While the first book of this sub-series starts out as a much better story-line than the initial series, the theme starts to drag in the second book, and the third book is a serious let down. Bagwell has serious trouble writing about smart people, and battles, and what should be possible while in battle, and keeping logical track of events – outcomes. His dungeon crawls really sluggishly crawl. Bagwell needs an editor who can tell him “add more motivation for others, flesh out story-lines for other travellers”, “don’t do that in the battle, that is just stupid”, “cut that battle scene by ten pages”, “the meeting shouldn’t have her know anything beyond xyz event, and initially should be much more casual for her”.

If you have read Bagwell’s Awaken Online series and are on the fence about starting this series, you’ll think you’re on a winner after this book, but on balance: I would recommend against continuing. There are plenty of other LitRPG series out there. After *finally* completing the third book in this series, I am not going to read this author any further.