The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England

This is definitely a different book than most of Sanderson's stories. I liked the setting and the fact we had to figure out the character along with him. It reminded me of Lightsongs search for his former self in Warbreaker, which I also really enjoyed. I didn't fully love John as a character though I am not really sure why. The beginning came off the ground a little slow and before I knew vaguely what was going on it was a little boring. After that, I quite enjoyed it, especially the inserts of the handbook. 

Pretty decent, but not amazing. A good, compelling read with a good heart, but there really isn't much going on here. The writing tone doesn't quite land - feels like it's trying to be casual and funny, which it kind of is, but not really. As far as sci-fi goes, the core concept is pretty cool, but compared to other sci-fi, the envisioning of the future is pretty shallow and doesn't feel very ‘real'. Apparently 2080 is largely just like today but with a couple additional pieces of cool tech. Still, looking past that, it's a pretty good story in an interesting setting.

This was fun, but it is a long way from Sanderson's best work. The basic conceit that advanced technology would be indistinct from magic to a more primitive society is a fun one, the use of multiworld and portal fantasy to act on that idea works well. As always Sanderson's prose is very easy to read. But then it destroys that conceit by providing a portal world that does actually have magic in it, which feels like a bit of a wasted opportunity.

The main character, John West, is well drawn. I appreciate the use of a white room setup - with John trying to figure out who he is as part of the background. The local characters to the dimension are all also well drawn. The other characters from John's home dimension are more of a mixed bag. Some of the dynamics there just feel a bit weird?

The Saxon world is also well built, with things almost but not quite following a semi-historical course here. It feels well researched with a nice sprinkling of Norse and Old English mythology thrown in.

I am not sure that the Frugal Wizards Guide excerpts work especially well though. They are repetitive, the humour just feels very forced, and I think the small print references are much more culturally referenced in America than other parts of the English speaking world, which feels strange for a book supposedly referencing medieval England.

This is not a bad book but compared to other Sanderson books it really does not stand up particularly well, with some slightly strange directions to the story. Worth a read for curiosity's sake, but not essential Sanderson reading.

Great adventure! I loved it. It was great to come back to a stand-alone story. Highly recommend it if you are looking for one book, one story, and not too long, especially if you are looking for something short, fun, and simple before sinking your teeth into another big saga.


¡Gran aventura! Me encantó. Fue genial volver a una historia de un solo libro. La recomiendo muchísimo, especialmente si buscas un libro con una historia rápida entretenida y divertida que te relaje antes de hincarle el diente a otra saga grande con muchos personajes, lugares, mapas y complejas relaciones.