Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener's Bones is the second novel in the Alcatraz series. Sanderson continues the series as Alcatraz goes to the Library of Alexandria and tries to rescue his Dad and Grandpa from the soul stealing library curators. Once he arrives he is immediately separated from the rest of the group consisting of Bastille and her mother Draulin, Alcatraz's uncle Kazan, and Alcatraz's cousin Australia. Alcatraz is travelling through the library alone and he is often pestered by the curators who ask him to take a book at the cost of his soul. The curators speak long forgotten languages which he can understand because of his Translator's Lenses. At one point Alcatraz finds Bastille caught in a net, and he breaks the ropes that bind her. After Bastille and Alcatraz continue to venture Kazan finds them by utilizing his talent of getting lost. He finds them because they are both abstractly lost. Soon after the three travel the library with Kazan's talent they activate another trip wire which encloses them in a hardened goo. Alcatraz escapes by biting through it, and his friends follow suit. Along the way he finds the tomb of Alcatraz the first, who was the first wielder of the breaking talent. His tomb does not age because he broke time. At the tomb he also finds a note which informs him that his talent is more of a curse than a blessing. After activating yet a third trip wire Bastille and Alcatraz fall into a pit. After a lengthy discussion about responsibility, they escape using Windstormer's Lenses and proceed to fight the Scrivener's Bones—a sect of Dark Oculators. They defeat him by tricking him into checking out a book, then the curators take his soul. Later, they find Grandpa Smedry crying over a note. It is revealed that indeed, Attica Smedry has sold his soul for all the knowledge inthe world. But, in claiming a note written before he was turned into a curator, Alcatraz learns of a way to turn him back.
Characters
Australia, ever present Bastille, Draulin, and Kazan, or Kaz as he is often called, join in the fight against the Librarians. Kilimanjaro, a Scrivener's Bone, attempts to capture Alcatraz and his clan throughout the book. Floating around the Library are the always-present Curators of Alexandria, who will let you pick up any book in the Library - at the cost of your soul.
Smedry Talents
The new Talents are Australia's: waking up and looking incredibly ugly and Kazan, whose talent is getting lost. Each one helps Alcatraz as he wanders the rows of book shelves in the Library of Alexandria. Also revealed is Alcatraz's father and mother's Talent of Losing Things.
Sequels
A third Alcatraz book was released October 1, 2009, titled Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia. A fourth book, Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lens, was published in 2010. The final book in the series Alcatraz Versus the Dark Talent was published in 2016.
In the books there are lenses that have special powers. Oculators are the only ones who have the ability to use the lenses. The lenses mentioned in the first two books in the series are:
Oculator's Lenses, which highlight unusual objects and allow the wearer to see unusual things
Translator's Lenses, which let the wearer read or write in any language or code
Torturer's Lenses, which cause pain to any person the wearer focuses on
Courier's Lenses, which carry messages to other oculators
Windstomer's Lenses, which push things away with a gust of wind
Voidstomer's Lenses, which uses low air pressure to pull things toward it
Frostbringer's Lenses, which shoot a beam of icy frost
Discerner's Lenses, which tell the wearer the relative age of an object
Harrier's Lenses, which have a power not yet detailed at this point in the series
Transcriber's Lenses, which have a power to translate other languages and make you understand different languages
an unnamed Lens discovered in the tomb of Alcatraz Smedry the First, whose function is not yet discovered at this point in the series
Also mentioned is a method of making Lenses that can be used by non-Oculators; however, making these Lenses requires the blood of an Oculator obtained via sacrifice.
