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Tarot #3
Inferno
The epic conclusion of the Tarot series!
A crippling wound. A war looming on the horizon. A demon king to kill.
Finn and his companions barely escaped their encounter with Bilel. But not without a cost - including the loss of Finn's left arm and the magical corruption that now plagues his body.
Despite those handicaps, Finn must keep pressing forward if he is to have any hope of bringing Rachael back. As the Seer predicted, the guilds and Khamsin have formed a fragile alliance. But before they can lay siege to Lahab, Finn and his companions must first find a way to defend themselves and their fledgling army from the effects of the god relic that Bilel now wields...
Which will send them deep into the heart of an ancient workshop. Along the way, they'll encounter advanced magical technology, new friends and foes, and will be pushed well beyond their limits. They will be reforged in the fires of adversity - forced to prove their mettle, even with the odds stacked against them.
Hopefully, it will be enough.
Because soon they will face a demon king and his armies.
A crippling wound. A war looming on the horizon. A demon king to kill.
Finn and his companions barely escaped their encounter with Bilel. But not without a cost - including the loss of Finn's left arm and the magical corruption that now plagues his body.
Despite those handicaps, Finn must keep pressing forward if he is to have any hope of bringing Rachael back. As the Seer predicted, the guilds and Khamsin have formed a fragile alliance. But before they can lay siege to Lahab, Finn and his companions must first find a way to defend themselves and their fledgling army from the effects of the god relic that Bilel now wields...
Which will send them deep into the heart of an ancient workshop. Along the way, they'll encounter advanced magical technology, new friends and foes, and will be pushed well beyond their limits. They will be reforged in the fires of adversity - forced to prove their mettle, even with the odds stacked against them.
Hopefully, it will be enough.
Because soon they will face a demon king and his armies.
630 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 3, 2020
497 people are currently reading
475 people want to read
About the author
Travis Bagwell
20 books2,053 followersI live in Austin, Texas with my wife and our three dogs. I'm an attorney by day and an avid video game enthusiast by night. Writing fiction had been a secret dream of mine for a while. However, between school and work, that dream seemed impossible to squeeze in. A couple of years ago, I had a bit more time on my hands and I finally decided to put my nerdy interests to work by trying my hand at writing science fiction and fantasy.
I never expected the wildly positive response to my work. I am truly blown away and humbled and I only hope to be able to continue sharing my stories.
You can find me here:
https://travisbagwell.com/
https://www.facebook.com/da3strikes/
https://twitter.com/da3strikes
https://www.patreon.com/da3strikes
Or come check out our awesome fangroup and meet some cool people!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/AO.Or...
I never expected the wildly positive response to my work. I am truly blown away and humbled and I only hope to be able to continue sharing my stories.
You can find me here:
https://travisbagwell.com/
https://www.facebook.com/da3strikes/
https://twitter.com/da3strikes
https://www.patreon.com/da3strikes
Or come check out our awesome fangroup and meet some cool people!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/AO.Or...
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 148 reviews
November 11, 2020
******* SOME KIND OF SPOILERS *******
So far the ending of Tarot wasn't bad, but honestly not as good as the main series. There's a few things I didn't like.
On the one hand it seems slow paced compared to Jason's story, this I think is mostly noticed in this last book. There's even some moments I got bored.
Thorn and the Orders appearance surprised me, but at least we know we're they come from. But I didn't like their role in this one. They're so strongly against anything god related and end up being convinced by one of the gods avatars to go after Jason... That easy? Oh and in Dominion Thorn says he's the leader of the Order, but here the leader seems to be Eldawin. Weird, I think.
Then Bilel, the big bad superpowerful enemy and God hater. So much power he could easily have destroyed Finn's army, Lahab and probably half the continent in a blink of his eyes, and he gets messed around with that easily? It gave me the impression Travis Bagwell either ran out of ideas here or just rushed through it to get to a timeline. And the last combat against Bilel... And how Finn takes over the staff? Way too easy and fast for what the other books showed in terms of problems.
Then they talk about hacking websites and forums to delete all evidence of Lahab... That could maybe go through if I didn't work as a systems engineer myself. But hacking Cerillion Entertainment servers? We know from the other books how much technology Cerillion has, how much security, and what people work there. Just suggesting that I think is kinda not well though through...
Then there's also the matter of basically no story outside of AO. A few chapters inside Finn's house, and a few of his memories, but that's it. Nothing more, no Cerillion Entertainment, who is monitoring and watching everything. Which brings me to the next point. In the other books Cerillion is on top of everything, watching, monitoring, recording. But here? With all that happens in Lahab, the dead, the catastrophes, the storm, the war, the players killed upon spawning at the mage guild... And nothing, not a sign of Cerillion.
I like how the AIs are introduced in this trilogy, how they're used, and how technology is mixed in Tarot, in a medieval magic desert world. I like how Daniel is used and evolves, and the Forge was an interesting twist, although it went on for too long and got repetitive.
I like how Tarot shows more about the gods, explains more about them and what they do, but the Seer just gets annoying in my opinion.
It's a bit weird that these books came out so late, when they're based before and during Evolution.
And Finn.... Mixed feelings. I like his character, his logic and clinical way of analysing and doing things. But I hate his emotional side, his living in the past, being so depressive and blaming himself the whole time. Always saying everything is "for Rachel"... She's dead. She's been dead for a long time. Just live with it, get on with your life. I just find that part really annoying about him.
And then I like the use of body augments, but self doing these? "Oh let me take my eyes out and replace them with metal sticks", "oh let me fuse this metal to my arm"...
And lastly, none of the main characters dies a single fricking time since leaving the mage guild. Really? It's a game, everyone dies at some point. Alexion dies, Jason dies, Frank dies... All died at some point. But Finn and his group? They're always doing crazy stuff and by miracle always stopping at 1% health? Really?
So far the ending of Tarot wasn't bad, but honestly not as good as the main series. There's a few things I didn't like.
On the one hand it seems slow paced compared to Jason's story, this I think is mostly noticed in this last book. There's even some moments I got bored.
Thorn and the Orders appearance surprised me, but at least we know we're they come from. But I didn't like their role in this one. They're so strongly against anything god related and end up being convinced by one of the gods avatars to go after Jason... That easy? Oh and in Dominion Thorn says he's the leader of the Order, but here the leader seems to be Eldawin. Weird, I think.
