Quiz Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson

Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians: 20-Question Quiz

This quiz covers the entire sixth book of the Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series. Questions span plot events, character motivations, themes, and synthesis. After the quiz, you will find a complete answer key with brief explanations. Use the outline and your memory of the story to answer each question. For additional help, visit the book page, the questions and answers, or the ending explained.

Plot and Sequence Questions (8)

  1. Multiple Choice: Where does Bastille wake up at the beginning of Chapter 1?
    A) In the Highbrary beneath Washington, D.C.
    B) In the crashed Penguinator
    C) In a Librarian jail cell
    D) On the Worldspire

  2. Short Answer: What does Bastille use to escape the magma-filled Highbrary in Chapter 3?
    (Write your answer in one sentence.)

  3. Multiple Choice: Which character is sacrificed on the altar to create a bloodforged Lens?
    A) Leavenworth Smedry
    B) Attica Smedry
    C) Alcatraz Smedry
    D) Biblioden

  4. Short Answer: What password is required to stop the Highbrary self-destruct, and why can’t the group use it?

  5. Multiple Choice: After the crash landing on the Worldspire, what does Alcatraz use to deflect Etna’s own blast back at her?
    A) Warrior’s Lenses
    B) Slantviewer’s Lenses
    C) Windstormer’s Lenses
    D) Oculator’s Lenses

  6. Multiple Choice: In Chapter 12, what happens to gravity worldwide when Alcatraz’s Talent breaks?
    A) Gravity doubles
    B) Gravity reverses
    C) Gravity stops working entirely
    D) Gravity becomes random

  7. Short Answer: What does the Gak owe Bastille a service for, and how does Bastille use that rule to defeat Biblioden?

  8. Multiple Choice: In the epilogue, where do Alcatraz and Bastille get married?
    A) In Mokia
    B) In Nalhalla
    C) In the Highbrary
    D) On the Worldspire

Character Motivation Questions (5)

  1. Multiple Choice: Why does Bastille take over writing the foreword of the book?
    A) She wants to prove she is a better writer than Alcatraz
    B) Alcatraz refuses to continue his memoirs
    C) The Librarians forced her to write it
    D) She needs to correct Alcatraz’s factual errors

  2. Short Answer: What does Alcatraz believe about himself after his father’s death, which Bastille tries to counter?

  3. Multiple Choice: Why does Bastille refuse to fight the Gak on the island?
    A) She is afraid of the Gak
    B) She knows it is hopeless because the island has no straw
    C) She wants Alcatraz to face the Gak alone
    D) The Gak has agreed to a truce

  4. Short Answer: What does Bastille reveal to Alcatraz when she kisses him in Chapter 15, and why does she later feel shame?

  5. Multiple Choice: Why does Biblioden want to destroy the Free Kingdoms using the Incarna’s power?
    A) He wants to rule over a silent, orderly world
    B) He thinks the Smedrys’ chaos will spread everywhere
    C) He seeks revenge for the death of his family
    D) He wants to become the Incarna himself

Theme and Symbol Questions (4)

  1. Multiple Choice: The “bloodforged Lens” containing Attica’s consciousness symbolizes what idea in the book?
    A) The permanence of death
    B) Sacrifice that still leaves broken relationships
    C) The power of Oculatory Lenses
    D) The way Lenses can store memories forever

  2. Short Answer: In Bastille’s afterword, she redefines heroism as what quality? (Answer in one phrase.)

  3. Multiple Choice: The recurring image of “broken things” (e.g., Attica trapped in a Lens, Leavenworth’s bullet wound) relates most directly to which theme?
    A) The importance of fixing everything
    B) The idea that some things cannot be repaired
    C) The failure of the Smedry Talents
    D) The evil of the Librarians

  4. Short Answer: What does the “straw man” loophole that Bastille uses against the Gak say about the use of language and rules in the story?

Synthesis Questions (3)

  1. Multiple Choice: In Alcatraz’s afterword, he reveals that every reader has been given a sliver of Smedry Talent. How does this change the purpose of the entire autobiography?
    A) It becomes a fantasy novel
    B) It becomes a guidebook for living with that Talent
    C) It becomes a warning against reading Librarian books
    D) It becomes a history of the Smedry family

  2. Short Answer: Compare Bastille’s and Alcatraz’s definitions of heroism. How do they complement each other?

  3. Multiple Choice: The book ends with a metafictional exchange where Bastille becomes a gaseous cloud and Alcatraz says she “doesn’t have a mouth.” What does this scene emphasize about the series’ style?
    A) The importance of accurate narration
    B) The playful unreliability of both narrators
    C) The victory of Librarian fact-checking
    D) The end of all storytelling

Answer Key

  1. B – In Chapter 1, Bastille wakes in the crashed Penguinator, wearing pajamas, with her sword beside her. (Evidence: chapter 2, first paragraph.)

