It’s finally here! It took almost seven years, but Alcatraz
#5 is out and the series is finished. And yes, there is an altar of outdated
encyclopedias. It took him long enough.
Book #4 (Alcatraz versus the Shattered Lens) ended on a definite cliffhanger. Alcatraz had
somehow managed to break the Smedry Talents, Bastille was in a coma, and the
Free Kingdoms were in eminent danger. #5 picks up right in the middle of that
mess. After fighting on Librarian terms for so long, Alcatraz is angry and
ready to take the fight to the Librarian capital, aka the Highbray in
Washington D.C. His Grandfather is, of course, up for anything that audacious,
and Kaz and a new Smedry cousin named Dif join in. Oh, and Alcatraz’s mother.
THAT isn’t awkward at all.
A few things have changed in the past six years. First of
all, it seems that “Alcatraz versus” is no longer a part of the title; it’s
just the series name. Also, the Alcatraz series now has an illustrator! Though
sparse, the drawings by Hayley Lazo were excellent and I found them a welcome addition
to the Alcatraz universe. As far as the actual content goes, The Dark Talent fulfills all the
promises of the previous Alcatraz books. It continues the same humor, the same
exciting storylines, and the same (mostly) loveable characters. But it also delivers
something the rest of the series has been none too subtly hinting at the whole
time: the reason that Alcatraz isn’t the hero everyone thinks he is. This
series-ender is dark and may leave many readers dissatisfied, but you can’t
deny that Alcatraz warned us. Many plot points are left hanging, but the final
pages also include the hint of a sequel series, so it seems the story WILL
continue eventually. All in all, though The
Dark Talent doesn’t knock it out of the park the way Shattered Lens did, the book is definitely worth reading and the
(kind-of) surprise ending will make you excited for whatever Sanderson comes
out with next.
LLK
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