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

Book 2 of Sanderson's Kickstarter is here and it's an interesting deviation from this usual style. Here's the blurb:

A man awakens in a clearing in what appears to be medieval England with no memory of who he is, where he came from, or why he is there. Chased by a group from his own time, his sole hope for survival lies in regaining his missing memories, making allies among the locals, and perhaps even trusting in their superstitious boasts. His only help from the “real world” should have been a guidebook entitled The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England, except his copy exploded during transit. The few fragments he managed to save provide clues to his situation, but can he figure them out in time to survive?

As a novella, I'll forgo my usual format and just write out some impressions. More after the jump.

This was quite an unusual novella by Brandon Sanderson. It is told in the first person, which is unusual from most of Sanderson's books, and by a character who can't fully remember where he is. Part of discovering who he is and what he is meant to be doing is a huge part of the book. More interestingly is the setting. Without spoiling much, the main character finds himself in a pseudo medieval England trying to recover his memories and survive. I say pseudo because it isn't actually medieval England, though there are similarities. There's quite a bit of altered Norse mythology as the equivalent of Vikings are raiding the shores. In addition, here is talk of wights and the gods (like Woden and Logna), and other manner of things that you can't tell if they're real or superstition. But, like in any Sanderson book, weird things start happening. How much of it is imagined vs real is something you'll slowly discover.

Overall, the book was a very fast read and very fun. Once all the pieces click together it's more waiting to see how much the main character will take it and how his unique personality will play into the narrative. At the end, I was left wondering about some details. There are some subtle hints that make me wonder if Sanderson will revisit this universe. 

Finally, there are some neat art pieces and doodles throughout the book. They didn't show up great in my Kindle, but there is a page you can check them out in higher resolution and full color.