sumaiahareb 's review for:

The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson

2.5

medium-paced

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Okay so… this one was a weird ride. I went in expecting classic Sanderson; tight plot, cool magic, maybe a twist or two. but instead I got a kind of bizarre mash-up of sci-fi, and time travel that felt like it didn’t quite know what it wanted to be!!

The premise is fun in theory: a guy from a futuristic world ends up in a version of medieval England, with memory loss and a mysterious “frugal wizard’s guidebook” to help him out. It sounds chaotic in a good way, but it ended up just… being chaotic.

The humor felt forced half the time, like it was trying so hard to be quirky and clever, but I found myself eye-rolling more than laughing.

Also, compared to Sanderson’s other work, this felt thin. The worldbuilding wasn’t deep, the emotional beats didn’t land, and it just didn’t stick with me.

Not Brandon Sanderson worst, but definitely not his best.