Crucible

Awaken Online, Book 12

By: Travis Bagwell

Narrated by: David Stifel

Trust is a weapon. Power demands sacrifice. The crucible awaits.

The world of Awaken Online has been reborn. Ancient avatars and their cities have returned, unleashing chaos and armies from the game world's savage past. Jason and his allies are beset on all sides—by the original avatars, an unrelenting tide of travelers, and even their own secrets.

However, Jason is done playing defense; he’s done reacting. It’s time to take the fight to his enemies in both worlds. And that starts by using their own weapons against them, including the relics Jason stole from the ancient avatars.

Yet nothing comes for free. Jason has already sacrificed his body, but to unlock his relic—to succeed—he'll have to give up something more: his humanity.

This is Jason's crucible.

Either he'll shatter and break...

Or he'll reforge himself into something stronger than ever before.

The eighth book in the hit LitRPG Fantasy series with more than a million copies sold and now spanning 14 novels. Grab your copy of Awaken Online now and get ready to sink into some good old fashioned undead mayhem.

About the Series: 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 young man—a loner and outcast—pushed to his limit... only to rise in AO as a force to be reckoned with. As a villain that can control the undead. Lots of skeletons. Lots of undead crafting. Lots of carnage.

©2026 Travis Bagwell (P)2026 Travis Bagwell

Continued success with maximum enjoyment

This picks up a few weeks after the end of the last book to help with the timeline and moving the plot forward. A decent number of familiar characters are getting the spotlight, showing great development for the game and real world. It has been of particular interest reading about the dynamic shifts between Jason and Alex, Finn and Eliza, and Cady and Julia. Working together for these characters has never been easy, but the old OP Avatars certainly have a way of forging and cementing new bonds among the next generation of Avatars in transforming environments.

May darkness reign supreme!