Bestiary, Book 1

By: Kirk Mason

Narrated by: Tom North, Faye Bishop

Siege the castle? Not my style. Save the world? Never gonna happen. Create a bestiary business with a group of beautiful yet contrasting women? Now that’s more like it!

One minute I’m in a tree, pointing my camera at a tiger, the next I’m on my back in a medieval fantasy world, while a skittish blonde hovers over me, hoping I’m not dead.

I’ve never felt more alive.

Because although the dutiful smith’s assistant warns me away from the town’s sinful witch, I still have to go. The witch has the only bestiary book in town, and that’s my one hope of a comfortable life—I don’t feel like donning knight's armor.

Turns out, the bestiary is terrible—it's just primitive drawings, annotated by the tall tales of drunken adventurers. I know an opportunity when I see one. It’s a good thing I’ve been transported here with my camera.

If only I knew someone with magic powers, able to transfer film to parchment. Someone like the witch, currently scowling at me. How will she look when I turn her house into a walk-in bestiary?

And how about a scribe to pen beautiful prose beside the photos? The shy smith’s assistant wrote some incredible weaponry advertisements. I can find a few better uses for her.

It’s a shame the girls dislike each other. I’m gonna have to show them they’re more similar than they know. For starters, they’ve both taken a liking to me, and I don’t feel like choosing.

©2021 Kirk Mason (P)2025 Royal Guard Publishing LLC

Good story, but the narration Oh god the narration

"...and then the silence was so awkward I felt it my soul."
The story is interesting enough, and the narration was pretty good.
BUT, there were some stumbles that made me laugh out loud. Some of the lines read by Faye Bishop can be best described as awkward. I could be totally off base, but it felt like alot of effort was put in to compensate for comparatively lack experience.
God bless her soul but I cringed so hard I burst in giggles when the heroines "talked" the morning after meeting in the tavern.
All in all, I'm looking forward to future installment. This is an interesting take on the isekai genre that I want to see explored more.

awesome

thank you it helped me do a lot of driving for a sad reason, and i cant wait ffg or the secind book.

Decent story

The writing and performance is fairly good. One thing really soured the story for me though, the protagonist is kind of an asshole when he doesn't get his way. He basically bullied the two women he liked into accepting the harem relationship. Sure, they eventually learn to enjoy the arrangement, but the way he instigated it seemed to border on emotional abuse.

interesting story

I liked the story. it flowed well and didn't have any major hiccups. unfortunately, the male narrator was very monotone. no matter what was happening, he didn't seem like it mattered.

new twist

this is a new twist on a new life. there is no swords or fighting of any kind. it is a light hearted story of a photographer that acts like a playboy.