Then Bilel, the big bad superpowerful enemy and God hater. So much power he could easily have destroyed Finn's army, Lahab and probably half the continent in a blink of his eyes, and he gets messed around with that easily? It gave me the impression Travis Bagwell either ran out of ideas here or just rushed through it to get to a timeline. And the last combat against Bilel... And how Finn takes over the staff? Way too easy and fast for what the other books showed in terms of problems.
Then they talk about hacking websites and forums to delete all evidence of Lahab... That could maybe go through if I didn't work as a systems engineer myself. But hacking Cerillion Entertainment servers? We know from the other books how much technology Cerillion has, how much security, and what people work there. Just suggesting that I think is kinda not well though through...
Then there's also the matter of basically no story outside of AO. A few chapters inside Finn's house, and a few of his memories, but that's it. Nothing more, no Cerillion Entertainment, who is monitoring and watching everything. Which brings me to the next point. In the other books Cerillion is on top of everything, watching, monitoring, recording. But here? With all that happens in Lahab, the dead, the catastrophes, the storm, the war, the players killed upon spawning at the mage guild... And nothing, not a sign of Cerillion.
I like how the AIs are introduced in this trilogy, how they're used, and how technology is mixed in Tarot, in a medieval magic desert world. I like how Daniel is used and evolves, and the Forge was an interesting twist, although it went on for too long and got repetitive.
I like how Tarot shows more about the gods, explains more about them and what they do, but the Seer just gets annoying in my opinion.
It's a bit weird that these books came out so late, when they're based before and during Evolution.
And Finn.... Mixed feelings. I like his character, his logic and clinical way of analysing and doing things. But I hate his emotional side, his living in the past, being so depressive and blaming himself the whole time. Always saying everything is "for Rachel"... She's dead. She's been dead for a long time. Just live with it, get on with your life. I just find that part really annoying about him.
And then I like the use of body augments, but self doing these? "Oh let me take my eyes out and replace them with metal sticks", "oh let me fuse this metal to my arm"...
And lastly, none of the main characters dies a single fricking time since leaving the mage guild. Really? It's a game, everyone dies at some point. Alexion dies, Jason dies, Frank dies... All died at some point. But Finn and his group? They're always doing crazy stuff and by miracle always stopping at 1% health? Really?
December 5, 2022
Despite this side-trilogy starting out pretty good, I just can't get into it as much as the main series. I mean, we know WHERE this trilogy ends up, we know how it blows up. All that's left is to fill in the blank spaces and those are basically a bunch of level-ups and a class change that already feels pretty familiar.
This wrap-up gives us the full might and power of fire at least and while it wasn't particularly bad, it didn't particularly grab. I'm still happy that I caught up with it, if only to now finally jump into the main series, but I'm mostly happy that I'm done.
This wrap-up gives us the full might and power of fire at least and while it wasn't particularly bad, it didn't particularly grab. I'm still happy that I caught up with it, if only to now finally jump into the main series, but I'm mostly happy that I'm done.
May 30, 2024
Review to come soon.
June 25, 2021
Besides Finn's character sheets, I didn't feel like there was really much growth with him. He's (kind of) acknowledged his mistakes with Julia but what about his son? He's finally mentioned again (once) by name during this one. Grayson? What about time with him? Everything was all for and about Rachael. Tragic for sure but... Rachael, Rachael, Rachael. Not only was it said so often but using the same words over and over as well. Don't think it would have been so obnoxious otherwise.
Really, a lot of sentences, words, etc were super repetitive: maelstrom, molton liquid (either him crying or describing his eyes), arcane words spilled from his lips... Those are just first to mind. (Finished this hours ago and, since I usually listen to audiobooks while driving, can't take notes.)
The way it was "good hand" and whatnot... He only had one hand...! I just remember that that whole bit was handled poorly.
Oh! And Abad (can't seem to find his name spelled anywhere) is he "the librarian" or "former librarian?!" There was even a point where it was in the same sentence (or next - audiobook) that he says both! "Air mage" would have been better and better suited...
I hated the epilogue. One of my favorite things out this series was that he wasn't in this one. I am glad that Finn isn't naive though and is taking precautions. Curious about what he'll do anyway.
Phew. So many things I disliked about this one. D:
I'm so torn about all them going against each other though. (Except they should all team against the one...)
I really did enjoy seeing what Finn was going to come up with next and how things were going to play out. Overall I enjoyed it.
Really, a lot of sentences, words, etc were super repetitive: maelstrom, molton liquid (either him crying or describing his eyes), arcane words spilled from his lips... Those are just first to mind. (Finished this hours ago and, since I usually listen to audiobooks while driving, can't take notes.)
The way it was "good hand" and whatnot... He only had one hand...! I just remember that that whole bit was handled poorly.
Oh! And Abad (can't seem to find his name spelled anywhere) is he "the librarian" or "former librarian?!" There was even a point where it was in the same sentence (or next - audiobook) that he says both! "Air mage" would have been better and better suited...
I hated the epilogue. One of my favorite things out this series was that he wasn't in this one. I am glad that Finn isn't naive though and is taking precautions. Curious about what he'll do anyway.
Phew. So many things I disliked about this one. D:
I'm so torn about all them going against each other though. (Except they should all team against the one...)
I really did enjoy seeing what Finn was going to come up with next and how things were going to play out. Overall I enjoyed it.
May 8, 2021
It was really interesting to see this virtual world from another point of view, we had seen fragments of the world from other character's POV, but now it was something completely unrelated, and just as deep and complicated as Jason's story.
This is getting much more complicated, and now I'm not so sure who I'm cheering for.
Finn's journey was different, but it is as interesting as the others we have seen. The world is also getting more and more complex and the more I know the more I want to see.
This is getting much more complicated, and now I'm not so sure who I'm cheering for.
Finn's journey was different, but it is as interesting as the others we have seen. The world is also getting more and more complex and the more I know the more I want to see.
November 7, 2020
"If you could do it again, would you choose love or ambition?"
Inferno completes Bagwell's side trilogy focusing on Finn's story, and does so in a manner that cements Finn and his allies as major players within his larger Awaken Online series. Fans of classical science fiction will recognize some echoes of Frank Herbert's Dune in this novel, particularly in the image of a messianic figure besieging a desert city under cover of a storm. Yet these subtle allusions do not detract from this story's originality or creativity, as Finn's tale is assuredly not that of Paul Atreides. As ever, this story thrives on the underlying philosophical themes of hazy distinctions about the nature of reality and the emotional connections drawn across those potential lines. Death and loss also being particularly strong thematic elements of Finn's journey. Bagwell's writing is at its best when he delves into these emotive aspects. Inferno is also commendable for managing to retain a lively pace and intrigue, despite it being somewhat obvious that Finn would become the fire avatar from the start of this trilogy. The final two chapters, then, serve to blend into the main timeline of the series, while also alluding to the coming confrontation with Jason. Overall, it's a fascinating ending to a side trilogy that effectively serves as its own story, rather than being a crude pastiche as is the case for so many other authors attempting such.
