Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians

By: Brandon Sanderson

Narrated by: Ramon De Ocampo

Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Experience the action-packed first book in #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson’s laugh-out-loud middle-grade fantasy series like never before—now with all new covers!

AN ANCIENT RIVALRY REAWAKENS.

Everything I’d known about the world was a lie.

On my thirteenth birthday, I, Alcatraz Smedry (yes, I got named after a prison, don’t ask), received my inheritance: a bag of sand. And then I accidentally destroyed my foster parents’ kitchen. It’s not my fault, things just break around me, I swear! I thought the sand was a joke until evil Librarians came to steal it. You’re probably thinking, “Librarians are nice people who recommend good books,” but that’s just what they want you to think! It turns out they’re actually a secret cabal keeping the truth from you—a hidden world filled with magical eyeglasses, talking dinosaurs, and knights with crystal swords! Or so my Grandpa Smedry claimed when he suddenly showed up to rescue me. So now I have to go with him to invade the local library and get that sand back, before it’s used to conquer the world. And Grandpa says how I keep breaking things is actually an amazing talent. There’s no way that can all be true, right? Will I ever make it back home alive?

©2007 Dragonsteel Entertainment, LLC (P)2011 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

“Like Lemony Snicket and superhero comics rolled into one (and then revved up on steroids).” (Publishers Weekly)

“An excellent choice to read aloud to the whole family. Funny, exciting, and briskly paced.”(NPR)

A touch on the silly side

This is written for young adults, but I loved it. This is my first novel with a unreliable narrator... and Brandon does a great job giving us reasons to trust him enough to listen and enough surprises when we trust him too far. He constantly leaves me wondering if it will all end as a tragedy or a comedy... or if Alcatraz is sitting in an asylum somewhere talking to himself and none of this is real.

Equal parts clever and tedious

This is a lighthearted romp through a hilariously wrought dip fantasy world. The thing I dreaded after awhile was the narrative device wherein the main character interrupts the story. It's similar to the grandfather reading the Princess Bride to his grandson..... Well, the movie version anyway. I haven't read the book. The difference here though is that it's not used with precision when appropriate, but it's slammed into every chapter with all the finesse of sledgehammer blows. If not for that I would have read more in the series.

Decent listen

this book was decent enough to listen to while driving. It is definitely ment for a teen audience so keep that in mind.

A great young adult story

I have rarely taken the time to write a full review, mostly to explain why I gave five stars to something I probably won't follow up on. Yes, I found it a really fun listen, which I think deserves 5 stars for its intended audience, but adults are not that audience.

I picked up this book in an audible 2 for 1 credit sale because I have loved all Brandon Sanderson's adult novels, as well as his Reckoners series (because it appealed to the comic book geek inside of me), but I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy this series. I'm glad I got a chance to give it a try. Time and time again, as I listened to the superbly narrated story, I smiled and thought to myself how much I'd have loved this book as a I'd have loved the magical world it created, as well as the fourth-wall shattering narration by the 'author', but as an adult, I didn't feel it was as rewarding as the dozens of adult fiction and nonfiction books I have built up in my wish list, but I still want edge to urge people to share this book, especially in its printed form with budding, young sci-fi and fantasy readers...

... I have dozens of other books to read... But I still want to know what happens with a certain pile of out of date encyclopedias... So I might just have to slip the next entry into the series into my schedule when I need a light hearted adventure to pick me up.. We'll have to wait and see!

GREAT FUN!!!

This book has been on my wish list for years. My goal for the new year is to either delete books on the list or buy them. I found this story entertaining. It does not have anything offensive, and it has that wacky sense of prose that kids would enjoy. Like Harry Potter, this is a series that parents and kids could enjoy together. Also, it plays along the same Potter story line. A young male child is separated from his parents and raised in an environment without love. At his thirteenth birthday, Alcatraz receives his inheritance and discovers his biology family. From there the fun starts and does not stop.

Excellent story, writing, and narration

Would you consider the audio edition of Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians to be better than the print version?

Yes. Some audiobooks are a suffering to avoid reading; others are a performance to give life to the written word. Ramon narrates this piece astoundingly, bringing life to the story and its telling. He doesn't just read the words and voice the dialogue; he tells the story.

What other book might you compare Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians to and why?

In terms of plot and structure, it's a little like The Gap Cycle or the Safehold series: the book is essentially political, pitting the ideals of various factions against each other. It's not a deep political piece like the other two, instead revolving around action and less around idealism; Sanderson still gets into philosophy, just not as the single overarching theme of the book.

You could compare it well to something like Harry Potter: magic and witty characters, knights and wizards, and a backdrop of two opposing factions. Sanderson talks a little more about the ideals behind the factions than Rowling did.

What does Ramon De Ocampo bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The story is first-person narrated, and Ramon reads as if he is the narrator. Every emotion the narrator portrays comes through Ramon as if it were his own. He tells the story as if he is the one it happened to, and his voice acting is pretty decent to go along with it.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Not really. I'm not sure if this book has any deep, moving scenes; I'm somewhat inert. Book 4 of the series has a pretty strong one; Book 1 doesn't have an established cast, and spends its time effectively showing you who these people are and what kinds of adventures they go on.

Any additional comments?

This book, written for 11-year-old kids, reads like an adult novel.

When Sanderson writes, he manages to not pour in lots of drug use and sex scenes, but does get a lot of world-appropriate foul language and, occasionally, points out that the particular world we're visiting today has whores. It's not like Chadbourne's Age of Misrule, but his writing does typically portray a realistic, believable world with characters who do what real people on that world would do.

The Alcatraz series doesn't bring any whores; otherwise, it reads almost exactly like Sanderson's normal, adult-audience fare. People occasionally die, bad things happen, and folks curse a *lot*. Interestingly, rather than write a small dictionary of curses to match the environment of the fantasy world, he gets right into the heart of cursing: people blatantly make up words or spout nonsense phrases in the precise context of curses, and occasionally get called on it for cursing. It's directly acknowledged in prose as well: in intense action situations, characters are frequently noted to "charge by, cursing" or some other such set of actions where dialogue would ruin the flow. We know they're cursing by the tone and structure of their speech, rather than by any particular set of words.

It's a kid's book, like Harry Potter; yet it doesn't read like something a toddler would write, like R. L. Stein's Goosebumps. It's not a touchy-feely world meant to couch kids in a wrapping of comfort and talk down to them because they're too young to understand intense, serious writing; it's a mature drama that happen to be accessible and appropriate for children in grade school.

As consequence, this book is appropriate for an adult audience, and should entertain readers of all ages. If you're looking for serious, mature reading, this is it.

Fun kids book with some good meta humor

A lot more meta humor than I expect from a kids book(and good meta humor at that), I enjoyed my time with it and plan on picking up the other books in the series eventually.

😊

a amazing story it is funny and just a good book that everyone should read

hands down the best first person book ever

I will not explain. you'll just have to listen and learn about all the lies you've been told. it's time to strap in and enjoy this banned book.

Excellent!

My kids and I listened to this during longer car rides, and we loved it! The narrator had the perfect sardonic tone to match a sullen/confused teenage boy, which made the humorous parts that much funnier. looking forward to listening to the sequels!