Retribution

Awaken Online #2.5

by Travis Bagwell

A side quest adventure in the same world as the best-selling Awaken Online series. This story takes place after the end of Awaken Online: Precipice.

Riley’s real-life took a nosedive after her confrontation with Alex. The girls at school torment her and she feels powerless to do anything about it. At the same time, Jason has mysteriously disappeared, sending only a terse cryptic message to Riley and Frank.

With some time on her hands and with her frustration with her real-life reaching a breaking point, Riley decides to strike off on her own in-game. Her goal is to investigate the quest related to the strange bow she discovered in the dungeon north of Peccavi. Yet events quickly spiral out of control as she discovers that the bow’s former owner has set her along a path of vengeance – with an entire city hanging in the balance.

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook, Science Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Fiction, Magic, Young Adult

277 pages, ebook

First published October 31, 2017

About the author

I 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...

Reviews

[Khalid Abdul-Mumin · Rating 3 out of 5]

An average offering within the AO universe that has great characters and fantastic world-building expanding our view from another side of the world. It follows fellow guild founding member Riley in a quest given to her by a uniquely crafted magical bow. A must read for fans of the series.

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a rather satisfying revenge story -- or side-quest -- to the main tale. It starts out as a plain LitRPG adventure to unlock hidden abilities, using a random group that turned into some serious friends, to cleanse a city of a serious plague problem.

Simple? Sure, but quite fun and sufficiently lower leveled to be challenging.

I chalk this up to being a delicious, well-written fantasy sub-quest building up a much larger game story.

In some ways, I like these even more than the main quests. And hell hath no fury...

[Conor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plot: 9/15
Prose: 3/5
Character: 12/15
Setting: 20/25
Dialogue: 6/10
Enjoyment: 24/30

Overall: 74/100 (3.5 stars)

A fun shorter side story from the supporting cast. I didn't remember too much of the overall plot details from books one and two however I still was able to recall enough of the plot and it's systems to fully understand what was going on.

This told the short story of the main dude's (in all but facts anime-style) love interest and how the world progresses without the main character as the focus. It was super cool to see parts of the world that otherwise would not have been explored as well as how different factions interact with each other in the book. I'm looking forward to reading book 3 now and seeing how the "evil" faction continues its spread dealing with the "righteous" big bad, especially with the new powers gained in this story.

Overall I remembered this series having a very solid magic system and world that I was interested in and I can say for a surety I want to know more and can't wait to dive into the new book.

[Narilka · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a bit apprehensive about reading a novel sized "Side-Quest" at first but this was great! Retribution fleshed out a beloved side character, introduced some epic locations and was an all around fun experience.

[Azri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous. A delight to read. Especially after Dungeonborn. Eagerly anticipating the release of book 3.

[Audrey (Warped Shelves) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Travis Bagwell has this insane knack for sucking you in completely at two key points in a story: the introduction and the climax. In the introduction you are plopped immediately into the world and given the perfect amount of context, building off of that moment throughout the novel. I'll admit that I grew a little bored from the middle of the book nearing the climax, but when the climax came (the boss fight) the pace ramped up and the stakes grew in tantamount. I was totally invested in the outcome and what Riley's fate would be. This is an amazing show of authorship, considering that I don't even particularly like Riley as a character and otherwise wouldn't give a second thought to her fate.

I did miss Jason through most of the book (again, because I don't care for Riley), but I was thrilled to be back in this world nonetheless! I will say that I am a little disappointed to find that the narration of Riley's story is identical to that of Jason's. Which, duh, same author, same world; ergo, same narration style. I was just a tad bit glum to find that this narration wasn't singular to Jason's voice, that's all.

Also, I could gush for hours on how cool it is to call this "between the numbers" addition a Side Quest. Like, oh my dear! I would not be surprised in the slightest to learn that Bagwell only wrote this story so that he could label it a Side Quest to the main story line.

Ahhhh, so I was a little disenchanted through the mid-section (I blame Riley and I not seeing eye-to-eye) but with the finale, Bagwell won me over once again. Bravo! Kudos! Praise! Etc!

Seriously, such an underrated series!


Popsugar 2020 Reading Challenge: A book with the same title as a movie or TV show but unrelated to it
Around the Year in 52 Books Reading Challenge: A book that fits a previous ATY prompt: A "between the numbers" book of a series

[Sarah Reffstrup · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mja, ikke så imponeret over den her. Jo kortere Bagwells bøger er, jo mere skærende bliver hans kliché fyldte karakterer og handlinger. Han har så mange interessante aspekter og nuancer til sine historier, men nogle forfatter-fælder går han nærmest i møde med åbne arme og det er vildt irriterende at læse.

