Helen 2.0's Reviews> The Dark Talent

The tales we tell ourselves these days always seem to need a happy ending... Is it because the Librarians are protecting us from stories with sad endings?Or is it something about who we are, who we have become as a society, that makes us need to see the good guys win?

4.5 stars. A very Sandersonesque (that's a word!) finish to a fun series, complete with twists and crazy action and just the right amount of silliness.

While some of the earlier installments where so packed with dumb humor and fourth-wall-breaking that it detracted from the storyline and became tedious to read, the fifth Alcatraz book definitely felt moregrounded and focused,heading for that inevitable,jarring ending.Readers finally get to see what Alcatraz was hinting at throughout the whole story: sacrificial altars made of encyclopedias, Attica's crazy plans, Alcatraz's cowardice.

So, in The Dark Talent, Alcatraz attempts to break into the Highbrary to find and stop his misguided father. This is harder than it looks, given that he broke all Smedry talents by accident in the last volume.

We get a closer look at his mother,Shasta,and what drives her.

"You have to understand. Your mother is aLibrarian.In her heart, she's terrified of change - not to mention frightened of the idea of common people being outside her control. "

She has certainly moved past being your ordinary textbook villain into a more complicated presence in Al's life. Moreover, I would call her the wisest character in the series; she's often giving very insightful comments from the sidelines. Last but not least, she is a walking reality check to her son, who certainly needs one on various occasions in the book.

"Librarians," my mother said, "share more with Smedrys than either would like to admit. Both will bend over backwards to accommodate sheer dramatic effect."

"Have you been with that fool of a grandfather of yours so longyou've lost the ability to see the world as it has to be?"

My only complaint:not enough Bastille!I want more of my favorite moody sword-wielding teenager.
(Itislightly hinted that there will be one more installment in the series, written from Bastille's view. *mini fangirl episode*)