Category: Guest Post
Book Review: “Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener’s Bones” by Brandon Sanderson
This is actually the second book in this series by Brandon Sanderson. If any of you are interested, you can find my review of the first book in the series, Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians over at 20four12 here.
With that out of the way, we can get to the actual review. Alcatraz and his trusty companions are once again at odds with the dastardly faction of Librarians intent on taking over the world. This time, the group is trying to track down some more information about Alcatraz’s father who has disappeared because he is supposedly the only person who knows the next step to defeating the Librarians.
Alcatraz puts his amazing (and much more important and powerful than originally portrayed) power of breaking things to use quite often in this installment as he explores the ancient Library of Alexandria. This time, his uncle is along for the ride who happens to have the power of getting lost. His cousin is around as well with the power to wake up looking ugly.
If you can’t tell by now, this entire book is written somewhat tongue in cheek by Sanderson, as is, I’m expecting the entire series. At first reading this book is a little bit difficult because the narrator (Alcatraz) is often running off on tangents, discussing what appear to be trivial details, and being rather self-deprecating; all while advancing the story. It takes a little getting used to but it works, trust me. I wouldn’t want to read books like this over and over in a row, but one every so often is a bit of a humorous treat. Unless your heart is made of stone you should find yourself laughing or chuckling fairly regularly at this book. Both the situations that the characters find themselves in and the quirky humor of the author give it a light-hearted, fun air.
The characters of Alcatraz and Bastille grow up a bit in this book from where we left them in the first book. They learn a little bit more about themselves, what they really want to be as they get older, and what their responsibilities mean. It’s not overbearing, but just enough growth that you can start to feel for them as characters a little more.
Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener’s Bones is technically a middle grade level book, but I heartily recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good yarn. It’s outrageous, daring, quirky, and has surprising depth.
Grade: B
Length: 336 pages
“Reached” by Ally Condie
Cassia’s journey began with an error, a momentary glitch in the otherwise perfect façade of the Society. After crossing canyons to break free, she waits, silk and paper smuggled against her skin, ready for the final chapter.
The wait is over.
One young woman has raged against those who threaten to keep away what matters most—family, love, choice. Her quiet revolution is about to explode into full-scale rebellion.
With exquisite prose, the emotionally gripping conclusion to the international–bestselling Matched trilogy returns Cassia, Ky, and Xander to the Society to save the one thing they have been denied for so long, the power to choose.
Much earlier this year I wrote reviews for the first two books in this series, Matched and Crossed where I admitted to liking the books more than I originally thought I would. I had high hopes for the concluding installment, figuring that Ally Condie would wrap the story up with some great action, interesting twists, and solid character development.
Imagine my surprise when Reached turned out to be none of those things.
Yes, the story of Cassia, Ky, and Xander gets wrapped up in a pretty little package at the end where most of them get what they are searching for after helping the Rising complete its power grab, or if not exactly what they want, an acceptable alternative, but along the way to that end result the book is incredibly flat and lacking in excitement or drive in my opinion.
As characters, especially leading characters, Cassia and Ky fell completely by the wayside. Cassia never changed from the beginning of the book to the end, she just kept doing the same thing over and over, never really learning anything from what was going on around her. Ky was the same way. As a pilot for the Rising he did his duty as he was given assignments but we never got to see him grow in an appreciable manner. I felt that both of them were incredibly boring which made reading their respective viewpoint chapters a bit of a challenge.
Xander on the other hand, is the one shining piece of Reached as he works to help not only the Rising in his role as medical spy, but also to help the general public of the Society as well. I wound up liking Xander as a character far more than anyone else in the trilogy by the time I was finished reading Reached. He showed growth, compassion, a hint of jealousy, acceptance of his fate, etc. The other two just got what they wanted and didn’t even seem to realize it.
I had high hopes for this book, I wanted a stellar ending to the story, but after easily being able to pick sides in the first two books I found I had a hard time seeing either the Rising or the Society as the villains or heroes of the people. Both seemed to have decent intentions, but really messed up putting them into action. As a result, I wasn’t really sure if I should be happy or not when I was finished.
For fans of the first two books, you should probably read Reached just to make sure you get the complete story, and some of you may even enjoy it quite a bit more than I did, but in the end it isn’t nearly as good a book as Matched or Crossed were; it almost seems as if it were forced in some ways.
