Book Review: Brandon Sanderson – The Scrivener’s Bones
Brandon Sanderson’s second book in the fantasy middle-grade series, Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians.
The Scrivener’s Bones is a fun and exciting continuation, following Alcatraz and his companions through puzzling mazes, mysterious places, and danger as he uncovers more about his family and his abilities.
Plot
Alcatraz is once again welcomed by his new companions on an adventure through mysterious places, meeting new creatures, and narrowly avoiding death around each corner. Alcatraz is on the hunt to find a missing family member and meets new friends and family members during a daring search and rescue.
The book does a lovely job of giving us more about Alcatraz’s unique abilities, and his family’s abilities, and learning more about the world. It starts off pretty fast, picking up pretty quickly from the first book. It moved along at a pretty good pace while revealing more and more about the big mystery I suspect is waiting for us at the end of the series.
Characters
The characters are very well written and feels just like the first book but with the proper amount of growth needed. I sometimes find authors lose the voice of the characters in the second book, but this one was pretty solid and truly felt like a continuation of the first.
- Alcatraz was just as likable as the first book, while also not knowing what he was doing throughout the entire book. A difficult line to walk.
- The secondary characters were excellent and had the same voice as the first book. We also got to meet a couple of new characters that had their own unique voices and were perfect additions to the family of characters.
- Unique death-like antagonists that were really enjoyable and provided great tension to the characters. The main antagonist of this book was also unique and a step up from the last antagonist. It felt like the next boss in a video game (in a good way).
World Building
We were introduced to more of the world in this book. Maybe not as much physical location as I would have liked, but the rules and systems behind the world were further explored. To be honest, the rules and systems were beautifully simple and yet eloquent. Something that Brandon Sanderson does oh so well.
Prose
The prose in the second book was on par with the first. It was light-hearted, funny, and action-packed, and I never felt lost or had to go back and read a sentence. One of the best parts of this series is the self-deprecating humor. Just like the first book, it made me giggle a good amount and I wanted to keep reading.
I think the prose is an excellent balance of being middle-grade while not throwing in your face it is a middle-grade book.
Conclusion
It has action, comedy, mystery, puzzles, and world-building. If you read the first book in the Alcatraz Vs the Evil Librarians series and liked it even a little bit, The Scrivener’s Bones will be a fun and exciting read for your next middle-grade and young reader.
***This is not a paid review. This review is my own personal opinion and thoughts. However, please note that links in this site contains product affiliate links. I may receive a commission if you make a purchase after clicking on one of these links.
