The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England was one of the four extra books Sanderson wrote during Covid, his secret projects, as he’s calling them. This is a sci-fi novel with the conceit of appearing like some kind of time travel. A man finds himself in some version of Anglo-Saxon England with a half-burned guidebook and no memory of why he’s there. It’s a light-hearted sci-fi/fantasy adventure, and promises to be fun, but I don’t really like it that much.
It’s not all bad. I admire Sanderson’s willingness to write about the Anglo-Saxons rather than the High Middle Ages with its knights and cathedrals and feudal castles. It is a good piece of worldbuilding to conjure up this earlier, less glamorous era of history. There are also the usual Sandersonian mysteries, and a usual Sandersonian optimism in his morality that makes the book a bit of light fun. I had no problem reading it (Sanderson is never a chore to read, really). The problem is that the story is hard to love.
Sanderson has his weaknesses: rather poor prose, and sometimes a tendency to dumb down the language and thematic material in YA novels in an attempt to appeal to youth. I also find his jokes a bit obvious, dad jokes if you will. But usually this is more than counterbalanced by exceptional, extraordinary worlds with detail and intricate magic systems or sci-fi ideas. Add on an exceptional talent for mind-blowing endings that tie together disparate elements of the plot into a cohesive whole in a way you couldn’t imagine, plus many touching and moving character arcs, and you have masterpieces. It doesn’t hurt that once his stories get going, they have a way of compelling you forward. Sanderson usually knows how to architect his plots.
But it seems he doesn’t this time. The story plods along, not for a lack of things happening, but because the stakes never get high enough to engage you. I don’t really believe anyone’s in danger, and I don’t really care that deeply about any of the characters or what they’re fighting for. Apart from just being there and being archetypes, I don’t feel like I get to know any of these characters. Furthermore, the world-building doesn’t excite me. I don’t get a wow moment at all. All I feel is a bit of interest, and a sense that this is a slightly dull theme park with a dash of danger, except I’m not that interested in who is at risk from that danger. Add on the fact that Sanderson uses his YA style of writing here, which isn’t that good, even though this isn’t really a YA story as none of the protagonists are teenagers.
I don’t know, I just don’t get it. Maybe you’ll love this story, but I think there’s much better Sanderson out there. Try Elantris, or The Emperor’s Soul, or even Skyward, and leave this one on the shelf.
Wet Broken Things 