Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians

The first installment of the Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series is narrated by Alcatraz Smedry, a 13-year-old foster child who presents his autobiography under the pseudonym "Brandon Sanderson" to evade detection. He insists he is not the hero that the Free Kingdoms, a collection of hidden civilizations unknown to most of the world, have made him out to be. The book will be published as biography in the Free Kingdoms and shelved as fantasy in the Hushlands, Librarian-controlled nations such as the United States, Canada, and England.

Alcatraz has spent his life cycling through foster families, burdened by an inexplicable ability to break anything he touches: plates, electronics, even a chicken on a field trip. On his 13th birthday, a worn package arrives containing a note from his parents and a small bag of sand, described as his inheritance. While puzzling over the package, Alcatraz accidentally sets the kitchen on fire at the home of his foster parents, Joan and Roy Sheldon. That evening, Ms. Fletcher, his stern caseworker, arrives, coldly calls him worthless, and arranges for him to be collected the next morning.

The following day, an eccentric old man in a tuxedo and red-tinted glasses appears at the door, claiming to be Alcatraz's grandfather, Leavenworth Smedry. He introduces himself as an Oculator, someone with the genetic ability to use magical Lenses of power. When they discover the sand is gone, Grandpa Smedry concludes Ms. Fletcher stole it, identifying her as a Librarian agent. The sands are the Sands of Rashid, which could be forged into the most powerful Lenses ever created and, in Librarian hands, could decide a secret global war. When Alcatraz mentions he is good at breaking things, Grandpa Smedry recognizes a rare Smedry Talent. He reveals his own: the ability to arrive late to things, including pain and disasters.

Skeptical, Alcatraz locks Grandpa Smedry outside and heads to the kitchen, where a man posing as a caseworker pulls a gun on him. Grandpa Smedry crashes his car through the wall, and Alcatraz escapes with him. On the drive, Grandpa Smedry explains that the Free Kingdoms are losing a war against the Librarians and that the sands are key to the next stage.

Grandpa Smedry takes Alcatraz to a gas station that conceals a headquarters inside its cooler through Expander's Glass, a technology that enlarges interior space. He gives Alcatraz Oculator's Lenses, which help him perceive things others cannot, and introduces two cousins: Sing Sing Smedry, an anthropologist from Mokia, a Free Kingdoms nation, whose Talent is tripping at helpful moments; and Quentin Smedry, a language specialist whose Talent causes him to say things that make no sense. Bastille, a 13-year-old Knight of Crystallia, a warrior order sworn to protect Oculators, arrives furious at having been left behind.

Before the team infiltrates the downtown library, the Librarians' regional headquarters, Grandpa Smedry equips Alcatraz with Tracker's Lenses, which reveal footprints that persist longer for people the wearer knows, and Firebringer's Lenses, which shoot beams of superheated light. He reveals that Alcatraz's father, Attica Smedry, was a "sandhunter" who spent his life gathering the Sands of Rashid, believing they held the key to understanding Smedry Talents. Grandpa Smedry does not know whether Attica is alive.

Inside, the team splits up. Grandpa Smedry and Quentin head for the top floor, while Alcatraz leads Bastille and Sing through the vast interior. They discover an enormous wall map showing three additional continents hidden in the oceans, revealing that the Librarians control satellites and maps to maintain a global deception. On the second floor, they find caged dinosaurs from Nalhalla, a Free Kingdoms nation, scheduled for execution, and a room of Librarian attempts to translate the Forgotten Language, an ancient, indecipherable script.

Using his Tracker's Lenses, Alcatraz spots fresh black footprints belonging to the Dark Oculator alongside a persistent yellow set belonging to someone he apparently knows. He follows them despite Bastille's objections and discovers Ms. Fletcher speaking with Radrian Blackburn, the Dark Oculator, who put out one of his own eyes to increase the power focused through his remaining monocle. Alcatraz overhears that Ms. Fletcher sold the sands to Blackburn. When Alcatraz switches Lenses, Blackburn senses his aura and activates his Shocker's Lens, which emits a stunning flash that knocks all three unconscious.

They awaken in a dungeon cell made of Enforcer's Glass, which resists Smedry Talents and Oculatory powers. Stripped of their gear, Bastille reveals her frustration at lacking the genetic ability to be an Oculator. Alcatraz undergoes his own reckoning, recognizing that he deliberately broke the most valuable possessions of each foster family so they would reject him before he could grow attached. This clarity lifts rather than crushes him, and he begins releasing years of shame.

Ms. Fletcher offers freedom in exchange for Grandpa Smedry's location. Alcatraz refuses. Blackburn subjects him to excruciating pain with a Torturer's Lens. Alcatraz is about to break when Grandpa Smedry appears in manacles. Alcatraz devises an escape: He taunts the dungeon guard into drawing his sword, and Bastille seizes it through the bars, knocking the guard unconscious. They recover their gear and follow Grandpa Smedry's footprints.

In the corridors, two massive Alivened, creatures animated from paper through Dark Oculary, attack. Alcatraz shatters the stone floor beneath one and touches the second, exploding it into confetti. They reach the room where Blackburn is torturing Grandpa Smedry, whose Talent allows him to arrive "late" to pain but is weakening. Alcatraz draws Blackburn away using the Firebringer's Lens as bait. Sing blasts the warded door open, and Alcatraz shatters the torture table. Grandpa Smedry reveals he and Quentin allowed themselves to be captured partly on purpose, triggering the single-use traps guarding the room where the sands are stored.

They reach the third-floor Lens room, but the sands have already been forged into spectacles. Blackburn arrives with soldiers and engages Grandpa Smedry in an Oculators' Duel, both stacking multiple Lenses and countering each other with escalating power. Weakened, Grandpa Smedry loses. Blackburn threatens to kill Bastille to force state secrets from him. Alcatraz connects fragments of Quentin's earlier gibberish to details around him, realizing that Quentin's Talent was unknowingly predicting the future. Acting on this insight, he grabs the Firebringer's Lens and uses his breaking Talent to reverse its firing direction. When Blackburn activates the Lens, the beam fires backward into his remaining eye, blinding him completely.

With Blackburn defeated, the group recovers the Lenses of Rashid. Alcatraz puts them on and discovers they are Translator's Lenses, granting the ability to understand any language or code. He can now read the Forgotten Language and comprehend Quentin's gibberish as coherent, prophetic speech. The team escapes through walls Alcatraz shatters.

Grandpa Smedry drives Alcatraz back to Joan and Roy's house and explains that Alcatraz was left in Librarian territory so he would grow up understanding Hushlander culture, information critical to the war. Alcatraz deduces through his Tracker's Lenses that Ms. Fletcher's footprints persisted as long as a family member's would. Grandpa Smedry confirms that Ms. Fletcher is Alcatraz's mother, Shasta, a Librarian whom Attica married. Joan and Roy welcome Alcatraz warmly.

Alone in his room, Alcatraz uses the Translator's Lenses to read a hidden message from his father on the packaging paper. Attica warns that Alcatraz has stumbled onto something dangerous relating to the Smedry Talents and promises to send further messages. Grandpa Smedry reappears at the window, explaining it is too dangerous to remain. Alcatraz writes a note to his foster parents, packs, and leaves with his grandfather, heading toward the Free Kingdoms.