Grade: D
Length: 384 pages
Feed by M. T. Anderson
Today it’s my turn to post for Caleb Flanagan at 20four12, so I reviewed Feed by M. T. Anderson. No, it doesn’t have zombies like the other Feed, but it has just as many thought-provoking messages. So go on over and check it out!
“The Kane Chronicles: The Serpent’s Shadow” by Rick Riordan
I have finally managed to get my hands on the third and final book of The Kane Chronicles and I must say that Rick Riordan did not let me down with how he finished the trilogy when the time came. I was nervous that I would feel a little let down at the end of the series for some reason, but that was something I really shouldn’t have been worried about.
Carter and Sadie Kane have spent the past six months or so since the last book honing their skills as magicians, recruiting more members to the Brooklyn House, and trying to figure out how to stop Apophis from destroying everything they know. It’s a daunting task to say the least and they encounter several obstacles along the way, some of which were a little unexpected if you ask me.
There were several things that stuck out to me in The Serpent’s Shadow. First was how impressed I was with where the characters of Carter, Sadie, Zia, Walt, and Anubis wind up when the story is said and done. In the first two books there were moments when I wondered how Riordan was going to believably bring all of his cast together in the end to vanquish evil (and beyond of course). However, there is a very impressive twist at the end involving Walt and Anubis, and as a consequence Sadie as well. There is even a fun surprise when it comes to resolving Zia’s storyline that had me smiling. Carter, my favorite character from the series wound up exactly where I hoped he would as the reluctant, but capable leader who learned some very valuable lessons along the way.
It’s always interesting to read books like these that feature characters who are placed in their younger teen years because it’s strange to think of 13, 14, and 15-year-olds saving the world, but Riordan made it work. Props to him for pulling that off if you ask me. I’ve never read any of his other work (strange, I know), but I’ll be diving into the Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus books as soon as I can find the time. There is even a blatant hint at the end of this book that Riordan is eventually going to try and write some crossover books between his three successful series. That will be epic if he does it right.
All in all, The Serpent’s Shadow was a great conclusion to a story full of excitement, action, interesting Egyptian mythology, and a healthy dose of heart and grit. It brought all the characters and plot points together into just the right place and managed to do it in a book that was shorter than the first two without feeling rushed.
Grade: B
Length: 401 pages
“The Infinity Ring: Divide and Conquer” by Carrie Ryan
Two weeks ago I posted a review on the first book in The Infinity Ring series and it just so happens that when that review was posted the second book, Divide and Conquer was mere days away from release. Of course that meant that I was going to grab it as soon as it was available and use it for my next review here on The Mad Reviewer.
I was excited to read this book because I am in love with the entire concept behind the series as it currently stands. However, I was a little concerned about how things would go switching to a new author for this installment. I really shouldn’t have worried though, Carrie Ryan takes the characters, personality traits, and little things that James Dashner put forth in the first book and carries them seamlessly into this one as well. As a matter of fact, it was so incredibly seamless that I don’t know if I would be able to pick out which book was written by which author if I was to do a blind test on them while reading. I think that bodes incredibly well for the series moving forward.
Dak and Sera fixed a break involving Christopher Columbus in the first book, and now they are tasked with fixing a break surrounding the viking invasion of Paris in the year 885. Talk about a different type of situation in all regards. For most of the book Dak is separated from Sera and Riq in some fashion because of his innate ability to not think before he does something. This flaw in Dak did wear my patience a little thin at times because it became predictable. They children would solve one problem, get things back on track with their plan, and then you knew a mile away that Dak was going to simply leave the group unannounced and mess everything up again. It must have happened at least half a dozen times in this book. If there is one thing I hope the next author improves upon with the series it is finding a new flaw for Dak because this one has been beat to death.
I was pleased overall with how the characters grew up just a little bit in this installment. They had to make some tougher decisions this time around in deciding how to go about fixing the break in time. They also had to deal with some unintended consequences as they jump from one time period to the next to re-fix a break they broke again on accident. Crazy, eh?
The next book in The Infinity Ring series will arrive this coming February and I must say, I’m rather excited for when it does. It appears as though after dealing with Christopher Columbus and Paris-invading vikings, Dak and Sera will be jumping into the fray with the Underground Railroad during the Civil War. That should be quite interesting.
Grade: B
Length: 192 pages