#travelers gate

[blowfliesorangeeyes]

Finding someone in real life with the same niche taste in books as you is akin to the clouds parting and sun shining down and everything good in life all at once actually. I'm a deer in the headlights of a car except the person driving the car is also a deer so it's great

[blowfliesorangeeyes]

im rolling Alin around in my head like a bowling ball

(this is about book 1 of travelers gate) he's not evil despite being opposed to the protagonist. theyre working separately towards the same goal and Simon is usually the one jealous of Alin for his ability to lead and his chosen one status. if Simon and Alin could just work together they'd flourish.

But god is Alin a jackass. i need to stress that he's not evil, just immature and prideful. His Territory reflects moral purity and goodness, which makes all the better a contrast between Alin's personality and his title. He always speaks like he imagines heroes should, like he's telling a story, he is impatient and doesn't think before taking action, he looks down on Simon and pities him (unwilling to acknowledge that the guy is stronger than him) and he's petty. Alin should not be given all the power he has; the story even points that out when he is directly given early access to a power he hasn't proven himself enough to get. Its not his fault really, hes not a villain at this point in the story, he's just young and easily influenced. he thinks in black and white, he thinks like a Hero should, and that's whats so tragic about him and what happens to him.

Hey also, why does nobody talk about how Kai canonically has wet dreams about the dolls? I entirely forgot that was a thing until it cursed my ears

[blowfliesorangeeyes]

Relisting to travelers gate and going 'wrong place wrong time' at it over and over again

Simon, at a time when he was too young to do anything, met a traveler of Valinhall the House of Blades who offered to train him into something that could actually fight for the people he loves. by the time he is old enough to make good on that request the friendly Traveler is gone and he's left with Kai as a mentor; uncaring and avoidant with a rather concerning doll fetish, a guy who thinks the best way to swim is getting thrown into the atlantic without knowing what water is. if he had only been a little older when his parents died, something could have changed.

And later he learns of the Dragon Army; the origional 12 travelers of Valinhall trained by Valin; its founder. If Simon had been around just a bit earlier, he could’ve had a community, a team of other travelers to fight with and love as the family he never got to have. Instead, he has to walk the house alone, the only other Traveler around being Kai.

He was in the wrong place as well, his home village, just outside of the Damascan Empire, was not made aware that they take sacrifices. so when Damascan soliders came for them, for Simon and everyone he loves, he couldnt do anything because his town wasn't far enough inside the empire to know.

Alin is Eliadel, a born Traveler of Elysia, the most powerful of Territories. He is a hero of legends that will take down the empire, stop the sacrifices, and look good while doing it. He's a humble (yet charismatic) village boy turned badass hero of old. his territory is a beautiful city of gold with fairies and big fluffy dogs and shining knights in armour with glowing swords. It's perfect. he is our hero, our chosen one, our leader and martyr and the only one working towards true good (if only he would question what 'good' really means in the eyes of Elysia.)

Simon is pathetic. He can't swing a sword, he has no big powers or sociable personality. his only big upside is his borderline obsessive determination, but he is handed no boons by anyone. Wrong place, wrong time, wrong person.

And yet. He goes into the forest alone looking for that Traveler he met when he was a child on his own. His alcoholic mother dead and his friends either heros or captives, he has nothing left but himself and he decides to do something about it. He’s not perfect nor chosen. Literally just some fuckin guy. And god does he want to give up sometimes, to kick and scream about the injustice of Valinhall’s brutal training methods. Hell, he does literally kick and scream and try to throw a bed at one point. But the thing is, while Alin is given his power, Simon Works For It. Constantly. In Valinhall, you have to fight a man of leather and crystal for your food. If you bathe for too long, the imps of the bath claw you into drowning. The housekeepers are cloaks of shadow with black chains that wrap your throat while you sleep and squeeze. But Simon carries on, that is the spirit of Valinhall. While most Travelers summon things to fight for them, all power found in Valinhall is just an enhancement of self. Every ounce is lovingly fought for, rather than summoning a centipede in exchange for blood, you would fight a metal skeleton with a penchant for dance and his motley crew of skeletal knights. Instead of reading infinite knowledge from a summoned book, you would earn the loyalty of the Nye (aforementioned deadly housekeepers) so they might gift you a cloak of invisibility.

Valinhall travelers are Soldiers not Wizards, i think is the best way to put it, and it ties the themes of the story together beautifully because of that. I could go on, about Incarnations and Alin’s journey and the gorgeous magic system and Valin’s fall and that one sick ass fight scene with all the creatures but ill leave it there

[blowfliesorangeeyes]

favourite book (if you can even pick one)?

oh dear, that's a hard 'un! I'll try to narrow it down the second/third books of the Bad Guys by Eric Ugland are definitely up there just for my pure personal connection to them and the romp-y fun style of writing (Traveler's Gate by Will Wight is an honorable mention in the fantasy department) For a standalone book, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August is one that's stuck with me for awhile. It's the root of a lot of interests I have today.

I know it's an incredibly out-of-left field match-up, it's a hard decision! For writing quality it's Harry August ten times out of ten, but honestly, I'd have to say my favorite is the second book of the Bad Guys

Thank you for the ask! :]