Sanderson, Brandon. The Dark TalentSeptember 6th 2016 by Starscape
Copy provided by the publisher
Alcatraz Smedry's life has never been easy. Ever since he left his foster home in Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians (Scholastic, 2007), he's had to deal with his mother, who is an evil librarian, his father, who is trying to give Talents to the entire world, which will probably not end well, and a host of librarians who are bent on destroying him. His grandfather has been a fairly steady presence, and has shown Alcatraz how to use his skills as an Oculator to control visions. In the last book in the series (Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lens, Scholastic, 2010), he manages to save the kingdom of Mokia and the Free Kingdoms, but also causes everyone's Talents to be inoperative. Now, with his friend Bastille in a coma, Alcatraz must once again fight against Biblioden to keep peace between the worlds.
In order to save Bastille, Alcatraz must infiltrate the Highbrary, and to do so he assembles an odd group of helpers-- his mother, cousin Dif, his grandfather, and Draulin, Bastille's mother. Without his Talent, everything is more difficult except making footnotes, which he has finally mastered! In many snarky asides, including ones where he asks the reader to make him a sandwich, Alcatraz navigates the difficult transitions between our world and the Hushlands in order to finally neutralize the librarians and keep our world safe. It's not an easy job, but he does his best, even though victory comes at an awful price.
Readers will be pleased that Tor made this final book possible, even if the ending finishes the series with gut-wrenching certainty. The reissued books with redesigned covers will be a big hit with fantasy fans who haven't read this series before, and the addition of interior illustrations (and especially the map inside the dust jacket) is a worthy one. The previous books were full of humor, adventure, plenty of explosions and the titular evil librarians, and the final book incorporates all of these elements and uses them to bring the series to an explosion-fueled, dinosaur-packed resolution filled with unexpected changes of alliances.
BRANDON
SANDERSON is the #1 New York Times
bestselling author of The Rithmatist
and Steelheart, both of which were
selected for the American Library Association’s Teens’ Top Ten list. He’s also
written many popular and award-winning books for adults. His middle grade
series, Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians, is now available in deluxe editions.
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