City of Light

Traveler's Gate #3

by Will Wight, Travis Baldree (Narrator)

Simon has spent the last six months hunting Incarnations, and has begun to realize that his power alone won’t be enough to stop a true enemy.

Leah is queen over a nation of refugees, driven from their homes by the power of Territories gone mad.

Alin rules his city with an iron fist, imposing the virtues of Elysia on an imperfect population.

Now, the three must stand united as the balance of the world shifts once more. A greater threat looms, and it has made its presence known...

The Incarnations are missing.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Audiobook, Epic Fantasy, Magic, High Fantasy, Young Adult

14 pages, Audible Audio

First published April 9, 2014

Reviews

[Terence · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Incarnations are all loose as the Hanging Trees have been destroyed. Alin is transforming Enosh into a version of Elysia as the madness of Incarnation overtakes him. Leah, Simon, and Indirial hunt down Incarnations until the Incarnations mysteriously go missing.

City of Light was a fitting conclusion to the Traveler's Gate trilogy. The conclusion has many reveals including the beginning of the Hanging Tree process. The book also had some heart wrenching moments that I didn't really think it was capable of providing. Valinhall's Travelers find themselves on the front line assisting Leah in ending the Incarnation threat. They also played heavily into the story in more than a few unexpected ways which is always a good thing as far as I'm concerned.

Valinhall's Travelers and territory made the series for me. Simon, Indirial, Kai, and the Eldest all were incredibly interesting characters. At the end my favorite character was Simon. Simon's growth from House of Blades to City of Light was immense. Simon hardly resembles the scared boy caring for his mentally broken mother by the end. For a boy whose only desire was to be able to save a friend and fight Travelers, Simon achieved far more than he initially set out to achieve. It makes me smile thinking about it.

Unfortunately I have to say the other two key characters Leah and Alin never quite came to life for me. Leah was slightly interesting in City of Light which is an improvement over the last two books where I had no real interest in her. Alin was more interesting in this book than the prior two because his Incarnation created complexity in a vain generally unlikable character. His madness forced him to listen to the various color's thoughts which truly were far more interesting than Alin.

City of Light was a good conclusion to an enjoyable series.

[Lazybee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Usually, when i am about to finish a good series i feel sad(some good books i dragged reading a lot, because i was afraid to let go). But not this one, because it finished so fast. You will not realise the time flying past. The book is full of beautiful action sequences. And is an excellent end to a lovely series. Highly recommended.


P. S.: Will miss the dolls. They were awesome.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars

City of Light, book 3 in the Travelers Gate series is a 5 star awesome conclusion to the series. As a whole, the Travelers Gate series is a 5 star blast of a read that fantasy lovers will adore. Each of the three books are better than the last. The action is top notch. The cast of characters is large enough to have a little bit of this and a little bit of that. The plot and story progression of the series runs a straight line but it does so while showcasing the increase in tension and peril.

Simon will be an unforgettable protagonist. As will the territory of Valinhall itself and the power that it bestows. This series would make an amazing set of movies.

Wight brings the three books to a great conclusion. And I am happy to report that he does not resort to any gimmick or Godlike power to bring things to an end. With the nature of the Traveler's and the Incarnation's Wight could have lazily used a magic RED button to blow this whole series up. The ending was the best part if this series.

I wish I had the time to give this book the review it deserves. I can only hope that my friends and fellow fantasy readers will take a chance and pick this up. It is too much fun to be missed.

[Dexcell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good! The ending definitely left me wanting more, no idea when he'll write sequel books for this trilogy. It was a bittersweet ending.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my! I finished this book three days ago but have been in denial that I will no longer tag along with Simon back to the House of Blades with all his creepy dolls! This was one of those series that break your heart when they're over because you just don't want to leave.

Amazing. These books are amazing. If you don't read these books you are missing out.

Recommendation: READ THE TRAVELER'S GATE TRILOGY! QUICK!

[Huda Al-Mossalli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great development and fantastic written scenes throughout


I felt a little underwhelmed by the end so I couldn’t give it 5 stars

But an awesome trilogy that I’ll definitely recommend

[Francisco Godoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The star rating mostly relates to this book. I truly enjoyed the series overall and the first two books were fantastic. There are some flaws but they are not as bad as to stop you from reading.

