So, it might not be very surprising that I wrote something completely different in tone from the Mistborn novels. I’d been working so hard on the Mistborn books that I needed a break. The book began, essentially, as a free-write based on what became the first line: “So, there I was, tied to an altar made from out-dated encyclopedias, about to get sacrificed to the dark powers by a cult of evil Librarians.” I wrote the book between Mistborn 2 and Mistborn 3, and was driven to do so because I wanted to try something new.

It’s written in the first person, rather than the third person. It’s 300 pages long with large font, rather than 500+ pages long with tiny font. It’s the oddball: It was published by a children’s publisher, rather than by Tor. SYNOPSISĪLCATRAZ stands out among my works. With a seductive mix of offbeat humor, high adventure, and endearing characterization, this is a fantasy that will appeal to all lovers of the fantastical.

The ensuing story involves talking dinosaurs, sentient romance novels, and a dungeon-like labyrinth hiding beneath the innocent-looking downtown library. Alcatraz’s grandfather shows up and tows him off to infiltrate the downtown library to steal back the mystical bag of sand. This sparks a chain of events which leads Alcatraz to realize that his family is part of a group of freedom fighters who resist the Evil Librarians-the secret cult who actually rule the world. The Librarians, of course, immediately steal the bag of sand from him. On his 13th birthday, Alcatraz, a foster child, gets a bag of sand in the mail which purports to be his “inheritance” sent from his father and mother. This page will serve as an introduction to both the first book and the series as a whole.įrom the author of the Mistborn series and a master of contemporary fantasy comes a collection of his four-book Alcatraz series, the tale of a small group of freedom fighters operating against the cult of Evil Librarians. Gollancz complied these four books into an omnibus in 2013 (Many of our store links head to the omnibus because the individual books can be hard to find). Brandon intends to write five books in the series, though only four were commissioned by Scholastic. The Alcatraz books are Brandon’s series of Middle Grade (5th–7th grade) fantasy books released by Scholastic Press.

Alcatraz vs the evil librarians book 2