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The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England

The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England

FantasyScience Fiction
Pages
366
Published
2023
Language
English

Synopsis

A man wakes in what appears to be Anglo-Saxon England with no memory of who he is or how he got there. He has a handbook — The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England — that suggests he purchased a trip to an alternate-history dimension. The chapters are interspersed with excerpts from the absurdly practical in-universe travel guide, which cheerfully advises tourists on how to navigate Viking raids and medieval hygiene on a budget. As the man pieces together his identity and the reason he was sent to this dimension, he discovers the locals have their own relationship with magic that complicates the supposedly mundane alternate history he purchased. The most comedic and least Cosmere-connected of the 2022 Secret Projects, it was published as Secret Project 2.

Prose complexity
4/10

Vibe

FunnyAdventurousLightheartedWhimsical
Fish Out of WaterMystery BoxComing of AgeFound Family

Genres

Fantasy Science Fiction Time Travel Adventure Humor Alternate History

About the author

B
Brandon Sanderson

Born in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1975, Brandon Sanderson spent his early twenties working graveyard shifts at a hotel — writing novels at the front desk between guest check-ins. By the time his debut, Elantris, was published by Tor Books in 2005, he had completed thirteen novels in the drawer. His subsequent Mistborn trilogy and the ongoing Stormlight Archive series established him as the primary architect of the Cosmere, an interconnected fictional universe in which most of his fantasy series share...

Characters

John WestProtagonist

A man with amnesia who wakes in Anglo-Saxon England carrying only a budget travel handbook, piecing together his identity while gaining the locals' trust.

SefawynnSupporting

A local Anglo-Saxon woman who becomes John's guide to the world he has landed in, with her own understanding of the magic that runs through it.

EalstanSupporting

The thegn of the local town, who joins John and Sefawynn in rescuing Sefawynn's kidnapped brother.

All characters in The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England

Frequently asked questions

  • Is The Frugal Wizard's Handbook part of the Cosmere?

    No — it is a standalone story with no Cosmere connections, making it the odd one out among the 2022 Secret Projects.

  • What is the in-universe 'handbook' framing?

    Each chapter is preceded by an excerpt from the fictional tourist guide The Frugal Wizard's Handbook, which cheerfully advises budget travelers to alternate-history medieval England on surviving Viking raids, disease, and local customs. The guide's breezy tone is a major source of the book's comedy.

  • Is this part of the 2022 Kickstarter?

    Yes — it was Secret Project 2 from the Kickstarter campaign that raised $41.7 million.

  • What is the tone compared to Sanderson's other work?

    The Frugal Wizard's Handbook is one of Sanderson's most overtly comedic books, closer in spirit to Douglas Adams than to the Cosmere epics. It is shorter and lighter than the other Secret Projects.

  • Was The Frugal Wizard's Handbook nominated for any awards?

    It was a finalist for the 2023 Goodreads Choice Awards in Fantasy, though it did not win.

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