REVIEW: Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson

This review contains spoilers. Read at your own risk.

I have received an Advance Reader's Copy of this book through the publisher. This has not affected my rating or review in any way.

Thank you to Tor/Forge for sending me an Advance Reader’s Copy of Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians!

Calling all Rick Riordan fans; your new obsession is right here! If you love the sass and humor of Percy Jackson, you are going to love Alcatraz Smedry.


We, the readers, live in the Hushlands. It’s the majority of the world that is controlled by the Librarians. A very small portion of the world which isn’t controlled by Librarians is called the Free Kingdoms, but that’s not where our story starts.


We follow Alcatraz Smedry, our very unreliable narrator, as he finds out he and his family are Ocularltors and they have the ability to see certain things others can’t using Lenses (glasses). The Smedrys are the last known non-Librarian family with this ability, as the other families have become Librarians or died out due to the Librarians.


Another thing about the family is that each Smedry has a Talent. It’s like a Quirk from My Hero Academia, or a knack from the Morrigan Crow series, but with a lot less pizzazz. For example, Alcatraz’s Talent is the ability to break things, Grandpa Smedry’s Talent is always being late to everything (a Talent I believe I have as well), Sing Sing Smedry’s Talent is falling over, and Quentin Smedry’s Talent is talking in gibberish. We also have Bastille, a thirteen year-old Crystin knight who is sworn to protect the Smedry family.


After the Librarians get ahold of Alcatraz’s inheritance, the Smedrys and Bastille must get the sands back and stop the Librarians evil plan. But what is this inheritance, you ask. Well, it’s a bag of sand. But not just any bag of sand… you’ll have to read the book to know exactly what I mean. This story’s a pretty cool adventure, not gonna lie.


This is the first Brandon Sanderson book I’ve read, and with how all of his other books have been hyped up, this did not disappoint! I also loved the illustrations! Some in the corners of pages, some taking up a full page spread, they were very well drawn and gave some energy to the story.


All in all, this was a fun middle-grade read that I’m sure any and all ages would enjoy!


While this book (as well as its series) did originally release back in 2007, the series is being rereleased this year with brand new covers, additional illustrations, and bonus material. This all-new edition of Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians will be released on May 3rd, 2022.

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