A review by shanaqui
The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I wanted to have more fun with Brandon Sanderon's The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England. I went into it already primed for the fact that it's a bit silly, for a certain kind of humour, which isn't always my thing -- but I was prepared to go along with it and have a good time anyway. In the end, there was just a bit too much of it for me: too many cutesy inserts of the handbook, too many stabs at corporatespeak that were just a touch too predictable.
It might've been alright for me if the characters had really grabbed onto me, but they didn't. The protagonist is a fuckup, in part because he's been told he's a fuckup and he's just gone along with it because it seems obvious, but also because he's not as clever as he sometimes seems to think he is when he's not being down on himself. I didn't appreciate one of the twists very much, and I was eyebrow-raisy about the love interest, and the ex-friend, and... gah, a bit too much of it, as you see.
I think there's a lot of fun here for someone who is more into the humour of it, and it was certainly very readable... just a bit too silly for me. I had to put it down for a bit when the protagonist used the word "Nintendo" as part of fooling people into believing he was doing a magic spell. Just, ack, not for me.
It might've been alright for me if the characters had really grabbed onto me, but they didn't. The protagonist is a fuckup, in part because he's been told he's a fuckup and he's just gone along with it because it seems obvious, but also because he's not as clever as he sometimes seems to think he is when he's not being down on himself. I didn't appreciate one of the twists very much, and I was eyebrow-raisy about the love interest, and the ex-friend, and... gah, a bit too much of it, as you see.
I think there's a lot of fun here for someone who is more into the humour of it, and it was certainly very readable... just a bit too silly for me. I had to put it down for a bit when the protagonist used the word "Nintendo" as part of fooling people into believing he was doing a magic spell. Just, ack, not for me.