Book Review: The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England
The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England is the second of Brandon Sanderson's Secret Projects from his record-breaking Kickstarter Campaign. It's the only one of the Secret Projects that does not take place in Sanderson's interconnected world, the Cosmere, and as such, it feels much different than some of his other work.
Premise:
A man with no memory wakes up in a field with nothing but the singed pages of a book called The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England.
Book Talk:
I won't go into plot details here so as not to spoil anything, but I will give my take on this book in comparison to the other Sanderson books I've read.
Sanderson has a keen ability to throw the reader into a new world and then take his time building tension and doing some great world-building until accelerating into a climax that many call the "Sanderlanche." Of the Sanderson books I've read this book accomplished this feat in the least impressive way, but still did so in an enjoyable manner. Because of the nature of the setting being something the reader is at least partially familiar with, Sanderson didn't have to world-build as much as normal. The differences between what is expected and what really happens is usually dealing with syntax and differences in terminology rather than super distinct changes. This might not make sense without more context, but, again, spoilers.
The lead character was likable enough but somewhat forgettable, especially when Sanderson has created such great characters as Vin, Kelsier, and Spensa in other books. However, while Sanderson has always been light on romance, the relationship portrayed forming here was well-paced and believable, albeit sparse like the rest of his work. Subtlety is definitely the name of the game with a Sanderson romance, so his readers should not be surprised here either.
The climax had its exciting moments but fell a little flat for me overall. This is one of those books where the premise has been done before in other genres and maybe done better, but the charm and ease of Sanderson's writing tends to make up for some of the detriment of the story. He has created some of the richest fantasy worlds we have in literature, but this one isn't one of them.
Still, despite its flaws, even a lower-tier Sanderson book is still better than most. I can still recommend it for a quick and easy read that won't challenge you too much. I ended up reading most of it while waiting at the car dealership to service my truck. Of the six Sanderson books I've read it's my least favorite, but it is better than many other books I've read this year. I guess my hopes were a little high going into it because I'm such a fan of his Cosmere and Cytoverse books.
Rating: 4 / 5 (My least favorite Sanderson book so far. But, hey, it’s still pretty good, you know?)
Find The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England on Amazon.