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Product Description
Review
Praise for Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians
"Sanderson unexpectedly draws everything together in an extravagantly silly climax. Readers whose sense of humor runs toward the subversive will be instantly captivated. Like Lemony Snicket and superhero comics rolled into one (and then revved up on steroids), this nutty novel... [is] also sure to win passionate fans." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
"This is an excellent choice to read aloud to the whole family. It's funny, exciting, and briskly paced. Best of all, the message it gives young readers is that a person's flaws—being late, breaking things, etc.—can sometimes turn into useful talents." —Nancy Pearl, National Public Radio
"The conventional trappings of the middle-school fantasy get turned upside down in this zany novel.... The adventures [are] engaging as well as silly. Readers who prefer fantasy with plenty of humor should enjoy entering Alcatraz's strange but amusing world." —School Library Journal
Product Description
Alcatraz Smedry, the boy with all the wrong talents, has a lot to prove and, as always, little time in which to do it! In bestselling adult fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson's final adventure in the series, will Alcatraz be able to keep Crystallia from crashing down?
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.4 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
War against the Evil Librarians!, Jan 11 2011
By RavenRing - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Alcatraz Versus The Shattered Lens (Hardcover)
Alcatraz and his friends prepare for war with the Evil Librarians, but the council is still in denial. The Librarians are laying siege to the city of Madira(?) and the council refuses to send help. In a moment of stoopidity, Alcatraz hatches a stoopid plan - he will go to the besieged city and the Knights of Crystallia will be forced to follow! But will Alcatraz be able to handle a full on war?This book is certainly the weakest in the series. The story is good, though a little more serious then previous installments, and the humor is as amusing as always. But what really takes away the enjoyment of the book is the reoccurring joke on "stoopidity". I didn't think it was funny the first time, nor the 98 times after that.
But if you are an Alcatraz fan this is still a book worth reading. The plot doesn't move as quickly as it did in the other books, but it has some very important moments at the end. We get to meet a new Smedry whose talent is being bad at math. Alcatraz comes to some important conclusions about talents and his family.
The story doesn't end with this book. Hopefully that means that there will be another book. When I met Brandon Sanderson a couple of years ago, he told me that he had planed the Alcatraz series to be 5 books, but Scholastic only contracted him for 4 books. His website (brandonsanderson.com) doesn't have any information on a 5th book, but hopefully that is just because he is busy with other things right now.
***UPDATE***
I found an interview on Tor.com with Brandon Sanderson (posted 1/10/11) and he talked about the 5th Alcatraz book. He said that Scholastic hasn't asked for a 5th book and he was waiting to see if might get another movie deal, but if nothing happens with either of those by about this time next year, he is going to just go ahead and write the 5th book. He will either release it as an ebook or sell it to Tor. So we will probably have to wait another 2 years for the end of the Alcatraz series :(
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
More Alcatraz fun!, Dec 31 2010
By Adrian - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Alcatraz Versus The Shattered Lens (Hardcover)
I've read every book so far and it is with a sad heart I have to say I thought this one was slightly below par. Instead of being absolutely brilliant, it's only very good. There's the usual funny lateral thinking and word play by Sanderson, crazy use of strange new talents by Smedry's (we meet Alcatraz's younger cousin in this book) and more plot development. In fact, the twist toward's the last quarter of the book means there is no way this is the final installment the series.(unless the next book has a totally new series name, but continues the story)Where I was a bit peeved was the repetitive use of going off plot, of being too "stupid"- you'll understand when you read the book. Perhaps I'm being too adult to appreciate it :)
Would I recommend this book? NO...unless you've already read the previous 3 books! Well, what are you waiting for? Go and read Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians right now!!!!
And a note to Mr Sanderson...this had better not the be the final book mate, or I'm going to chuck a right fit!!!!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
More of the humor and characters that we love, Dec 12 2010
By Michael Eldredge - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Alcatraz Versus The Shattered Lens (Hardcover)
Alcatraz Verses the Shattered Lens is an excellent installment in a great series. Anyone that has read the other books in the Alcatraz series know what to expect. This book continues the traditions of a snarky narrator, an engaging plot, fast paced action, a lot of jokes (both obvious jokes and subtle ones), a few running gags, and an entertaining and well developed setting.In this novel Alcatraz finally fights the evil librarians in an actual siege. This means the characters that we have grown to know and love act in a much more active way, rather then react to their opponents threats. It really highlights how far each of the characters have come from their first incarnations and helped me remember why I liked the books in the first place.
The Shattered Lens also advances the overall story of the Alcatraz books very well. <mild spoilers> In this book the main character finally gets a chance to have a real conversation/reconciliation with his mother. He also explores the nature of Smedry talents and sets up for the fifth book in the series.
<\spoilers>
I loved the humor, the characters, and the story.
The only real complaint that I have is that it suffers from middle book syndrome. This means that the most interesting aspects of world building take place in previous books, and the most interesting character conflicts are not resolved over the course of the novel. (They are advanced, and many interesting developments take place, but overall there are still a lot of threads left hanging.)
If you enjoyed the other books in the Alcatraz series then I can assure you that you will like this installment in the series.
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