Frugal Wizard Full Book Reactions

[StormingTexan he/him]

11 hours ago, Bondsmith-Edgedancer said:

Probably just as good as Tress, or very close.

Blasphemy! Just kidding. Glad you enjoyed it!

This was weird for me there are a lot of aspects I liked it just never came together for me. Which is odd because I liked Perfect State and Snap Shot which are in a similar vein as this one. I did not hate it but cannot say I really liked it either. As many books as Brandon writes this is bound to happen from time to time. I feel the same way about Skyward just could not get in to it after the second book. 

[Storyspren]

This was a book for me. Brandon must know a classic underachieving job hopper. It came close to convincing me to do stuff. I loved this book. I predict Book 3 will not be the same quality as 1 and 2 but then Secret Project 4 will blow us away with awesomeness. There is no way there can be four this good. No possible way. 

[a Faceless Immortal he/him]

I quite enjoyed it. Not quite as good as Tress; definitely had all the twists and was a bit strangely paced in that regard, but the premise was cool, the plot satisfying, and the hate-able characters EXTRA hate-able (storming Ryan and storming Jen. No wonder John had self-esteem issues.)

Also, anyone else here read Anathem by Neal Stephenson? Does the dimensional travel seem familiar to you, or is it just me ...

[NameIess]

I found Frugal Wizard a fun read. I feel like whenever Brandon puts out a non-Cosmere book, I always got through the same pattern of not thinking it’ll be that good, then reading it and realizing how wrong I was. This time I went through the cycle twice, when it was first announced and I read the preview, then when the book actually came out.

Most of the book wasn’t quite as good as Tress, but the ending was far better in my opinion. I’d love a sequel, but I’m not getting my hopes up. This wouldn’t be the first non-Cosmere book that Brandon’s left sequel-less for years.

[StormDad]

I didn’t love this book. It was fun but I had a real hard time getting into it. The characters felt a little flat to me. I loved the whole premise of the story with the interdimensional travel and all of the moral quagmire that would be.  But the book never really caught me where I couldn’t put it down or couldn’t wait to read it again. 
 

I really didn’t like the handbook parts the felt very distracting and the humor felt too silly for me. I also have to say I didn’t love the art. It felt overly juvenile to me.

my prediction is that this will be the weakest of the four. When creating a 4-person relay team you generally put the strongest in the 4th spot, next strongest in the 1st spot, then the 3rd spot and the weakest in the 2nd spot. I think the kickstarter novels will be like this.

Edited May 7, 2023 by StormDad

[VirtuousTraveller he/him]

I know I'm a bit late to the reaction on this (but to be fair, my book only arrived a week or two ago), but some thoughts I didn't see from others here:

• Mythology - there was a very cosmere-like mythology presented in this story, however this thought is less about the quality of the mythology (it was ok) and more that I appreciated that my mind has now become primed to question myths BECAUSE of Brandon's use of mythology in other stories.  I assumed Black Bear was another "upstream" person who somehow came to this dimension at some point in the past (and if Brandon wrote it that way on purpose, congrats you did great - if not, I'd say missed opportunity, but it didn't take away from the story that this wasn't expanded upon).
• No Memory Trope - as a big fan of Project Hail Mary, I felt A LOT of the spirit of this story was pulled inspiration-wise from this, and I'm really thankful Brandon highlighted that in the afterword.
• Language - I swear every time the words "Hot Damn!" or "Hell" appeared it felt out of place and it took me out of the flow of the story (I cringe even typing this).  These little interjections didn't feel genuine at all, and so it was swearing for the sake of making a character seem tough because they swear (I guess?)

Overall not the worst book I've ever read, and I was generally satisfied at the end.  I don't think this needs a sequel or a connection to anything else - it stands alone pretty well for what it tries to accomplish!

[ftl]

I enjoyed it! It gripped me and I was excited for the ending.

I don't think it's a classic like MB1 or Stormlight of course, but it's a fun read and I would totally recommend it to anyone who likes Sanderson.

[alder24]

Worldbuilding: 4.5/5 - great idea, cool immersion, would want to live in this world (with medical nanobots), need a spirit that would fix my shoes.

