Germination, Review

Battle Mage Farmer, book 2: Germination by Seth Ring

“He didn’t want a throne or a title. He wanted soil, silence, and a reason to believe he could still do good.”

YES. YES. YES. I’m absolutely loving this series so far. We’re only two books in, and there’s still a long road ahead, but Battle Mage Farmer is already proving it has something special. Seth Ring does a great job with the pacing, characters, and tone, making it all come together and click.

Germination goes beyond your standard fantasy tropes. Sure, we’re dealing with world-ending threats, dabbling in ancient magic, and uncovering mysterious pasts. But at this point in the series, we are about more than just epic battles and overpowered spells. It’s about growth and rebuilding. The primary quest is still “grow wheat that can save the world,” after all. But there’s also growth of the personal kind, emotional, psychological, and even spiritual, as much as someone like John can manage, anyway.

“He could level cities, but today he was worried about cabbage worms. And somehow, that mattered more.”

And speaking of John, he remains the core that holds this whole thing together. He’s powerful enough to shatter kingdoms, scarred enough to want nothing to do with that power, and exhausted enough to wish the world would just leave him be. But it won’t. His past won’t stay buried, and peace doesn’t come without responsibility. Germination does an excellent job peeling back more of his layers without overexplaining. We get glimpses of the man behind the myth, and that only makes him more dangerous.

This book also expands the world in a meaningful way. New players enter the scene, old tensions deepen, and the stakes keep climbing. Yet it never loses the smaller, quieter moments that made Domestication so effective. Watching John debate soil acidity or deal with stubborn bureaucrats is somehow just as satisfying as seeing him obliterate threats with the flick of a wrist. The series continues to walk that fine line between slice-of-life and high fantasy, and somehow makes both feel essential.

“Peace isn’t the absence of trouble. It’s the choice to keep building anyway.”

The tension builds slowly but deliberately, and the payoff is worth it. Germination doesn’t end with a massive climactic battle, and it doesn’t need to. What it offers instead is harder to achieve: real character development, steady momentum, and a world that resists easy answers.

So yeah, I’m all in. This series has earned my trust, and I can’t wait to see where it grows from here.