If you don’t want your Year of Sanderson SP2 spoiled, this post is not for you.
We know just enough about this book to be dangerous,. You’ve been warned. Spoilers begin after the illustrations below, or within the links in the next paragraph. Choose wisely.
If you’ve come, eager to know everything available, join me as we dive into what Brandon has said so far, and what spoilerific tools we have to speculate with, which came from the first few chapters, which Brandon read out loud and a spoiler livestream he released on youtube during his record-breaking kickstarter.
For all backers the ebook and audiobook will be released on April 1st. The leatherbounds and boxes will ship some time in April, it seems that unfortunately, the delays that are affecting the first quarter's leatherbounds are a foreshadowing of similar delays with the second wave of leatherbounds.
SP2 is illustrated by Steve Argyle, and according a contributor on the r/Sanderson subreddit, will be narrated by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading (if that turns out to be incorrect, I'll fix this bit, I had a hard time confirming the audiobook narrators for certain. It was probably mentioned on a Youtube video that I didn't track down).
Oh, you're still here, eager for spoilers? You have chosen... wisely.
So the title of SP2 is The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England.
Sanderson is known for thoroughly outlining his books. FWHSME is the most discovery written of the SPs
The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England, or FWHSME, was a bit of Brandon channeling Terry Pratchett, and Doug Adams' Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy with distinctive "wackiness and satire."
FWHSME takes place outside the Cosmere. This is likely because of Brandon's desire to contain interdimensional hopping within certain parameters. FWHSME throws caution to the wind, as the first six chapters indicate that a corporation is able to provide access to limitless dimensions, and provide a curated experience. Although time travel is not existent in the world of the book, one can find a dimension which exists with near exact characteristics of, say, 12th century England, shielded from technological advances in the same way that rural Nebraska is shielded from the coastal regions of the United States. These alternate dimensions simply took several more centuries to give birth to Chaucer in the same way that Napoleon Dynamite was an effortless throwback to the eighties, while being filmed in rural Idaho in the 2000s.
A foundational seed of the book is the "Bourne Identity" trope, in which the main character discovers himself in a strange place with a case of amnesia. This also occurs in Andy Weir's project Hail Mary. This is mixed with the idea of an adventure in 13th century alternate dimension version of England. Brandon's sneak peek revealed the main character is astonished to recall that medical nanites make him impervious to blows from a sword, as long as he blocks with his arms. The fact that FWHSME takes place outside of the Cosmere also means the Brandon has more latitude for freedoms like this, without needing to worry about larger ramifications for future plot lines, which I find fun and refreshing.
There is an in-world handbook, eponymous to the book itself, written by one Cecil G Bagsworth III, a famous interdimensional traveler who has previously appeared in Brandon's "Alcatraz" books, and was the editor in Dan Wells' Night of blacker darkness
To be honest, I'm not much for speculation. But here's a little bit for you, just for fun. Brandon also has talked on his Youtube channel and podcast about the idea of a book with an "Attack on Titanic" plot (not my idea, I think Isaac or Brandon mentioned "Attack on Titanic after a viewer put it in a comment during the live stream). The idea was that two time travelers compete in the middle of a historic tragedy. One of these time travelers would, for example, be tasked with preventing the titanic from sinking, while the other would simply work to thwart this individual's every rescue effort. Although this is not what Brandon went with in the end, from his sharing of this idea, I suspect there will be plenty of secrets from the home dimension hidden from our main character stricken with amnesia. As he makes discoveries about his strange new world, and about the life he left behind, and has doubly lost to amnesia, these home-dimension interferences may be some of the biggest sources of danger and conflict within the story.
Have you read SP1? I loved it personally, and am so excited for FWHSME. I opted out of the leatherbound copies, and I am happy with my choice of ebook and audiobook. But, it would be neat to talk more with people who took a higher tier, to see what they think of the year of Sanderson so far.
Take care, talk to you next time.
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