Ember

Tarot #1

by Travis Bagwell

Desert sands. Arcane magic. A love lost.Finn Harris should have been the one to die. But he wasn't - his wife took his place. What was worse, he only had himself and his company to blame.They let their passion outpace their prudence, determined to revolutionize the world. While all innovation comes with a price, he never imagined it would cost him Rachael.Nearly a decade later, Finn is content to hole himself up and wait out the rest of his life - what little he has left. That is, until his daughter intervenes, forcing him out of his grief and into a new virtual reality game developed by his old employer. They're calling it Awaken Online, and she believes there's something unusual going on inside the game. And since Finn knows the company, knows their tactics - she might be right.Finn wasn't sure what he expected to find when he logged in. But it certainly wasn't a manipulative fire god or a school for mages - where the students are pitted against each other in deadly duels and the faculty isn't shy about maiming or injuring novice mages to prove a point.Now Finn must learn to fight, for his own life and a chance at redemption. He'll need to prove that his fire hasn't been snuffed out.That there's still an ember burning...A standalone trilogy in the hit LitRPG Fantasy series with hundreds of thousands of copies sold and now spanning 14 novels.  Grab your copy of Awaken Online now and get ready to sink into some good old fashioned mayhem.About the A staple of the LitRPG genre and one of the most popular VRMMO LitRPGs ever written, with hundreds of thousands of copies sold.  Follow the story of a brilliant, retired engineer.  An old disabled man with nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Genres: Litrpg, Fantasy, Audiobook, Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Magic

447 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2019

About the author

Recovering attorney and avid gamer that writes stuff! Mostly about videogames.

You can find me here:
Website: https://travisbagwell.com/
Discord: https://discord.gg/YPYcR6K
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/da3strikes/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/da3strikes/
X: https://x.com/da3strikes
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/da3strikes

Reviews

[Narilka · Rating 4 out of 5]

I admit I was a bit irritated when I first learned that the author was taking a break from Jason's story to write a short spin off series for Awaken Online. Seeing that Awaken Online is my current LitRPG series of choice it was only a matter of time before I downloaded Ember, the first in the Awaken Online: Tarot series. How does it compare? It is both familiar and different in an intriguing way.

The story revolves around Finn Harris, a retired software programming genius who survived a horrific accident that left him in a wheelchair. Finn's wife died in that accident and he blames himself as he was the one who created the software that failed, causing the autonomous car they were riding in to crash. Locking himself away from the world, Finn's daughter intervenes, forcing him out of his grief and into a new virtual reality game called Awaken Online. She believes something unusual is going on in the game world and wants Finn's help to figure out what is is. Finn has no idea what to expect from the game but it certainly wasn't to be dropped into a school for mages where the students are pitted against each other in Battle Royale-style duels to keep from being expelled. What is going on here?

Fans of Awaken Online should enjoy this new branch to the series. Ember is Finn's origin story and introduction to the game world. It reminded me a lot of Catharsis in that Finn goes through a highly customized introduction where the game's AI picks up on Finn's emotional state and memories to help define what class his character will be. Also like the main series the game appears to be trying to help Finn work through his emotional issues and be a better person, though its methods feel questionable at times. The similarities end there as Finn is immediately dropped into a magic school that feels a lot more like a prison. Finn makes a friend along the way, who I hope gets some more page time in the future. Kyle is a great strategist and pays a high attention to detail. Finn's daughter, Julia, also plays a role in game. All three of them have highly complementary skills that could take them far. I also have to mention that Bagwell's sense of humor carries through to the quest updates which are snarky and hilarious.

I liked that the story focused mostly on the game world, providing a lot of depth to the magic system, and and helping Finn deal with his grief. Unlike the main series, there isn't much of a real world story thread. I could see that changing if Finn manages to work out what the AI is doing. Which brings me to the one thing I didn't like. Finn creates an AI assistant within the game world. That has a high probability of being unbalancing in the future.

I listened to the audio book narrated by David Stifel. He continues to do a good job.

While Finn's story is a 3 book arc, I'm already wondering how his inevitable meeting with Jason will go once the two stories merge in the main series. At least that's where I assume this is heading. Only time will tell.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the previous book that introduced Finn as a fiery antagonist, I admit I was fascinated. Knowing that there are three books following it that followed Finn as a lowly player to the monster he became in the previous book was all gravy to me.

Did I love seeing a side-tale of the fiery avatar of a fire god? Yes, as a matter of fact, I did.

Was it kinda predictable? Sure, but school and tournament stuff is pretty standard stuff. Plus, we get to see a lot of burns. :)

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

Review to come...