What made this series unique: The real hero is not foretold by any prophesy, no one believes in him and is ridiculed throughout the series. The prophesied hero is a prince-charming-kind-of character who mostly cares about looking heroic and has no idea if what he's doing is right. There is a princess of course, though not the obnoxious type. She is a woman of action and a master spy. There is more too, so much more. The magic system for instance will drive you to read the short stories related to the series. There are travelers who can summon powers from their world but first need to earn them there.

Overall I wish the series did not end here. But it does and that is the reason for the 3 stars. I believe there is so much more to be told so many plots to close that this third book felt rushed. There are not many believable reasons behind the actions of the incarnations. There is an ascension to power that happens too fast and leaves you thinking that the author ran out of ideas and wanted to finish everything in one scene. And there are the "all but..." descriptions that are used too much to my taste and could be substituted with better descriptions.

I think Will Wight will continue to deliver great stories and you should read his books. This review is more of a call to attention to let him know that he should trust that whatever he wishes to tell us people will read. His worlds are fascinating and the action in his books is one of the bests. I will keep reading books in the series, if they ever come back, and hope that Will will trust us with the secrets of the House of Blades.

[Stefan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think it's my ocd that made me finish the series. It's tonedeaf, the world building doesn't exist, some of the jokes are alright. Other than that there is fighting, talking about fighting and some more fighting. I was bored for all the action.
To the end there is a moment where the author needs to actually conjure a quasi time stopping device, just so he can squeeze some exposition into the fighting.

[Scott Hitchcock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 1: 3*
Book 2: 3.5*
Book 3: 3*

Not a bad series but very fantasy 101. The characters started to evolve in book 2 and I was hoping for more of that in three but alas, no.

[Eithan Arellius · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars

t'was a good one, I'm hopeful that Wight will continue in this world .... eventually or so my dreams go, Otoku and Kai 🤧🤧

Gosh I miss those dolls and Simons awkardness, well t'is what t'is.

PS:-
Remember to read the last chapter when feeling down or for a smile

Summary


Leah becomes princess , Simon her personal bodyguard, Kai is dead, Indirial is still kinda off balance in the vault with his family, Alin is still a Incarnation but a peacefulone that resides in his territory

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Damn yo, did I just bust through a series with 0 romance? Who am I?

Great and satisfying ending, as usual, don't get attached to any characters 😭 everyone loves to dance with death. I was really hoping Simon would explore way more rooms in Vallinhall, but he became strong enough without all of that 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Craig Watson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poor way of concluding the trilogy. Did nothing to build the character relationships or give them any depth and the story line was weak and predictable with every character doing the same thing as the previous one.

[Coco.V]

🎁 The Traveler's Gate Trilogy is FREE on Amazon today (3/17/2020)! 🎁

[Alastair Patton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Marvelous Conclusion :

The first two books were shaky but had moments of incredible promise. The third book made up for the lagging first two in a truly unique (and fun) conclusion. This book made me laugh, cry, and yearn for more. I truly fell in love with the characters and the unique world Will Wight has wrought. I eagerly anticipate the continuation of this series.

*the dolls were quite amazing

[Elena Granger · Rating 3 out of 5]

After first book I expected something really interesting and unique from the series, but unfortunately the second book was not so good and the third is just ok.
The story becomes less intriguing and the more there is about Incarnations, the more boring they seem. I loved the action component of this book, it goes not so fast, but also not slow, which is usually good for the genre.
Finally! That happened! Simon realised that it's much better to deal with the enemy not alone. I thought when there are more characters, it should be more interesting, but unfortunately it never happened. Though I loved the characters, my favourite was Simon and Leah, the queen over a nation of refugees, driven from their homes by the power of Territories gone mad. They seem more developed ones, others were not so much.
Overall the book was fine, but not as interesting as I expected.

