That said, just because these are “kids’ books” doesn’t mean adults can’t enjoy them too.

More than once I found myself wishing there had been books like this when I was a child, because I would have eaten this one up. This is Sanderson at his funniest, combining his good-natured humor with a spirit of adventure. Still, I could hardly hold that against him, considering the many times his narration drove me to hysterical fits of laughter. Alcatraz himself is a bit of a trickster, often going on wildly bizarre tangents and freely admitting that he’s not a very nice person for yanking the reader around. The story is clever and beyond hilarious, thanks to the playfully sarcastic voice of our protagonist. For centuries, they have been controlling information and spreading lies to keep everyone blind to their dastardly plans of world domination, but now that Alcatraz has learned the truth of his birthright, he and his new allies are going to strike back at the heart of the enemy-by planning a daring mission to infiltrate the central downtown library.ĭon’t let the synopsis of the book fool you, because the utter absurdity of the plot actually belies its sheer ingenuity. But before you can even say “Gee, thanks mom and dad”, the bag is stolen by a member of the Librarians, an evil cult that knows the sand is more than it seems. It all began with an old bag of sand, mailed to Alcatraz on his birthday-the only inheritance left to him by his birth parents. He is thirteen years old and lives with his foster parents. The real person behind this novel is a young boy named Alcatraz Smedry. The Evil Librarians is the first in a fantasy adventure series featuring its eponymous protagonist who is narrating this book as its writer-“Brandon Sanderson” is just a front, you see. Don’t let that stop you if you think this might be something you’ll enjoy, though! Personally, I jumped into this first book amidst a bevy of reservations, but I ended up loving it to bits.Īlcatraz vs. By his own admission, this series is very different from his normal style and they tend to be a source of contention among his readers. After all, very rarely do I dip my toes into the Children’s/Middle Grade category, and they did seem far removed from the author’s other work.

But in my own defense, these books do fall a little outside my purview.

I’ve been a terrible Brandon Sanderson fan! Seriously, how else to explain for the many years it took me to finally read his Alcatraz series? Mea culpa, it was complete negligence on my part, and I am sorry.

Review copies were provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. the Evil Librarians books 1 & 2 by Brandon Sanderson

Alcatraz evil librarians