Inferno completes Bagwell's side trilogy focusing on Finn's story, and does so in a manner that cements Finn and his allies as major players within his larger Awaken Online series. Fans of classical science fiction will recognize some echoes of Frank Herbert's Dune in this novel, particularly in the image of a messianic figure besieging a desert city under cover of a storm. Yet these subtle allusions do not detract from this story's originality or creativity, as Finn's tale is assuredly not that of Paul Atreides. As ever, this story thrives on the underlying philosophical themes of hazy distinctions about the nature of reality and the emotional connections drawn across those potential lines. Death and loss also being particularly strong thematic elements of Finn's journey. Bagwell's writing is at its best when he delves into these emotive aspects. Inferno is also commendable for managing to retain a lively pace and intrigue, despite it being somewhat obvious that Finn would become the fire avatar from the start of this trilogy. The final two chapters, then, serve to blend into the main timeline of the series, while also alluding to the coming confrontation with Jason. Overall, it's a fascinating ending to a side trilogy that effectively serves as its own story, rather than being a crude pastiche as is the case for so many other authors attempting such.
December 13, 2020
I dunno, the story of Finn isn't as interesting as that of Jason. It's a lot more 2-dimensional with regards to characters, the outside (real) world is hardly part of the story and while I sympathize with the mans loss I don't really like like him, you know?
The first 50-60 percent of the book was too slow, too repetitive and to be honest, too detailed. Which could have been forgivable if what was being told felt important. But it didn't. I don't get any sense of actual danger throughout the book, especially the first segment. So it gets boring. Boring and very, very predictable.
The ending, where Finns story becomes more tied into the bigger picture drags this book up from 2/5 for me, but not with a large margin.
The first 50-60 percent of the book was too slow, too repetitive and to be honest, too detailed. Which could have been forgivable if what was being told felt important. But it didn't. I don't get any sense of actual danger throughout the book, especially the first segment. So it gets boring. Boring and very, very predictable.
The ending, where Finns story becomes more tied into the bigger picture drags this book up from 2/5 for me, but not with a large margin.
September 29, 2022
I quite liked the ending and am looking forward to meeting the characters in the main series, but the journey there just didn't grab me as much as it should have.
February 28, 2021
SPOILERS BELOW
The final book of the series after a disappointing second. I have to say this one was much much better. I'll list my pros first.
1. Different things were happening, different places, styles of storytelling/gameplay. It wasn't one thing via a dungeon crawl fighting the same enemy.
2. Less of the humor. The humor in the second book got to levels of extreme cringe. I don't hang out with gamers, but gamers I've seen play via videos don't sound like that. Its almost sitcomy at times.
3. The Lab was as an awesome addition. I'm glad to see a high/future technology element introduced into this world. It reminds me of the best parts of a JRPG, Brock the elemental assistant/security. The willingness to go out there, take chances rather than stick to one time period medieval inspired Tolkien fantasy. Neurogems were a cool concept.
4. I like the Hive and the worldbuilding there, even though I'm not a reader who gets excited reading political strategy in story.
5. The final battle was awesome, it reminded me of Final Fantasy or a JRPG end boss fight. And then it goes somewhere unexpected.
6. The deals made, though I saw one of two of them coming when certain characters from Jason's arc were introduced.
Cons
1. The middle and middle third of this book got weary. Blah blah blah talk about strategy. Blah blah blah talk about more strategy. Rinse. Repeat. I wished it would stop for some character development, or something, something else. Or Finn would log off and we'd know more about his real life.
2. The robot lab although a cool setting, the action only a bit more interesting than the fire ant caves, but essentially the same thing. Although I enjoyed the reveal at the end.
3. The final battle was strategy overload. Granted there were some cool moments in how the strategy pans out, but it becomes ridiculous to me when Finn and co come up with these things on the fly, like are these humans or computer programs? No one no matter how smart they are can think that quickly. Even Jason fails a whole bunch. His arc seems more realistic and SPOILER (He's more of a badass as confirmed by these characters). Finn just seems invincible, just takes a whole bunch of pain, which is ridiculous that any human can take that much abuse but maybe its the way AO mutes the pain function. Still the stress of being in the game that long would be overwhelming. He'd have to be a cyborg or something.
4. Finn doesn't change IMO. Despite all that, he still falls for the Seers carrot on a stick. I don't believe for a second that he's done any of this for AO or his friends or anyone. It was all for his singular goal. At the end I think he's become a worse version of what he was trying to fight. Maybe that was the point?
To sum up this series as a whole, while I enjoy takes on the Chosen One story, I found it only good and not as excellent or refreshing as the other chapters of AO.
The final book of the series after a disappointing second. I have to say this one was much much better. I'll list my pros first.
1. Different things were happening, different places, styles of storytelling/gameplay. It wasn't one thing via a dungeon crawl fighting the same enemy.
2. Less of the humor. The humor in the second book got to levels of extreme cringe. I don't hang out with gamers, but gamers I've seen play via videos don't sound like that. Its almost sitcomy at times.
3. The Lab was as an awesome addition. I'm glad to see a high/future technology element introduced into this world. It reminds me of the best parts of a JRPG, Brock the elemental assistant/security. The willingness to go out there, take chances rather than stick to one time period medieval inspired Tolkien fantasy. Neurogems were a cool concept.
4. I like the Hive and the worldbuilding there, even though I'm not a reader who gets excited reading political strategy in story.
5. The final battle was awesome, it reminded me of Final Fantasy or a JRPG end boss fight. And then it goes somewhere unexpected.
6. The deals made, though I saw one of two of them coming when certain characters from Jason's arc were introduced.
Cons
1. The middle and middle third of this book got weary. Blah blah blah talk about strategy. Blah blah blah talk about more strategy. Rinse. Repeat. I wished it would stop for some character development, or something, something else. Or Finn would log off and we'd know more about his real life.
2. The robot lab although a cool setting, the action only a bit more interesting than the fire ant caves, but essentially the same thing. Although I enjoyed the reveal at the end.
