paperback, 672 pages
Published May 13, 2014 by Tor Teen, Tor Books.
A hero with an incredible talent...for breaking things. A life-or-death mission...to rescue a bag of sand. A fearsome threat from a powerful secret network...the evil Librarians.
Alcatraz Smedry doesn't seem destined for anything but disaster. On his 13th birthday he receives a bag of sand, which is quickly stolen by the cult of evil Librarians plotting to take over the world. The sand will give the Librarians the edge they need to achieve world domination. Alcatraz must stop them!...by infiltrating the local library, armed with nothing but eyeglasses and a talent for klutzines
The first quarter of the book is weak, boring, and I almost stopped reading. Is good that I didn't because the story, narration, and overall writing gets much better. What I like about the story is that it shows the flaws in the characters and the consequences making them more alive as opposed to too fictional because of obvious plot armor.
My first Sanderson done! I truly loved this book - up until that last sentence which was just too damn cheesy. Ugh. But everything else, great. Excited to continue on with the series to see what happens next with the empire and my new friends.
It isn't a super dark and gritty tale where everyone dies all the time. It isn't high fantasy. It's a heist story that wraps itself in fantasy, with a logical system of magic. Honestly, it's an excellent break from what I've been reading, and I enjoyed it immensely.
Primer libro de Sanderson qué leo, fantasía y personajes fáciles de leer. El mundo está fácil de seguir y el sistema mágico es sencillo y bien explicado. El personaje principal (Vin) parece que habla más en su cabeza qué con los demás personajes, supongo que es normal para un personaje de la edad. Tienes tus clichés de fantasía qué encuentras en otros libros, eso no significa que este mal solo son cosas que ya has leído.
Pretty damn good I read this series before the stormlight archive to warm up and it seems like it was a nice decision
Quite good! I'm beginning to think that Sanderson is THE fantasy writer of my age. The one whose stories will be around forever. I'm also impressed by the main character, only had a problem with her towards the end, but easily overlooked. Must read.
I'm hard to please when it comes to action scenes, and I'm picky when it comes to magic. So many writers do action in a way that bores me and magic in a way that makes me roll my eyes. Not Sanderson. The action parts were some of the best parts of the book. I'd get genuinely excited reading them. Great stuff. And the magic in this book is grade A, top-notch, "rule-bound" magic, just the way I like it.
But here's the problem: that's all we have; Great action scenes and a fantastic magic system.
-The dialog is awkward. It's not for lack of simplicity (the book has the vocabulary of a YA novel). But everybody seems to have an extra thing to two to say to the air or the world or themselves when they're talking to somebody else. "No, I don't want a glass of water...I don't …
I'm hard to please when it comes to action scenes, and I'm picky when it comes to magic. So many writers do action in a way that bores me and magic in a way that makes me roll my eyes. Not Sanderson. The action parts were some of the best parts of the book. I'd get genuinely excited reading them. Great stuff. And the magic in this book is grade A, top-notch, "rule-bound" magic, just the way I like it.
But here's the problem: that's all we have; Great action scenes and a fantastic magic system.
-The dialog is awkward. It's not for lack of simplicity (the book has the vocabulary of a YA novel). But everybody seems to have an extra thing to two to say to the air or the world or themselves when they're talking to somebody else. "No, I don't want a glass of water...I don't want much of anything but revenge these days." Ok, dude... I was just offering you some water.
-While some tasks are appropriately difficult, others are far too easy and simply need to be thought of before attempting. "We've tried breaking in here a dozen times and always get stopped...o I went to this much more important place and took out all the wimpy guards there."
-The pacing drags. So many writers are guilty of this, so I'm hesitant to even mention it, but it's still a problem.
-Some of the cliches are too silly to ignore.
All that said, it was an enjoyable read. It probably lies somewhere around 3.5 stars for me, but I'm bumping it up to 4 because of all the fun the magic system was capable of and succeeded in providing. And that action... this would make a fun a movie.
I started this and then had to stop because....it was so boring, I guess?
I really wish Goodreads had half stars, because I would give this book a solid 4.5. It's not quite a 5 for me, and I can't quite point my finger on it why not. Good things first, this is paced very well, and once the rebellion gets rolling, you really want to keep going and find out what's going on. Very action-packed. Allomancy and Feruchemy as magic systems are definitely unique and very interesting, and I think Sanderson does an excellent job describing the usage in sequences packed full of action.
I enjoyed the characters, in particular Kelsier, Sazed and Vin, and the rest of the crew. I will admit to shedding a few tears even when Kelsier died his martyr's death.
And yet my only concern is that as a huge fan of epic fantasy a la Martin and Williams, the novel felt just a little bit down to …
I really wish Goodreads had half stars, because I would give this book a solid 4.5. It's not quite a 5 for me, and I can't quite point my finger on it why not. Good things first, this is paced very well, and once the rebellion gets rolling, you really want to keep going and find out what's going on. Very action-packed. Allomancy and Feruchemy as magic systems are definitely unique and very interesting, and I think Sanderson does an excellent job describing the usage in sequences packed full of action.
I enjoyed the characters, in particular Kelsier, Sazed and Vin, and the rest of the crew. I will admit to shedding a few tears even when Kelsier died his martyr's death.
And yet my only concern is that as a huge fan of epic fantasy a la Martin and Williams, the novel felt just a little bit down to earth, the scope of whole background of the Hero of Ages and the Deepness, and the devastation of the planet never once fully taking hold on me. It was the story of a rebellion, and I hope that ultimately, it will be a story about the world once I have read all books.
Still, definitely one of the better fantasy books I have read in recent years.
Loved it!
This was the first book by Brandon Sanderson that I've red and I'm very impressed! I think he will do a good job wrapping up the Wheel of Time series. I can usually predict the endings of most books with annoying accuracy, but this one had me on the edge of my seat until the very end.
