Unorthodox Farming, Books 1-2

4.5 stars. A guy finds a new way to become a master farmer without having to plant crops.

I’ve been putting off reading this for a while. Book 1 is called “Oh, Great! I’ve Been Reincarnated as a Farmer.” Book 2 is called “Oh, Great! I Discovered How to Cultivate a Farmer in 52 Easy Steps.”

Book 1 has quite a clever premise. Our MC Arnold has been brought into a new world against his will (iseaki) and been placed into the body of another individual. This person had the class of Farmer and so Arnold is stuck being a farmer.

One thing that is quite clear throughout the book is that he hates farming. He hates everything about it. He’s a city boy and never wanted to work on a farm in his life.

But he can’t change his profession until he hits level 100 as a farmer. That is extremely rare for even the most dedicated farmer to do. So he decides to figure out another way – by finding loopholes in the system. He finds another activity can give farming experience, and goes all-in on that.

Along the way, he runs afoul of the local reagent. She’s a powerful and vengeful person. And so, he finds his plans being foiled along the way.

Things I liked about this book:

  • Well written book
  • Easy to read
  • Relatable – I, too, would hate to be a farmer if ever forced to
  • I like the premise of finding loopholes in a system to be a profitable and accepted practice
  • Recruits many secondary characters to help him in his quest

Things that took away from it:

  • Everyone seems to be willing to go against the reagent fairly easily – banks, guilds, and master craftsman from every profession… strange

Overall, it’s an interesting premise for a book. The author basically lets the character explore his exploit to it’s maximum potential.