  2. She reverses the ventilation fans to blow the group up a shaft to the surface. (Evidence: Chapter 3, where she describes the fans spinning in the other direction.)

  3. B – Attica Smedry is sacrificed on the altar by Biblioden to create a bloodforged Lens. (Evidence: Chapter 1, the foreshadowing in the foreword; also referenced later as a fact.)

  4. The password is “Ulysses, episode 7,” but no one in the group has read that book (Evidence: Chapter 3 digest; the password is mentioned but cannot be used.)

  5. B – At Bastille’s whispered advice, Alcatraz uses the Slantviewer’s Lenses to redirect Etna’s own power back at her. (Evidence: Chapter 11 digest; the Oculator’s Duel.)

  6. C – When Alcatraz’s Talent breaks in Chapter 12, gravity stops working worldwide; ocean water and creatures float. (Evidence: Chapter 12 digest.)

  7. The Gak owes Bastille a service because Alcatraz is a “straw man” (lacking substance) – she uses that loophole to order the Gak to eat Biblioden. (Evidence: Chapter 17 digest and evidence text; the Gak service rule.)

  8. B – The epilogue states they marry in Nalhalla. (Evidence: Epilogue digest: “Alcatraz and Bastille marry in Nalhalla.”)

  9. B – In the Author’s Foreword, Bastille explains that Alcatraz refuses to continue his memoirs, so she takes over. (Evidence: Chapter 1 digest; “Bastille takes over the writing because Alcatraz refuses to continue his memoirs.”)

  10. Alcatraz believes he is a coward and unworthy of being a hero because he chose his father to die. (Evidence: Chapter 8 digest; Chapter 14 digest where he admits the choice.)

  11. B – Bastille refuses to fight because the island has only grass and no straw, so she can’t use the Gak’s weakness. (Evidence: Chapter 9 digest; “no straw, so no advantage.”)

  12. Bastille reveals she believed Attica’s death was her own fault because she was in a coma; she later feels shame because she was using guilt as a defense. (Evidence: Chapter 15 digest.)

  13. B – Biblioden believes the Smedrys’ chaos will spread everywhere if not destroyed; his monologue states “You Smedrys have never been satisfied with the Free Kingdoms. You have to scatter your chaos.” (Evidence: Chapter 18 evidence text.)

  14. B – The bloodforged Lens preserves Attica’s consciousness, but he remains trapped and their relationship is still broken, symbolizing sacrifice without full resolution. (Evidence: Bastille’s afterword mentions Attica never got out of the Lens, and they never truly understood each other.)

  15. Heroism as persistence in the face of odds and imperfection, and then living with the consequences. (Evidence: Bastille’s Afterword: “Heroes … are the people who get up and try anyway … and then afterward, we live with the consequences.”)

  16. B – The theme that some things cannot be repaired is central; Bastille’s afterword explicitly says “some things, once broken, can’t ever be fixed.” (Evidence: Bastille’s afterword.)

  17. It shows that clever interpretation of rules can overcome brute force, and that language itself is a tool for survival. (Evidence: Bastille uses the “straw man” loophole to command the Gak; Chapter 17 digest.)

  18. B – Alcatraz says his autobiography is a guidebook for living with the sliver of Talent that every reader now possesses. (Evidence: Alcatraz’s afterword: “I’m admitting the real … reason I wrote this autobiography. It’s a guidebook.”)

  19. Bastille sees heroism as getting up and trying despite flaws, while Alcatraz sees it as sometimes being heroic and sometimes selfish – both emphasize imperfection and persistence. (Evidence: Bastille’s afterword; Alcatraz’s afterword: “I’m not always a good person. But I’m not just a coward either.”)

  20. B – The exchange highlights the playful unreliability of both narrators; Bastille speaks as a cloud but Alcatraz points out the physical impossibility, showing the series’ metafictional humor. (Evidence: Alcatraz’s afterword final exchange.)