Travis BagwellBesprekingen

Noch ein LitRPG Buch. Diesmal macht der Hinweis auf Level und Steigerung der Fertigkeiten mehr Sinn, da der Held selber ein MMORPG spielt. Interessant fand ich, dass der Held in dieser Story die dunkle Seite wählt. Nette Unterhaltung.

didn't like it as much as the first. I miss a certain amount of social interaction between the character and his "friends". that is all so much goal driven and therefore feels a bit artificial.

I wish I would have bumped this book up on my TBR list way sooner! I had no idea it was going to have necromancy elements, swoon.

I had been putting it off because over all I was unsure about how I would like the litrpg elements. I've only read a few other books with light game mechanics, and they were humorous so more poking fun instead of laying it all out there.

I loved the format Travis put the stats in, it made it easy to skim them, as I wasn't as into those parts of the book. I felt that it really opened up the readership that loved necromancy/dark fantasy, but not so into gaming.

All of the characters were so well written, each unique and relatable. I love the real world intrigue that is happening in the story, and how it mixes with the in game intrigue. I was on edge for the majority of the book, and could hardly put it down. I loved the game aspects, and all of the mysteries surrounding Alfred.

So many strands are opened in this book, I can't wait to move onto the next in series.

Great book

Similar premise as others but goes a different route. Starts a little slow but gets going pretty quickly. Wish they could actually make games like this.

I admit I was a bit irritated when I first learned that the author was taking a break from Jason's story to write a short spin off series for Awaken Online. Seeing that Awaken Online is my current LitRPG series of choice it was only a matter of time before I downloaded Ember, the first in the Awaken Online: Tarot series. How does it compare? It is both familiar and different in an intriguing way.

The story revolves around Finn Harris, a retired software programming genius who survived a horrific accident that left him in a wheelchair. Finn's wife died in that accident and he blames himself as he was the one who created the software that failed, causing the autonomous car they were riding in to crash. Locking himself away from the world, Finn's daughter intervenes, forcing him out of his grief and into a new virtual reality game called Awaken Online. She believes something unusual is going on in the game world and wants Finn's help to figure out what is is. Finn has no idea what to expect from the game but it certainly wasn't to be dropped into a school for mages where the students are pitted against each other in Battle Royale-style duels to keep from being expelled. What is going on here?

Fans of Awaken Online should enjoy this new branch to the series. Ember is Finn's origin story and introduction to the game world. It reminded me a lot of Catharsis in that Finn goes through a highly customized introduction where the game's AI picks up on Finn's emotional state and memories to help define what class his character will be. Also like the main series the game appears to be trying to help Finn work through his emotional issues and be a better person, though its methods feel questionable at times. The similarities end there as Finn is immediately dropped into a magic school that feels a lot more like a prison. Finn makes a friend along the way, who I hope gets some more page time in the future. Kyle is a great strategist and pays a high attention to detail. Finn's daughter, Julia, also plays a role in game. All three of them have highly complementary skills that could take them far. I also have to mention that Bagwell's sense of humor carries through to the quest updates which are snarky and hilarious.

I liked that the story focused mostly on the game world, providing a lot of depth to the magic system, and and helping Finn deal with his grief. Unlike the main series, there isn't much of a real world story thread. I could see that changing if Finn manages to work out what the AI is doing. Which brings me to the one thing I didn't like. Finn creates an AI assistant within the game world. That has a high probability of being unbalancing in the future.

I listened to the audio book narrated by David Stifel. He continues to do a good job.

While Finn's story is a 3 book arc, I'm already wondering how his inevitable meeting with Jason will go once the two stories merge in the main series. At least that's where I assume this is heading. Only time will tell.

Catharsis, Book 1 of the Awaken Online series is a self-published LitRPG novel by Travis Bagwell. I really liked this book. It's fast paced and enjoyable.

The basic thrust of the book is that a new MMO is being released called Awaken Online. It promises to be the most immersive and different type of MMO ever, and this is being ensured by its controlling AI Alfred. The book is set about 50 years in the future and the entire game is played in VR. There are two principal storylines in the book. One features Claire, an employee of the game company in charge of running a series of tests on the game via volunteers and Robert, one of the engineers in charge of the game. Their storyline begins years before the game launch and proceeds to the present. The second storyline features Jason, a high school kid who feels like a fish out of water at his posh private school he attends through scholarships. Jason also struggles with his relationship with his parents who are rather distant. The story follows Claire and Robert try to run and analyze the tests, and Jason actually playing the game in the present time.

What distinguishes this book is its plot. The plot increases in complexity and weaves its way down a pretty curvy path. At one point I was a bit worried because Claire and Robert's storyline seemed to be losing complexity, but then a lot of it was explained. I give specific praise to the author for his handling of the AI. I am still not sure where he is going with it, but so far it does not seem to fall into the usual hackneyed AI tropes. I really liked the treatment of Jason's storyline and how much of it is still mysterious.

