A man wakes up in the middle of a field with no memory at all as to who he is, where he is and what has led him to arrive there. And his only clues are some scattered and partially burnt pages from The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England. Soon he realizes that he has arrived in an alternative dimension, similar to medieval England, makes (grudging) friends with some of the locals and embarks on a mission to rescue a kidnapped kid — and find his way to escape.
A crossover science-fiction/fantasy novel by Brandon Sanderson, illustrated by Steve Argyle. Not part of The Cosmere.
Illustrations can be found on Sanderson's website
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This book provides examples of:
- Actual Pacifist: Yazad, who is a Zoroastrian, believes in love, peace and friendship among people and preaches to those around him — even though life in the dimension's version of medieval England is brutal and overall dangerous.
- Adaptational Villainy: In classic Norse Mythology, Wotan is a rather dark antihero who at least is motivated by trying to stop Ragnarok. Here, Woden is an outright Jerkass God who delights in sacrifice, favors the Hordamen and takes his anger out on his own followers.
- Adaptational Heroism: In the original myth, Loki uses his Thokk persona to delay Baldur's revival until after Ragnarok. Here she uses the Thokk persona to... walk around being weird and annoying.
- Added Alliterative Appeal: Skops' boasts are heavily based on it — no wonder, as they are based on Old English poetry, which often used this device.
- A God Am I: "Interdimensional wizards", people venturing into less technologically advanced dimensions, are expected to and usually do use their technology to perform feats of 'magic' to win over the locals. Sometimes they're content to be perceived as 'wizards' but the handbook mentions being regarded as a god more than once. Judging from the very end of the book Woden, Logna, and the other gods also appear to be dimensional travelers that may or may not be doing the same thing.
- Alternate History: All dimensions are like that, meaning that at one point in time they split off from the main current and the differences can be very little or very big.
- The Bard: Skops are variation on that, as they not only tell stories (and histories) but also perform ritual magic based on poetry.
- Bavarian Fire Drill: Runian finally realizes that he doesn't suck at everything, that he was actually really, really good in the arena and that Ulric disabled his plating because it was the only way to guarantee Runian would take the fall. So Runian decides to take advantage of the dimension's weird influence on luck and pretend he's gotten his plating back so he can psych out Quinn and Ulric and win the final fight.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Sefawynn is a mild case of this. While she is a kind and brave woman, she's also knowingly misleading people to get by. She can see spirits and knows the history and storytelling arts and that these used to have power, but has lost faith in the ability of skops, herself included, to work meaningful magic. She's still willing to risk her life to protect others at least. Jen, on the other hand, is a much straighter version of this; Runian remembers her as being a kind and patient wife who put up with him until his behavior got bad enough to drive her away and then she died, whereas in reality, she cheated on him for years and eventually faked her own death to become Ryan's informant into Ulric's gang.
- Boring, but Practical: Due to the structure of the multiverse and magic's reliance on quantum uncertainty, magic can't be exported to Earth. Ulric's evil plan is essentially using magic to keep winning the lottery (and other luck-based events) in his home dimension, and then use the money to become untouchable (and make more money).
- Born Unlucky: Runian is just a crappy dude with a best friend who's better than him at everything... and doesn't like him. A plot point has him finally convincing Ryan that maybe Johnny's not a terrible person and Ryan great, but that luck can compound. Johnny gets a computer virus that makes him miss a test, that costs him a good school, that means he can't get an opportunity, etc. etc., whereas Ryan gets into school, makes a valuable connection, gets a good placement after the academy, etc. etc.
- Borrowed Biometric Bypass: At the end of the novel, Ealstan cuts an arm off a mook so he can use his biometrically locked gun.
- Brick Joke:
- Every time Sefawynn rolls her eyes at Runian and then claims she was just checking something in the sky or on the ceiling.
- Also every time people behave strangely around Thokk.
- Chekhov's Skill: Drawing, which Runian learnt at art school, turns out to be the best way to impress Sefawynn and Ealstan, as well as helping him to scare off the first wave of the Hordamen.
- Con Man: Sefawynn suspects Runian is one, pretending to be an aelv to scam the locals. She's also one herself.
- Cool Old Lady: Thokk wanders where she will, given respect but not reverence from people. She's the Goddess Logna, and also the 'wight' that follows the protagonist around.
- Deconstruction: It's not a major focus, but the story does deconstruct some popular fantasy tropes.