[Reiz · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I told my friend I only had 3% left but it’s been that way for over two weeks because it’s too good and I don’t want it to be over.
And she calmly and kindly said "sO YOU’RE BASICALLY AT THE CREDITS ARE YOU KIDDING ME GET IT OVER WITH. YOU’RE ALREADY READING A MILLION OTHER BOOK AND-" and I did read it. and I love it.
(Oh and I got said friend to read it too so that was nice)
I liked how every time I thought a storyline would be forgotten and we’ll never hear of these characters again, they come back in an important moment.
Oh and I love the talking dolls. Of course I do, who wouldn’t? They’re sarcastic! I know you want to read it for the dolls’ sarcasm! Come on👀 go read it👀 go on👀
I will forever mourn how underrated this trilogy is (not that dramatic. It’ll just be a minor inconvenience. But you get the idea)

[Jonathan Crabb · Rating 5 out of 5]

2026 Re-read - The book was even better on the re-read. As I said in my previous re-read review, this series works much better when you don't assume that the author is trying to explain everything. The world is as it is, and there are going to be epic fights. I am excited as I have discovered there are some other associated short stories in this universe that I am going to read now.

Very solid finish to a unique and fun fantasy series. The author boldly builds a world of epic powers, huge fights, and some off the wall concepts (I am talking about the dolls). Yet it works well as the author commits to the story and it ends well. What a great fresh trilogy.

[Ties · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good end to a series that I wasn't sure of I was going to finish. It got a bit stale in the second book and the first of this one but Wight got out of it quite well. I'd be curious if he revisits this universe.

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

City of Light is a wonderful work of fiction that ties up the Traveler's Gate trilogy very nicely. Full of action and awesome characters, I highly recommend it.

[Rinaldo · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5

City of Light is the conclusion of Traveler's Gate trilogy by Will Wight. It concludes the main plots decently while leaving a lot of rooms for sequel.

Plot
The plot picked up directly from Crimson Vault and later skipped 6 months in the future. Simon is bound on a bigger mission, more dangerous than ever with higher stakes. There are internal conflicts within Valinhall and Simon has to deal with these problems while tackling the looming doom.

Action is all-time high in this book, to the point that it becomes too heavy and fatigued for me. I understand that Wight utilised action scenes as character building moments, but this approach is a hit-and-miss. Sometimes it works well when we watch Simon or Alin reflect and learn something in the midst of a battle. However, at other times the action scenes and conflicts feel gratuitous for me. I got impression that whenever it gets too quiet, Wight had to throw one or two fight scenes to keep things interesting.

The main plot is solved with a quite temporary solution. While this opens new avenues for interesting plots in the future, I feel that there are way too many questions and mysteries left unanswered. As a case study, in Mistborn original trilogy, Brandon Sanderson solved the major plots and answered the big questions satisfyingly. There are still mysteries, but these are relatively minor. With this book, there are still big questions left hanging.

Characters
Compared to the previous installations, City of Light is less organic. Some characters switch sides or allegiances relatively easily and the interpersonal conflicts are somewhat muted down. By rights, Alin should have a lot of problems with Simon and Leah and vice versa, but in the end of the book they reconcile relatively easily and quickly, before directly working together as a team. On the flipside, it's quite interesting how far everyone has grown compared to the first book. Alin is the Elysian Incarnation, Simon is the Founder's Heir of Valinhall, Leah is the Queen of Damasca and sole Traveler of Ragnarus.

I think there are really interesting side characters in this book. Rebekkah with her extreme tendencies for violence becomes my favourite Doll in this book. The Eldest Nye has an interesting frenemy/rival dynamic with resurrected Valin. Unfortunately, some other side characters' potentials are wasted, namely Erastes, Agnos family, Denner, and Kathrin. I think they should've been utilised better, and I have high hopes for them in the sequel series.

Elysian Colours
One of the charm of Elysia as a Territory is that how it is supposed to be the central Territory. Elysia meant to guide the other Territories into better place and their Travelers into better people. In this case, the City of Light features 9 districts that embody specific values, colours, and powers that correspond to the original 9 Territories.

For instance, Avernus is known as Territory of Birds that values bond between Travelers and the native birds. Elysia has the Orange District which embodies Loyalty, a value that correspond to such bonds. As a result, the Orange District grants the power of flight to Elysian Traveler who is deemed loyal by the trials of the district.

In the omnibus/complete trilogy eBook, Wight compiled short stories of 9 original Territories. In the universe, these stories are written to teach its reader about a specific value of Elysian Colours. I think it's an interesting study of storytelling and worldbuilding. These stories reveal bits and pieces about the Territories that we don't get to see in the main story, however the quality really varies. Some are frankly mediocre while other are fun and insightful.

