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. ( )

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. ( )

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.
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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. ( )