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Writer's pictureEmilia Dodge

The Frugal Wizard’s Guide for Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson


Hello everyone!


I’m currently catching up on a backlog of arcs that I have read/needed to read so the next batch of review will be a mix of new publications and stuff from last year that I need to catch up on. Today’s book is a “catch up” book. 


I have never read any of Brandon Sanderson’s books but my dad SWEARS by them. The Frugal Wizard is actually a part of a Kickstarter campaign Sanderson did to self publish four books, and it was the most successful kickstarter of all time. People really love his work. Unfortunately, I am not one of them. As well loved some of his books are, this one just wasn’t for me. Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Publishing for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. This post may contain spoilers. 


Let's get into it


eBook

Publisher: Tor Publishing

Publishing Date: June 27, 2023

Genre: Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Rating: 2/5 stars

384 pages


A man, who we later learn is named John, wakes up in an alternative dimension where he lands in medieval England. Upon waking up, he not only doesn’t know where he is, but doesn’t know who he is. While trying to figure out where/when he is, he meets Sefawynn, a storyteller, and Ealstan, a local leader, who he travels with to stop Ulric, a man he remembers from his dimension, from harming the earl and the people who live in the area. John learns that he traveled to this dimension with a guide, The Frugal Wizard’s Guide, and is collecting pages to try and piece together his life and better understand the dimension he landed in. John eventually remembers who he is, only to realize he’s not the hero he thought he was but a lackey fighter of Ulric’s. 


I really enjoyed the pieces of the guide sliced throughout the story. It helped with the world building but it wasn’t a huge info dump that took away from the arc of the story. I also really enjoyed all the art in this particular book. 


Unfortunately, there were more things I disliked about this book than liked. I found John to be an incredibly unlikeable character. It made it hard for me to root for him and his success when I could not force myself to be interested in his character arc. I also found that the plot itself was lackluster. The ideas were there, I just found that they were executed poorly. The idea that you could pay to travel to a parallel dimension is fun and interesting when the characters in the story make you want to keep reading. I also had an issue with the writing style when John was narrating. I don’t mind first person narration but the overuse of the rating joke really took me out of the story. Personally, I don’t find that sort of joke funny and it was incredibly overused within the story that I kept rolling my eyes every time it happened. Also, spoiler ahead, but the fact that John chose to run away to another dimension because he thought his girlfriend was dead only to find out that she was very much alive and having an affair with his “best friend” the entire time of their relationship is heinous. 


I really do want to give Brandon Sanderson another try. I just think I chose the wrong book to ease into his works. I’ve heard great things about his Mistborn trilogy and the books he wrote to finish the Wheel of Time series. I’ll have to try something else and give it another go. I do think that this is the book for someone, just not me. The book is available where books are sold, and I’ll link places to buy the book below.


Until next time!


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