[lisa chicoine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cool ass side novel!

I await book 3 anxiously! Riley's quest was just as high spirited in adventure as the other 2 AO novels and her adventures with Jason and Frank! Love these characters💜

[Coco.V]

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

[Jennifer Holik · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Riley so much so I was definitely looking forward to this side quest. I do agree that so far you really can't appreciate any of the novels as stand alone stories. There is too much building on prior events and the author does really no recapping at all. Which I actually appreciate because I don't tend to go very long between installments anyway. Some of my other favorite long standing series can get repetitive with the first couple of chapters always being a forced recap of who is the main character, what do they do, and who is the support cast. There's none of that here. In fact the author comes right out and says he doesn't do that because he assumes you've read his previous works.

What I loved about this book. More Riley, for one thing. I'm also glad to see her finally starting to figure herself out and deal with some of her issues. Granted I'm not sure that it's great to condone assault, but really as far as I'm concerned it's self defense. Does make me worry about how the entire thing will continue to escalate with Alex though.

I love that there are new characters in this one. I like the way the author ended the story with them so that it's possible but not necessary for them to make appearances in future installments. One concern I had the entire time was adding too many characters to the cast and keeping everything straight and not detracting from the main story of Jason. So hopefully that doesn't happen with these guys. I do hope to see glimpses of them again though, that could be cool.

The only issue I think I had with the entire book was the scene where Melissa is introduced. It just felt a little too convenient and forced. I mean, what's her motive? But it's a minor issue that really didn't detract from an otherwise great story. I can't wait for the next one!

[Soo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mini-Review:

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

The start of the side quest was great! I was excited to see what kind of adventures Riley would have to unlock her bow. For me, the weakness in the series are the characters. I wasn't as engaged with this story as the book progressed. Plot progression felt very stiff and uneven. The best parts revealed more about the magic and game lore.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hell hath no fury

Full review coming soon to my goodreads and probably amazon blah blah blah blah blah needed more words to post

[Perm Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 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.

[Lundos · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story following one of the three founding members of the Original Sin. Riley found a powerful bow in the end of book 2 with a quest attached and since Jason isn't responding (also from the end of Precipice), she decides to to the quest. The story is not on the level with main story, but it fleshes out one of the supporting cast and is interesting enough on it's own.

The plot centers around the same cultist group as in book 2, but in another city - a city of mages. Luckily Riley founds other players (and NPCs) to team up with, though, it annoys me that the level 50ish players are called very inexperienced (the main characters from the main story line are 112 at this point, but they have power leveled their way through). They have had to play a lot in two weeks to reach that level in normal fashion. Make them level 20-30 or something instead (I know it's not that important, but it annoyed me both times). The NPCs are more interesting than the other players, which I assume is a reference to the live-like world of Alfred's world.

I like the cult they are fighting against. Instead of just being idiot cultists, they actually seem to have some intelligence behind their planning.

And I like the ending. The Fury class is interesting and fits her gaming personality. And the chick fight with gaming skills spilling over into her real life abilities are another one of the main plot lines of the series.

3/5 stars.

[Atlas · Rating 3 out of 5]

* * *
3 / 5

~mini review~

Awaken Online: Retribution is a "little" (read: over 200 pages) story set in between book two and book three of the series. It picks up right off where book two left us with it's massive cliffhanger, but this time we follow Riley on her quest to revenge the previous owner of her brand new bow. I appreciated the change of pace that followed from reading about someone other than Jason, and how we got see a brand new setting - the mage city of Vaerwald was imaginative and innovative.

The plot of the quest itself wasn't anything special and I felt that, on the whole, the book could have been trimmed down a lot more. I was also disappointed that the new "main" female character in this book has big problems with other women - she's pretty mean to Riley for no other reason that Riley's a reasonably attractive woman. It gets a bit tiring to read about this sort of character over and over in LitRPG.

Overall, I enjoyed Retribution and I loved what happens to Riley's character over the course of the book. Whilst I wouldn't say that it is necessary to read this side-novel, I think that you should!

