Arcane Veterinarian: A Cozy Fantasy LitRPG Series

Arcane Veterinarian #1

by Michael James Ploof

He dreamed of being a veterinarian. He never imagined it would happen on a new world...

After passing his veterinary exam, Ethan is whisked away to an alternate medieval Earth by a sorcerer in need of a veterinarian. He soon comes in possession of Dali, an arcane intelligence of untold power whose sole purpose is to help its master become the greatest at whichever magical path they choose.

Naturally, Ethan chooses to become the greatest arcane veterinarian in the world!

Intent on making this magical new world his home, he settles down in the whimsical town of Arcane Acres, where he seeks out an apprenticeship with Doctor Ledbetter, the aging yet affable local vet. With Dali’s aid and Ledbetter’s guidance, Ethan learns to magically diagnose and treat a diverse array of enchanted animals.

But Arcane Acres isn’t all fairies and unicorn farts. Someone has been hexing the town’s enchanted creatures. Someone who covets power above all else and is determined to see the community fail.

If Ethan and his new friends can’t unravel the mystery behind the hexed creatures in time, Arcane Acres will be doomed...

Arcane Veterinarian offers a unique blend of cozy, quirky charm, slice-of-life, and immersive LitRPG elements, where listeners follow Ethan’s progression from a novice level arcane veterinarian on his way to grandmaster status. Featuring an endearing cast of characters, captivating magical creatures, and a heartwarming progression, this isekai tale promises to enchant listeners of all ages!

Genres: Fantasy, Cozy, Magic, Slice Of Life, Dragons

Audible Audio

First published August 6, 2024

About the author

I spent my youth in the land of make believe. School was a bore, and growing up in the "Boonies" without cable television forced me to use my imagination. If I wasn't holed up in my bedroom playing with my vast collection of action figures, I could be found in the forest with a wooden sword or staff in hand, battling the forces of evil. As an 80's kid, I was raised on a healthy diet of movies like Star Wars, The Neverending Story, Labyrinth, Goonies, and endless other classic (but strange) movies.

As a reader, I enjoy books that take off right out of the gate, sweep me off my feet, and whisk me away on an epic adventure. As an author, I try to create books that do the same for my readers. I write fantasy, and I suppose that I still live in a land of make believe, except now I get to share the adventure with others.

I hope that you will join me on my next adventure, and together we can escape reality, if only for a time.

Yours in Magic,

Michael James Ploof

Join the mailing list at www.whillofagor(dot)com.

Books by Michael James Ploof

Epic Fallacy

Book #1: Champions of the Dragon

Book #2: Beyond the Wide Wall

Book #3: The Legend of Drak' Noir

Book #4: The Mother of Zuul

LEGENDS OF AGORA

Book #1: Whill of Agora

Book #2: A Quest of Kings

Book #3: A Song of Swords

Book #4: A Crown of war

Book #5: Kingdoms in Chaos

Book #6: Champions of the Gods

Book #7: The Mantle of Darkness

Book #8: Dark Echoes of Light

Book #9: The Warcrown Legacy

THE WINDWALKER ARCHIVE

Book #1: Talon

Book #2: Sea Queen

Book #3: Exodus

BLACKTHORN

Book #1: Blackthorn Rising

THE ORION REZNER CHRONICLES

Book #1: Afterworld

The Dragon Throne War

Book #1: A Dream of Fire

Doomsday Sheriff

Book #1

Book #2

Book #3

Dragon Rider Academy

Episode #1: Ascension

Episode #2: Transcendence

Episode #3: Initiate

Episode #4: Dragon Heart

Episode #5: Accursed

THE SOCK GNOME CHRONICLES

Book #1: Billy Coatbutton and the Wheel of Destiny

Book #2: Billy Coatbutton and the ring of Sockchild

Harem books written as Mike Ploof

Rebirth online

Rebirth Online #1

Rebirth Online #2

Rebirth Online #3

Rebirth Online #4

Rebirth Online #5

Rebirth Online #6

Monster World

Monster World #1

Monster World #2

Warwick

Episode #1: Galactic Arena

Episode #2: Galactic Fugitives

Episode #3: Galactic Vengeance

litRPG Published By Aethon Books

Arcane Veterinarian Book 1 - August 6, 2024

Arcane Veterinarian Book 2 - Fall 2024

The Family Jewels Book 1 - Coming Soon

Reviews

[Graham · Rating 2 out of 5]

So this book is not a cozy book like the title on Amazon says it is. It is definitely more LITRPG with a lot of stress and just a lot of, if this character told this character something then a good chunk of the story gets removed. There isn't much vet stuff and when it does happen it feels like a side note to the overarching plot.