[Huronimus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of potential, but some issues

I really enjoyed the “Chosen One” premise and training growth arc of this story. It’s not a new concept, but I’m totally fine with old ideas being reused with new twists and a fresh cast of characters. Nothing wrong with that and the author does a good job of it in my opinion.

There were a few issues with the world building though. Silly things like having a fully immersive environment and then adding floating player name tags like a clunky, old fashioned MMO. Also, the LitRPG elements are light and didn’t seem to have much impact while being pretty basic. And the system borrows too much from the stinginess of MMO games in terms of numbers. An example here is the difference between a complete novice and an intermediate caster is a whopping 3% reduction in casting time based on the core skill. When spells only take seconds to cast, this difference would be imperceptible to humans.

There are also strange RPG mechanics oversights. An example is how the main character is explained he can train to increase his stats and that this is more efficient the lower the stat. He goes on to brutally train and increase three of six stats this way. However, he then decides to just dump a bunch of level gained points into two stats that he has zero training increases in and call it a day. This means he was hoarding those points for no good reason and hurting his potential by permanently passing up the opportunity for early training benefits. It’s as if the author didn’t want to deal with his own idea of optimization any more.

The biggest issue holding the book back from being great though is the young adult level of writing. The main character is an elderly man with adult kids and an accomplished technical career behind him. He is also a bona fide genius. However, the author handles the main character as though he’s a precocious teenager with the occasional bout of insight. This translates into situations where the main character fails to grasp simple cause and effect when convenient for the story, and then analyzes his stupidity afterwards like he’s just learning how to navigate the complexities of life. You know, like a young adult. I get that developing a story for a genius senior is more difficult than a teen, but that’s the bed the author made for himself.

At any rate, it was a fun read and a solid entry into LitRPG if you are a fan.

[Joel De Gan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This author finally settles into his stride and writes a tight and perfectly-paced book.

I really enjoy Travis Bagwell's books overall, but some of the earlier ones had pacing issues and an overly expansive area the story is "told in". Having such large story space meant the books had to be told with many skips and jumps between characters and locations.

Here in Ember, the author has placed the main character into a near-literal pressure cooker and what has emerged is a well-paced engagingly-tight and gripping story set in the universe of the other Awaken Online books.

If you have read the other books you cannot miss this one.

[Harsh Varia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book. Love the main character. Great characters all around. A must recommend for anyone who wants to look into litrpg. One of the best if not the best series out there.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

EXTREMELY TECHNICAL. It was hard to get through bc I am not a gamer, nor hacker. I enjoyed the actual story, but it was hard to stay focused. ALSO...I appreciate a character of older age...you don't see that often, however, why did he have to be in school? That was weird and awkward. a 60+ year old man in an academy situation? IDK weird. Okay I'm heading to book 2

[Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different from what I usually read but I enjoyed the story a lot anyway.

[Kaylee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can definitely tell the difference with experience of writing. Bagwell still repeats quite often but the pacing of this was on point. I really liked the characters.

It's devastating for what happened to Rachael and how but sometimes, a couple times... it was distracting/frustrating/irritating.

Look forward to the next of this to see where this goes.

Loved the ending.

Great seeing more of this world.

[Shemer Kuznits · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say? Another Bagwell's win

Finn is just an awesome character and I fell in love with him almost as much is i did Jason

[Arthur King · Rating 1 out of 5]

Finally! A litRPG book targeted at the geriatric grand torino crowd. This book has it all, a genius linguist/doctor/engineer/AI programmer who can figure out how a device works without knowing what any of the components are by taking a device apart and looking at it, being chided by his know-it-all 20 something daughter for not knowing how to google...

A chosen-one fantasy saga where the protagonist grumbles about attending classes and decides for kicks to do a full college course's worth of extra work because the spooky technology is probably the next governmental plot to bring about an orwellian dystopia, but, you know, it's useful.

If you can't tell, the above is meant as satire. I will gladly admit that my 1 star review might be a touch unfair. Unfortunately, I simply cannot connect or empathize with the mc. I empathize with the cheeky 20 something trying to drag her times-fogotten parent into the 20th century kicking and screaming. Every single decision the MC makes is cringe inducing. That's subjectivity for you.

It's an interesting treatise in the stupidity of fundamentally smart people, but as fantasy, it's like chewing on tinfoil.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different, but the same.
I liked it, but I also disliked it. Somehow at least.
Let see, I love the new Characters (Finn most of all). I love his logical, engineer like way of thinking (I'm an engineer, so I agree with most of his decisions), but I also hate his emotional problems and issues, and his longing for something that's gone. Something that's been gone for a long time. Get over it man.
I love the AO world. It's so big, so diverse, so unique. But I hate the "world", or let's say location, this books occurs in. The whole book in one location, one prison like location. That got me bored after a while, and only the story and evolution of characters kept me hooked.
So yeah. Loved the book. Disliked some things, but the good outweighs the bad by a ton, and that's definitely worth it.
NEEEEEXT!

[Kyyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Im as biased as can be, and absolutely loved it. Thank you for all the enjoyment your books have brought.

[Jonathan Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

[Akshay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ember (Awaken Online: Tarot, #1) by Travis Bagwell

⭐⭐⭐⚝⚝ (3 / 5)

What if the villain’s path wasn’t about domination — but survival?

Ember, the first entry in the Awaken Online: Tarot spinoff, shifts the spotlight away from Jason and into the shadows of a new antihero. This isn’t just an expansion of the Awaken Online universe — it’s a tonal recalibration. Darker. More personal. More morally suffocating.

The novel follows Finn Harris, a bullied, socially isolated teenager whose real life is crumbling under abuse and neglect. When he enters the VR world of Awaken Online, he doesn’t seek glory. He seeks escape. What he finds instead is a path aligned with destruction — the Tarot class Ember, built around chaos, fire, and psychological warfare.

Bagwell excels at portraying emotional fragility. Finn isn’t charismatic in the traditional LitRPG sense. He’s angry, traumatized, reactive. His descent into darker choices feels less like a villain origin story and more like a pressure valve slowly giving way. That psychological grounding is what elevates Ember above standard power progression.

Where the book burns brightest:

Psychological Realism — Finn’s motivations are rooted in believable pain.

Morally Gray Progression — Power comes at emotional cost.

Expanded Worldbuilding — The Tarot mechanics deepen the Awaken Online mythos.

The Ember class is a compelling addition to the system. Unlike straightforward combat roles, it thrives on manipulation, fear, and staged devastation. Combat encounters emphasize strategy and psychological edge rather than brute stats. The Tarot system feels mythic and ominous, hinting at larger cosmic forces influencing player destinies.

What makes Ember particularly gripping is its dual narrative tension — the in-game rise versus the real-world collapse. Finn’s external life deteriorates even as his avatar grows stronger. That contrast reinforces one of the series’ core questions: does virtual empowerment heal real trauma, or simply mask it?

However, the heavy focus on bullying and abuse can feel emotionally relentless. Some readers may find the real-world sections difficult or repetitive. The pacing occasionally slows under the weight of internal monologue, especially during Finn’s darker spirals.

Compared to the main Awaken Online arc, Ember is more intimate and less politically expansive. It trades large-scale faction warfare for personal vendetta and internal reckoning. The stakes are smaller in scope but sharper in emotional intensity.

Thematically, the novel explores:

Power as Coping Mechanism

Isolation and Identity

The Seduction of Destruction

By the end, Finn’s transformation feels earned but unsettling. He doesn’t become a hero. He becomes something harder to define — a reflection of what happens when anger finally finds an outlet.

Ember isn’t a comfortable read.

It’s a smoldering one.

And once it catches, it refuses to burn quietly.

[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.

[Partha Srinivasan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Travis' writing is so fluid, and engaging. Characters built at great pace, game play descriptions are evolving, and more nuanced. As you read, you learn as much as the character does. Mechanically the book is sound. As far as storytelling is concerned, Travis' stories are just beautiful. I can't wait for the day all the Gods avatars meet. That story is the crossover I am waiting for. Until then, Ember builds the plot for an extremely strong character and the sidekick that is clearly overpowered (for now). Book two of the Tarot should not be delayed, neither book three. I am just going through these side quests so quickly, maybe Finn deserves a mainstay size book.

[James Halski · Rating 5 out of 5]

SIICCCKKK, i wish i was a fireball raising, flaming knife throwing, AI programming, tattoo'd raging son of a bitch.

One day i will be.......and when i am, new players will see this:

Welcome to Awaken Online!
"Who...who are you?"
"Death"
::3 seconds later::
You have died, thanks for playing Awaken Online!

[Miles · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25☆

[Micheal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story.

This sets the story for one of the other players in the game. It is still a great stand alone book but enhances the story of AO.
The MC follows a totally different approach to the other books aside from determination lol.

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (9/8/2020)! 🎁

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wah wah - very much just okay
(listened to audiobook w/hubby)

[Evan Lindblad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Took a chance on something new. Glad I did. Listened to this entire book in a span of 4 days. So captivating!

[Lucy Larsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a re-read of a book in a series that I really like and honestly, it was just as good the second time around reading it.

This series, Awaken Online, is honestly up there with some of the best LitRPG that I have ever read. I’ve always been a fan of LitRPG stories but often times i read them and I just get bored with the way the characters act or treat the in-game elements of the story. This story is so well done and so intriguing with all the plot twists that I’ve never wanted to put it down once I start a book. This part of the series, Tarot, is honestly one of my favorite sections and I almost like it more than the main series up to this point.