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

[Sena · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75/5 stars, rounded up. classic awaken online, with clichéd dialogue, flat characters, and weak prose, but redeemed without a doubt in terms of world-building, well-thought out strategy, and just an amazingly written game system from start to finish.

it had been a while since i last picked this series up, so i got around halfway before feeling prompted to do a full re-read of books 1 and 2. i remember why i love this world so much now. regardless of whether you're a fan of riley, i recommend reading this side quest as it seems like a natural progression between books 2 and 3; you'll be left with far too many questions otherwise. as a standalone, it was refreshing to see things from a different perspective than jason's, and the quest progression as well as conclusion was engrossing from start to finish!

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I was fine with getting a little more insight into Riley's character. However, this side novel introduced too many unnecessary characters, and adventures were needlessly involved.

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened to audiobook w/hubby
(3.5 stars)

[Lynnae Albert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent addition to the AO universe

This shorter story focuses on Riley and a few new characters she meets while Jason is, ah, otherwise occupied. Instead of hanging out in the Twilight Throne the whole time she decides to take up the quest given after the defeat of the dungeon at Peccavi.

Most of what we have seen so far in the main AO storyline focuses on the dark powers Jason channels (exploding zombies, anyone?), but hasn't really dealt with the magic other players can handle. Through the medium of Riley's quest we get to learn a little more about magic types that are not dark, and a bit more about the back story of the game world, as well as see Riley develop as a character. Hopefully we will get a side quest story about Frank, too.

[Mondragon · Rating 5 out of 5]

And he does it again! Great stuff, Travis.
This books concentrates on Riley, Jason is only mentioned a few times.
We get to know her better, her Problems and flaws and the influence the game has on her behaviour in real live.
A few characters are added, including NPCs and Player; a new intresting City is added to the gameworld, a great quest and nicely done character development...
That should sum it up nicely.
Strongly recommended!

[Jule · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I saw this book, I was a bit disappointed that it wasn't the next book in the series. But as I read it, I fell in love. I didn't really have an opinion of Riley beyond that she has some issues that she clearly needed to work out. But after reading Retribution I have a whole new appreciation for Riley's character, and her struggles. Her trials in this book are very inspiring and it is well written. I actually danced in joy when she finally found her inner warrior and over came her self-imposed limits.

Thank you Travis Bagwell for writing this book.

[Books With Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really like the main story line of this series and as a reader/listener I am rooting for Jason and his friends.
However, Jason truly is the main character. If you want to make his friend Riley carry her own book, then you'd better make it one hell of a story line. Which, imho, this novel fails to offer, unfortunately.

I really wanted to like this book enough to give it at least four stars, but the story is simply too shallow for that. To me, the main factor causing this feeling is that the novel tries to make me believe the heavy emotional gravitas around Riley's interactions with in-game non-player characters (NPCs). But it does not succeed, it requires too much suspension of disbelief on my part. I mean I can imagine enjoying some banter, the suggestion of friendship or battle comradery with NPCs, but I don't think I would ever actually feel hate or resentment or genuine sadness if one NPC treats another unjustly or hurts them or some such.
I just can't do it. I mean, I could feel disappointment or even resentment about the fact that some fun NPC was killed off by the game, but that emotion would concern the game, or its programmers. Not another NPC who did the killing off or hurting.

So this entire emotional-about-NPCs trip for Riley just didn't do it for me.
Also, the plot develops far too slowly for my taste, the sidekicks were not interesting enough and there are not enough action sequences. Especially in comparison to the main story in the other books.

Was everything bad? No, fortunately it still had some of the characteristics the main story line introduced us to: the mysterious influence of the game on players' bodies, character growth and general states of mind, for instance. I really liked the IRL part of the story's climax. I like the world building this side quest brings to the overall story. I like the narration. I like where Riley's in-game avatar ends up in the sense of character type. I also liked that there's a different voice (female) for the reading of the game stats. It helps and clarifies, and adds to the listening experience. And last but not least, I like the way this novel ends, offering us the perfect re-entry into the main story.

All in all, in hindsight I would not spend the credit unless you're extremely completist. Wait for a daily deal or try getting a review copy, if you're only curious about this story.

I will be listening to the next novel in the main story line though, and have already spent the credit as a pre-order. All of which to say that I still believe this will continue to be an awesome series overall.
Just skip this side quest...

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will probably add more later but I love the idea presented in this quest. Focusing on Riley and her travels really shows you the potential of this world. While it does mean you don't get much from our other main characters it fits right in like it was always meant to be there. Now here's hoping we get more of Eliza cause something tells me those two women in a room would be something to behold.

