfect pace, the humour was there throughout, which was great, because I hate books that take themselves too seriously *cough* Twilight *cough*. The world building was absolutely fantastic, it all ties together beautifully, without any holes in the plot or contradictions. The world Wight has created is, in my opinion, the best since City of Bones, which is saying somthing, since I LOVE that series.

Anyway, I could rant on about how great this series is all day, but I think you sould go and pick it up and read it for yourself. It isn't a huge fanchise and I believe the YA community needs to get their hands on it, so go pick it up and tell your friends, you won't regret it. In fact, I'm so confident that, if you don't like it, you can punch me in the face.

Happy reading,

-JRD