The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England (Secret Projects 2)

I have read a number of Brian Sanderson's series. I enjoy his elaborate world-building and magical systems, but have always thought of him as an "epic" fantasy writer. "The Frugal Wizard's Handbook" proves that Sanderson can be funny. Very funny. The book postulates that we have somehow established the ability to visit other Earths in the Multiverse. All the Earths can be visited during their Medieval period by romantics wishing to live out their fantasies. All the other Earths are different from ours in unpredictable ways. And, inevitably, crooks find a way to exploit this. Our hero (a former crook himself) finds himself unwittingly on another Earth, with only a partial Handbook, and must discover not only who he is but what is going on in his particular Earth. It was a delightful tale, and I am glad Sanderson has revealed his Puckish side.

This was an interesting book. A concept that I've never considered. I enjoyed the narrator being in the first person and the ending was great. The characters are memorable. The main character/narrator was open so that I could see into him.

Fun easy read, definitely worth it. It was funny, had some drama, some love and some cool sci-fi. Really enjoy this author!

I gave it 4 stars because, really... Brandon Sanderson has zero trouble collecting stars. It is also a petty act on my part. I am not a young man.Brandon Sanderson gained my eternal gratitude by completing The Wheel of Time. But this Cosmere thing is a Wheel on steroids kinda project. And as I said, I am not a young man.Don't get me wrong. I adore his writing. And I marvel at his production. But the sheer volume of individual letters an characters it is going to take to finish 5 more complete Stormlight novels is staggering! The novellas not withstanding.Mistborn is fixing to leap into my era... Sorry, I find big hair exciting. And then on to worlds no man has gone before!We as of yet don't have Nightblood's biography. And canon or not I wanna know what 6th finds in the... I don't remember right off hand what they called their Shadesmar.However Elantrians are popping up EVERYWHERE! Along with chickens and dragons. Don't get me started on Chiri-Chiri.White Sand... Ugh. I'm just totally not a graphic novel guy. But what I read in the Arcanum Unbounded in novella form was good. I'm not lying. Don't like graphic novels. And yet I own all three.You see Brandon. I'm committed to finishing your Cosmere. And I know you are a writing machine beyond all mortal understanding. But I'm gonna need a little more focus out of you. PLEASE!!While I feel confident Amazon delivers in heaven. And my Kindle will probably get AMAZING Wi-Fi there. My odds of admittance is somewhat less of a certainty.All of that balderdash said. This is not a Cosmere story (1 star for lack of focus) it is a wonderful yarn! I loved it. 5 stars. Read this BOOK!!

I was skeptical from almost the first page, finding the excerpts from the manual jarring but Sanderson weaved his magic to create a gripping story that leaves you so happy with how it all ended!

We are taken on an adventuresome journey to Medieval England where magic exists and modern conveniences don’t! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and 👍🏻👍🏻. Would highly recommend.

This was pretty funny. It was like a satire of Game of Thrones and Jason Bourne all in one. John had a good arc, but kind of like Tress — his conflict was all too easily resolved. I wish Sanderson would make things a little harder on his protagonists, but this was still so silly and cringe funny. It was like reading erotica but without the sex. Haha. I liked it a lot.

Good stuff overall, took a bit to get to the great part, but when it got good, it got real good.

The unknown man certainly finds himself in something of a pickle – not only is he in the middle of a medieval clearing, but he can’t recall who he is or how come he pitched up in this world. I’m a bit torn about epistolary novels. Done well, the extracts from documents/journals/letters can add an interesting layer of subtext to a book. The extracts from the titular Handbook certainly give the reader a slew of information the main character, who is also the narrator of the adventure, can’t possibly know. However, some of the extracts turn up right in the middle of an unfolding adventure, which caused me to skim some of them – particularly in the early part of the book when I found their abrupt insertion rather annoying. That said, I increasingly enjoyed them and the ongoing, relentless sales pitch which is both ironic and funny, in addition to the blithe explanations of exactly how these parallel worlds functioned. I got the sense the reality isn’t quite as cosy as the guidebook claims – the vibe reminding me of Diane Wynne Jones’ marvellous book The Dark Lord of Derkholm where a fantasy land is also ruthlessly exploited for tourism.It's a tricky business to have the reader fully bond with a losing underdog. There was a stage in the middle of the book when I wasn’t sure that I particularly liked our confused protagonist. It seemed he isn’t nearly careful enough of the people who’d invested in him. However, the way we learnt who he’d been and what he’d done alongside his own discoveries about his past is cleverly handled and by the end I was thoroughly rooting for him. The medieval setting is well evoked, with the extra flourishes brought in by the time travellers to make their survival within such a harsh environment more believable.The only quibble I have with the book is the illustrations. These days, I read everything on my kindle, which didn’t do justice to the sketches depicted throughout the story. Perhaps the ebook publication should have less drawings, but made those selected larger and easier to see. That said, although the technicality was annoying – I was aware of their quality, but simply couldn’t make the drawings dark enough to fully appreciate them – it wasn’t a dealbreaker. Overall, this is an entertaining timeslip tale ideal for fans of adventures full of incident and action, with a believable character on his own personal journey in the middle of the mayhem. While I obtained an arc of The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook For Surviving Medieval England from the publishers via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.8/10

Simply great, read it noww. Some more words, just read it. Believe the rating and read it, now, not later, nowww

The writing style is spectacular. The plot is great and it's an incredible mix of fantasy and sci-fi. Completely original and an extremely entertaining read.

Efter Tress of the Emerald Sea var förväntningarna skyhöga. Denna boken tycker jag inte är lika bra som Tress, men en solid fyra. Brandon har en hög nivå på sina böcker och jag har aldrig blivit besviken.

Es de esos pocos libros que volveria a leer dentro de unos años, es genial, lo termine y siento una sensacion de vacio :c