[Diarmadhim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent book!

This is a really good example of what rpg lit should be. I was going through my read list and realized I hadn't left a rating. This is a series I keep coming back to and I can't wait for the next book! Yes, I know he just released another one - I'm not rushing art, I'm just eagerly awaiting it!

[Miles · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 ☆

[D · Rating 3 out of 5]

- Quote: “I just wanted to shoot lightning bolts – not attend a self-help seminar.”
- Thoughts: A little of a let down, it's clear why it's a "sidequest" and not part of the "main story" even if it's a direct sequel and cannot be skipped.
Not that I'll disdain the merit of knocking 4 girls senseless with possible long term injury consequences as a good solutions to one's problems, but the modern day citizen usually tries to sue his victims first.
I do fear this author has read a little too much Nietzsche while a little too young.
Anyway, this sidequest was not nearly as cool as the usually well planned and strategic gameplay of the series.
Actually, it got so far from it as to need a Deus Ex Machina to conclude the book.
▶◀
These are my personal opinions, you may discord, my final rating of the book is not necessarily linked to this system and may diverge from it.
Book Storyline
- Originality: 3/5 stars - A revenge quest
- Development: 2/5 stars - Boring indecisive characters that didn't really think by themselves
- Enjoyment: 2/5 stars - Reading this felt a chore
- Writing stile: 3/5 stars - Ok writing
- Funnyness: 2/5 stars - Some jokes around
- Epicness: 3/5 stars - Normal Boss battle
- Scaryness: 0/5 stars - Nah
- Smartness: 4/5 stars - The author had some good ideas
- Addictiveness: 2/5 stars - Thankfully it's just a sidequest
- Plot twists: 3/5 stars - Nothing great, still waiting for the impact of the last book's Twist
- Pace: 1/5 stars - I think the pace is the big bad guy here, it's too long to too little stuff to happen, too much second-guessing, to much "I'll change" thinking and too little action
- Storyline planning: 3/5 stars - also too much circling around back and forth
- Ending: 4/5 stars - The ending was cool
- Holes: 2/5 negative stars - Some rulebending
- Self contained (Y/N): ✓
- Cliffhanger (Y/N): ×
- Adult (Y/N): ×
- Mystery (Y/N): ✓
- Treasure Hunting (Y/N): ×
- Violence level: mostly only Virtual violence
- Tech level: Automatic cars, full dive, IA
- Religion level: in-game divinities
- Main genre: litRPG
- Subgenre: gameLit, fantasy
- Point of view: Main Character undecided mind
- Best of it: Game system
- Worst of it: fully reactive characters
- Aftertaste: could be better
Cover/Art

- Quality: 3/5 stars
- Traces: 3/5 stars
- Colors: 3/5 stars
- Style: 3/5 stars
- In a few words: simple design following the same pattern of the series.
Characters
Still following the philosophy of die Überman, the characters grow by becaming more violent, selfishly and bully persons.
“Also, if you get the chance to knock out the girl that did this to you, make sure she doesn’t get back up.”
- Consistency: 3/5 stars
- Connection: 2/5 stars
- Dialogs: 3/5 Stars
- Interactions: 3/5 Stars
- Underworld Crew (✓/×): kind of
- Training (✓/×): ✓
- Romance: no romance
- Notable worse characters: Riley, Carrie
Setting & Worldbuilding
A very good game context, skill based, with magic, expanding lore, and usually battles that favour strategy over levels.
- Setting overall score: 5/5 Stars
- Originality: 4/5
- Lore: 4/5 stars
- Tension: 2/5 Stars
- Atmosphere: 4/5 Stars
- Variety: 5/5
- Impact on the story: 5/5
- Magic floating city: ✓
- Meddling gods of unknown intentions: ✓
- Meddling IA of unknown intentions: ✓
Rules
- Class system: 3/5
- Skill system: 5/5
- Skill effectiveness: 5/5
- Magic system: 2/5 - Jason does not play in this book
- Magic effectiveness: 2/5
- Class/Magic leveling: By quest
- Skill leveling/learning: By use
- System complexity: 4/5 stars
- System explanation: 3/5 stars
- Impact on storyline: 5/5 stars
- Rulebreaker (Y/N): ×
- Deus Ex Machina: ✓
Series Storyline
- Impact of this book in storyline: 4/5 stars
- Storyline planning: 4/5 stars
- Probability that I'll read the next book sometime: I'll definitely read the next, but not because of this one
- Can be read as a standalone (✓/×): ✓ not recommended

[Capt. H. Hornblower Of His Majesty’s Navy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Side Quest: Retribution
Awaken Online Series
By Travis Bagwell

Overview:
A book dedicated to Jason’s Demon Archer Lieutenant, Riley. She was so badass in book 2, but her dark side wasn’t really explored in detail. Now we get the full scoop.

