"Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians" Quiz

Answer: First person

Alcatraz explains to the reader that he is the writer of his story and that his memoirs have been cleverly disguised as fiction to be able reveal the truth about how the world we think we know is being controlled by a cult of evil librarians. Even the 'about the author' section of the book says ""Brandon Sanderson" is the pen name of Alcatraz Smedry.

His Hushlander editor forced him to use a pseudonym since these memoirs are being published as fiction."

Answer: He is about to be sacrificed

The book opens with the following situation:

"So there I was, tied to an altar made from outdated encyclopedias, about to get sacrificed to the dark powers by a cult of evil Librarians."

And, of course, he then goes on to talk about how a situation like that makes a person pause and reflect on his life, which then leads to introductory information about his life and background. At the beginning of the second chapter, he brings it up again to explain the idea of a literary hook to the reader, and to also explain that as a writer, he is not a nice person.

Answer: A bag of sand

Alcatraz doesn't have much time to wonder at such a curiosity as a bag of sand as an inheritance from parents he doesn't know. After causing an accident that sets his foster parents' kitchen on fire, he is visited by his caseworker Ms. Fletcher, who steals the bag of sand.

The next morning, a strange old man arrives who claims to be Alcatraz's grandfather - Leavenworth Smedry, Oculator Dramatus! When he asks about the inheritance, Grandpa Smedry explains that the Sands of Rashid are very powerful: "Lad, with those sands, the Librarians could destroy kingdoms, overthrow cultures, dominate the world!"

Answer: Breaking things

The Smedry 'Talents' are not quite the types of special powers that a youth would want or wish for. One of the main reasons for Alcatraz having been moved from foster home to foster home is the way things often break when he touches them. The fire in the kitchen, for instance, happened after the knob controlling the gas stove broke off in his hand.

As he explains, "When I was very young, other kids called me a klutz. I was always breaking things - plates, cameras, chickens. It seemed inevitable that whatever I picked up, I would end up dropping, cracking, or otherwise mixing up."

Answer: Similatic

'Similatic' refers to magic-based technology that operates through the manipulation of various types of sand. Similatic engines (magic-based technology) are just one aspect of the similatic technology of the Free Kingdoms. Different types of glass (made from sand with magical properties) also exist, including lenses that can do things like see magical power, track people's footprints, provide strength and agility, shoot fire, etc.

Similatic technology uses 'brightsand', which glows and causes other types of sand or glass to do strange things. 'Dull sand' doesn't do anything, and the Librarians have covered most of the beaches of the Hushlands to make people think that sand isn't at all special.

Answer: Azkaban

The members of the Smedry line (and other royals) in the Free Kingdoms have great names that you might recognize in the Hushlands as the names of prisons. This is an effort of the Librarians to try to associate those great names with something less than great. In turn, they like to name mountains after themselves.

And while Bastille is a Crystin - a Knight of Crystallia - she is also the daughter of the King of Nalhalla (one of the Free Kingdoms), hence the royal name.

Azkaban, while a prison, is from a different author's imagination.

The group plans what to do next, and decide on infiltrating the Librarian's headquarters in the city. Grandpa Smedry also tells Alcatraz that he not only has his Smedry Talent, but that he also has the powers of an Oculator - able to use the special lenses described previously - and he gives Alcatraz three types of lenses to help with the infiltration - Oculator's lenses, Tracker's lenses, and Firebringer lenses.

Answer: Sing Sing

Sing Sing Smedry (Sing for short) has the Talent to trip and fall to the ground. And he does it very well. In this instance, he makes a terrific distraction, allowing the others of the team to get past the outer facade of the Librarian's lair, and to the magically hidden upper floors (only visible with Oculator's lenses).

Sing, coming from the Free Kingdom of Mokia (near Hawaii), disguises himself by wearing a kimono. The reasoning being, if he looks like a travelling foreigner, regular Americans won't look twice at him. He also wears Warrior's Lenses (they look like sunglasses) - the only type of lenses that can be used by anyone (not just Oculators), and is a specialist in ancient weapons (guns - which are not as advanced as swords, since they break down so easily).

We already know about Alcatraz's breaking power and Leavenworth's arriving late to things, and Quentin Smedry has the Talent to say things that make absolutely no sense whatsoever.

Answer: True

Unfortunately, it also leads to his capture. Alcatraz sees two sets of footprints, and is surprised to see that one set of footprints (glowing yellow) doesn't fade as quickly as the flaming black footprints that belong to the Dark Oculator. This means that the yellow prints belong to someone he knows.

Alcatraz and Bastille find the two people they are following, and Bastille recognizes the Dark Oculator as Radrian Blackburn - a very powerful and dangerous Oculator, easily recognizeable because of having only one working eye.

And Alcatraz instantly recognizes the other person as Ms. Fletcher - his caseworker of many years, who was a Librarian agent all along, keeping watch on the young Smedry and waiting for the opportunity to steal the Sands of Rashid!

Answer: Quentin and Grandpa Smedry

Bastille manages to break her and Alcatraz out of their cell (made of Enforcer's Glass, which Alcatraz's power can't break) by overpowering the guard after Alcatraz annoys him enough to get him to come close.

In order to save Quentin and Grandpa Smedry, they need to draw Blackburn away, which Alcatraz does by using the Firebringer's Lens. Distraction accomplished, they rush to the room where they heard them being tortured by the Dark Oculator, break in using Sing's 'ancient' weapons, and free him.

Leavenworth's Talent of arriving late to things lets him 'arrive late' to the pain of the torture, which he can let happen just a little bit at a time. It enabled him to withstand Blackburn's torture with little difficulty.

And Quentin's Talent of saying things that make absolutely no sense whatsoever enabled him to only respond in gibberish to Blackburn while under questioning.

Answer: He causes it to shoot backwards

Alcatraz uses his Talent to cause the Firebringer's lens to shoot backwards, so when Blackburn tries to use the lens, he ends up shooting the flames into his own head.

The team also learns that Blackburn had turned the Sands of Rashid into lenses, called Truthfinder's lenses, which allowed the user to understand hidden things. With them Alcatraz is able to understand Quentin's gibberish, as well as read the mysterious 'Forgotten Language' of lore.