Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lens

Last updated
Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lens
Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lens cover.webp
Cover of the novel
Author Brandon Sanderson
Cover artistScott Brundage
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Series Alcatraz Versus
Genre Fantasy novel
Publisher Scholastic Press
Publication date
December 1, 2010 (first edition, hardback)
Media typePrint (Hardback)
Pages320 (first edition, hardback)
ISBN 978-0-439-92557-0 (first edition, hardback)
Preceded by Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia  
Followed by Alcatraz Versus the Dark Talent  

Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lens is a juvenile fiction novel written by American author Brandon Sanderson, published in December 2010 by Scholastic Press. [1] [2] It is the fourth book in the Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians series featuring the protagonist Alcatraz Smedry.

Contents

Plot summary

Alcatraz and his companions head off to Mokia, one of the Free Kingdoms, to try and save it from a Librarian takeover. They arrive at Tuki Tuki, the city on which Mokia depends, which is besieged by Librarians. When they arrive, the king is considering surrender. An accident puts Alcatraz in charge, and he decides to keep fighting the Librarians. He comes up with a plan to destroy the robots surrounding the city, who are barraging the city with boulders.

His plan succeeds, but the shield gets partially destroyed and Bastille is put in a coma. He begins to come to terms with his talent, and after transmitting his talent to all of the Crystin knights fighting in Mokia, every Librarian weapon in Mokia is destroyed, and the Librarians retreat.

Though he saved Mokia, Alcatraz still has problems. The Smedry Talents have stopped working, and the king and queen of Mokia, as well as Bastille, are still in comas.

New characters

Several new characters are introduced in this novel, including:

Reception

In a positive review, The Horn Book Magazine 's Anita L. Burkham wrote, "Alcatraz's seat-of-the-pants narration—with references to 'wombats, outer space, and stamp collections' in chapters that don't exist, direct requests to readers (to change their underwear daily, for instance), and self-referential comments on the literary nature of the book—might make the series appear at first to be a zany, kid-pandering mess, but the charismatic characters hold the whole enterprise together while the stealth plot unfolds." [3] Children's Bookwatch said the book was an "absorbing story of gigantic robots, evil librarians, and danger". [4]

Connie Reid of YA Books Central praised the book's chapter names, noting "the naming schema definitely created a few giggles in this book". She said, "I like that he continues to take the construct of writing and highlight aspects of it while telling the story." [5] Amanda Raklovits of School Library Journal said that the author "strikes the right balance between Alcatraz's naturally snarky tone and the surprisingly serious moments as the boy comes to terms with his mounting responsibility and shifting perspective". She concluded that the book was "for those who prefer their fantasy with a dash of slapstick, plenty of metafictional humor, and a heap of irreverence". [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Smith (cartoonist)</span> American cartoonist

Jeff Smith is an American cartoonist. He is best known as the creator of the self-published comic book series Bone.

<i>The Riftwar Saga</i> American fantasy novel series

The Riftwar Saga is a series of fantasy novels by American writer Raymond E. Feist, the first series in The Riftwar Cycle.

James Barclay is a British high fantasy author who has written multiple series including Chronicles of the Raven and Legends of the Raven. The Bookseller has called him "One of the UK's most popular genre fantasy authors."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brandon Sanderson</span> American fantasy and science fiction writer

Brandon Winn Sanderson is an American author of high fantasy and science fiction. He is best known for the Cosmere fictional universe, in which most of his fantasy novels, most notably the Mistborn series and The Stormlight Archive, are set. Outside of the Cosmere, he has written several young adult and juvenile series including The Reckoners, the Skyward series, and the Alcatraz series. He is also known for finishing Robert Jordan's high fantasy series The Wheel of Time. Sanderson has created several graphic novel fantasy series, including White Sand and Dark One.

Midwest Book Review, established in 1976, produces nine book-review publications per month.

Richard James Bleiler is an American bibliographer of science fiction, fantasy, horror, crime, and adventure fiction. He was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Best Non-Fiction in 2002 and for the Munsey Award in 2019–2022. He won the 2023 Munsey Award, given to “an individual or organization that has bettered the pulp community.” He is the son of bibliographer and publisher Everett F. Bleiler.

<i>Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians</i> 2007 juvenile novel by Brandon Sanderson

Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians is a juvenile novel written by American author Brandon Sanderson, published in October 2007 by Scholastic Press. The book is named after its main character, Alcatraz Smedry.

