Ulric had been wielding guns to awe them, blowing apart people who angered him. But these people were used to bullies. They weren’t impressed by the ability to kill. They were impressed by the ability to live.
The Frugal Wizard's Handbook For Surviving Medieval England
by Brandon Sanderson
Genre: Sci-Fi
About: A man, or perhaps wizard, wakes up in a forest with no memory of his name, where he is, or how he got there. A few burnt up pages scattered around him offer strange advice as he slowly realises that this is not his world, and the people here seem straight out of medieval times. There are Vikings, mob bosses, bandits and gods to contend with. And no wi-fi.
Thoughts
This seems to be the least liked of the secret projects so I went in with low expectations, and I think that helped because I enjoyed it overall. The humour is a bit repetitive (talking bananas, carp diem, star rating every living and not living thing in sight) but I liked that element of light-heartedness. The world here is pretty brutal and a lot of the characters are killers, so a few cheesy jokes here and there worked for me personally.
The concept is really cool (Sanderson talks about how he came up with the story at the end and that's also interesting to listen to) and, as always, the man knows how to build a world. I loved the details. It doesn't read like historical fiction in the slightest but it does feel like a real world with real people.
The pace is a little slow and the story has a familiar feel to Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, except that I preferred that one, so I can understand why this isn't the fan favourite, but there's still great character development and a satisfying end.
He wrote these secret projects for his wife and to have fun, and that's what this story is really. A fun, sweet adventure in a world where he turned history into playdough and just let loose. It does also have meaningful moments that make it, not my favourite of the secret projects, but definitely a solid, memorable read.
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