In any self-pub book, the writing is always on of my causes for concern. Here, there are certain sections, both of dialogue and narration where the writing felt clumsy, repetitive and unnecessary. There are certain attempts at humour, but unfortunately they resemble very early Sanderson, so they are not really a talking point. However, in spite of these handicaps, the author does manage to construct and maintain a narrative that mostly flows smoothly and injects a feeling of pace into the story. One of the major stopping points of LitRPG novels are the various character stats, and I think the author did a pretty good job of handling that in his writing.

The characters can certainly be better. They feel a bit too on the nose. Jason develops and develops fast, but he feels overexplained. Riley had no depth, but given her lack of screen time, I don't really blame the author. Jason's nemesis too felt just a bit too pat and simple. This is one specific aspect that I hope improves in the sequels.

Overall, I loved the pace and plot of the book. A great read to relax and lighten your mind.

Rating: Overall Quality: 3 out of 5. Enjoyment: 4 out of 5.

Second Review:

Just awesome. Definitely need to read the first book, as this book continues where it left off. Love this series.


First Review:

Fantastic read and an excellent sequel.

I'll admit, I was nervous when I started this book. Catharsis was Travis Bagwell's published book and was hoping he wasn't a one-hit wonder. Turns out, he seamlessly transitioned the story into the second book.

If I didn't know better, I'd say that Travis Bagwell was a pseudonym for a more famous author. For not publishing anything before, he is remarkably talented.

Regardless of this, the success of AO (books 1 and 2) will depend how long the series goes and how satisfying the finale is. This doesn't feel like a trilogy, but more like a 5 or 6 book series. The story still feels like it is getting started, so it's possible it could go beyond that. Still, I'm hopeful the ending of the series has been thought out because with some of the story arcs, it could get complicated quickly.

Overall, highly recommend this series and this book.

Quickly becoming one of my favorite series ever. Though a different tone than Ready Player One, this is the next series I'm going to start recommending if people want something similar (albeit much more around video games).

Can't wait for the next one!

Second review: Revisiting this series because a new book is coming out, but I forgot how great the beginning was. Quickly becoming one of my favorite book series.

First review:
Such an amazing book. This is probably a cross of some of my favorite books: Ready Player One and Daemon. It certainly varies away from those stories, but the premise of being an MMORPG is at the CORE of this book. The gameplay mechanics are perfect.

Like any good story, this story will depend ultimately on its conclusion. It's not a spoiler that this book certainly sets up future books, but I'm hoping the ultimate finale has that 'Ready Player One' satisfying finish.

Will likely break my favorite top 20 at some point, but need to reflect on it a bit more.

Man, this felt like a long, long journey. Overall, book was pretty good, but got slow in different areas. Seems the 'side quest' of the investigation is taking too much of the focus. If it all comes to ahead for a good reason, then it'll be worth it. Still, hard to see where that side is going.

I'm beginning to fear there is no endgame, which isn't ideal. I like the world and the game aspects though.

Very enjoyable read with some solid, self-aware characters. Story was a bit slow in places, but love the world and story. Good quarantine read.

I couldn't even get out of the opening school scene. This character is such a whiner and the exposition dump isn't helping matters.

I need the next book Yesterday!
I've read many books that ended with some kind of a cliffhanger but... Damn you man, you can't do this to us!

The writer clearly isn't very good at writing. One could find better writing in a random fan fiction.
The first hour of the book was almost insufferable, it reads like some garbage teen novel that not even children would tolerate. But then when the actual game starts the book picks up. The author does the whole litrpg thing pretty well, other than a few instances where you question if the author is a gamer to begin with. The characters aren't the best but they work, the antagonist is a arrogant asshole, the love interest is a bland nice girl, And the protagonist is your average redditor; he hates the rich and has a serious lack of empathy.
Overall, as long as it's ingame it's a fun read, I'm looking forwards to reading the next one.

It's more of the first one. The story is still engaging and hasn't gone off the rails. The characters are better and there is less of the stuff I didn't enjoy from the last book. The repeating scenes from different povs got a bit tedious tho.
Did you like the first one? Then you'll probably like this one too.

I felt the story feeling kinda slow and sluggish for a large part of the book.
The characters acted as if a new "crazy" character, the hippie, was way more annoying and confusing than he was, in fact I'd wager that most players would've liked that character unless they took themselves and the game way too seriously. As it is it comes of as if the author had a character in mind but couldn't execute him in writing and as a result we got the main characters reacting to a character only existing in the authors head.
But it's not bad enough that you shouldn't pick it up if you liked the previous books.

