Evolution (Awaken Online #3)

Michael Bates

Rating: really liked it
Disappointing. It is clear the author has run out of material, or is just afraid to end the story. Characters act out of character, chapters of nonsense, and a sense of the plot making no progress are the flaws in this book. The underlying game world is awesome, but no one who has played an RPG, or MMO, will be excited to read about ridiculously stupid quests and a social stereotype as an elemental god. Furthermore, a whole chapter devoted to the recounting of real-world memories would have been far better summarized in a paragraph rather than making the reader drudge through that unrelated nonsense. Finally, I can't follow some of the decisions of non-game characters in this book. They seem to act only as a means to create an overly dramatic and equally stupid real-world subplot to the game world. Most of these non-game characters are at the pinnacle of their professions, yet make silly choices in this wanna-be dramatic subplot. There are far better uses for these characters, but I guess the age of reality TV has fundamentally corrupted many would-be brilliant fiction writers.

Now for the good: up to this book, I recommend the series, and this book is not horrible. It is just not up to the standards of Bagwell. I do hope he comes to his senses before releasing the next and hopefully final book in this series. (Please end it while we still like the series!)

Conor

Rating: really liked it
Plot: 9/15
Prose: 3/5
Character: 12/15
Setting: 25/25
Dialogue: 6/10
Enjoyment: 24/30

Overall: 79/100 (4 stars)

Overall very similar experience to the side-story about the side character, main difference being more consequences occur to the overall world and plot. Like the rest of the books there is a semi-explored magic system that has a lot of fluff but mainly is there to be used for the plot. That is one of the big things that I like about this book that the magic (although extremely powerful and making the book a huge power fantasy) is a driver of the plot and not there for people to be annoyed by all important skill and level windows.

Overall is a fun exploration of Travis' world and I'm looking forward to seeing the struggles of the Lawful Evil (benevolentish) overlord.

Christopher

Rating: really liked it
Started a bit slow, but in the end I loved it nearly as much as the first two, and this series remains my favorite litrpg series to date. Particularly the balance between in game and out of game elements is handled quite well, that one aspect reminds me of the dark herbalist. Jason remains a character I love to root for, a dark horse whose power comes as much from planning and creatively leveraging his resources as from what the game gives him.

I’ll update this review further when I have a bit more time to mull things over.

Brad Theado

Rating: really liked it
What a let down, after loving books 1 and 2 I just hated this one. So bad in fact that I just quit half way through. The constantly changing pov was just too much.

Waldo

Rating: really liked it
Best one yet.

I love this series so I guess I'm a bit bias but I can really see the authors transformation from the first book to this one and I'm thoroughly impressed. He seems to have gotten away from his habit of constantly using the same term to describe his characters feelings but it's still evident here and there but it never took anything away from the book just made the read a bit lackluster. This installment was different from his last three but still held true to his writing style. Would have loved to have read more about the main characters inner demons after book two but it was evident he tried here and there but with the book progressing so much into the storyline I can see why he was probably reluctant to go deeper into his psyche about the whole thing. In the name of progress I'll look past it. Still has my high praise. I know many critique him on his "simplistic" writing but I think it makes the book flow. I read his books to lose myself in the world he created not to be able to tell someone I read a book at a beginner college course level like most of his critics seem to cry about. Great work Travis. Can't wait for the next one.

Simon Larcher

Rating: really liked it
Another great instalment

Another great instalment of this excellent story. The cliffhanger ending of the previous book is resolved, at least partially fairly quickly allowing us to continue on but remains looming over Jason at the same time. Frank and Riley (fresh from her side-quest) return to aid Jason as he continues the Dark mana god’s quest.
We are introduced to a new character, somewhat different to all the other characters previously seen, and together they head off to adventure. But is this going to prove too much for them as the difficulty for the quest raises again?
Meanwhile, the story of Alex/Alexion and the others continues both in and out of the game. I was a little disappointed with the latter part of Alex’s story but I understand why it may have gone the way it did...
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it and eagerly await the next book as well as the next planned side quest:story.

Soo

Rating: really liked it
Mini-Review:

4.5 Stars for Game World, Mechs & Lore
3 Stars for Plot
2.5 Stars for Characters

Between the cliffhanger ending in book 2 and this book, I decided that I will put this series on hold until it is finished. I really enjoy the game portions of the story. However, the double homicide, AI take over, ridiculous war of companies in the real world and the rapid acceleration of game plot points lead to me groaning in disappointment. Too much cheese and not enough substance. The plot holes get bigger and eat away from the aspects of the story that work.

I loved the epic battle for the town and the annoying Hippy God. The rest? Nah.

I'll think about reading the rest of this series if it is ever completed. Even then, I'm not sure. It's really disappointing to read a series that has great things and feel that they are ruined by lack of development in others.