I really just like Finn as a character and I like getting to learn about the magic language through his story arc in this book. Finn is the only character in the series who chooses to study the magic language rather than having it placed into his brain like the other characters do at the start of their character creation. I just loved getting to learn more about that. I also appreciate Finn as a character I think because he is older and more mature but still willing to learn and grow and become a better character. This book is just the perfect set up for Finn as a character and a peak into his development later one. The spicy rating was a level 1 – not really any.

Overall, I would still rate this book a 5 out of 5 star rating on my second round through. Just as good as the first time.

[Junkie for the Written Word · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried. I really really tried but I just couldn't. I got to about 60% and that's as much as I could do.

During the dawn of the internet do you remember RPG chatrooms in AOL and accidentally stumbling into one because you didn't know what "eViL poPTaRt taVeRn ***LARP ONLINE***" actually meant and just staring at the screen in shock and horror as people pretended to be wizards or vampires or viking lords via asterisks, ROFLcopters, and cringe?

Yeah, it was like listening to someone (Norm McDonald to be specific) read one of those chat rooms outloud.

I don't know man. There was no plot. I never found one. This is the summery of the part of the book I listened to: Old man enters game , becomes addicted, and describes it in painstaking detail.

I leveled up 5 GW2 toons to max, most with some legendary gear, completed the Explorer achievement on at least a couple of them, leveled up EIGHT, count them EIGHT, WoW toons to max (You could measure my in game WoW hours in YEARS!) and I spent all of 2012 in game in Diablo 2 and I know less about any one of those magic systems than I know about this imaginary game in this dang book.

I know what it was, it was a never ending cut scene after a gigantic patch, and I for one and skipping that mess. 👌 Less explaining more boar farming for [Ruined Leather Scraps] please.

[Troy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really tried to go into this with an open mind. I promise! Despite the fact that I was pretty certain that the Lit-RPG genre is not for me I did some research and discovered that this series is consistently considered some of the best the genre has to offer.

So with that I began this journey. I won't say the book was trash, because it wasn't. It suffered from some poor proof-reading for sure. It also suffered from having a main character who is a genius in his 50s or 60s that comes across as though he's an emo teen or 20-something.

The other problem I had is that the book did exactly what I expected it to do. It read like fan-fiction from someone playing their World of Warcraft character. I mean, I really like video games. I like RPG's. I enjoy sharing those moments and stories with my friends. I just don't care to read a book in which the whole purpose is to talk about a guy leveling up his toon.

I think Lit-RPG is a very niche audience and if you happen to be a person who enjoys these types of novels, I think this one would be a hit for you. If you are not a fan, I don't believe that this book will turn you into one.

I'm glad that I can safely say that I know for sure now that these books are not for me. :)

[Bender · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall: +5

A decent effort but a pale shadow of AO series. Looks like author has taken efforts to strip away all that that made AO books special and write a generic trope-y version. I'm not sure if the plot ties back into other series...and If not...I'd skip this series. Not worth it at all!

Writing/Plot/Pace: +5

Started off with a very interesting tangent and we see a older experienced character and a game developer playing the game. But then this mostly peters off and when resorts to writing mods to gain advantage over players, it just felt like he was cheating his way to the top.

The real world angle was looked stolen out of b-grade hollywood movies, the drive behind the characters felt forced and fake. Even the in-game plot was so trope-y and contrived and has so many 'roll-eye' moments that all the fun action fails to save the book.

Characters: + 4

There's just the protagonist and nobody else makes any impact. Even him, the causal factors behind his decision making is just off and you get a standard odds stacked against but underdog wins story.

[Ron Mcconnell jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best, period

I don't read books, I devour them. I can't tell you how many books I've read but it's been one a week, to one a day since I was in elementary school. Right now, Mark Lawrence is likely my favorite author. The Darkness, prose, and incredibly deep insights speak to a shadow place in the soul. With that being said, Bagwell is right there with him and this is hands down his best novel. It's LitRpg but easily stands on it's own as a fiction novel. I'm impressed in his growth as a writer and heartbroken I didn't wait for more of this series to come out before reading. One of the best and I implore you to read. You won't be disappointed.

[Haris Peppermint · Rating 2 out of 5]

The poorly written trauma that the MC experienced prior to the start of the novel is largely glossed except for the moments where it’s required as a plot device. The ending had a v deus ex machina vibe and just had lots of action and the MC becoming OP if you like that kinda stuff.

[TJ Pool · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just terrible. Why is he constantly shocked at normal video game stuff?!? Couldn’t get through.