李潼的噶瑪蘭三部曲在國內青少年小說中備受喜愛與討論，然而《少年噶瑪蘭》與《望天丘》雖皆以「遊子」為題旨底蘊，描寫時空遊走中的當下把握及遺憾種種，其背後的意涵卻大不相同，不適宜同以關懷歷史與文化為角度進行審視。不同於《少年噶瑪蘭》強調歷史文化的認同與追尋，在《望天丘》中，李潼重視真實情感的交流與多元文化的共存，藉由情感的傳遞與寄託，貫穿歷史文化。而由情感的傳遞與寄託來審視李潼遊子情懷的深層意涵，可以發現李潼建構了時間與空間多重交疊的生死世界，說明生死其實是無止盡的旅程，而作為即將啟程前往另一時空的遊子，「遊子」寄喻著在李潼作為四處停留的漂泊者，其牽掛與引導回程的深切情感。

Lee Tong's Ga Ma Lan trilogy has received a good reputation and wide discussion among the teenage fictions in Taiwan. Although Young Ga Ma Lan and Sky-Gazing Hill both focus on the idea of the traveler, which portrays seizing the moment while traveling over time and space. The implications of these two works are quite different and should not be both evaluated from the same perspective of history and culture. While Young Ga Ma Lan places emphasis on seeking identification with history and culture, in Sky-Gazing Hill, Lee Tong invests more in the description of the exchange of true feelings and coexistence with different cultures, threading continuous historical and cultural evolutions through the workings of affection. Interpreting the meaning of the traveler from the perspective of affection, we can see that Lee Tong has constructed another world of life and death, where time and space overlap and living and dying are actually a non-stop journey. The idea of the traveler conveys the solicitude and affection of Lee Tong, a drifter himself.