3. The final battle was strategy overload. Granted there were some cool moments in how the strategy pans out, but it becomes ridiculous to me when Finn and co come up with these things on the fly, like are these humans or computer programs? No one no matter how smart they are can think that quickly. Even Jason fails a whole bunch. His arc seems more realistic and SPOILER (He's more of a badass as confirmed by these characters). Finn just seems invincible, just takes a whole bunch of pain, which is ridiculous that any human can take that much abuse but maybe its the way AO mutes the pain function. Still the stress of being in the game that long would be overwhelming. He'd have to be a cyborg or something.
4. Finn doesn't change IMO. Despite all that, he still falls for the Seers carrot on a stick. I don't believe for a second that he's done any of this for AO or his friends or anyone. It was all for his singular goal. At the end I think he's become a worse version of what he was trying to fight. Maybe that was the point?
To sum up this series as a whole, while I enjoy takes on the Chosen One story, I found it only good and not as excellent or refreshing as the other chapters of AO.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 22, 2021
This book was very hard for me to finish in comparison to previous novels. I recommend sticking around for the ending, it is worth it. The entire middle of the book was very bland for me. I felt some things were more rushed than others. I love when the mc uses his mind to tackle a problem vs given everything without effort. This novel was a mix of those two ideas. I look forward to having worlds collide. I would have wished that this book ended on a different note but I love how Fin is not underestimating his next enemy. I hope he gets to meet his new target before making any final decisions. I feel like their personalities would align and that they would get along. Which in turn could benefit them both. I love these alternate perspective books. It helps you realize how significant small manipulations can be. Also how unfair the world can be when you are judged purely on hearsay. I will continue to follow the series. Well done. I miss Jason and his method of solving problems.
November 30, 2020
It was well written from a technical perspective, in a way, there was nothing wrong with it. Nothing great about it either though. First book in this series (with this mc) was pretty great, the author has written multiple books in the series before that perfectly mixed character growth and action and adventure. Second book in this arc, it started to show that it was just a lot of action but not much else but still, it was pretty good; but the blend was leaning the wrong way for me. Now in this book, I just couldn't care less, it's just dungeon after dungeon. Kinda boring.
I'm still recommending the series though, I just came here to expect more of what I've come to love in the series. The book isn't bad but the author might be taking it in a way I'm not personally interested in.
I'm still recommending the series though, I just came here to expect more of what I've come to love in the series. The book isn't bad but the author might be taking it in a way I'm not personally interested in.
April 2, 2021
It was in my opinion a pretty standard finale to a trilogy. If you read the main series you know how the final battle ended so it really turned down the stakes. The final chapters made me excited for the next main series book. It was a fine ending if it wasn’t for the information given in the main series or you didn’t connect the dots prior to this trilogy it could be exciting. I enjoyed the trilogy in general.
February 17, 2021
Great end to the trilogy.
This was a great read. Action all the way through. Good character progression. Can't wait to read the next group if books in the ongoing story line.
This was a great read. Action all the way through. Good character progression. Can't wait to read the next group if books in the ongoing story line.
December 12, 2020
Meh. Lots of holes
The plot and story in this arc were ok at first but the explanations behind the story got weaker and weaker. Just felt like things happened because the author wanted them to, not so much because they made sense.
Spoilers past this point:
Finn's motivation to get his wife back makes sense, but playing the game to get her back does not. A genius programmer of AI would go directly to cerulean and demand they dig into their servers and get him a copy of his wife. The crone clearly is manipulating him and the second he saw Rachel, he would have threatened to have her deleted if she didn't hand her over. This isnt some teenage kid, it's a world famous, RICH, AI developer. He could threaten to interview with a reporter IRL and get Cerulian to give him a copy of his wife.
That aside, Finn mutilates himself over and over in horrific ways that noone could actually do. Just got more and more unbelievable from book 2 on. I get that he is desperate, but self preservation is hardwired, and some old, frail geek isn't going to be able to handle ANY of the stuff his does, much less do to themselves. Just giving yourself a shot with a needle is a trip, so burning your own eyeballs out of your head slowly is really just not possible at all--nor was his reason for doing it (felt contrived and honestly a completely illogical thing to do in that situation). Not to mention Daniel keeps telling them their chance of success for every stupid thing he does is single digit, and yet he never fails. Statistically speaking, its impobable to the point of effectively being ridiculous. It's like flipping a quarter all day long non-stop and only getting heads. Meh.
Oh and the swearing just seemed to ratchet up throughout the 3 books till it became annoying. A little swearing doent bug me if it makes sense to the story, but casual swearing all the time is meh.
The plot and story in this arc were ok at first but the explanations behind the story got weaker and weaker. Just felt like things happened because the author wanted them to, not so much because they made sense.
Spoilers past this point:
Finn's motivation to get his wife back makes sense, but playing the game to get her back does not. A genius programmer of AI would go directly to cerulean and demand they dig into their servers and get him a copy of his wife. The crone clearly is manipulating him and the second he saw Rachel, he would have threatened to have her deleted if she didn't hand her over. This isnt some teenage kid, it's a world famous, RICH, AI developer. He could threaten to interview with a reporter IRL and get Cerulian to give him a copy of his wife.
That aside, Finn mutilates himself over and over in horrific ways that noone could actually do. Just got more and more unbelievable from book 2 on. I get that he is desperate, but self preservation is hardwired, and some old, frail geek isn't going to be able to handle ANY of the stuff his does, much less do to themselves. Just giving yourself a shot with a needle is a trip, so burning your own eyeballs out of your head slowly is really just not possible at all--nor was his reason for doing it (felt contrived and honestly a completely illogical thing to do in that situation). Not to mention Daniel keeps telling them their chance of success for every stupid thing he does is single digit, and yet he never fails. Statistically speaking, its impobable to the point of effectively being ridiculous. It's like flipping a quarter all day long non-stop and only getting heads. Meh.
Oh and the swearing just seemed to ratchet up throughout the 3 books till it became annoying. A little swearing doent bug me if it makes sense to the story, but casual swearing all the time is meh.
December 29, 2022
This is my review for the tarot series as a whole. Im not really good at writing reviews so this more of a mess of my thoughts . I listened to the audio book version and honestly i had to change the speed faster just to get through this book because of how much things dragged on .