- Vikings and Norse Mythology are pretty popular nowadays. This story goes out of its way to show what the Vikings were like from the perspective of their victims.
- Embarrassing Nickname: The protagonist's real name is John and that's how he always introduced himself in his world, but old friends and associates constantly call him Johnny. He's pleased when Sefawynn and Ealstan continue to use Runian for him.
- Enchanted Forest: Settlements in the dimension are huddled on a narrow strip of land between the sea and the forest — which is the domain of spirits. Most locals try to avoid it, just in case.
- Eternal English: Skewered. The Frugal Wizard company only puts dimensions that speak English on the market (except on request), making it more likely for Runian to land in a world that speaks English. They still have no idea how this can happen in the first place.
- Everyone Knew Already: Everybody but Runian is completely aware of who Thokk is, and he notices that they tend to give each other meaningful looks whenever she's present. She thinks his lack of awareness is funny, and when he finds out and is shocked, his friends are bewildered that he hadn't known all along too.
- Feeling Their Age: Ealstan, in his forties, considers himself to be getting old, which astonishes Runian. It's not because of any notion that forty is old, Ealstan mentions his grandmother reaching a hundred and retaining a sharp mind, but because he has to fight to keep his family safe and is no longer at the peak of that ability.
- Foreshadowing:
- Thokk is mentioned to be the hearth-tender. Loki has links to fire, possibly even hearth fires, a nod to how she's this world's equivalent of Loki.
- It's mentioned repeatedly that this version of The Multiverse uses a branching-timeline model, where every universe was identical to ours until a single event happened differently, at which point they diverged. This seems to be directly at odds with the idea that only this dimension developed real live gods and magic...but it turns out to be a hint that they're not from this dimension.
- God of Good: Ahura Mazda is said to be this just like in real world Zoroastrianism.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Fenrir is as real as the other Norse gods here and is lurking somewhere in the world, plotting when he'll bring the end of days.
- Healing Factor: In Johnny's world, everyone has nanites that heal their wounds and protect them from any and all infections. In addition, they can be transferred to other people through blood.
- Heroic Sacrifice:
- Runian is ready for it as he believes this is the only way to save the reality. Logna proves him wrong.
- In the backstory, Woden's wife, Frigga, saved the world from Fenrir but died in the process. This is what drove Woden over the edge making him a Jerkass God.
- Hidden Disdain Reveal: Sefawynn claims to be devoted to Woden, but in truth she loathes him. When he helps the Hordamen launch an invasion of the entire country, she snaps and starts insulting him causing her Skop powers to activate as the wights flock to her.
- Identity Amnesia: The starting point of the story — The Protagonist wakes up in the middle of the field with no memories of his identity and what events led him to this point.
- Interdimensional Travel Device: Portals that allow travel from one dimension to another.
- Jerkass Gods: Woden's wife came and helped the Anglo-Saxons in their hour of need but was killed doing so, and this frightened and enraged Woden, who forbade the people from writing and withdrew favor from them, leading to the power of the skops fading. Woden's faithful fear but don't love him and are divided on whether their suffering and any sacrifices they make of themselves will regain his favor, while still empowering the Hordamen who worship him and make increasingly bloody incursions on them. Logna says he favors winners and has abandoned them.
- Lethal Harmless Powers: Landswights are far from harmless, but their ability to assemble and disassemble objects seems like simple Utility Magic. Then a wight disassembles a human.
- Kansas City Shuffle: John quickly realizes that Thokk pretends to be a witch for her own safety, even catching her hiding behind a rock for her mysterious entrance. She's actually a god pretending to be an old lady pretending to be a witch.
- Lampshade Hanging: Interspersed in the story are sections from the handbook from which the novel takes its name - essentially a big explanation slash advertisement for buying exclusive access to a dimension from Frugal Wizard, a rather shady-seeming company. One bit of the FAQ is wondering how it's at all possible to go to a Medieval England dimension and find people there speaking perfectly comprehensible modern English because that's incredibly unlikely. The cheerful response is that it must not be that unlikely because there are so many dimensions where it happens.
- Magic from Technology: Travellers from further upstream to derivative dimensions are equipped with futuristic technology to impress the natives, so that they are revered as wizards. The epilogue heavily implies that this might be true of gods as well.
- Men of Sherwood: Since he arrived in the dimension alone and with no chance of backup, Ryan Chu has enlisted help from the local outlaws — who turn out to be decent men in general and good fighters. He's even started dressing like Robin Hood.
