The Shattered Lens [Dramatized Adaptation]

Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians [Dramatized Adaptation] #4

by Brandon Sanderson

Alcatraz Smedry is up against a whole army of Evil Librarians with only his friend Bastille, a few pairs of glasses, and an unlimited supply of exploding teddy bears to help him.

This time, even Alcatraz's extraordinary talent for breaking things may not be enough to defeat the army of Evil Librarians and their giant librarian robots.

Genres: Audiobook, Fantasy, Young Adult, Science Fiction Fantasy, Middle Grade

5 pages, Audiobook

Published January 5, 2018

About the author

I’m Brandon Sanderson, and I write stories of the fantastic: fantasy, science fiction, and thrillers.

The release of Wind and Truth in December 2024—the fifth and final book in the first arc of the #1 New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive series—marks a significant milestone for me. This series is my love letter to the epic fantasy genre, and it’s the type of story I always dreamed epic fantasy could be. Now is a great time to get into the Stormlight Archive since the first arc, which begins with Way of Kings, is complete.

During our crowdfunding campaign for the leatherbound edition of Words of Radiance, I announced a fifth Secret Project called Isles of the Emberdark, which came out in the summer of 2025. Coming December 2025 is Tailored Realities, my non-Cosmere short story collection featuring the new novella Moment Zero.

Defiant, the fourth and final volume of the series that started with Skyward in 2018, came out in November 2023, capping an already book-filled year that saw the releases of all four Secret Projects: Tress of the Emerald Sea, The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, and The Sunlit Man. These four books were all initially offered to backers of the #1 Kickstarter campaign of all time.

November 2022 saw the release of The Lost Metal, the seventh volume in the Mistborn saga, and the final volume of the Mistborn Era Two featuring Wax & Wayne. Now that the first arc of the Stormlight Archive is wrapped up, I’ve started writing the third era of Mistborn in 2025.

Most readers have noticed that my adult fantasy novels are in a connected universe called the Cosmere. This includes The Stormlight Archive, both Mistborn series, Elantris, Warbreaker, four of the five Secret Projects, and various novellas, including The Emperor’s Soul, which won a Hugo Award in 2013. In November 2016 all of the existing Cosmere short fiction was released in one volume called Arcanum Unbounded. If you’ve read all of my adult fantasy novels and want to see some behind-the-scenes information, that collection is a must-read.

I also have three YA series: The Rithmatist (currently at one book), The Reckoners (a trilogy beginning with Steelheart), and Skyward. For young readers I also have my humorous series Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians, which had its final book, Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians, released in 2022. Many of my adult readers enjoy all of those books as well, and many of my YA readers enjoy my adult books, usually starting with Mistborn.

Additionally, I have a few other novellas that are more on the thriller/sci-fi side. These include the three stories in Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds, as well as Perfect State and Snapshot. These two novellas are also featured in 2025’s Tailored Realities. There’s a lot of material to go around!

Good starting places are Mistborn (a.k.a. The Final Empire), Skyward, Steelheart, The Emperor’s Soul, Tress of the Emerald Sea, and Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians. If you’re already a fan of big fat fantasies, you can jump right into The Way of Kings.

I was also honored to be able to complete the final three volumes of The Wheel of Time, beginning with The Gathering Storm, using Robert Jordan’s notes.

Sample chapters from all of my books are available at brandonsanderson.com—and check out the rest of my site for chapter-by-chapter annotations, deleted scenes, and more.

Reviews

[Panda]

Audiobook (5 hours) narrated by a full cast, including:
Alejandro Ruiz
Carolyn Kashner
Christopher Walker
Chris Genebach
Sakile Lyles
Marni Penning
Thomas Penny
Zeke Alton
Eva Wilhelm
Nora Achrati
Laura C. Harris
Scott McCormick
Ken Jackson
Steve Wannall
Terence Aselford
Eric Messner
Michael Glenn
Richard Rohan
Michael John Casey
Robbie Gay
Bradley Smith

This is the fully scored and full cast GraphicAudio version of Recorded Books Inc.'s audiobook, described as a "movie for your ears."
This series has two versions of audiobooks for each volume, the GraphicAudio version and the regular Recorded Books Inc. version with a solo narrator and no scoring. Both are excellent.

I got so lost in this volume that I had no idea I was almost done when I was taking notes for the review. I had mistakenly thought I was 30-50% in and poof 💥 I was done!

Who can blame me for being so engrossed with things like robats 🤖 🦇 and teddy 🧸 bears 🐻 with a secret 🤫 ability?!

I'm also really enjoying Sanderson's epic creativity 𓀠𓀠𓀠𓀠𓀠 as well as the diversity of the characters who have talents like dyscalculia (a learning disorder that affects a person's ability to understand number-based information and math) and time blindness (someone whose internal clock is consistently off), possibly ADHD. The characters with these talents aren't labeled as having these disabilities, they are described as awesome talents and then proven how awesome they are time and time again as they use their talents in unexpectedly spectacular ways.

I have been enjoying the series so much that it wasn't until I was nearly 4 books in that I realized how Sanderson has included the best positive enforcement for kids (and adults) struggling with, or possibly feeling bad about their disabilities by spinning them into something entertaining, funny, and even heroic.

While I would recommend this series, period, as someone with ADHD who had a friend growing up with horrible insecurity due to her dyscalculia, I would especially recommend it for those kids going through it. That is, if they haven't read it already! I know that I would have been pretty stoked to read about kids and adults who are looked highly upon for their talents that sound suspiciously like something I just got scolded for an hour ago.

Ooooo, I wonder what The Dark Talent is, unless Alcatraz is referring to his talent for breaking things as the dark talent. I will soon find out!

[Sarah]

I enjoyed the majority of "Alcatraz vs. the Shattered Lens": I liked the humor, the character development was good, and the plot thickened, so to speak, and did a good job of setting up the final part of the series.

Unfortunately, the magic system of the series becomes more over the top the longer the story goes on and is starting to get rather exaggerated.

[Emma Arkstål]

I think this is my favourite Alcatraz book - it's so obvious that Sanderson is having so much fun writing this series. And there were moments where I laughed out loud. On the train. Good thing it's covid-times and I was nearly alone....

[Amy]

Damn, that was incredible.

[Melenide]

3,5*

[Karissa Blum]

LOVE Bastille and Alcatraz! (It's giving Percabeth vibes)

[Clare S-B]

Well that ending was just as the book itself told us it would be, and what one should expect from Brandon. Definitely worth the read if you like the rest of the books.