The tarot series has good moments but for the most part its nowhere close to being as good as the main series. I love the main awaken online series ( and the side quests) but this just isnt as good as those books in any way . First off i don’t really find any of the main / side characters intresting . Theres so many good characters in the main series and you learn more about them as the story goes on . But in tarot i feel like none of the characters have any depth to them especially the npc characters. In the main series we meet so many amazing npcs of awaken online who you like just as much as the main group. But in tarot all the npcs are boring and i didnt really care for any of them honestly i probably could only name like 3 off the top of my head because they were all forgettable . The main cast was ok . But kyle one of the main characters we learn no back story or anything about him hes just there to make rock walls and say a joke every now and then . Juliea had alil backstory but honestly I barely remember it. And for the most part i didn’t really like finn . I did like Daniel for the most part though, I thought he had alot of funny moments. Theres no out of game story at all except the scarce flashback to when his wife dies and a few events surrounding that.Im surprised there wasnt a real world story line with robert since he was in one of the flash backs For a few seconds. It was just disappointing because I liked the breaks from the game in the main series when the real world stuff was happening and this story could’ve had alot of that since finn basically created the first version of Alfred. Theres no serilian entertainment which is werid because youd think they would be trying to get veiws from this huge event ??? i don’t really believe Julia could delete every piece of info on this whole event so no one saw anything, like A demon literally spawn killing hundreds of players and taking over a whole city. But we get nothing with them which was also disappointing because i liked when we saw their prospective of the crazy stuff that was happening. Another thing about the tarot series is the bad guys , the villains, the fights are All so boring . The main series has so many intense fights that left me at the edge of my seat , like the fight against the game master , when alexion got his head blown off , jasons fight with thorn And so many others . This book had nothing close to anything like that , almost all of the enemies in these books were boring mindless zombies , ants , mana security robots all who had no personality so most of the combat was just a boring grind fest of finn and crew slaughtering a bunch of mindless enemies.. which is boring . And bilel could’ve been a cool main villain but he’s just at the end of book 1 and 3 for a tiny bit and really does nothing to activity impact finns crew . One last thing that really disappointed me was the lack of cross over / easter eggs . There was silver and thorn which was kinda cool . And then there was alexion at the end which got me excited for the next book . But there really wasn’t any mention of Jason or anything no system messages of the other players until the end. You’d think the other gods avatars would’ve came up Atleast once but they don’t until like the last 20 minutes of a 60 hr book series ( audio book version)
Overall i think that this should’ve just been a side quest , maybe 2 books at most . the first book wasn’t Bad , book 2 and 3 were just super boring to get through because a large portion of both were just them going through dungeons . i wouldn’t recommend listening to the audio book versions. I probably would’ve liked this more if i read it because 60hrs was just too long to listen too for books i only kinda like.
The tarot series has good moments but for the most part its nowhere close to being as good as the main series. I love the main awaken online series ( and the side quests) but this just isnt as good as those books in any way . First off i don’t really find any of the main / side characters intresting . Theres so many good characters in the main series and you learn more about them as the story goes on . But in tarot i feel like none of the characters have any depth to them especially the npc characters. In the main series we meet so many amazing npcs of awaken online who you like just as much as the main group. But in tarot all the npcs are boring and i didnt really care for any of them honestly i probably could only name like 3 off the top of my head because they were all forgettable . The main cast was ok . But kyle one of the main characters we learn no back story or anything about him hes just there to make rock walls and say a joke every now and then . Juliea had alil backstory but honestly I barely remember it. And for the most part i didn’t really like finn . I did like Daniel for the most part though, I thought he had alot of funny moments. Theres no out of game story at all except the scarce flashback to when his wife dies and a few events surrounding that.Im surprised there wasnt a real world story line with robert since he was in one of the flash backs For a few seconds. It was just disappointing because I liked the breaks from the game in the main series when the real world stuff was happening and this story could’ve had alot of that since finn basically created the first version of Alfred. Theres no serilian entertainment which is werid because youd think they would be trying to get veiws from this huge event ??? i don’t really believe Julia could delete every piece of info on this whole event so no one saw anything, like A demon literally spawn killing hundreds of players and taking over a whole city. But we get nothing with them which was also disappointing because i liked when we saw their prospective of the crazy stuff that was happening. Another thing about the tarot series is the bad guys , the villains, the fights are All so boring . The main series has so many intense fights that left me at the edge of my seat , like the fight against the game master , when alexion got his head blown off , jasons fight with thorn And so many others . This book had nothing close to anything like that , almost all of the enemies in these books were boring mindless zombies , ants , mana security robots all who had no personality so most of the combat was just a boring grind fest of finn and crew slaughtering a bunch of mindless enemies.. which is boring . And bilel could’ve been a cool main villain but he’s just at the end of book 1 and 3 for a tiny bit and really does nothing to activity impact finns crew . One last thing that really disappointed me was the lack of cross over / easter eggs . There was silver and thorn which was kinda cool . And then there was alexion at the end which got me excited for the next book . But there really wasn’t any mention of Jason or anything no system messages of the other players until the end. You’d think the other gods avatars would’ve came up Atleast once but they don’t until like the last 20 minutes of a 60 hr book series ( audio book version)
Overall i think that this should’ve just been a side quest , maybe 2 books at most . the first book wasn’t Bad , book 2 and 3 were just super boring to get through because a large portion of both were just them going through dungeons . i wouldn’t recommend listening to the audio book versions. I probably would’ve liked this more if i read it because 60hrs was just too long to listen too for books i only kinda like.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 1, 2021
I understand that sometimes things have to be tweaked to get a story from one point to another. All forms of entertainment do this. That being said, there were some things in this story I just couldn't look past. Time spent outside of AO is mostly non-existent...why?? In all the other books, part of the character development is shown in how the characters start to handle real life issues differently. But apparently Finn gets a pass on this? Where's the improved relationship with his kids? Where's him apologizing to his son for being an absent parent? Where's him spending time with his grandchildren? Where is it showing that he's living again??? His "I did everything for love" is bull-he did it because he can't let go of his guilt and self-blame. And Finn, Julia, and Kyyle never die in game!!!! Every other character has died multiple times, that's how Jason got half of his crazy ideas to work, by dying and watching the battles over and over in the deathscape!! But somehow, miraculously, these three never do? A bit of a backstory on Kyyle would have been nice, since he's a main character in this trilogy. I think we learned he was a college student and that's it.
The trilogy has a whole had some cool stuff. Learning about the elementals, Finn learning to double cast, seeing another mana eating demon, the Khamsin's ability to absorb mana, Julia being one of the one's who had her mana taken away, the illusion work of the water mages and Kyyle's doppelgangers to name a few.
The trilogy has a whole had some cool stuff. Learning about the elementals, Finn learning to double cast, seeing another mana eating demon, the Khamsin's ability to absorb mana, Julia being one of the one's who had her mana taken away, the illusion work of the water mages and Kyyle's doppelgangers to name a few.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 7, 2021
A fantastic end to an amazing arc! Can't wait for more.