The Good:
1. I really enjoyed Riley citing Jason’s battle tactics and then implementing her own inspired strategies. It made her relationship with Jason feel more like a mentor-apprentice than tenuous friends who might become something more one day.
2. Completely unexpected but Riley’s parents sided with her griefs at Richmond and even suggested to get even with the mean-spirited students. Hoorah!
3. The backstory behind Riley’s bow (named “Vengeance”) and its original owner, Lily, was moving and helped fill out the book with purpose.
4. Book 3 was a great introduction to the other mage classes (fire, water, air, earth, light) and their governing affinities. E.G.: Lucas is an Air Mage whose affinity is happiness which is described as “living in the moment”. He learns to use a coin flip to decide on matters (much like 2-Face in the Batman franchise).
5. Confrontation with Emma went better than expected. I figured Riley would spare her out of any lingering sympathy but instead it was the other group members who pleaded with Riley to stay her hand. What’s more, Emma was genuinely repentant afterwards.
6. Riley’s changes and new abilities at end were very intriguing from a nerdy MMORPG perspective.
7. Settling the score with the girls in school eventually came due and it was “Ender’s Game” style spectacular!

The Meh:
1. My favorite novel in the AO series is Ember, in part because the author wrote it as adult (and not teen) fiction. Retribution continues in the vein of teen fiction with all the antagonistic drama. For instance, why do all the female characters need to hate Riley? Both irl at her school and in-game with Emma.
2. A low level fire mage is named “Flare”. It is highly unlikely that no other fires mages would have chosen this name first.
3. The novel kind of a turns into a murder-mystery about half way through. Everyone turned into amateur detectives all of a sudden as opposed to badass RPG’ers. The chapters of the book were pretty dry and lackluster during it. About the only saving grace through the tedium was some snarky remarks here and there by Marie.
4. Saw the secret bad guys from a mile away.
5. The Light Mage got the shaft on the combat front. Aside from healing, she had no other spells to aid the party.
6. The other 2 in the party were kind of shafted as well. I would’ve loved to hear about ANY skills and spells from an Earth Tank and an Air Mage. Pretty disappointing.


Conclusion
The first and last sections of the book were really good but it dragged a lot in the middle. Certain parts in the story I especially really liked but other parts I felt like falling asleep.

3 ⭐️


Riley’s Stats:

Riley chose to be a Fury class at end, which uses health instead of mana to pay for spells and skills. The class puts more emphasis on VIT alongside DEX as primary stats and STR as secondary stat. Furies channel blood to pay for their life-drain oriented abilities. As such, Riley is now dumping every stat point into VIT.

Riley
* Level 122
* Race: Human
* Class: Fury
* Alignment: Lawful Evil
* Fame: 0
* Infamy: 4600
* ~4000 total HP
* 9.55 HP regen/sec
* Bow ability: Vindication:
* * Overcharge spells and skills while channeled: +10% damage/sec at the cost of -300 hp/sec.
* * Cooldown: 15 mins

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riley Becomes Badass
Riley turns out to be another super-victim of bullying at the private high school Jason used to go to. Starting to wonder how bad this school sucks. Has the author had experiences to base this place on?

Riley decides to pursue the quest to unlock the power of her new bow, while Jason is unavailable (neither she nor Frank have heard from Jason since Alfred booted him to deal with real world issues at the end of the last book. Her next step is to travel to a city several days journey away, where mage-craft rules, with all four of the main schools in play, air, light, fire, earth.

Riley, traveling incognito, hooks up with an existing party, including Ethan the strong but maneless hulking fighter tank, Lucas the wimpy air mage, and Emma the light mage who recently started dating Lucas in real life, so is uncomfortable with Riley, a relatively attractive female who might distract Lucas.

They are ambushed on the road by some bandits. Riley takes charge of the party and they triumph. No one acknowledges her part.

