The Dark Talent

The fifth and possibly final Alcatraz book picks up where the previous one ended with Alcatraz having destroyed all of his family's talents. Now he must ally with his mother - an evil librarian - to stop his father, a Free Kingdomer whose desire to give every one on Earth a Smedry Talent which could have disasterous consequences. Smedry and his team go to the Evil Librarian's Highbrary - a.k.a The Library of Congress in an alternate universe version of Washington, DC. Unfortunately, Smedry's friend and defender, Bastille remains in stasis for the better part of the book. Smedry and Bastille's love/hate chemistry when they are together is one of the best part of the series and this book suffers from its absence (although when Bastille show more finally makes her entrance, it's spectacular). The book has the usual clever wordplay - including a chapter of delicious puns - but it feels like Sanderson's heart is not really in it anymore. Or it could be Alcatraz, who obstinately states this is the last part of his biography after an uncharacteristically dark ending to the book. But Alcatraz is an unreliable narrator who has lied to us before, and there are clues that this is all just a big cliffhanger leading to yet another book. show less

Alcatraz has really done it now - he's broken everyone's talents! Alcatraz is trying to save the people he loves who have been put in a coma by the evil librarians. He is also trying to stop his misguided father.. There are betrayals and deaths and choices to be made about who to trust. It is hilarious chaos but there are also things to make the reader think - it isn't all black and white.

Winter 2020 (January);
Sanderson Syspean Challenge

Rating: 3.5 rounded

(I'm playing catchup on around 20-30 books since January started, so this morning's books will likely be a bit of an overview looking back on series from two months ago.)

The Alcatraz series was an adorable romp to get into in December and finish through the beginning of January (which sets me up as ready to read the 6th book in the series being published this year!!). I do find Alcatraz himself a little much at times, but I love the surrounding cast, and figuring out the Shemdry talents before they are explained. I love Bastille with the power of a million suns. I absolutely felt heart-shot at the spoiler of book five. As well, I always look forward to the 1-2 show more tongue-in-cheek, wholly correct references to/commentary on Harry Potter hidden in each of these books. show less

This was one of the most abrupt, brilliant, bad endings I've ever read. The ending fits with Alcatraz' character but it leaves the reader frustrated with Alcatraz (he's indeed no hero but very human and very young) and with all the loose ties hanging around.

ETA having skipped the footnotes (a pain to read on a e-reader), I've missed the second ending et the very end of the book. It makes things less bleak but it still doesn't make Alcatraz a hero. If anything I have more questions after reading it.

Not as strong as the previous four books. A couple of the plot twists are kinda lame. The ending is unfairly abrupt and just about the worst cliffhanger I've ever seen. It doesn't help that all the marketing and blog posts surrounding the release of this book led me to believe this really was going to be the last in the series. I went in expecting resolution, not more setup for a finale that is god knows how long away now.

Beyond that, the comedy wasn't quite as on point. It felt more, "let's throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks," than the previous books, which were also full of non-sequitur, but it felt way more thought out. The footnote gag that runs from the start to the end is the quintessential example of this. A couple of show more them were really clever and got a chuckle out of me, but most of them seemed...not funny, and unnecessary, and like Brandon had read way too much Terry Pratchett recently.

All that said, it's still a Sanderson book and he is nothing if not a diligent craftsman who ticks all the necessary boxes for an engaging page-turner. The aftermath of Alcatraz breaking his family's talents went in an interesting direction that's got me hooked and dying to see where it goes. We get some great family drama between Alcatraz and his parents. It's just not as put-together and it was over a bit too quick and felt rushed. Whether that's a pacing issue or the book literally being shorter than the previous ones, I have no idea. show less

this is not book to sit with and read from start to end. this is a book to read in small bursts of maybe a chapter each time, because Alcatraz as the narrator is soooooo annoying.
But I think that's what makes me want to read the books. I know Alcatraz is annoying, and I want him to be is annoying self.

on the other hand, because I have read the previous books some time ago, I felt like I missed a bit of the story, I am pretty sure I didn't skip any book, but I still felt like this book didn't start exactly where the previous one ended...

I loved the ending. However, the book was slower compared to previous books so that was difficult. But I can't wait to read next book despite this slower book in the series.