Heretical Fishing: A Cozy Guide to Annoying the Cults, Outsmarting the Fish, and Alienating Oneself

Heretical Fishing, Book 1

By: Haylock Jobson

Narrated by: Heath Miller

A world abandoned by the gods, mystifying cosmic forces, unimaginable power for those willing to ascend, and a hero who would rather . . . go fishing???

When summoned to a fantastical world and granted powers by a broken System, most freshly minted protagonists would strap on their big-boy boots and get ready for their stats to start climbing. But Fischer isn't like most MCs. In fact, he doesn't want to be a hero at all.

Fame? Fortune? Power? He had enough of all that in his old life. Discovering forbidden fishing techniques and petting every cute animal that comes within scritching distance? Now that's a good time.

Unfortunately for Fischer, cosmic forces rarely care for mortal feelings. He's hounded on all sides by inept cults, conspiring nobles, and more magical misunderstandings than those of a preteen relationship. Even his dutiful pet crab is firing energy blades like an anime antagonist.

So grab your fishing rod and a good snack, and pet your dog for me. The catch of a lifetime awaits!

The first volume of the laugh-out-loud LitRPG adventure series—a #1 Rising Star on Royal Road with over three million views—now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Audible!

©2024 Paige Haylock Jobson (P)2024 Podium Audio

Critic reviews

“I can’t think of a single story I’d rather get truck-kun’d (truck-kunned?) into than [that of] the vivid, lush world portrayed in Heretical Fishing, especially if I can hang out with Fischer and his gang. . . . The best book I’ve read this year.” —Matt Dinniman, author of Dungeon Crawler Carl

Outstanding pets

This was a unique and enjoyable LitRPG. I particularly enjoyed how the system worked (or didn’t). My favorite thing by far is the animal companions. By the end he had 4 almost 5 intelligent companions and they are an absolute delight getting up to a lot of shenanigans. I salute you Sergeant Snips! Heath Miller did an outstanding job narrating the story and I can’t wait for a sequel to be released. I can easily see this story being as good (and long) as He Who Fights with Monsters. The author has created a very cozy story with a lot of unique ideas, such as fishing being disallowed.
If you like your LitRPGs with a side of humor and excellent narration you will not go wrong picking up this book.

good slice of life

It was good I enjoyed it main character doesn't want to be a hero or do anything like that and has one simple goal of fishing because he enjoys it still wants connections and that's his goal doesn't want to get caught up in tropes that are in other stories. of course this story still has a lot of tropes but nice twist

Adorable!!! 10/10 recommend!

Truck-kun delivered Fischer right where he’d needed to be: To Tropica, where he can partake in the highest of heretical activities: fishing. The System is broken, but that’s fine. He’s not planning on raiding dungeons, fighting dragons or toppling empires.

A feel good story where the MC gets to actually relax and work through some stuff while he fishes and helps his neighbors out just because he’s a good guy. Plus, he gathers all the adorable pets!

A lot of the drama isn’t actually from the MC, but the people (and pets) around him moving about without him even noticing the craziness they’re getting up to. And yet he is still unwittingly becoming a badass. Not in the combat sense, but he gets mad skills and abilities, wins hearts and friends wherever he turns by being true to himself and just helping out his community.

The combat mostly comes from the pets- who totally have inner monologues like xianxia land lol! Since the System is broken, we don’t really see much stat progression that way, but there’s little reminders that they ARE happening and being catalogued. The villains are a bit anime/cartoony mixed with xianxia-land stupidity logic but that’s ok. They’re perfect for a low-level starter story and the higher ups he may have to deal with in the future may bring more to the table because there’s obvious ground work for more complexity later.

I’m definitely getting the next book as soon as it comes out! Haylock Jobson is a new author for me and I was very pleased with his work. The narrator Heath Miller is amazing, I’ve only heard him before in He Who Fights With Monsters and a bit of Dungeon Crawler Carl (Sundbooth Theater’s Cinematic Audio edition) so I was prepared for awesomeness. He delivered it!

If you’re looking for a laid back feel-good isekai cultivation/litrpg then 10/10 recommend this book.

So Much Yes!!!

i cannot wait for more. this book very quickly became everything in a roleplayers fever dream. Bar none one of my favorite works to date!

Cozy fun read

Really good across the board no complaints from me can’t wait for the next installment