They encounter some slavers who are selling undead sentients into slavery. The undead are all purchased by a mage, also headed to the same town. The party catches up with the new slave owner, and Riley challenges the lead mage to a duel. To get him to accept, she has to reveal herself as left-hand of the Twilight Throne. Of course her party is freaked out by that. She wins the duel but its close.

Once in town, they follow clues, Emma bemoaning the whole the most of the time.

A street urchin steels Riley’s bow which she careless leaves sitting around instead of putting into her inventory for no conceivable reason. Catching up the urchin, Riley learns of a plaque currently striking mainly orphan children, and meets a caretaker of the children, who provides some clues.

Eventually they are confronted by 30 pc bounty hunters who attack to get the real life bounty on Riley’s head. Collateral damage ensues, including grievous wounds to Lucas and Ethan. Emma admits she ratted out Riley and didn’t expect the collateral damage. The party looks doomed, but are saved by some rogue NPCs, who turn out to be key in solving Riley’s quest to avenge the former owner of her bow, and accomplish the former owner’s mission of killing all the cultists.

Following clues leads to a dwarves tinkerer who used to be the mentor of the former owner of the bow. He, the rogues, and the orphanage matron all work together to root out the cultists, who turn out to be some of the librarians in the city library, which is huge and cool and has things like columns made of books to defend itself. Big chase scene through the library is followed by a boss fight with one of the cultists who transforms into a super manage beast.

Riley dies, but is given the chance to come back and take up a new secret class as a Fury, which she accepts, and it gives her enough power to vanquish the boss single-handedly. The typically ungrateful town administrators put the whole group on trial for the mayhem and property damage, and various punishments are meted out, although it is admitted that they group had successfully solved the plague for the city.

Meanwhile, in real life, Riley’s bullying at school has continued to ramp up. Finally she finds herself surrounded by 4 girls who are going to beat her up, and she suddenly decides to fight back, and beats all four of them unconscious. Things are changing.

[David Benefry · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Awaken Online: Retribution” by Travis Bagwell – The Bow from the Dungeon

Travis Bagwell's World of Infinite Possibilities

In this latest book Bagwell decides to take us on a bit of a detour as Riley decides to go out on her own to investigate a sort of side quest if you will. The girls at the academy have been teasing her, she has a mysterious bow recovered from a dungeon that needs to be investigated, and the vanished Jason has sent her and Frank and cryptic message. In other words, she has every reason to go out on an adventure, but soon she finds out that it already found her. Unfortunately, the bow's previous owner has some very macabre plans in store for her, and the fate of an entire city hangs in the balance. As events spiral out of control, Riley realizes just how real this digital world can actually turn out to be.

Virtual Drama Aplenty

I feel like the first thing any book about a virtual world must establish are stakes. After all, if things aren't actually happening for real, then what reason would you have for feeling concern or fear towards the characters? In the case of Travis Bagwell, he has done this in an interesting fashion. Parts of the book do take place in the real world, and he makes sure to demonstrate how one can seep into the other and affect it.

With that being said, the bulk of the book is indeed spent in virtual reality, where all the actually exciting stuff happens. Once again, the world was depicted in outstanding detail and the author only makes us yearn for more and more of it, which thankfully will be possible considering the limitless nature of the setup. There is always something happening, characters in conflict, malevolent conspiracies brewing, struggles for power... basically a tamer version of what happens in the White House.

An Unrelenting Story

While at the start it does feel like this adventure will have less importance than the ones that came before it, the feeling vanishes pretty soon as events start unfolding one after the next, never really giving the you the time to stop and think about what kind of adventure you're going on. Pretty soon you simply get sucked into the story and enjoy it for what it is: an unrelenting quest that will affect the lives of countless players.

Bagwell also takes this opportunity to further develop the characters, so it can even be argued that it has a purpose and relevance in regards to the main storyline. We get to learn a whole lot more about Riley and just how much the game has been bleeding into her real life.

The Final Verdict

While Awaken Online: Retribution may be a side story to the main books, it remains an extremely enjoyable and solid work of science-fiction, definitely one of the more interesting takes on the virtual world concept. The story, characters and psychological exposition in their worlds are all combined together seamlessly, forming a novel that flows quickly and smoothly, one I highly recommend to sci-fi fans and anyone who wants to see what Travis Bagwell is capable of.

This was an abridged version of our review. If you'd like to read the full version, you can do so here: https://bookwormex.com/awaken-online-...