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Mike's Reviews > Hellion

Hellion by Travis Bagwell
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it was amazing
Read 2 times

** spoiler alert ** This was undoubtedly the best book of the Awaken Online series, and it honestly might be the best book I've read within the LitRPG genre period. Travis Bagwell did not disappoint with his eventual convergence of his three stories into one (Unity, Inferno, & the Main story). He stuck the landing and then some; Jason's discussions with the CPSC interviewer throughout the book, for example, were constantly intellectually intriguing, deeply philosophical & gave you the sense that Bagwell might have been writing some of these lines and dialogue for years. I only really had minor issues with the very end, so spoiler warning.

----SPOILERS!!!----
I'm mostly satisfied with the way the book ended. I do think Bagwell could've drawn out Jason and Finn's war a little longer, where instead of Finn and Jason teaming up at the end of this book, it ends with a full victory of one side or the other. Then this could've lead to a future discussion/team up in the next book. I felt as though there was so much bad blood between the two, that it naturally would've taken another book or two for them to finally sit down and listen to each other. I was still very satisfied with their team up though, even if it felt a little premature or unnatural given Jason had just murdered over 8,000 of Finn's residents.

The part that I couldn't really shake off, was at the very very end (the end of the epilogue) where Jason meets Finn in the real world, and Finn reveals how he planned for Jason to have a comeback & basically let Jason win just so he could simply have a better chance of unrelatedly breaking into a Server room at Cerulean Entertainment. To me, this was so unrealistic & unbelievable considering everything we had seen Finn do and say (many times in an extremely emotional state), but more importantly, it made Jason's epic victory feel hallow and undeserved despite the fact that it was one of the most genius plans in the entire series.

I loved how Jason had planned for the high possibility that he'd be captured. His phase 2 plan was just crazy enough to work & the twist felt natural given Jason's stoic interactions upon his capture & his explanation for why he couldn't reveal it to anyone, especially not Alfred (he had to use his school email just so Alfred wouldn't catch on). In contrast, Finn's "plan" to let Jason win flies right in the face of every single moment Finn is enraged at Jason, saddened by using the energy meant to resurrect Rachel, or desperate to save his city/Rachel. The whole thing barely makes any sense given every interaction in the entire book between the two main characters.

It also honestly just felt unnecessary too, since Bagwell could've easily written that Finn's plan was to just have a huge battle with Jason so he could break into Alfred's Server Room - that being the real reason he challenged Jason to begin with, hoping it would be a massive battle and event that would leave Cerulean Entertainment vulnerable. Bagwell took it way too far though, made it feel contrived and disjointed, and then basically gave you a feeling that all the amazing events of the book were mostly pointless. The more I think about it, the more I wish the last few lines of the book could've just been erased. This book could've been absolutely perfect if not for this last second reveal in my opinion.
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Reading Progress

Finished Reading
Finished Reading
July 19, 2021 – Shelved

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