Looking at the main character he is just awful. He's dumb in a I don't know how to preserve my life kind of way that makes you question how he got a degree to be a vet from an ivy league school. A large chunk of the story builds off of this man's stupidity and it makes the story shallow because of it. He also comes in with these ideals of animal cruelty that this new world doesn't have and just expects everyone to listen to him. This man also falls in love at first sight and proceeds to be really creepy about seeing this woman constantly. It reads like a love drunk teenager instead of a mid 20s to 30 year old.

Edit: some spelling and grammar mistakes

[gordon musgrave · Rating 1 out of 5]

Might be good

Well just from the beginning I did not like how it was written, his response to being transported was stupid quit reading after that

[ReadToBreathe · Rating 2 out of 5]

This MC was dumb and disgusting. He did what the wizard told him not to do, did not tell the daughter even though he had multiple chances, and had the audacity to fell for the wizard's daughter. And of course the other idiot "female character" forgave him because why not😑 I skimmed the second half because I stopped caring about the plot and the characters. I should have given up on the book from the start bc the beginning was so cliché and lazy writing.

[Devan · Rating 3 out of 5]

***DNF***

The MC is dumb as a rock. I’m on the run from a crazy strong sorcerer who wants to kill me? I should definitely tell everyone at the pub my story so he can find me easier. I am a saint so it’s ok to alienate all the dwarves and righteously offend them with their treatment of dragons on my first day encounter with them. There’s definitely no better way to go about that right? So annoying.

I might have been able to get past that but the story was just meh. Couldn’t force myself to finish it.

[MaKayla Farley · Rating 5 out of 5]

The MC is stupid as hell and pissed me off more often than not. I started this expecting to get the cozy animal doctor story of my dreams but was instead greatly disappointed.

[Old Time Tales · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a shame.

Ok. I’m done. I tried, I really did. I wanted to like this book. I am going to be honest here, I am reviewing a book that I could not finish, I had to quit.

The idea of being a veterinarian in a fantasy realm is brilliant. But I just can’t handle the dialogue. I am not going to force myself to read 100’s of pages of badly written dialogue and poorly plotted character conflicts. I didn’t even make it to where he starts developing skills.

The descriptive parts of the book were very well done. It gave me hope. But once he starts telling lies, needless, STUPID lies, just so that there can be drama and conflict, I am done.

Gustwing is a very cool character, I am sorry that I won’t be hearing more about him. He should have bitten Ethan’s head off.

Cheers!

PS If you actually do read this book and do finish it please let me know. I’d like to hear what you think. Maybe my impression was wrong, and I was unfair. If so, feel free to tell me!

[Tiuri · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had such high hopes for this but they didn´t come true.
First off, it's not really "cozy" if there is a lot of animal abuse and some killing too.
The MC being an idiot doesn't help, especially because he's supposedly a smart man. I was about half way and he had already made three huge blunders, so I had trouble finishing the book. The fact that he gets handed almost everything on a silver platter doesn't really help nor does the fact that he indiscriminately applies earth notions to a non-earth world.

Some minor editing is needed, "it's" is not the same as "its" and "who's" is not the same as "whose" but grammar and style are mostly fine. The worldbuilding is strange too, there are medieval veterinarian tools but sugar cubes exist as well, and they're definitely not medieval.

