Awaken Online: Armageddon is the thirteenth instalment (based on publication order) in the epic LitRPG saga written by Travis Bagwell that revolves around a fictional Virtual Reality MMORPG named Awaken Online.

After Hellion and Happy, we’re back for more. We continue exactly where Happy ended, and boy does it get messy. This time Travis decided to just up the anthem even more, and this time we get all Avatars we know and all Gods we know. At the same time.

We also get some time in the “real-world” back. People have to logout at some point, and deal with stuff outside of the game. And some problems outside of Awaken Online actually end up finding their way into the game too.

Our “favourite” real-world trouble maker, Gloria Bastion, is back, and she’s decided to fight Awaken Online and Cerillion Entertainment, more than ever. So decided in fact, that she brings her fight into the game. She’s the one who starts the whole big mess we get to enjoy! And thanks to that, we ge to enjoy new patchy alliances, teams and pretty intense battles.

Like in Happy, we do again get to see a new and surprising area of Awaken Online, and are get to see some evolution and changes in some characters. Some long awaited, some unexpected and probably sheer crazy! But after twelve books, crazy is kind of the norm, isn’t it?

And all of this to avoid the Armageddon.

What is it about? – Official Synopsis

New Enemies. Reluctant Allies. A World on Fire.

Jason has barely had a chance to catch his breath since Westley’s interview and the break-in at Cerillion Entertainment headquarters. And yet the world keeps spinning…

A new threat has emerged, but this one is coming from inside Awaken Online. An unknown guild has somehow managed to threaten the game world. Yet, unlike Jason’s former battles, his enemies are unclear — hidden in the shadows and hiring others to do their dirty work, including the infamous Death and Taxes. Without a clear enemy or way to stop this threat, Jason is forced to do something he never thought he would… ask for help.

Perhaps the united might of the avatars may be enough to subdue this new threat. Assuming they can overcome their issues and learn to fight together, they may be able to save AO.

And if not… they’ll have front row seats to the end of the world.

Awaken Online: Armageddon – My Opinion

Overall impression: I really liked it! More than Hellion, and more than Happy for sure. And contrary to Hellion, I didn’t feel this one went on too long. Just about right.

We’ve got Gloria back, starting a world ending event in Awaken Online, and Death and Taxes, hired by her, annoying the shit out of the other avatars as a distraction. A good start. And that’s without mentioning the real-world problems Jason, Finn and the others are dealing with outside of the game.

I found it a little hard to believe how all our Avatars just accept to band together (not without some difficulties) and find a way to stop this event. And everything kind of moves in the right direction, a bit too fast, but Death and Taxes obviously planned this and when you think the end is near… Bam! We’re yet again witnesses of how the main characters are just overpowered, and have powers other players (or Game Masters…) can’t even fathom.

I loved seeing the avatars struggle through their trials, how Travis set up the unlikely partners and enemies they face based on shared history both inside and outside of Awaken Online. Jason and Alexion are enemies and also have opposing affinities, and their enemy is PewPew, who wants has a personal vendetta against Jason. Finn and Eliza have some shared family history in the real world, and also have opposing affinities, and their enemy is Vanessa, who has a personal vendetta against Finn and also a matching opposing affinity to him.

The location these trials take place, The Mile Hight Club —a floating city that siphons mana from the avatars as they use vasts amounts of it during combat—, fits perfectly with The Gamblers operation, and is cleverly designed, making the trials a lot of fun to read.

I think The Gambler’s perspective on mana is really unique. To him, mana is currency, representing profit. Unlike his siblings, The Gambler desires mana not for power but to keep his city afloat and investing what he accumulates to renovate it. He believes mana is the byproduct of happiness, and therefore he spreads chaos and despair to increase its demand.

And we couldn’t have an Awaken Online book without our powerful Avatars becoming even more powerful yet again thorugh someting crazy! I mean it was about time for Eliza to do something amazing, and nearly wiping out all of Death and Taxes was certainly an evolution we’ve been waiting for. But the biggest evolution is yet again our main character, Jason: not only does he replace his limbs with bone and mana infused ones, but he also performs a a surgery on himself taking out vital organs and transplanting his Najima into a new body made of bone. All while Alexion live streams this to the whole world! I mean, we’ve had a few similar moments with Jason and Finn in the past, but this just topped the charts!

But that’s not all, because after an earth shattering battle between Smiles and Jason, we have yet another massive “Avengers: End Game” style battle! Immobilized players, a goblin horde, a respawn field, an infinite zombie army, and a mother-daughter revelation and betrayal! We get it all!

I also enjoyed the scenes where all the Gods gather, summoned by none other than the Gambler to “enjoy the show” and to make a bet with them. The terms? Either his team wins, or their team of avatars wins. What’s at stake? Every bit of their mana. The highlight, though, is the arrival of a God we’ve yet to meet—the Earth God!

In summary, this was really fun and I really enjoyed it. We get all the gods, all the avatars, all the powers and all the problems. And a massive surprise at the end. Definitely recommend it.

Rating

Awaken Online: Armageddon, by Travis Bagwell

Book Title: Awaken Online: Armageddon

Book Description: Awaken Online: Armageddon by Travis Bagwell is the thirteenth instalment in the epic LitRPG saga that revolves around a fictional Virtual Reality MMORPG named Awaken Online.

Book Author: Travis Bagwell

Book Format: EBook

Publisher Logo:

Date published: 1 October, 2022

ISBN: 9798357617026

Number Of Pages: 643

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Overall

3.9

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