<i>The Magician: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel</i> 2008 fantasy novel by Michael Scott

The Magician: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel is a fantasy novel by Michael Scott. It is the sequel to The Alchemyst, and the second installment in the six part book series, The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. It was released on 5 June 2008 in the United Kingdom, and 24 June 2008 in the United States. It was nominated for an Irish Book of the Year Award, The Dublin Airport Authority Irish Children's Book of the Year – Senior Category.

<i>Alcatraz Versus the Scriveners Bones</i>

Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener's Bones is a juvenile fiction novel written by American author Brandon Sanderson, published in November 2008 by Scholastic Press. It is preceded by Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians.

<i>Dragons of the Hourglass Mage</i>

Dragons of the Hourglass Mage is a fantasy novel by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, based on the Dragonlance fictional campaign setting. It is the third installment in the Lost Chronicles trilogy, which occurs between the storyline of the individual books which compose the Chronicles trilogy. The events of this novel entirely take place during the same time frame as the events described in Dragons of Spring Dawning.

<i>Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia</i> 2009 novel by Brandon Sanderson

Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia is a juvenile fiction novel written by American author Brandon Sanderson, originally published in October 2009 by Scholastic Press. It is the third book in the Alcatraz Series following Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians in 2007 and Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener's Bones in 2008.

<i>The Dragons Familiar</i>

The Dragon's Familiar is a fantasy novel by Lawrence Jeffrey Cohen.

Cinda Williams Chima is a New York Times bestselling author of young adult fantasy, best known for The Heir Chronicles, The Seven Realms and The Shattered Realm series.

<i>The Librarians</i> (2014 TV series) 2014 American fantasy-adventure television series

The Librarians is an American fantasy-adventure television series developed by John Rogers and broadcast on TNT. It premiered on December 7, 2014, as a direct spin-off of the Librarian film series, sharing continuity with the films. The Librarians are an ancient organization dedicated to protecting an innocent world from a magical and fantasy-like secret reality hidden from view. TNT cancelled the series in March 2018.

<i>The Dark Talent</i>

The Dark Talent is a juvenile fiction novel written by Brandon Sanderson and published in September 2016 by Tor Books. The book is named after its main character, Alcatraz Smedry, and is the fifth novel in the Alcatraz series.

Since the characters inception in the 1960s, Spider-Man has appeared in several forms of media, including novels and book series.

Tracy Deonn is an American author. Her debut novel Legendborn (2020) was a New York Times bestseller and received a Coretta Scott King–John Steptoe Award for New Talent and the 2021 Ignyte Award for Best Young Adult Novel. The sequel novel Bloodmarked was published in 2022 and also became a New York Times bestseller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tania McCartney</span> Australian childrens author illustrator

Tania McCartney is an Australian author, illustrator, editor and designer.

Kathryn Osebold Galbraith is an American author of children's books.

<i>Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians</i>

Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians is a juvenile fiction novel written by Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson. Released on September 20, 2022 by Tor Books, it was illustrated by Hayley Lazo. It is the sixth and final book in the Alcatraz Versus series. Leading up to the book's release, Tor published new paperback versions of its five predecessors.

References

  1. ↑ Jennings, Dana (16 April 2014). "After Years of Writing, an Author's Own Epic Fantasy Comes True". The New York Times.
  2. ↑ "Fantasy author raises record-setting $41 million on Kickstarter for secret books". USA Today . 1 April 2022.
  3. ↑ Burkham, Anita L. (January–February 2011). "Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lens". The Horn Book Magazine . Vol. 87, no. 1. p. 100. Archived from the original on 2023-05-28. Retrieved 2023-05-28– via Gale.
  4. ↑ "The Chapter Book/Easy Reader Shelf". Children's Bookwatch. Vol. 21, no. 1. Midwest Book Review. January 2011. Archived from the original on 2023-05-28. Retrieved 2023-05-28.
  5. ↑ Reid, Connie (2022-10-19). "Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lens (Alcatraz #4)". YA Books Central. Archived from the original on 2023-05-28. Retrieved 2023-05-28.
  6. ↑ Raklovits, Amanda (November 2012). "Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lens". School Library Journal . Vol. 58, no. 11. p. 54. Archived from the original on 2023-05-28. Retrieved 2023-05-28– via Gale.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.