[Zalfan · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF (~70%)
1.5/5 - Wouldn't recommend, unless desperate for an easy read

The good:
Pretty unique premise
Some of the side characters were fun The AI
Grammar is good
Being nice to animals is always a win

The bad:
Plot holes (quite a few)
World building felt forced at times, like the author adds things to the world that just don't make sense for the sake of the story
Medicine??? The MC solves the problems by talking to the animals, which is fine, but where is his training This feels lazy, like the author did not want to do the research.
God, I haven't seen such an unlikable MC in a while. The author wanted to make him seem like a genius ivy league student and failed to do so. He is simply stupid, lustful, naive and a liar. This is fine people are flawed, but the author frames the character poorly. The MC seems more like a 14 year-old kid, than a trained veterinarian.
He is also handed everything to him. Magical animal talking powers, the amazing system which makes him and only him OP, housing

[Cmoore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ohhhh man. Just what I needed a nice cozy powered adventure to keep me busy, listening for a couple of days! Thanks to both Michael James Ploof and Nathan Agin for such good start for to what looks to be great series. This is the story about Ethan a newly anointed Veterinarian after graduating and receiving his diploma he's absodamnlutely ready to celebrate 🍾!!! Only things don't go as planned. He was literally sucked up to an alternate earth... to treat a sick Griffin! Say what? Yeah a sick griffin... and believe it or not, Ethan's newly formed powers enabled him to find and then help the mage that summoned him, diagnose and then he watched as the mage made the curative potion. Instead of freaking out about his predicament. Ethan reveled in it. A new world without any student debt and with magical Beasts to boot. Yay, life simply couldn't get any better 🤗! Except of course for Malazar who for some reason wants to kill 'em.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arcane Veterinarian: A Cozy Fantasy LitRPG Series, my first enjoyable read from author Michael James Ploof. Outstanding read! Extremely well written, the characters well-developed. I’m a character reader, I get into the characters. Who and what they are. Why they do the things they do. The things that make a reader get invested into the characters and thereby the book and this book has it all! I was given an Audible copy of this book & am voluntarily reviewing it. Nathan Agin’s fabulous narration adds to the well-written book's enjoyment. Since it's part of a series I can't wait to get & read the next book in this series, Arcane Veterinarian 2: A Cozy Fantasy LitRPG Series . (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).

[suettle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I congratulate the author on writing a book!
The premise had so much promise, but it was not cozy at all with many graphic deaths and descriptions of abuse.
I'm ok with the character's shortcomings that other reviewers called out. People are messy and self-defeating at times. Critelli was summoned because he was the best person for a specific task, not the best person.
I mainly wish this had actually been a cozy read about a magical country vet. There wasn't much actual veterinarian work happening and that made me sad. I'm hoping the sequel focuses more on that aspect.
I noticed many typos (most common was it's/it's confusion) so if that is a deal breaker for you, beware.

[MyDoRyS · Rating 1 out of 5]

Audio: 5 Stars

Story: I had hopes of a good animal related slice of life story. What we get is a cheaply written teen book. The MC is supposed to be about 26 yo with a degree from an ivy league school, but what we get is an idiot who makes poor life decisions. The book is full of stuff for the sake of word count and not for content value. The MC is incredibly unlikable, a total horny prat. The dialogue feels like pre-teens having a discussion, not even teens! To summarize the book is completely immature! Onto my next adventure, Happy Readings!!!

[Brett R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This 67-year-old thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I look forward to book 2!

Although this book is aimed at 12 - 17-year-olds, I really enjoyed the characters, the plot, and the magic. Luckily, I won't have to wait too long for book 2!
The basic story follows the familiar trope of the MC being snatched from his home (in this case, world) and having to learn magic. He makes a mistake early on and spends the rest of the story trying to figure out how to make it right.
Can't wait to see how the story evolves.

[Dick SantaCruz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Toooo much detail and took slow moving

Mr Proof is a talented author and had a great story. However, I don't like stories where the author provides lots of details. For example, did we really need to know the different names of the twelve months of the year used in his new world. The action is also excruciatingly slow. I've been waiting for 15 chapters for the hexed animals to be healed. I fell asleep for about 4 chapters and didn't miss anything. I got to 70% before I felt a hex and had to stop.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute, fun, really well written!

This was really enjoyable to read. Ethan is whisked away to an alternate earth (Aerth), And discovers fun and amazing veterinarian-related magic and skills. Hijinx ensue. The world is lovingly described, The characters are well written And easy to imagine.

