99000

Witty, funny fantasy in an alternative dimension. ( )

This is a 3.5 for me.

I felt that Brandon Sanderson really had fun with this one. I have not read any of his books outside of his Cosmere universe, but The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England strikes me as something quite outside his usual wheelhouse. And that's meant in a good way - if you are looking for a fun read with an interesting premise, a decent plot, and a generous dollop of sci-fi mixed with history, but want to avoid an army of characters, reams of lore and convoluted storylines and subplot, I think this is a worthy contender. On top of that, the art from Steve Argyle is (as others have remarked) perfectly suited to the vibe.

Unfortunately, the book's strengths are also its weaknesses. I did feel that the setting, while vivid in some places, was not fully fleshed out and inconsistent in others; the characters, other than the main character, were a bit flat and sometimes even caricature-like (perhaps intentionally so); and although the overall storyline was entertaining, it did feel a bit simple at times and there were some "really?" moments for me. Ultimately, I don't think that these critiques massively hindered my enjoyment of the book, and I would still recommend to anyone that I thought would be interested in the style and genre, but probably not a book that I'll be reaching for as a re-read in the near future.

So, 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 for some of the self-consciously-joking-yet-deadly-serious interludes and the art. ( )

I now a lot of people liked this the least of the secret projects, but I thought it was a unique idea and enjoyed the quick story. Tress was better, but this wasn't as disappointing as reviewers made me believe. ( )

Funny, with heart (which is how much of Sanderson's stuff goes). I'm curious about how this one will be received as it's non-cosmere by nature of mentioning Earth places and sci-fi, but at ~337 pages it's a relatively quick read.

Either the PDF or physical Dragonsteel edition recommended for [a:Steve Argyle|5387498|Steve Argyle|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s fantastic drawings and the marginalia doodles in particular! The epub version in the Year of Sanderson downloads has alt text apparently, and someone on reddit compiled them together to read the mini comic embedded within!

I like the alternate dimension concept, as well as John's misconceptions about the medieval era popping up (like how castles and knights in armor are a later era).

"The knowledge you hold from a simple high school education is vast compared to the comprehensive knowledge of some of the weightiest minds in history. You carry technological marvels that could literally topple kingdoms in your pocket, or perhaps embedded in your own body." ( )