The Scrivener's Bones (Alcatraz, #2)

by Brandon Sanderson

They like mixing Oculatory powers with Hushlander technology.”

This talk of bloodforged Lenses should mean something to you. You may finally understand why I ended up finding my way to an altar, about to get sacrificed. What Bastille neglected to mention was that the power of the Oculator who was killed had a direct effect on how powerful the bloodforged Lens was. The more powerful the Oculator, the more awesome the Lens.

All right, so I’m not a fish.

bookmark 9/14/2016

I slipped on the Lenses. There, burning on the ground, was a set of fiery white footprints. I recognized them immediately—each person leaves distinctive prints.

“Reason number one hundred twenty-seven. Short people have smaller bodies, but regular-sized hearts. That gives us a larger ratio of heart to flesh—making us far more compassionate than big people.” He winked, then sauntered out of the room.

“You’re the lead Oculator, Lord Smedry,” Draulin said. “Yeah, but I’ve only known about Oculators for three months!”

He was coming. I could feel it. Oculators can sense when other Oculators are using Lenses nearby. It’s something built into us, like our ability to activate Lenses.

There he was. Standing atop a hill a short distance away, one arm too long for his body, staring down at us with his twisted face. All was silent for a moment.

All went black. It was like I had passed through a gateway beyond which light could not penetrate. I felt a sudden dizziness, and I fell to my knees.

“We want … your paper.”

They spun me about, then ripped the tag from my shirt and from my jeans.

“They have been separated from you. All must be alone when they enter the Library.”

I picked a door at random and walked out into the hallway, immediately struck by how vast the library was. It seemed to extend forever.

Most of these are either “literature,” books about people who don’t do anything, or they are silly fiction works about dreadfully dull topics such as dieting.

They are, of course, intended to make people self-conscious about themselves so that the Librarians can better control them.

It’s really a shame. After all, the Curators—being skeletons—could probably teach us a few things about dieting.

“Some grow very attached to a modern diversion known as the ‘Crossword Puzzle.’ We’ve had several come here looking for answers. We have their souls now.”

“This is only one of the many ways that we gain souls.

However, the endless knowledge appeals to them.”

“Grappler’s Glass, Smedry. It only sticks to other pieces of glass.”

You may wonder why I hate fantasy novels so much.

Anyway, let’s talk about fantasy novels. First, you have to understand that when I say “fantasy novels,” I mean books about dieting or literature or people living during the Great Depression. Fantasy novels, then, are books that don’t include things like glass dragons, ghostly Curators, or magical Lenses.

It comes down to Biblioden the Scrivener’s great vision for the world—a vision in which people never do anything abnormal, never dream, and never experience anything strange.

“You were lost,” he said, shrugging. “If I’m lost, it’s easier for me to find someone else who is lost—since abstractly, we’re both in the same place.”

Right on the Incarnate Wheel, fairly pure. They’re bound to give us lots of trouble.” I cocked my head. “Incarnate Wheel?”

“Ah … no,” I said. “I went to Librarian school, Kaz. I did hear a lot about the Great Depression, though.”

There are four kinds: Talents that affect space, time, knowledge, and the physical world.”

“Take my Talent, for instance,” he continued. “I change things in space. I can get lost, then get found again.” “What about Grandpa Smedry?” “Time,” Kaz said. “He arrives late to things. Australia, however, has a Talent that can change the physical world—in this case, her own shape.”

Your father and I have very similar Talents—I can get lost and Attica can lose things—and both are flexible. Siblings often have similar powers.”

“There are others who argue that the Breaking Talent is much more. It seems to be able to do things that affect all four areas.

can his breaking talent be used to break contracts such as ones where you sell your soul? LOL

one of only two others to have this Talent—broke time and space together, forming a little bubble where nothing aged.

What is it to ‘break’ something? What can you change? How far can the Talent go?”

“The Incarna knew about Smedry Talents,” the thing whispered. “We have a book here, one of theirs, written millennia ago. It explains exactly where the Talents first came from. We have one of only two copies that still exist.”

Get your soul back? Break out of our prison…”

“From this day on,” he whispered, raising the bazooka, “I shall be known as Hambo.”

The Curators fell silent, skull heads smiling. “Will you trade your soul for that knowledge?”

That thought made me pause. If they hadn’t done that already, then it probably meant that they couldn’t. Which seemed to imply that they were bound by some kind of laws or a code or something.

The blanket of goop pulled back from me completely, like a shy dog that had been kicked. The metaphor seemed apt, and so I kicked it.

tempted to make you an official short person!” “Thanks,” I said. “Course, we’d have to cut your legs off at the knees,”

In fact, there are even natural laws relating to this book, my favorite of which is known as the Law of Pure Awesomeness. This law simply states that any book I write is awesome. I’m sorry, but it’s a fact.

“We are impressed that you speak ancient Greek,” another said. “You are one who came to us prepared. There are few that do that these days.”

“we doubt that you know how to speak Elder Faxdarian.” Speak ancient Greek … I thought, confused. Then it occurred to me. They don’t know about my Translator’s Lenses! They think that because I understood them back at the beginning, I must have known the language.

“Ha,” one of them said in a very odd, strange language—it consisted mostly of spitting sounds. Like always, the Translator’s Lenses let me hear the words in English. “The fool thinks he knows our language.”

“First rule,” said the one in front of me. “If anyone enters our domain bearing writing, we may separate them from their group and demand the writing be given to us.

We may hold these back for one hour but, unless the items are requested, can keep them from then on.

“Second rule, we may take the souls of those who enter, but we can do so only if the souls are offered freely and lawfully. S...

“Third rule, we may accept or reject a person’s request for a soul contract. Once the contract is written, we must provide the specific book requested, and the person must then sign the contract to certify that the book fulfills the request. We must then refrain from taking their soul for the time specified in the contract. This time may not be longer than ten hours. If ...

In my experience, there’s really only one book in all of the world that is worth your soul to read—and you’re holding it right now.

“Fourth rule,” the Curator continued. “We