The only downside of this book was that it was so much fun to read and then it was over.... I will be excited to read book 2 when it is ready.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and Adventure!

Well written fantasy with likable characters, (the good guys, and gals), and despicable bad guys.
The world building is well done without being overdone, and the way magic works is interesting.
The “Dali” avatar is intriguing and I’m interested to see how the author develops the character.
It’s a great start to the series, and I look forward to reading the next book!

[Murphies_law · Rating 1 out of 5]

A big nope! Super juvenile.

DNF at 3%

Oh great! The protagonist is another hero who accepts being isekaied at once and just goes straight to business without looking back. Actually, this guy sets a new record for speed adaptation and acts like a male version of know-it-all Hermion Granger from the start..

Comments:

He is a veterinarian and his gamer friends call him criter. Maybe it is just not my kind of humour..

[Scott Davison · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great world building story

I always like stories about professions with a twist. I would have liked more about treating the magical animals. When this book was more like “All Creatures Great and Small” and the protagonist described procedures like the unicorn birth the book was better. He could have made the point scoring reports less wordy and the novel would have been paced better, too.

[Susie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute story. Our hero, a newly minted veterinarian, was summoned to a different, albeit still very earthlike, world to assist a sorcerer in healing his griffin. Things happen, sorcerer dies and hero gets stuck in this new world... but he's kinda ok with that. In trying to fulfill sorcerer's last request, hero makes a bit of a boo-boo and, well, that leads to opportunities as well as problems.

I think my only issue with this book is how closely this world copies our own - Earth, Aerth, England, Genland, etc. I guess I understand why the author did it, but it still kinda irks...

[Jim Gutzwiller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arcane Veterinarian

Well done! It was a engaging tale, and went on to show what could happen in the multi verse.

I enjoyed the tale quite a bit, and have preordered book 2. I hope to find it as engaging and pleasant as book 1.

I will have to read more by the author just to see what they can do.

Thank you !

[Michael Sammons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite a fun read

I really enjoy stories that revolve around characters that are quirky yet down to earth. This book has that in spades and constantly has you chuckling. The only thing that pulled me down from the fun were a few scenes that I read as a dream and most of the way through it realized it was real

[Anne V · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun Story

A mostly immersive tale, and generally good read. The RPG elements were a bit clunky, but easy to skip over. The only real drawback was the author’s occasional attempts to use old fashioned language, which resulted in some jarring errors. “Beset” does not mean what this writer thinks it means!

[Shanamarie Rushing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different

The idea of an arcane veterinarian is definitely different. The story moves very quick, going from being pulled into another world to being a hero in less than a month. It is kind of nice not to have to go through several books to get a happy ending. I am looking forward to the next installment.

[RGaskin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The intro with the description of Ithaca NY was scary true. As a vet, I could use the powers critter has. The character development was good. The interactions and environment are developed enough for the story to hold together. I usually skip the stats pages; I do not care to get that in-depth. Good read.

[Alice · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF after the first chapter. Everything was told, not shown - e.g. "he did this, then he felt like this and did that." Eventually, every other sentence in dialogue was an exclamation. The MMC wasn't realistic with his reactions at all IMO after getting forcefully isekai-ed to another world and told to treat a griffin by some random wizard.

[Charles Hagberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

1 great book !

I think this author nailed it in his book. The characters are great Animals are great Can't be an archangel without having arcane animals And the author nailed it too Read book to read I hope everybody enjoys as much as much as I did.

[Jim Phillips · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well...

I was a lot more interested in the possibilities this book presented. All told I wasn't really appreciative of the result. I will say it was written extremely well with almost no typos.

[g roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything is great....except


Love the concept, the YA video game slant, animals, romance, quest, all good. Please, could someone proof read for typos/spelling?

I'm still reading the next book.

[Dennis Heizelman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

I enjoyed the book. Interesting characters, interesting story. The world was similar to others I have read about but had its own nuances that made if stand out. Overall a very good read.

[Rita Schenck · Rating 4 out of 5]

delightful story

This book reads like a cross between Herriot and Lord of the rings. A delightful read.
I have to say that misspelling leading to malaprops is annoying as usual but I enjoyed the book so well I’d be willing to edit it for free.