This entire arc acted as a setup for the massive force that will soon go against the protag of the main series. The story beats were entirely believable and encapsulated the essence of what Awaken Online is all about. Hell, I was so engaged in the plight of the MC that I even teared up at some of the more sensitive bits.
The story of Finn was a gripping read and the third book closes out much of what was promised and goes even further to promise something better in the near future. I feel the pieces of Awaken Online are finally falling into place in the grand scheme of things. With everything that is happening in the background, I'm starting to think the main story will take a shift into why everything is happening and I get a foreboding sense it isn't entirely for the best experience of the players.
Can't wait for Bagwell to "finn"ish some more! He's really blowing through these books in such a short amount of time. It is a rare luxury for a reader-base to discover a workhorse that is truly passionate about what he is doing.
My hats off to you Bagwell, your hard work and sacrifice is creating one of the best series I've ever read. We really can't thank you enough!
This entire arc acted as a setup for the massive force that will soon go against the protag of the main series. The story beats were entirely believable and encapsulated the essence of what Awaken Online is all about. Hell, I was so engaged in the plight of the MC that I even teared up at some of the more sensitive bits.
The story of Finn was a gripping read and the third book closes out much of what was promised and goes even further to promise something better in the near future. I feel the pieces of Awaken Online are finally falling into place in the grand scheme of things. With everything that is happening in the background, I'm starting to think the main story will take a shift into why everything is happening and I get a foreboding sense it isn't entirely for the best experience of the players.
Can't wait for Bagwell to "finn"ish some more! He's really blowing through these books in such a short amount of time. It is a rare luxury for a reader-base to discover a workhorse that is truly passionate about what he is doing.
My hats off to you Bagwell, your hard work and sacrifice is creating one of the best series I've ever read. We really can't thank you enough!
November 9, 2020
Although overall I prefer Jason’s arc, which in my opinion is more fast-paced and action focused, the Tarot trilogy really has been a huge adventure and a great expansion of what we knew so far from the world within Awaken Online.
The last few chapters are a perfect way of blending Finn’s storyline with the bigger events we’ve seen so far in the main series, and the little “cameo” appearance from Silver and her hunting pack could also have big implications in the confrontations that are sure to follow.
Finn and his companions have really become a major threat to both Jason and Alexion, and it will be awesome to see how all these different factions end up aligning. After all,there’s the matter of Frank’s conflict of interests between his allegiance to Jason on the one hand, and that of his new fondness for Heaven and his shifting powers on the other. The new darkness-water and fire-light alliances could also be short-lived, especially taking into account what Finn and by extension Julia are capable of in order to meet their ultimate goal. Anything. Everything.
The last few chapters are a perfect way of blending Finn’s storyline with the bigger events we’ve seen so far in the main series, and the little “cameo” appearance from Silver and her hunting pack could also have big implications in the confrontations that are sure to follow.
Finn and his companions have really become a major threat to both Jason and Alexion, and it will be awesome to see how all these different factions end up aligning. After all,there’s the matter of Frank’s conflict of interests between his allegiance to Jason on the one hand, and that of his new fondness for Heaven and his shifting powers on the other. The new darkness-water and fire-light alliances could also be short-lived, especially taking into account what Finn and by extension Julia are capable of in order to meet their ultimate goal. Anything. Everything.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 24, 2020
Normally, I love Travis' books.
I love his writing normally and his world, but this one is nigh unbearable. They keep standing around and talking instead of acting and I find myself actually yelling at the characters to do SOMETHING, ANYTHING!
I love his writing normally and his world, but this one is nigh unbearable. They keep standing around and talking instead of acting and I find myself actually yelling at the characters to do SOMETHING, ANYTHING!
October 31, 2023
With echoes of classical science fiction, notably Frank Herbert’s Dune, the novel conjures a captivating image of a messianic figure assaulting a desert city amidst a raging storm. Despite these subtle allusions, Finn’s journey remains distinct and original, steering clear of being a mere shadow of Paul Atreides’ tale.
The philosophical undertones that run through the narrative add a rich layer of complexity to the story, exploring themes of reality, connection, death, and loss. Bagwell’s prowess in writing shines brightest when he delves into these emotional and contemplative aspects, capturing the reader's attention and provoking thought. "Infero" maintains a brisk pace and holds intrigue, even when the eventual outcome of Finn’s transformation into the fire avatar seems foreseeable. The novel skillfully manages this by grounding the story in its thematic elements and character development, ensuring that the journey is as rewarding as the destination.
The final chapters seamlessly integrate Finn’s story into the main timeline of Awaken Online, setting the stage for an impending clash with Jason, the series’ protagonist. This integration is handled with finesse, providing a satisfying conclusion to Finn’s trilogy while also building anticipation for what is to come in the larger narrative.
However, the novel is not without its flaws. The middle section of the book, in comparison to the previous novels and the concluding chapters, felt somewhat lackluster. Certain aspects of the story appeared rushed, and the balance between intellectual problem-solving and convenient solutions was at times uneven. Despite these shortcomings, the novel's strengths significantly outweigh its weaknesses, providing a compelling and enjoyable read.
The exploration of alternative perspectives in "Infero" is a standout feature, shedding light on the profound impact of small manipulations and highlighting the injustice of judgment based solely on hearsay. The Tarot series, while not eclipsing the main Awaken Online series in terms of character depth and narrative intensity, contributes meaningfully to the overall story arc, setting the stage for a convergence of worlds and an exploration of the underlying forces at play in the Awaken Online universe.
TLDR: While it may not reach the dizzying heights of the main series, it stands as a testament to Bagwell's storytelling prowess and his ability to weave intricate narratives within the vast world he has created. Solid 4.5/5
The philosophical undertones that run through the narrative add a rich layer of complexity to the story, exploring themes of reality, connection, death, and loss. Bagwell’s prowess in writing shines brightest when he delves into these emotional and contemplative aspects, capturing the reader's attention and provoking thought. "Infero" maintains a brisk pace and holds intrigue, even when the eventual outcome of Finn’s transformation into the fire avatar seems foreseeable. The novel skillfully manages this by grounding the story in its thematic elements and character development, ensuring that the journey is as rewarding as the destination.
The final chapters seamlessly integrate Finn’s story into the main timeline of Awaken Online, setting the stage for an impending clash with Jason, the series’ protagonist. This integration is handled with finesse, providing a satisfying conclusion to Finn’s trilogy while also building anticipation for what is to come in the larger narrative.
