10/10

Great story! Can not wait for the next book! I couldn't stop listening to this one!

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didn't like it quite as much as the first

maybe it's just me but I feel like this books is slower then the first. And to honest I find the side characters are more interesting then the mc in this book. Unless you really love fishing, the mc can get boring cause most of the book is him catching fish and flirting with his gf. I still recommend this though cause the side characters are really good and drive most of the plot.

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isekai fishing

love the characters and story, love the Australian main character a very good listen, and full of cute super powered animals

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The narrator is amazing

Love the narrator and his ability to bring the characters to life and also make them all feel and sound unique. An impressive feat considering how many characters there are and how often it bounces between them all.

I don't even fish. Why did I even bother with this book? Honestly, I listened to the sample and the narrators voice got me. I can't really explain it but I'm glad I did.

This is, of course, book 2 in the series. For what it's worth, it's about a guy who just wants to fish but happens to keep running into situations that present themselves to him, usually out of his control. The main character, Fischer, is actually quite likeable and it's no wonder he makes so many friends, both human and otherwise.

If you enjoyed the idea of animal friends and the mystery of the world in the first book than this will enhance that by adding more of each while explaining more of the world he finds himself in.

The authors done an amazing job with the various plots going on throughout the world and tying them together while at the same time keeping each area separate. It's hard to explain but it's genius. I'm loving how everyone's trying to figure things out and they all have their own ideas about the world and the things going on and you as the reader are the only one able to see the picture as a whole. It really feels that way too.

I couldn't imagine this book narrated by anyone else and have even found myself smiling and chuckling along with things and if I'm being honest, sometimes getting emotionally attached to moments in the book. All because of the great storytelling.

Finally, cultivating. You don't need to know anything about cultivating as of this book, to be able to enjoy it. It's touched upon on the most basic levels so far. Having a basic knowledge of what cultivating is about can answer some questions you might have and why certain things are happening but I think it can still be enjoyed just as much going in without any previous knowledge.

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Animal army

A continuation of a brilliant distraction. Looking forward to future developments to see where the character go and answers to world questions.

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Good Writing, Weak Characters Also... Calm your Jason Asano Fetish

I love the writing, I have enjoyed the story. But every character has the weak sensibilities of a 10 year old child that has never suffered hardship of any sort. Any time where a character could present an edge or any hardness they instead devolve into a conversation about their feelings or stoop to comforting everyone around them. This story is soft to the point of being hard to believe, it has been harming my immersion. It doesn't help that the author pretty much just ripped off Jason Asano, renamed him and then dropped him in the land of happiness, sunshine and rainbows.

In other stories we deal with the MC being unrealistically unkillable. In this one we ask ourselves whether the squirrel by the side of the road will gain magic powers, sentience, and join the super friends, while at some point swearing utmost loyalty to the MC with no character development required.

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stop with the foodgasms!!!!

i, for one, do not need a bite by bite description of every single thing every single character eats! and with all the most watering going on, it's starting to feel like the entire book it's populated by characters who run around drooling all day. seriously, about every 3 to 5 minutes, something is making someone's mouth water. it's not even a little bit realistic because i, for one, have never once had my mouth water over food! it is a very overused literary device

other than that, it's pretty good. I like it a lot

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Gender politics lecturing

I dont understand how it has become a requirement in books in the last few years to have continuous lecturing about how to treat women or how great women are every time some sort of romantic scene pops up. It is just lazy page filling nonsense following woke ideology bullshit. So tired of having to skip through weak storytelling because of it. I assume it is to bump up the play times on the recordings. I doubt i will bother with the 3rd installment of this series.

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1 person found this helpful

So-So

Great performance by Heath Miller but can't recommend the book. Mostly on account of it getting less and less chill and more low-key power-trip-fantasy.

[Spoilers ahead]

The series gets less and less interesting to me as it goes on, here's a list of main points with examples.

1. Fisher continues to go down the road of quasi gary stu and aside from a few adversaries (and belligerent roger) everyone loves him just because the plot says so, he also does a one-punch-man to get himself out of every situation where an adversary does show up. The villagers continue to build a religion around him and the whole situation can get a bit cringe at times, with characters often coming off as a little sycophantic.

2. Casual violence continues. Fisher's animal companions are mainly responsible for this. Even the recent companion, Cinnamon the bunny, has become an absolute maniac. Examples include near the beginning of the book when she 'smiles', 'cracks her neck' and 'shadowboxes' threateningly at a group of travelers entering Tropica, before knocking them all out in one hit in a way that mirrors fishers one-punch shenanigans. Fisher quickly stumbles upon them tied up, surrounded by his animals and the cult, which is once again used as low-hanging fruit to show that he's the good guy. The book is even self aware enough to comment on this sort of thing at one point but continues to be unrelenting. Later near the end of the book, one of the kingdoms chosen warriors has her forces instantly defeated by cinnamon and begs for mercy, only to have cinnamon 'place her paw on the woman's cheek smiling' before flinging her lifeless body to the ground while internally monologuing about how good it feels to slap people. It's ridiculous, the author tries so aggressively to paint fisher and his pals as the good guys, but jarring things like this happen constantly; You shouldn't have to constantly explain why your characters are 'the good guys' due to their own consistent behaviour. The animals (which are supposed to be nicer versions of the wild awakened animals of the past) are all maniacs and I'm starting to sympathize with the kingdoms inherent fear of awakened beasts.

3. The book constantly and aggressively creates situations to paint the protagonists as the good guys, which it only needs to do because of the questionable behaviour the protagonists keep engaging in. They are like a bunch of drunken burly bikers at least half the time.

4. Near the end of the book the characters resort to mind games, raids, and actual terrorism, before assaulting the capital to free the cultivator slaves. Don't get me wrong here, the nobility are obviously 'the bad guys', but the slaves thing is another contrived low-hanging fruit to justify the protagonists actions. Throughout the book we get glances into the day to day of the castle aiming to show the kings growing terror in what is meant to be portrayed as amusing, but it just starts to read as a bit sadistic after a while.

5. The series becomes another example of a power fantasy and growth plot, including overly focusing on an ongoing romance sub-plot with the chad protagonist. The worst part is it seems to be denying that it has become this, and keeps trying to paint over itself by saying it's all fine. In a nutshell, actions speak louder than words, and the protagonists actions and words are often so at odds that it creates an uncomfortable narrative, reminding me in some ways of the protagonist from the anime "Overlord".

6. Overfocusing on romance subplot, where the romantic interest also just immediately falls for the protagonist. I mean the only really big obstacle they encounter in their relationship (other than an abrasive inlaw who is cancelled out by a different, ecstatic inlaw), is that Maria feels insecure because Fisher hasn't tried to F*** her yet.

The whole experience starts to feel like a male internal fantasy of themselves gaining great power, influence, getting the girl, a huge circle of loyal pals, a position of leadership as a quasi father-figure, getting everything without trying, and showing off in a nonchalant way to others. It's one of the reasons I find 'Mary Sue' characters to tiring in general.

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Too much cuteness

I had a feeling that the book was written by a social service worker. Or by the order of social service. I had the same feeling when I listened to "He who fights with monsters".

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