Greetings, frugal and not-so-frugal witches and wizards! In these times of financial instability, you may be asking yourself, “Is The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England worth the investment?” Well, the answer to that question is…
…pretty easy to determine, actually! It depends on a number of factors—which means it’s time to ask yourself, “Do you enjoy pretty pictures?” “Do you enjoy the satirical works of Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams?” “Do you enjoy speculative fiction, specifically sci-fi and alternate histories?” And, of course, “Do you enjoy talking bananas?”
You may be thinking to yourself right now, “Um, isn’t this the part of the review where you’re supposed to tell us what the book is ABOUT? And… talking bananas? What IS this?!”
Well, you see, dear Frugal Reader, this book is incredibly difficult to summarize without giving away massive plot points and fun twists and turns! You see, it’s about a person who materializes in medieval England—or, well, an approximation of medieval England—without any memories.
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The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England
“Oh,” you’re thinking. “That old chestnut?”
I know you’re thinking it. I saw you roll your eyes. What, do the words “omniscient narrator” mean nothing to you?
So, here’s the thing. This story revolves around our protagonist discovering his own past, fleeing from shady people from his own time with nothing but scraps of a silly handbook to help him on his way. So, giving away anything else about the story will ruin the fun of discovering the answers right along with him.
Maybe I can tell you a few more things…
Like the fact that the wizard in question has a really nifty pointed hat, as featured on the cover.
And there’s what looks like a laser gun too. Super futuristic. Very spiffy.
And the artwork inside is really, really cool. Especially the artwork of the talking bananas.
And I can tell you something else, something I’ve actually been telling you this whole time in a very sneaky, subtle way…
That’s right. You guessed it. If you’ve enjoyed this writing style, it’s probably a good bet that you’ll enjoy this tale.
Now, this said, I am afraid I do have a few criticisms and quibbles to mention, here. Parts of this book do read a great deal like the aforementioned Adams and Pratchett—particularly the “Handbook” asides, which are a lot of fun. But the majority reads more like a traditional sci-fi adventure. There’s still a lot of fun to be had in the main story, and the narrator has a great character voice, but I found the asides to be more entertaining than the main arc, for the most part. Which leads me to my main criticism.
All told, this is not one of my favorite of Mr. Sanderson’s works. As a matter of fact, I’d rate it quite low on the Sander-scale, just above Snapshot. As a student of history, I found the alternate history aspects of the narrative to be a little… off-putting. I appreciate what Sanderson was doing, but it didn’t quite hit right for me. There are also no Cosmere tie-ins for this one, as it’s a standalone novel. This may be more your speed, if you’re not interested in spending a decade on the Coppermind wiki sifting through lore in order to find all the Easter eggs and tie-ins between the various books. With The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook, you can simply sit down with your hot or cold beverage of choice and read the book from cover to cover, set it down with a contented sigh, and know you’ve come to the end—you’re not left with burning questions or expectations of anything further from this particular book/world. Sometimes having a tale that’s complete within the covers of a single book is very satisfying. And it’s worth noting that while this doesn’t rank highly on my personal scale of Brandon Sanderson’s works, that still puts it head and shoulders above many books and stories I’ve read.
But if you’re looking for something closer to Sanderson’s usual style, with deeply complex magic systems and multiple intricate POVs, this one may not be your cup of tea.1 Or whisky.2 Or banana smoothie.
See? Brought it back to the bananas. It all comes back to bananas.
So, let’s discuss—I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts on The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook! Does the sci-fi standalone format work for you? Is Brandon Sanderson actually a talking banana in disguise?3 Let us know in the comments below!
The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England is available from Tor Books.
Lyndsey lives in Connecticut and makes magic wands for a living, as well as working as the costumer for two of her local Renaissance Faires. If you enjoy queer protagonists, snarky humor, and don’t mind some salty language, check out book 1 of her fantasy series. Follow her on Facebook or TikTok!
[1]Earl Grey, hot. Naturally.
[2]I recommend Singleton 15 Scotch.
[3]I'm pretty sure, though of course DNA testing is coming back inconclusive due to the scientifically transient nature of bananas, *especially* talking bananas.
I started it literally yesterday, am about 30% in and liking it very much. I have never read Pratchett (yes, I know, I know! It IS somewhere in the TBR in the future pile, I promise!), but I must admit, however fun the handbook excerpts are, I personally prefer the main story. Also, as much as I love the connected Cosmere stories (and I really do!), it is kind of refreshing to get a separate standalone (not that I want too many of them, but having this one now is a pleasant surprise and a good thing to recommend to friends who might want to try out Brandon’s work but are afraid to immerse themselves in the Cosmere yet).
As for the answer to your last question, Lyndsey, Brandon Sanderson is definitely not a talking banana in disguise. I mean, we all know now it is a title wielded by a group of shadowy book-writing ninjas that allows Alcatraz Smedry’s books to be published here in the Hushlands.
Curious to know, since this book has pretty pictures of talking bananas (an unmissable part of the equation), if viewing said pictures of aforementioned bananas upon the e-ink screen of a reader would diminish the experience. I haven’t picked up Sanderson in a hot minute and this looks like a reason to do so again that won’t also require a lot of foreknowledge.
Thank you, good witch, for sharing the best type of review (spoiler-free, and geared towards identifying the potential readers who will enjoy/not enjoy the story–much more helpful than specifics).
Thanks for the review, Lyndsey!
I have my copy, but I haven’t gotten to it yet. But I am really excited! It sounds right up my alley, and I am looking forward to a non-Cosmere standalone book from Sanderson.
I read it when it became available, liked it, thought it was entertaining, but I am unlikely to read it again.
I would however read a number of books about the side characters, i found them considerably more interesting than the main.
I love Pratchett. I’m part of the Tor.com book club. I love a good aside but, holy Bananas Pajamas I’m number 9 in my library hold queue. I must be patient and wait my turn.
4. I would agree. Especially a certain preacher who shows up partway – easily my favorite of the cast.
I also strongly preferred the asides to the actual story. just was not motivated to care about the main character, plus his slowly-revealed backstory seemed to have little relationship to the way he behaved and his personality…
I actually did enjoy the main story, even if it was nothing too big or surprising. I felt it was a nice little adventure. Sometimes, you need stories that aren’t doom and gloom, and I did feel the main character did like this place. But than, I also really enjoy sanderson’s non cosmere adventures because they are different quite fun takes on the usual genres, like with evil superheros like with the Reckoners or even this being his take on Isekai. A solid fun little read. Now on to this next one in just a short while.
I wasn’t as enchanted by the worldbuilding as I was with Tress, so overall, I’ve found this to be the weakest so far (I’m about a quarter of the way through secret project 3). I also in some ways enjoyed the little asides/excerpts more than the actual story! I wasn’t quite as bothered by the alternate history/dimension concept although I see how it could see grating.
I’m just not sure if I cared much for the main character. I did enjoy the ‘white room’ aspect of the mystery, and in some ways the point of the main character was that he was just kind of a ‘nobody’ who finds it in him to be heroic at times (which also seems to be kind of similar to one of the project 3 povs) and the concept of getting to re-invent yourself is also worth exploring…but overall, I just didn’t find it quite as engaging as Tress’s POV. Some of the banter/chemistry with the female lead also fell flat at times, but that might just be a me-thing.
But as you say, it was still a perfectly satisfying read.
I loved the book, but I’m a sucker for a good redemption story. The poetry/boasts were very well done. The best part was the self esteem/discovery aspect. Phenomenal.
Never be ashamed of joy, friends.