FANTASTIC FRIDAY: The Scrivener's Bones by Brandon Sanderson
ABOUT THE BOOK
In this second Alcatraz adventure, Alcatraz finds himself on a mission to meet Grandpa Smedry when he gets swept up by a flying glass dragon filled with his unusual and mouthy Smedry cohorts.
Their mission? A dangerous, library-filled one, of course!
They are on their way to the ancient and mysterious Library of Alexandria (which some silly people think was long ago destroyed!) where they must find Grandpa Smedry, look for clues leading to Alcatraz's potentially undead dead father, and battle the creepy, dangerous soul-sucking curators who await them.
REVIEW
In this second volume of the five book series, Alcatraz and his cohorts are once again in trouble. Hardly surprising, the Smedry's seem to attract trouble like flies to honey. This time, Alcatraz gets picked up in an absolutely awesome flying glass dragon after he gets attacked at the airport. He meets his uncle Kaz and realizes that his Grandpa Smedry has once again set off on an impossibly dangerous mission, this time to the hidden Library of Alexandria. Unfortunately, this library is maintained by creepy, red-eyed, soul-taking curators, among whom his father seems to have vanished years ago. Being a Smedry (which tends to mean lacking in common sense), Alcatraz and his companions set off to find his grandfather and possibly his father. But a dangerous scrivener's bones hunter (part human, part Alivened machine) is on their trail and may catch them before they complete their mission.
Full of Alcatraz's rather unorthodox descriptions and side notes, The Scrivener's Bones, takes the reader on a rather amusing, yet surprisingly instructive tour of a world that no one would suspect exists. Using his own rather unusual talent for breaking things, along with his uncle Kaz's talent for getting lost, along with the assistance of Bastille, a former Knight of Crystallia, and her mother, a current Knight of Crystallia, along with his cousin, Australia, Alcatraz sets off to find his grandfather. I can safely say that this book is not only full of excitement and plenty of difficulties and challenges for the characters, but plenty of sarcasm trickery from the narrator, which can be somewhat baffling, but never boring. This is a great series for young and old alike who enjoy a rather unusual tale, told by a rather unusual narrator, who keeps saying things that hint at what is to come. The foreshadowing is rather brilliantly done, with references to people and events that kept me turning the pages. And I'm definitely going to have to read the rest of the books in the series to fully understand everything. A clever tactic on the part of the author (Sanderson or Alcatraz?).
I would be sooooo much more evil ! At least, that's what I tell my students!
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