House of Blades keeps the reader engaged, introducing colourful characters, breathtaking locations, fantastical creatures, and elaborate mythology. And from there on, the action never seems to stop. The second chapter throws us directly into more exciting, if rather sadistic and confusing action again. Well, perhaps these are supposed to be symptoms consistent with some form of schizophrenia, and the illness itself seems to be a response to the extreme fear that she was attacked by. She’s also an alcoholic, and extremely suspicious of people not being who they seem to be (she thinks Simon is an imposter). She appears to wake up from nightmares screaming and attack Simon. His primary responsibility has been taking care of his mother, who was injured by the Travelers’ attack, and who appears to suffer from… The past eight years haven’t been kind to Simon. The next time we see Simon, he is 16 years old, and very much an abused kid. – Simon, son of kalman, house of blades by will wight Next time, he would keep his family safe. The first chapter serves as Simon’s back story, and also sets up his driving motivation. Simon’s parents seem deeply disconnected from all ordinary sense of danger. Kalman: (sighing, defeated, pulling his wife into an embrace) You win again, I’d say.Įdina: (laughing) Then my flawless record stands another day! And the rain will ruin them, so we might as well get rid of them while we can.

Kalman: What are we going to do if a Traveler shows up, and he doesn’t-Įdina: If a Traveler shows up? We’ll sell him some beans!Įdina: Travelers still need food, don’t they? Mmm, beans. But rather than urgency, it’s more of his parents bickering about it. I mean, his father says that he’s uncomfortable around the “ghost”, and remarks that it must be the work of Travelers. So then that begs the question of why Simon’s parents are sort of chill about seeing a “ghost” in Chapter 1, instead of perhaps sensing impending danger and running away as fast as they can. They are also incapable of distinguishing between different types of Travelers, or any other supernatural phenomena. There’s also the difference in tone – the common people in this universe distrust Travelers immensely, and are afraid of them, and in awe of them. In fact, a lot of questions that arise in chapter one are never answered – or perhaps are answered so far into the story that one has completely forgotten about the question by then. Unfortunately, just as with Wheel of Time, a dissonance is obvious between the first chapter and the rest of the story. It’s much like the opening chapters of the Wheel of Time series in that sense. It may even bring the reader a chill or two, and make them wonder what’s in store for them.

Mysterious, involving sudden and inexplicable violence, spooky. The first chapter of House of Blades is everything the first chapter of a fantasy series should be.

The traveler's gate trilogy