Dean Blevins

Rating: really liked it
Awaken online is awesome

This world is so vivid that I started reading a book at 9 in the morning and I don't get done until 10 at night it is amazing I love it I want this other to keep running a lot more and I don't typically leave reviews on books but I will this time because he said reviews help him so I am definitely going to do that the characters are awesome there's really good flushing out of the story and it's interesting how the character that represents death Jason is actually the good guy while the character represents light alexion is a straight up sociopath I am definitely interested keep reading more and learn more keep writing author dude

Kacy❁

Rating: really liked it
What an engaging story! Absolutely loved the character developments and really excited to see where this story is heading. Not as WOW factor as the 1st two books, but still great with the story development nonetheless. Alfred reminds me of the AI in the Illuminate series it's fantastic.

This is LITERALLY how a LitRPG book is supposed to be written, and is probably my favorite series in this category.
Well done, Mr. Bagwell. Looking forward to the 4th book.

Chaz

Rating: really liked it
Holy crap

When I started this book a few chapters and I really wasn't sure where it was going, by the end of the book I am shocked and absolutely desperate to know what happens next. this book is very well done

Stacey

Rating: really liked it
2.5 Stars unfortunately. I really enjoyed the first two novels as well as Riley's novella but this particular installment in the series didn't hit me the same way. This one started out pretty promising and I enjoyed the addition of Eliza but it quickly went into some absurd, wishy-washy type stuff and stayed there for quite a while. I didn't love that we didn't get to be in on Jason's plans for everything anymore or that we got less sensical explanation for things in general throughout the book. I was disappointed at how the cliffhanger from book 2 was handled in this one (it felt brushed aside), and I didn't find Alexion's portions very interesting either. Here's hoping that I enjoy Eliza's story a bit more!

Atlas

Rating: really liked it
* * *
3 / 5

~mini review~

Again, another book full of LitRPG fun! Evolution massively sidelines the real-life aspect of the novel - I mean there are two! dead! people! but nobody really seems to care. I don't know much about the legal process, but I'm fairly sure it doesn't work like that. But in the game life, I loved the introduction of a new main character, a water mage called Eliza. Excuse me, right off to read Eliza's side-novel!

I've given this one three stars because it was my least-favourite instalment. It felt a little long, a little cliche, and a little dragged out. Did it really need to be 700+ pages? No. Did I read them all and have a super fun time? Yeah. But I am hoping the next book will be a little more original and streamlined.

Read more of my reviews on my blog: http://atlasrisingbooks.wordpress.com

Coco.V

Rating: really liked it
🎁 The complete Awaken Online Series (7 book series) is FREE on Amazon today (3/22/2020)! 🎁

Russell Gray

Rating: really liked it
Awaken Online is a series that I have placed in the upper echelons of the Litrpg genre offerings and, while I wouldn't say that the quality of this book differs from the previous ones...my enjoyment kind of did.

It picks up right where the previous book left off and goes into the real world drama a bit before getting into the game. This irks some people who want to get into the game immediately and stay there, but I don't mind it. There were a couple things that bothered me this time around though.

I honestly couldn't care less about anything Alexion did. While important to the big picture plot, it was very peripheral and unimportant to the events that were center stage. I would rather have the Alex storyline in a side short story much like how Riley's bow quest was handled.

I also struggled to stay invested during what were meant to be dramatic plot points this time around. Much of this is probably due to the lack of a legitimate game mechanic system in the game. It just seems like nothing follows any rules, certain characters are just ridiculously unbalanced, there are literal deus ex machina moments as well as a number of more general asspulls. It just seemed like the author's strings were pulling certain plot points along rather than decisions being made organically based on the game world.

Ironically, I was a little more invested in the last few scenes of the book which take place in the real world. So while I would say the book ended on a high note for me, considering this is a litrpg the high points should have happened in game.

I felt that it would be unfair to give anything lower than 4 stars due to the obvious quality of the book, but honestly my enjoyment was more like 3 stars that fell into 2 star territory for the middle of the book and then surfaced back into 3 star territory at the end.

Jake

Rating: really liked it
Another stellar addition to the A.O. world

This story just added to the overall amazing world. It takes you in directions that I wouldn't have believed would happen. I had a wonderful time reading this story and didnt stop reading once I picked it up.

Jason has himself a hell of a ride in this book. Not only is his adventures crazy as mnt he other books but leave you laughing one second and in a fury the next.

I love the skill and heart that is put into this story. I truly enjoyed the world building and adventures in this book. The plot is well constructed and doesnt hit a low point at all.

The interaction between jason and alfred is so awesome because it becomes deeper and you begin to truly see what alfred thinks.

I cant recommend this story enough and truly enjoyed it. It is a must read for anyone that wants a fun, adventurous tale that will have you on the edge of your seat until you finish.