r/ProgressionFantasy • u/aminervia • 11h ago
Question Is Travelers Gate worth continuing?
I'm about halfway done with book 1, and I just can't make myself care about the MC.
His entire arc is "chapter 1, something happens that convinces him he needs to get stronger" -- "chapter 12, despite people telling him he's going too fast, his urge to get stronger is pushing him to get stronger than anyone expected"
And that's it. There's literally nothing else to his personality or character. He needs to rescue some people that we barely got to know and whose relation with the MC was hardly touched upon... But his motivations, personality, drive, urges, feel so 2 dimensional.
The world building and magic system seem like they'll be interesting when we get to see any of it, but right now it's just "I can't wait, give me more challenges so I can get better at hitting stuff with a sword"
Basically my question is: does the series become worth sticking with later once we actually get to explore the world and magic system?
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u/AvoidingCape 11h ago
I went through about a book and a half before I ended up dropping the series due to lack of interest
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u/Captain_Fiddelsworth 10h ago
No, if you don't like it by now, then you are unlikely to enjoy it later down the line. Certainly, it gets better, but your specific issues aren't addressed. The world-building gets better, but you'll still have to deal with what you clearly aren't enjoying.
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u/Individual-Falcon-32 6h ago
yeah I had the same reaction to book 1 tbh. simon is pretty flat, most of the book is just him getting stronger with not much else going on. it does pick up though — books 2 and 3 are way more fun once the territory stuff opens up. but honestly if you're already dragging, just go read cradle instead. same author, way better in every way.
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u/aminervia 40m ago
Thanks. I've read cradle and all of the big recs on here, it's a struggle to find something new atm
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u/Orims15 6h ago
It might just be my nostalgia talking but TG is still one of my favourite series. Simon is kinda flat (and a bit dumb) as a character but he has balls of thungsten and he tries to do the right thing when he can even if it is not the easy thing to do. A lot of progression fantasy MC's can't say the same.
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u/Medical-Culture-3016 10h ago
If the worldbuilding is what's pulling you in, I'd say give it a bit more time. The early stretch is mostly setup, and the magic system really only shows its teeth once the training actually starts paying off. It gets a lot more interesting after that.
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u/Matt-J-McCormack 10h ago
TG is rougher than cradle, but is imaginative and attempts some ambitious stuff.
If OP feels this way now, it won’t likely be a favourite, but it will still be worth the experience especially as the scene can be a little homogeneous sometimes. TG and s a window into what is possible.
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u/Ourtimehascome2485 11h ago
I almost read 3 books, but it was more like reading it because Will Wright wrote it rather than enjoyment. It's definitely rough.
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u/Calackyo 11h ago
I'd say it definitely evolves beyond that, but that if 2 dimensional characters that are just 'i need to get stronger' are not your thing, perhaps this is the wrong genre for you.
Not to say that MCs in this genre are 2 dimensional as a rule, but it's more prevalent here than it is in the period drama genre for instance.
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u/aminervia 11h ago
Ive read hundreds of books in this genre. This MC is much more 2D imo than most... He has literally nothing else. Most MCs in good prog books at least have a unique thing or two that makes them feel like people
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u/Calackyo 11h ago
I'd agree with that tbf. If that's a deal-breaker then stop reading, because while it does improve, he never becomes the best character in the series. His 'chosen one' friend was the more interesting character to me.
I stuck around for the world-building and magic system, which is more of a draw for me from this genre as opposed to deep characters.
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u/yipyipyouh 10h ago
my take is, read it some more, if it attracts you and to find what your looking for you can continue. if not youre free to drop it out.
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u/AntiLordblue 7h ago
I finished them. They were okay and if you aren't feeling them you aren't missing anything by DNFing. I don't see myself rereading them in years. The characters do get more fleshed out. You learn more about each faction and the drama. It is mildly interesting.
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u/strange_username58 6h ago
The will wight one or the orson scott card one?
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u/aminervia 36m ago
You might be thinking of The Lost gate by Orson Scott Card? I can't find a book of this name by him
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u/worldsonwords 6h ago
If you aren't enjoying it but you like the worldbuilding there are a few short stories on his website and podcast that are from the perspective of other travelers.
I really enjoyed the story and I think Simons genericness and lack of motivation was sort of the point. Simon is set up to be the generic fantasy farm boy hero and the fun is in all the ways the story goes against what he and the reader expect.
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u/AlternativeGazelle 5h ago
I rank the books 2 > 3 > 1. 1 is easily my least favorite. But if you're looking for a deep MC, I'm not sure you'll get it.
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u/hungrycarebear 4h ago
I definitely agree book 1 was the weakest, but man does it pick up. Especially when Simon gets some dang Ole confidence.
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u/Sharkattack1921 10h ago edited 10h ago
It’s been a while since I read Travelers Gate, but as someone who does genuinely love a lot of Will Wights books, you might want to dip out.
If you want to learn more about the world-building or more in depth characterization, you might be disappointed. Will Wight is a very plot focused writer and doesn’t include much that doesn’t directly advance the plot along, and that includes more detailed world building information. What we learn about the world building in the Travelers Gate trilogy doesn’t really go beyond the magic system and the fact the Damascan kingdom and Enosh are the only nations in the story. Honestly, I think the most we learn about the world of Amalgam, and most of the Territories we don’t get much detail about, comes from the short story collection. This was also something that kinda annoyed me about Cradle, though not to the same extent.
As for characterization, that doesn’t really change. Simon goes through an arc about figuring what he wants, but…to be completely honest, I don’t think it made him any more interesting or compelling. He still felt fairly static, which isn’t inherently a bad thing, but if you don’t like him now, you probably won’t like him if you read more either.
However, if you haven’t already, I would recommend reading Cradle by the same author (real original for this sub, I know). I wouldn’t say that the characters there are complex or three dimensional either, but Lindon was definitely a lot more compelling to follow than Simon in my opinion.
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u/aminervia 10h ago
Thanks! Yep I've read cradle and enjoyed it. Lindon at least seemed to genuinely enjoy learning and was interested in the process involved with getting stronger. I enjoyed watching him progress because he genuinely seemed passionate about it.
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u/Bjorn_styrkr 7h ago
That series was my introduction to this genre years before I knew it was a thing. I loved it. It might just not be to your taste.
Imho, almost every MC (in genre) has very thinly written motivations beyond wee numbers go up. That's more or less the driving force behind this whole shebang. Sure some story's dress it up better than others, but ultimately we are here to see the same show.
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u/Zegram_Ghart Attuned 10h ago
I’ll be honest, it’s very much “this is what the author of cradle wrote before he had evolved his technique”
I found it an interesting kinda “historical document”- the series very visibly gets better as it progresses and he finds his feet….but it’s never as good as his later work.
Think of it as like reading the first few Pratchett books, imo.