- The Mole: Jen has disappeared on her trip to Europe because she is working as one in Ulrich's organization in collaboration with Ryan.
- The Multiverse: The premise of the setting is that there is an infinitive number of alternative dimensions which might be very similar to ours or very different.
- Not-So-Phony Psychic: Sefawynn explains that the power of the skops was quite real and helped her people to survive by making deals with well-inclined wights and chasing off malevolent ones, but ever since Woden's wife was killed that power has been on the wane. Sefawynn herself has very little power and considers herself shamefully akin to a conwoman doing what she has to in order to survive by scamming people. Near the end of the book she defies Woden, which inspires the cowed wights around her to protect her and the city.
- Outside-Context Problem: All the Personal Wizard Dimensions (trademark) are medieval-type worlds without magic, so a "wizard" who buys access to one and comes in with any level of technology - and the Frugal Wizard company also sells "wizard staffs" to help awe the populace - is completely outside the experience of the local peoples. They can kill a "wizard", it's just a lot harder than normal. The dimension where the book is set is the only one where something like magic has been observed.
- Paranormal Gambling Advantage: Ulfric's evil plan is to harness magic and keep winning the lottery, giving the cartel endless money.
- Perma-Shave: People in the protagonist's time all have the benefit of medical nanites that give them all kinds of benefits, including the ability to decide how much if any facial hair to have. Runian's face is noted by the Anglo-Saxons to be as smooth as a woman's. He considers updating his nanites' instructions and giving himself a beard like everyone else has, but Sefawynn advises against it, since he's odd in so many other ways that he might as well not try to hide it.
- Rage Against the Heavens: After a book of stubbornly insisting that they have to keep faith that Woden will come around on them eventually, Sefawynn snaps and rails against her god, claiming she's always hated him, improvising poetry scorning him, and inspiring all the cowed wights who she hadn't previously been able to influence to sudden, vigorous action.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Nothing explicit is shown, but it's repeatedly noted the Hordamen love to kidnap women, usually right after murdering their husbands.
- Rape, Pillage, and Burn: What the Hordamen do to the settlements that they overrun.
- Real After All: The pagan gods of this world are very real, as is the Skop's magic.
- Refuge in Audacity: Thokk says that her trick for passing herself off as a witch is to act always like she's following "Screw the Rules, I Have Supernatural Powers!". After all, no frail 80-year-old lady would travel across the bandit-infested countryside alone if they weren't a witch.
- Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: At the end of the book Runian learns that his former girlfriend is actually not dead and this was a misunderstanding, with perhaps some malicious intent, since he learnt it from her family who never liked him.
- Runic Magic: Runes can be used to bind or loosen spirits. Unfortunately, using them is forbidden by the gods.
- Science Destroys Magic: Modern technology brings pain to spirits and is slowly destroying them, which might lead to their end.
- Shout-Out: One illustration contains a quotation from The Merchant of Venice, a quotation from Friedrich Nietzsche and an allusion to Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask).
- Shown Their Work: The author has a particular interest in this period of history, when Anglo-Saxons were the dominant people of the British Isle, and boasts in the afterword about having a period-checker who barely had to change anything.
- Toxic Friend Influence: Ryan is a heroic example. He's a good guy, but he treats his "best friend" Johnny like shit, not even bothering to call the guy by the name (or names) he's chosen for himself (John in the past, Runian in the present). He's so convinced Johnny is a worthless piece of shit that he convinced Johnny that he was a worthless piece of shit. Overcoming this and realizing that he actually was good at some things and is a good person is Runian's arc.
- The Trickster: Goddess Logna, which is only fitting, as she is Loki. Her Thokk disguise is actually from real Norse Mythology. In the original myth, Loki turns into Thokk to (temporarily) halt Baldur's resurrection by refusing to mourn him.
- Trade Snark: The excerpts from the eponymous Handbook; being an in-universe commercial product, comes with plenty of this, as well as carefully worded legalese, and potential side-effects when traveling dimensions.
- Unexpectedly Real Magic: John draws a rune on the Hordamen's ship to intimidate them, believing he's just exploiting their taboo against writing. It bursts into flame.
- White Man's Burden: Mentioned by name in the handbook, with 'White' crossed out and replaced with 'Unspecified Ethnicity', as a package sold by the Frugal Wizard company.
- Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe: Averted, as everyone in the medieval dimension speaks modern English, with just a few exceptions like "aelv" or "craeft".
