I’m writing this review after reading book one, I’ll grab book two once it’s out and update this page.
The premise of the book is fairly simple. Through some unfortunate accident, the MC (Arnold) is taken from Earth and his job as a semi-pro gamer, and reincarnated in the body of a farmer. The world has levels and a class based system (without it being a ‘capital S’ system), and classes can’t be changed. Our MC is thus a Farmer. And the only way to get another class is to reach level 100 in farming first… a process which most people never achieve in their lifetime.
The goal: to reach level 100 before one dies of old age, and pick a better class.
Now, only one book in the series is out, and I’m hoping that these books tie in some of the larger plot points which book one let wander over the place. The MC’s familiar, for example. There are a few smaller plot points that drift off the main “Get to level 100 farming without farming,” but that doesn’t bother me too much. Reading about the MC try to figure out every way possible to exploit the system (most ending in failure of course), is a staple of the genre, and it’s done well here. I wouldn’t say perfectly though, because to me it still feels like the main exploit that Arnold discovers is something which would have been discovered and utilised by other people prior to the MC if the story was realistic. That said, this is only a tiny suspension of disbelief to get over that hump, unlike the mountains some other novels require.
The exploit that Arnold finds is entertaining, logical, and fits into the system perfectly. Best of all, I can see how it has further application in later books (ie Arnold won’t outgrow it in five more minutes and then we never hear about it again), and I am very keen to see how, now that Arnold has scaled it up vastly, it plays out in the next book. The way the secondary political plot points are woven into the primary plot is nice, and opens up many fun doors that allow the stakes to escalate in future works.
Final thoughts: it’s a fun read in a world that, while there are some questionable elements (about the effect of the charisma stat), feels cohesive and sensible. Give it a read.