Ember being part of the same world as the rest of the awaken online series will probably be most interesting to the people already invested in the series, and should probably be compared to it.
This book is more of the same, except some important differences. Of course the author has had time to refine his writing, but the biggest change is characters. Due to the shift from a teenagers perspective to some old dude everything I hated is suddenly gone. No more cringey romance and no more teenage drama.
If you like awaken online, pick it up. If you want to get into it you could also give it a try, this new series works without knowledge of the original, or just didn't like the teenage parts of the original series, maybe this is a good chance to give the series a second try.

Awaken Online: Dominion is the fourth in the Awaken Online series by Travis Bagwell. The story takes a different turn as the author tackles a more complex story line than previous installments. It made for an interesting change of pace, one that I questioned at times but enjoyed over all.

Jason and his guild mates find themselves threatened by a new enemy calling themselves the Order. The Order has given Jason an ultimatum: turn away from his false god or be destroyed. Turns out this is no idle threat as the Order's main agent, Thorn, begins a series of attacks on the Twilight Throne that no one is prepared for. Unsure if he'll be able to stop Thorn, Jason begins planning a defense for the city while working to gain a better understanding of his new class abilities. Meanwhile, in the real world, the CPSC has opened a trial against the game's AI controller putting the future of Awaken Online in the balance.

I am impressed by how the real world and game world elements of the book were worked together, with emphasis on how each effects the other. While we were given a taste of this previously, it's really being driven home just how much of an impact Alfred is having on the players. There were definitely times when the trial portions were hard to listen to, kind of like a real trial.

I felt so bad for Jason throughout this book. With all the events going on it's not surprising that he feels like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders. And basically he does, even if it's only a game world. Still it's good to see him progress. I was very proud of him for finally standing up to his parents! That was a great personal growth moment. Also, his story with Riley was sweet and awkward, just as it should be. Now if only he'd actually trust her and talk to her more.

My complaints are fairly minor. I am basically done with Alex and his story line. Hate that guy and wish he and his story would fade away already. Also, there was not enough Eliza in this book considering how big a role she played in book 3. Poor Frank really gets the short end of the stick so it's good to see that he's the focus of the next novella.

I listened to the audio book narrated by David Stifel. He continues to give a great performance and brings the world of Awaken Online to life.

Unlike previous installments, this one does not end in a cliffhanger. I am still highly curious as to where the story will be going next.

Awaken Online: Apathy is a Side Quest (novella) in the Awaken Online series by Travis Bagwell. This an origin story for Eliza, a character we meet in book 3.

Eliza's parents have decided she is going to medical school and have loaded her schedule to the brim with studying. Needing an escape Eliza jumps at the chance to try out the latest hit game, Awaken Online. Not long after logging in Eliza runs into the most irritating god around and his pet sheep. Suddenly Eliza finds herself chosen as the Hippie's "avatar" and sent on the most asinine series of quests imaginable.

This book was so much fun! Eliza is quite likeable and easy to sympathize with. I love how the game pushes these characters to become better versions of themselves. It was great to see Eliza grow in confidence as her character progresses through a series of seemingly unrelated and bizarre quests. Speaking of the quests, AO has some of the best in game prompts I've ever read, they're hilarious. I really wish I could play this game.

All hail Fluffy!

Awaken Online: Retribution is a Side Quest (novella) in the Awaken Online series by Travis Bagwell. The story is told entirely from Riley's point of view and occurs in the few days time between books two and three while Jason is dealing with some real world problems.

Riley thought that after her confrontation with Alex things would get better but they've only gotten worse. The girls at school torment her and she feels powerless to stop them. After receiving a message from Jason that he would be gone for a few days Riley decides now would be the perfect time to follow up on the quest she received when she obtained the strange bow from the dungeon near Peccavi. If nothing else perhaps it will distract her from her own troubles with the girls at school. Grouping up with a new band of adventurers it's not long before they all learn that this quest is a lot more than they bargained for.

It was great traveling with Riley for a while, learning more about her character and motivations both in game and out. I continue to enjoy the game world and how much it helps the characters learn to be better versions of themselves while taking a non-traditional path to get there. The city of mages was such a really cool idea. I wouldn't be surprised to find a similar version in a future game! The quest itself is quite a mystery for Riley to solve, taking us all over the magic city, and it ends with one heck of a boss battle. About the only thing I didn't enjoy was the group of characters Riley ends up traveling with. They were pretty bland.

Overall the story was a good addition to the series.

I loved this book like I have loved few others.

In addition to all the "normal" things I want from a book such as great characters, an original concept and a catchy introduction, this book combines fantasy with science fiction without the usual genre bending pitfalls.

Without too many spoilers, the concept of this book is an astoundingly advanced fully immersive online computer game (specifically a massively multiplayer online role playing game). Where it differs from others in the genre is in the richness of the player discovery of the game mechanics and the main character who recognizes the game as "not real" yet still feels guilt over wicked actions, but does not stop to mope.

