Book Review: Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians

Paperback Writer here...again. :)

I just finished Brandon Sanderson's book Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians. And I have to say, I haven't enjoyed a book like this since....Harry Potter. Okay, okay, is that really saying a lot? Well, perhaps. :)

Anyway, like Harry Potter, Alcatraz Smedry (yes, Alcatraz Smedry) is an orphan...an orphan who seems to possess special skills. His Talent is breaking things. No, seriously. That's his talent. And on his 13th birthday he receives a special package from his long absent father. The present? Sand.

Wait! Don't go. I'm not that crazy.

Really. :)

Just go with it, okay?

Obviously, this book is geared toward the younger set. But I throughly enjoyed it as well. And perhaps, that's because I'm really a big kid at heart. Throughout the entire book, Alcatraz consistently breaks the "fourth wall" by talking to his readers and reminding them that he "is not a nice person." He repeats this many times leading one to believe that maybe he is a nice person.

At the root of the story is Alcatraz trying to retrieve his inheritance from librarians, which goes without saying that all librarians are evil in this book. They want to take over all the world (Free Kingdoms and Hushlands respectively). With what? The help of Alcatraz's special sand.

Oh, go on. You know you're intrigued.

The only fault that I have with this book? That I finished it within a day. It's only 300 pages. ;)

Anyway, this obviously is going to have a sequel...perhaps more than one. But, we'll see where it goes. I've a pretty credible source telling me that Sanderson has been tapped to write the last Robert Jordan Wheel of Time book.

Nine out of ten stars.