However, the novel is not without its flaws. The middle section of the book, in comparison to the previous novels and the concluding chapters, felt somewhat lackluster. Certain aspects of the story appeared rushed, and the balance between intellectual problem-solving and convenient solutions was at times uneven. Despite these shortcomings, the novel's strengths significantly outweigh its weaknesses, providing a compelling and enjoyable read.
The exploration of alternative perspectives in "Infero" is a standout feature, shedding light on the profound impact of small manipulations and highlighting the injustice of judgment based solely on hearsay. The Tarot series, while not eclipsing the main Awaken Online series in terms of character depth and narrative intensity, contributes meaningfully to the overall story arc, setting the stage for a convergence of worlds and an exploration of the underlying forces at play in the Awaken Online universe.
TLDR: While it may not reach the dizzying heights of the main series, it stands as a testament to Bagwell's storytelling prowess and his ability to weave intricate narratives within the vast world he has created. Solid 4.5/5
June 23, 2023
⭐️⭐️ This is my personal 5 star rating system because I’m too lazy to write a review for every book.
5 stars -> OMFG. I couldn’t stop listening. I was engaged from beginning to end. The story & narrator was amazing. I 100% recommend this book & author. I was able to clearly follow each and every character.
4 stars -> It was pretty good. I would’ve rated 5 stars, But either the ending was lacking, I struggled to keep up with characters, or the story didn’t keep me fully engaged. The narrator was pretty good as well. I’m on the fence about recommending this book, It could go either way.
3 Stars -> It was boring at times & I missed chunks of the story. I most likely struggled to keep up with character developments. The only way I would recommend this book is if it was part of a series. The narrator was most likely average or just couldn’t fix a mediocre book.
2 Stars -> It was pretty horrible. I used it as background noise because I hadn’t had a chance to search for another book. The book either had a bad narrator, The character development was non existent, or the story was hot garbage. I would not recommend this book.
1 Star -> The absolute only reason I listened to this book was because i had no time to search for another one & I needed background noise. It was 1 step up from listening to the radio. I wouldn’t recommend this book to my worst enemy. Everything about this book was terrible. This is only recommended for people on death row and have absolutely nothing else to read.
5 stars -> OMFG. I couldn’t stop listening. I was engaged from beginning to end. The story & narrator was amazing. I 100% recommend this book & author. I was able to clearly follow each and every character.
4 stars -> It was pretty good. I would’ve rated 5 stars, But either the ending was lacking, I struggled to keep up with characters, or the story didn’t keep me fully engaged. The narrator was pretty good as well. I’m on the fence about recommending this book, It could go either way.
3 Stars -> It was boring at times & I missed chunks of the story. I most likely struggled to keep up with character developments. The only way I would recommend this book is if it was part of a series. The narrator was most likely average or just couldn’t fix a mediocre book.
2 Stars -> It was pretty horrible. I used it as background noise because I hadn’t had a chance to search for another book. The book either had a bad narrator, The character development was non existent, or the story was hot garbage. I would not recommend this book.
1 Star -> The absolute only reason I listened to this book was because i had no time to search for another one & I needed background noise. It was 1 step up from listening to the radio. I wouldn’t recommend this book to my worst enemy. Everything about this book was terrible. This is only recommended for people on death row and have absolutely nothing else to read.
February 18, 2023
Some of Dune, some of Eragon, some of the Matrix, and some straight LitRPG. Bilel is totally a Galbatorix look alike, the avengers even going to him like Eragon and his party. Finn, as the Kwisatz Haderach clone taking up the anti-magi Fremen of Dune’s dessert world, leads a major rebellion against the governing forces of the opposing faction.
On the audiobook I listened to the first and last 5 hours of the book and felt like I didn’t miss much of the 14 hours in between. There were but trifle details that I was able to gather through intellectual dialogue. The ending was kind of lackluster. I’m glad I skipped so much of it based on how others compared the slog of the middle portion of book 2 as akin to book 3.
The silver lining from books 2 and 3 is that the author can write certain sections really well. The clean up process of book 3 after Bilel was really well written and set the stage for continuing storyline perfectly. The author is great at writing Finn’s analytical mindset and navigating political landscapes. And he can write creative combat situations when he wants to, such as using skills and spells in McGuyver type of ways to achieve a solution. Unfortunately he doesn’t employ that all the time, or else this book might’ve been higher rated.
Glad to have finished the series (and be done with it).
On the audiobook I listened to the first and last 5 hours of the book and felt like I didn’t miss much of the 14 hours in between. There were but trifle details that I was able to gather through intellectual dialogue. The ending was kind of lackluster. I’m glad I skipped so much of it based on how others compared the slog of the middle portion of book 2 as akin to book 3.
The silver lining from books 2 and 3 is that the author can write certain sections really well. The clean up process of book 3 after Bilel was really well written and set the stage for continuing storyline perfectly. The author is great at writing Finn’s analytical mindset and navigating political landscapes. And he can write creative combat situations when he wants to, such as using skills and spells in McGuyver type of ways to achieve a solution. Unfortunately he doesn’t employ that all the time, or else this book might’ve been higher rated.
Glad to have finished the series (and be done with it).
July 5, 2022
I found this book pretty tedious. Definitely read it if you're up on the Awaken Online series so far and plan to continue. The Tarot series has little real life cross over so it's primarily dungeon crawling ... and often the crawling takes FOREVER! The overall plot is interesting, but the execution is pretty juvenile. The posturing, snarky, 2D women (Julia!) are particularly annoying. They are sadly over-acted and under developed. My irritation with this series made the less than stellar writing seem so much more obvious that it has in the past. I haven't gone back to re-read any of the main series, so I'm not sure if I was just carried away in the story and didn't notice the writing or if the writing is legitimately worse in this series.
My favorite characters in this series are Daniel (yay for AI with personality) and Kyle (yay for smart geeks). I thought I liked Finn for a while, but I've decided he's a jerk and figure he'll have a hard time redeeming himself (if such an attempt is even in the cards). I'm glad to be done with this spin off series.
My favorite characters in this series are Daniel (yay for AI with personality) and Kyle (yay for smart geeks). I thought I liked Finn for a while, but I've decided he's a jerk and figure he'll have a hard time redeeming himself (if such an attempt is even in the cards). I'm glad to be done with this spin off series.
January 15, 2024
Success Breeds New Problems.
