Considering these books

[cometaryorbit]

So, I've read basically everything by Brandon Sanderson except this series. I definitely enjoyed Rithmatist, Reckoners, and Skyward (especially Skyward), but Alcatraz is supposed to be for a younger age group than those books - is it worth reading for an adult who generally doesn't read middle-grade books?

[+Invocation]

They're a fun read if nothing else. 

[Marukka]

I had a hard time getting into them. Took me almost the first book, during  I really did not enjoy the characters and worldbuilding. It is definetly different from the other series you mentioned. But when I got over the initial dislike, I found that there was a good and very funny story waiting. I am really looking forward to the next one, the cliffhanger in book 5 is as bad as the one at the end of Skyward, so be warned about that.

Anyway, if you have the chance I would recommend to support a local library and just test-read the first book. It's not very long and if it doesn't make you at least chuckle once, you might be better off skipping the series. But if it clicks, it only gets better! 

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood he/him]

what, they are amazing books, but of course I am a younger reader than you but honestly I read LotR, stormlight archive and more so in reading I am a mature adult, so I would say they are worth the read.

[EmulatonStromenkiin he/him]

In the fifth book, Alcatraz discovers footnotes, and it is hilarious.

[Kandrafish]

The book series has two primary aspects to it.

1) The plot: This part is what gets younger readers. There is the action and adventure and weirdness of your classic mediocre middle-grade novel. A less mature reader will miss a lot of the best jokes.

2) The humor: This is the amazing and witty and with lots of references for adults. I enjoyed the plot for its absolute ridiculousness and for how it brought context to Alcatraz's interludes. (i.e. in the middle of a high suspense moment he interrupts the story to explain why a good author would not interrupt the story in a high suspense situation).

Alcatraz, the narrator, explaining his interludes is below. It has no plot spoilers, but it might be funnier in context. 

Spoiler

This interrupted a chase scene in the second book and I was laughing the whole time: "I feel obligated to break the action here to warn you that I frequently break the action to mention trivial things. It is one of my bad habits that, along with wearing mismatched socks, tends to make people rather annoyed at me. It's not my fault, though, honestly. I blame society. (For the socks, I mean. That breaking-the-action thing is totally my own fault.)"

 

The part about "meaningful books" at the start of chapter 4 of the first book is still one of my favorite passages from a book. (If you get a preview on iBooks, you should be able to read this part.)

The key is to go in looking for a decent laugh and you should find a book that more than meets your expectations. You will find that it has a pretty strong plotline and I almost found that Alcatraz was trying to teach me how to watch out for Brandon style plot twists.

I went in with no expectations and was immensely surprised. I read all 5 of the books back to back to back over reading week for University and was laughing the whole time. This is an excellent series for good humor.

If you are looking for a funny series, go for it!