Ok I’m probably in the minority here but the narrator just doesn’t match the genre. The genre entirely. Seriously. His voice sounds like he is really old and it doesn’t match anything. It’s the main problem I have with this whole series. Jason’s story, this one, all of them. Dudes voice does not fit at all. It’s hard to get lost in the story. He’s not a bad narrator so don’t get me wrong. He just doesn’t fit this genre. At all.
Also another thing… I get REALLY sick of there being MCs that are supposed to be these big bada$$ geniuses yet they continually make decisions that prove they are not that at all. Now I think this is a problem that authors don’t realize they’re making because they aren’t geniuses either. They try to create one but the product doesn’t match reality because they can’t fake it enough to be believable. I’m not calling Bagwell ignorant or anything. (I do have good things to say about the series after all). He’s just a normal dude with a little bit of grammar proficiency and a good imagination. If your character is a genius… then they have to BE that. The reader can’t be throwing up their hands wondering why he hasn’t put 2 and 2 together. I knew who the bad guy was long before Finn and that really hurt the overall story. There were all kinds of ways to deal with that situation that didn’t end up with him in such a bad spot. And it is a bad spot. It brings to bear another thing I didn’t like. He has a certain ability cut off at the end. Meaning the MC won’t be as powerful in the 3rd. At least for a while. It’s a thing writers do that I can’t stand. Making the MC less competent really frustrates me every time. I get it, he’s probably gonna find some way around the handicap to do the same thing. I get it. That means that he’s gonna be even slower on the uptake for half the next book no doubt. Sigh…
That all being said it’s still one of the better series in the genre. This genre is infested with the worst of the worst. You start reading something that has a good magic system and world and characters and then BOOM, all of the sudden its creeper time and it’s all harems and every female character is being described chest first. Seriously. I’m not even joking. It’s like some of these books are written by Saudi Princes or 4th graders who have never actually spoken to a female before. I don’t mind O.P MCs or other overused tropes or whatever. If it gets me out of my head I’m usually happy, but the pure creeperiness in the genre is a stain on the whole. Any of them that even slightly go that route need to have that be the very first line in the blurb.
“Warning: This book is written by a basement dwelling creeper. All women are bwweeebs.” And I’m not a prude at all. Like not even close. It’s just so immature. idk. Luckily Awaken Online is not that. There are problems but I’m sure it’ll be cool in the end.
I’m hoping that one day after it all he has a trilogy or more where the team is every main character in each series so far. That would be pretty great. I hope Travis doesn’t take my criticism too badly. It really is one of the better in the genre.