Yes, that's right, our hero walks a dark path in the game, yet we still love him and root for him the whole time.

The characters (NPCs) within the game are detailed and fun. The book flows well from action to exposition to discovery with humor interspersed throughout. On top of all that, it's also just a great RPG story.

The main downside is the primary antagonist who is pretty cliche. On the other hand, his support characters are interesting enough and hint at possible depths there, though it's never delved in this first book.

Surprisingly good, for a side tale.

I should start by stating that I almost universally avoid interim novels such as this one. That is, stories that don't focus on the mc or take place between major plot points. They usually drive me mad, especially when they come out while I'm waiting for the actual next book.

That said, I found this surprisingly good. I definitely enjoyed getting to know Riley better. The action was well paced with the storytelling, and overall enjoyable.

The main gripe I had was the fact that we've almost entirely lost the feel of AO. There's very little leveling up, very little about character stats and abilities. I think Riley checks her stats once. Worse, the big draw for AO to me was the very interesting tension between real world dynamics and in game. There's only a token effort to make that happen here.

Still, overall I give 4 stars despite the complaints.

Big improvement over book 2 although still far too much Alex/Alexion. I have no idea why people give this much page time to their antagonists, but at least they were in short bursts.

I liked that we still have racheting up real world tension. I enjoyed most of the in game arc. The real world stuff was a bit disjointed, but still better than a lot of this genre.

I enjoyed Jason being clever, but the climactic battle was a let down. Instead of useful tactics we get ineffective mediocre tactics and a last ditch mega creation (again). Would have rather seen more ingenious use of real world stuff and less stuff that just felt video game-y.

This book is Eliza's (the alchemist from book 3) origin story and should probably be called book 2.75 instead of 3.5 as all of its events take place before book 3. I don't usually like following separate characters, but something about the way Travis Bagwell writes these really works for me.

I very much enjoyed this book. The character of Eliza is very likable and accessible. She struggles with self confidence, and being pushed to be what her parents want.

Eliza is given AO as a way to blow off steam and has never really played many games. This lets us get another discovery story about the world without the preconceptions of a gamer.

Good action, good pacing, sticks to the one character, and all around a fun read.

Awaken Online: Evolution is the third in the Awaken Online series by Travis Bagwell. Thankfully this entry picks up immediately with the cliff hanger ending of the previous book. Unfortunately that means I can't write a summary without spoilers for book two.

After exiting Awaken Online to find himself holding a knife and standing over two dead bodies, Jason is now being investigated for murder. To make matters worse, Clair has stumbled across evidence that Alfred is able to manipulate players minds and may have been directly involved in the event. Clair feels it is her duty to inform the CPSC under the premise of protecting the players safety even though she still doesn't have all the facts. With his real life in shambles, Jason heads back into Awaken Online to continue on the Old Man's quest and gain deeper power through the path of the Dark.

Things start off slowly as it deals with events in the real world. Jason is in a lot of trouble and it takes some time before he's able to get back to the game world. Once back in AO the pace of the story picks back up and we continue along the Path of the Dark. It's such a pity we don't have technology like this yet as I would play this game in a heart beat. Some of these quest descriptions are downright hilarious in their snarky and sarcastic wording. I love that the AI has a sense of humor! Given the weight of the real world impact on Jason's life, Bagwell balances in game and real world story lines nicely.

All of the characters are back and have gone on character arcs. It's great to see each of them become more confident in their abilities in game and how that confidence helps them in the real world. Riley has recently gone on a side quest, which I wish I'd read before starting this book as events are mentioned frequently, and now has a new class with new abilities. Frank's shapechanging is impressive. I like how he's able to "consume" creatures to gain new forms and abilities. Jason continues along the dark path, which is the core of the story and has a great payoff. The group is joined by a fourth party member along the way, Eliza. Eliza is a water mage who is being harassed by another one of the game's gods named the Hippy. The Hippy and his pet sheep Fluffy are hilarious! With these new additions we're given more insight into the game world and just how much impact the game's gods have on the realm. It's an interesting system and I look forward to seeing how it plays out. Alexion, the series antagonist, does have his own story thread. I had a hard time caring about it. It seems to be set up for the future as it doesn't have any direct impact on main story events. Again, something to see what happens with book four.

I listened to the audio book narrated by David Stifel. He gives the same performance as he does for the previous books. He has a little trouble varying his female voices though he was able to differentiate enough between Riley and Eliza so they weren't confusing. It was harder between Clair and the CPSC lady.

This was another fun entry into the series. While not quite as dramatic as the last book, this one also ends on a kind of cliff hanger which is kind of annoying. There are enough loose ends that I don't think it was strictly necessary - I already want to know what happens next! Hopefully book four will be out in another year.