Conclusion
City of Light is a worthy end of Traveler's Gate trilogy, however it leaves too many questions answered for my taste while leaning too heavily on action.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the finale of the trilogy, Wight has tensions running high. All the Hanging Trees have been destroyed, releasing all the incarnations. Knowing the destruction they can wreak on the world, Simon, Leah, and Indrial have been hunting the Incarnations for the last several months.

Alin is losing his battle against the madness of Incarnation as he rules over his city with an iron fist, determined to turn it into the perfection of Elysia.

Then things suddenly get worse when all the Incarnations go missing.

I really enjoyed the finale of this trilogy. Wight's writing improved in each book, making each book better than the previous one. Throughout this book, Simon remained my favorite character and Valinhall remained my favorite territory. I also enjoyed Leah's character, largely because she is a strong female with agency of her own who isn't relegated to a romantic relationship and shoved off to the side. That was a breath of fresh air compared to many other fantasy series, and I hope to read more series that treat their female characters in a similar manner. Unfortunately for Alin, the other major character of the series, I never did like him. He began as an arrogant little a**hole who thought he was awesome because he was in a prophecy and never really grew out of that. Yes, he did have some character growth as a result of being an Incarnation, but even with all the moralities he still managed to keep screwing up, and that just annoyed me. Still, as a character to hate, he is a great one. So if that was Wight's goal, it was well executed. LOL.

As for the action, there is quite a bit going on in this book, and I kind of wish Wight had chosen to take another book to spread it out a bit more and give more time and attention to some of the things. I don't want to get into specifics because I might end up in spoiler territory, and the book as it is isn't terrible, I just think it could have been better with more time/space to work through some things. I do think part of that is down to Wight's growth as a writer because this aspect of his writing improved greatly in his Cradle series (and through his Cradle series). It makes me wonder what changes, if any, he would make to this series if he were to revisit and revise it.

As with the first two books, I listened to the great Travis Baldree narrate this audiobook. If you've listened to the first two, I don't need to tell you how awesome he is as a narrator - you already know. If you haven't listened to any of this series yet, you should. Baldree does an absolutely fabulous job with the narration. It is definitely worth the listen.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book more than the other two in the series, but the characters were still pretty flat.

Simon throughout the trilogy improved and wasn’t nearly as boring as he began in book 1, but if it weren’t for the “Dolls” there would literally be nothing interesting about his character.

Leah had potential after book 2, but still felt exactly the same by the time the story ended. She just never really became interesting and if anything her potential was squandered completely.

Alin had the most improvements out of anybody with all the color stuff going on his head and it made him much more enjoyable to read. He was probably the worst written character of the three for the first two books.

Outside of the three main characters most of the villains and supporting cast were still pretty meh. They were written better this time at least. The main problem with this trilogy was definitely the characters not the world. In fact the world was the most interesting part by far.

Hopefully whenever this series gets its eventual continuation it will be much improved. I have hopes considering even though I’ve only read a the first three books in the Cradle series by the third book it was already better.

[Jonathan Arnold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the best of the trilogy but still not quite a five star book. Definitely worth the read. Will Wight hit his stride with writing the characters in this installment of the series. The way it ends definitely has me wondering if there will be more books in the series, especially since Will’s going to be finishing up Cradle’s last book sometime soon (I expect).

4.2/5

[Natalie H · Rating 4 out of 5]

July 2024
Kindle edition

This one went pretty quickly. The incarnations felt like earlier versions of the monarchs. Nice that Alin managed to bring himself back. Simon hammering away at training and becoming what the Eldest and Valin want. Poor Kai. The doll scene was heartbreaking. Best bit was Simon finding out who his advisor was. Not as good as Cradle and the space series but picked up during the second book and was consistent until the end. Simon was a fun character.

[Jonathan Lupa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finally thought of the word I'm looking for (by book 3):

Shonen.

I don't usually read books which map so directly with potential video games, or anime plots.

But in for a penny, in for a pound. If you made it through book 1, every book after improves on the story.

[Kit Kohl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall it flowed well with the other books in the series. I didn't like the whole deus ex machina ending, but other than that it was interesting to see how the travellers world was explored and fleshed out.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strong finish to the series

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this series.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I'm a big fan on the author and narration, this book is basically just battles. It all makes sense but it's a lot

[Shonari · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank god that's over. This was a terrible series. I have nothing but bad things to say about this book so let's end this review here.