Characters: 4/5 - I felt the struggle of John, like alternate-Earth characters, they fulfill their purpose in the story.

Humor: 4/5 - nice marketing jokes, all of them, made me smile.

Artwork: 4.5/5 - fun doodles, great paintings, nice stones (would want to pour water on them)

Ealstan shooting Urlic: 5/5 best part of the book, so badass.

Jen: 0/5 - worst gf ever.

 

Overall rating: 4/5 stars, would read a sequel.

[Xaladin he/him]

Is this in the same universe as Snapshot, perhaps?

[Treamayne]

3 hours ago, Xaladin said:

Is this in the same universe as Snapshot, perhaps?

Not currently. Snapshot was originally in the ReckonersVerse (but that may change due to different companies liscensing rights for Film/TV).

Frugal Wizard is currently set in its own universe, that may also have books by other authors. From the Postscript:

Spoiler

The fake author of the book, Cecil G. Bagsworth III, is a character that has shown up before in books I’ve written. (He’s the in-world editor of the Alcatraz series.) He’s shared by me and my friend Dan Wells, as we dreamed him up back in college: an interdimensional adventurer and writer. Like Indiana Jones if he worked in publishing instead of archaeology.

So, it's possible Dan Wells (and maybe others) will eventually write "Frugal Wizard" stories.

[digitalbusker he/him]

In the end I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would in Part 2. I probably won't reread it, but that's mostly about it being a standalone.

(ETA: I read this after Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, due to Reasons, and I was interested to see stacks of rocks in the chapter icons and some of John's early wight interactions.)

I want to be clear, I am NOT saying that people's reactions to the narrator are a one question personality test that says whether they're a Ryan or a John. I'm not saying that.

(This is the part where I'm supposed to say "I'm not NOT saying that," but honestly that seems rude to the many probably perfectly nice people who just didn't vibe with the voice.)

I hope somebody has compiled the little wizard comics. The giant strawberry made me laugh out loud. The other moment that did that was Ealstan figuring out how to fire a future gun.

Anyway, four out of five: entertaining, strong ending, a good gift for the burnt out gifted kid in your friend group who needs to figure out what is and is not their responsibility and maybe cut some toxic friends out of their lives.

Edited July 13, 2023 by digitalbusker

[Treamayne]

6 hours ago, digitalbusker said:

I hope somebody has compiled the little wizard comics.

Did you read (or do you have) the ebook? I talked about this in my reaction post. Mervin, to me, was the best part of the book - and because there are no margins in an ebook, his tale is collected as a 2-3 pg comic at the end of each "part."

[Telperion he/him]

Was skeptical at first. But very shortly let go of my reservations and tried to just enjoy the whimsical nature of the book. I did audio book was excellent. I dont normally read whimsy but this was a nice break. I like it as much as tress for other reasons they are both great in their own spheres 

[TheFrugalWizard he/him]

I enjoyed this book a lot. It had Brandon's classic style, and the reveal at the end, showing how interconnected everyone was gave me flashbacks to Warbreaker. You can probably tell I enjoyed it. I am the Frugal Wizard, after all! 

Anyways, I was laughing about this. I was trying to get an AI to generate a picture for my homepage.

I think this proves that Bing can get drunk.

[Hoid’s #1 Soldier]

I slept on this book all year thinking I wasn't going to enjoy it as much as the Cosmere novels. I even kept the hardcover in its wrapping. I read it this past week and I was blown away! I think this was my second favorite novel in the Secret Projects sequence. I think my rankings would be Sunlit Man, Frugal Wizard, Yumi, and then Tress. Yumi is very close behind, and I might push it to be ahead of Frugal Wizard since I'm still fresh from reading Sunlit Man and Frugal Wizard and may be biased. 

Really loved the magic system. As a fan of mythology, reading the alternate tale made me giddy with joy. I loved the worldbuilding, the goofiness of the main character (Upset he stopped saying "Hot damn!" after Part 1, though) and the atmosphere of the possibilities. The Epilogue leaves me wanting more. I'd be interested in seeing what other alternate dimensions exist, and how the rest of the world is different if there are already confirmed to be gods there.