The Apocalypse Is a Side Quest, Book Two

Some heroes save the world. Nathan's busy fixing the irrigation system.

Nathan—the apocalypse's strongest man with an inexplicable talent for fishing—has a problem with priorities. After being separated from his allies during the final battle of the first circle, he's trapped in the second circle—an endless desert wasteland where survivors have cobbled together a fragile kingdom on the brink of collapse. And there’s something worse hiding in the dunes: the Dustend, a magical storm strong enough to rip through Nathan's Constitution like tissue paper.

The main goal is obvious: avoid the arcane tempest and find his way to the Third Circle before it's too late.

But Nathan's attention? Thoroughly elsewhere.

There's a dying city-state to save, with farms to repair (the blue window promised him XP!), political factions to navigate, and a gang war between magical fish that desperately needs his intervention. Will the countless hours Nathan spent on farming simulators back on Earth somehow save a people on the brink? Or will his remarkable talent for getting distracted by optional objectives finally lead him fish-first into oblivion?

©2025 Shadow Alley Press (P)2025 Shadow Alley Press

A fantastic continuation

Such a fantastic continuation of the story. More world building, hints at the MCs past, and more interaction with new characters. If you enjoyed the first one this is just a beautiful continuation. Now the wait for the next one.

Great but had some issues

The first segment of the book was great plenty of fishing plenty of side quests my only issue is with Nathan as a character and how he suddenly became like someone else in the second half. Sure he's always been socially awkward but the 3rd circle cranked it up to 11. Nearly all his issues in cicle 3 could have been solved if he didn't hide himself and him suddenly not wanting to help people while clearly also wanting to help greatly diminished my enjoyment of the last 5 hours of the book.

Lovely!!!

This second book was much better than the first! It had me hook and wouldn’t let me go. You are going to love this series and be glad that it broke your expectations like it did mine. Can’t wait for book 3 to drop!

Just ok

First book was good enough to get me to buy the second. I’m not sure what changed, but I didn’t enjoy book 2 near as much. Maybe I was hoping for less op hero main quest stuff and more city manager/fishing stuff or new minigames that keep the story going.