The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England
By: THE Brandon Sanderson
My Rating: Four out of Five Stars
Best for: 16 and up

And the award for best title goes to…

Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell! Yay!

The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England is a close second. But it IS #1 when it comes to “he woke up and couldn’t remember a thing” stories by Brandon Sanderson. It’s also the only one…but still. The Frugal Wizard was an exceptionally fun read, and the ending kept me guessing to the very last page!

It’s the second “Secret Project” book that was part of the now famous Kickstarter of March 2022. This story is a unique addition to Sanderson’s ever growing collection because it’s mostly ScyFy with a hint of fantasy magic. It’s also a non-Cosmere stand alone, it’s got a bit of a romance, it’s under 400 pages, AND it’s intentionally hilarious! Plus the main character is modern and has a questionable past–so he uses language that fits with his character. There’s more PG-level language in this story than in all of Brandon’s other books…combined. All of those elements are unique to what you’d normally find in a Brandon Sanderson book.

I think the uniqueness was cool, but it also felt like it was a bit out of his comfort zone, maybe? The language, while mild, was unexpected. The world building was awesome, but it was a bit confusing The character development was classic Sanderson, but felt rushed. There’s a whole lot of fun art, but it wasn’t always clear how the art was supporting the story.

No matter, those things are like complaining about too much sand on a beach vacation. Frugal Wizard was great fun!

The story is BrandoSando’s take on a “white room” story: A person wakes up with no memory of who they are, whey they’re in the middle of a field, and why there are people dressed like medieval peasants sneaking around him. As memories return to the MC, pieces of the puzzle start falling into place for the reader–but the complete picture isn’t formed until the grand finale-ala-Sanderson. You can expect aha’s and goosebumps aplenty!

Plus, I just continue to be in awe of how he’s able come up with yet another unique and SUPER COOL science-based magic system!

Brandon Sanderson is genius!

Because of the language and a bit of violence, I’d say The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England is best for 16 and up.

Happy Reading!