Have you ever noticed how the success of completing one of you goals only brings a temporary sense of satisfaction? Which is soon replaced by a desire to do something else; a desire to accomplish another goal of greater significance, or, possibly, of an entirely different kind. Unless we become complacent and "rest on our laurels" it is the nature of human life to constantly seek to improve our place in the world — by whatever metric of improvement out various (and often conflicting) values define as improvement.
It follows that a V.R. game built by, and for human players, would replicate this feature of reality; and so it does. Every success Finn, Julia, and Kyyle achieve has opened a path to greater challenges and this pattern doesn't show signs of changing in the near, or even far, future.
This novel is part of an excellent LitRPG series; which you enjoy much more by starting with the first novel and reading through in order. So stop looking at this book and get "Awaken Online" volume 1 to get started.
Have you ever noticed how the success of completing one of you goals only brings a temporary sense of satisfaction? Which is soon replaced by a desire to do something else; a desire to accomplish another goal of greater significance, or, possibly, of an entirely different kind. Unless we become complacent and "rest on our laurels" it is the nature of human life to constantly seek to improve our place in the world — by whatever metric of improvement out various (and often conflicting) values define as improvement.
It follows that a V.R. game built by, and for human players, would replicate this feature of reality; and so it does. Every success Finn, Julia, and Kyyle achieve has opened a path to greater challenges and this pattern doesn't show signs of changing in the near, or even far, future.
This novel is part of an excellent LitRPG series; which you enjoy much more by starting with the first novel and reading through in order. So stop looking at this book and get "Awaken Online" volume 1 to get started.
January 29, 2021
I dislike giving less than 3 stars to any book that I finished, so thus the 3 star. I really would rate this about a 2 for me. What a bummer. The main series from the author is amazing, as was the first in this side trilogy. I'd hoped that this book (book 3) would improve over book 2, which it did - but not nearly enough. I listened t0 this on audible at 2.0 times normal playback speed just to get it over with. I'll stick with the Awaken Online main story and hope it doesn't drag down into the minutia of boring details as these last two books did. The dungeon dives in books 2 and 3 were beyond boring to me. Totally uninteresting. The author also used the phrases, "spared a glance, spared a look, spared a gaze", etc. etc. over and over and over. Every chapter. I wish the readers / listeners were spared that.
April 3, 2021
I liked the tarot series, but a glaring issue keeps coming up throughout the whole series. The fact that the father or modern AI and his genius hacker daughter never look for a way to build an AI version of their mother without the game. It was never even considered. Then they were presented with her for a couple of minutes and never question it. Also, if alfred is looking for a high bandwidth connection to back himself up as a backup, why is he hanging out with Jason instead of this guy. If alfred can rebuild his wife, which I think he can, then our awesome AI is apparently an asshole and stupid. I liked these books but a few paragraphs of explanation would go a long way to ending my wtf moments.
December 9, 2021
it's never a good sign when the characters in the books start complaining that the story is boring…
Dude, what happened? How did we go from two books filled with action, epic fights and cleverness to a 40% dungeon crawl that’s some's up to opening doors and then another 40% of creating rain with magic… even the final fight is bleh at best. Even Julia complained about them doing nothing and somehow still getting Exp.
On the other hand, the character building and relationships in the book are spot on and very important to the main story, so, I don’t know, I think I still recommend to read it. Mainly if you want to know how Finn got to become a big flaming badass.
Going back to the main books and hoping the boredom left the series.
Dude, what happened? How did we go from two books filled with action, epic fights and cleverness to a 40% dungeon crawl that’s some's up to opening doors and then another 40% of creating rain with magic… even the final fight is bleh at best. Even Julia complained about them doing nothing and somehow still getting Exp.
On the other hand, the character building and relationships in the book are spot on and very important to the main story, so, I don’t know, I think I still recommend to read it. Mainly if you want to know how Finn got to become a big flaming badass.
Going back to the main books and hoping the boredom left the series.
February 24, 2023
This is a story about a land of desert filled with constantly shifting sand dunes and giant worms which are attracted to vibrations and attack anyone travelling on the sand. This land is inhabited by desert people who have adapted to live in this harsh climate. These people are fierce fighters but are oppressed and hunted down by the local leader who rules these lands. But there is an ancient prophecy that an outsider will come, who will fight against the oppression and lead the desert fighters to freedom. Time had come for this prophet to take his place.
No, this is not Dune by Frank Herbert, this is Awaken Online: Inferno!
I know, could have fooled me also. But all sarcasm aside, this book is a satisfying ending to the Tarot side series.
No, this is not Dune by Frank Herbert, this is Awaken Online: Inferno!
I know, could have fooled me also. But all sarcasm aside, this book is a satisfying ending to the Tarot side series.
October 5, 2020
Good to the last drop
Like his other works, this is great, and the tie in to our other heroes is adroitly done. Mr. Bagwell does a great job of connecting reader and character, and the greecian mythos power dynamic is delightful. His characters are all motivated and strong, their motives relatable even to us mere mortals, and his weaving of this story, the way he poses the clash of desires, intrigues and morality without and within the world of Awaken Online will have you binging it as all that came before and leave you aching for more. The man is a playwright who knows damn well how to tell a tale and set the stage for the next one.
Like his other works, this is great, and the tie in to our other heroes is adroitly done. Mr. Bagwell does a great job of connecting reader and character, and the greecian mythos power dynamic is delightful. His characters are all motivated and strong, their motives relatable even to us mere mortals, and his weaving of this story, the way he poses the clash of desires, intrigues and morality without and within the world of Awaken Online will have you binging it as all that came before and leave you aching for more. The man is a playwright who knows damn well how to tell a tale and set the stage for the next one.
October 19, 2020
A wonderful finish to the trilogy. I have a few caveats but they're minor and I think honestly would have detracted from the story being told.
I look forward to seeing how Finn eventually comes into contact with Jason. The foreshadowing of the shape shifter town which we see in one of the side quest books makes the placement of this story in the timeline somewhat odd given that it ends after the events of the most recent main line Awaken online book.
Only thing really missing for me is that when Jason took over his city and converted them to undead there was a system wide message blast that Finn for sure would have seen just as Jason saw the one when Finn converts Lahab to Efreet.
I look forward to seeing how Finn eventually comes into contact with Jason. The foreshadowing of the shape shifter town which we see in one of the side quest books makes the placement of this story in the timeline somewhat odd given that it ends after the events of the most recent main line Awaken online book.
Only thing really missing for me is that when Jason took over his city and converted them to undead there was a system wide message blast that Finn for sure would have seen just as Jason saw the one when Finn converts Lahab to Efreet.
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