Hey everyone! This is my third monthly review. I plan to write about the whole Alex Rider Series because it wouldn't make sense to write about a book that is near the end of the series. It would definitely not make any sense to you guys in the audience because you wouldn't understand a word I'm saying. Think of it this way. If I started telling you guys a story, starting from the middle, would it make any sense? No, it wouldn't, so that is why I chose the WHOLE series to talk about. And just between you and me, it would be a whole lot easier to write about because i have a good 6 to 7 books to write about, not including the eighth book I still haven't read yet. So, let's get started.
For what audience(s) is this book intended, and how can you tell? (In other words, for whom would you recommend this book?)
This series was intended for children because most adults are not interested in reading a book about a teenage spy. They read spy books, but not teenage spies. I would recommend this book to teens because some teens can relate to Alex's problems. The problems I am talking about are not spy related, but family problems. Alex has lost both of his parents at a very young age and was living with his Uncle and "caretaker" Ian Rider and Jack Starbright. He loses his Uncle and is then pulled into the spy world of MI6 British Intelligence. OK, OK, it is about spies. So anyway, as he goes from mission to mission, accomplishing them with flying colors and coming back home with cuts and bruises, he learns more and more about the death of his parents. So anyway, teenagers can relate to this minus the spies part because some kids loses their parents in accidents or other ways. Teens would be better fit to read this book because they are old enough to realize and accept what happened to their parents. The younger kids might not be ready and wouldn't want to read about some one's parents being killed, even if it is a fictional character. It might bring back bad memories and they might not be able to handle it. That is why this series is directed at teens. The adults would find this series to be boring and not exciting enough. To me, this series is amazing. I hope they will come out with new books. I might try to read The Power of Five series also by Anthony Horowitz. So to end my statement, I would recommend anyone who enjoys reading adventure, spies, teenage life, and mystery novels to read this series. I can guarantee you that you will love this series. Their is even a movie for the first book in this series, Stormbreaker.
Find out about the author. How did they end up writing this particular book? Is the author's true life reflected in the book in any way(s)?
I tried to research Anthony Horowitz and why he wrote this book, but all I find is his other books and series like The Power of Five. The only thing that is closely related to this question is that his family fully supports him and helps him in writing and creating his books. His wife, Jill Green, has produced several of his scripts like the drama serial, Foyle's War. This drama won the Lew Grade Audience Award in the year 2003. One of his two sons, Cassian, is a seasoned actor and has appeared in three of Anthony's shows. Nicholas, Anthony's other son, helped in creating Alex Rider by researching all the skills Alex knows, like scuba-diving, snowboarding, and surfing. So in a way, Anthony's true life is his family, and his family is part of the reason Alex Rider exists. So therefore, his life is indirectly reflected in the Alex Rider series.
Pick a character that interested you and write about them in depth. You can also analyze a relationship between two different characters.
If I was forced to choose a character from this series and write about that person in great detail, even though that is exactly what is going on right now, it would be of course, ...*drum roll*. Alex Rider of course. What do I say about him. Maybe a quote would be better at describing him.
And already they knew. He had glimpsed it in the eyes of the diver who had spoken to him. The disbelief. These men―the helicopter, the aircraft carrier―had been rushed out to rendezvous with a module that had just reentered the earth's atmosphere. And inside, they had found a boy. A fourteen-year-old had just plummeted a hundred miles from outer space. These men would be sworn to secrecy, of course. MI6 would see to that. They would never talk about what had happened. Nor would they forget. (Snakehead book 7, Chapter 1, Page 3)
This quote makes me think that the secret intelligence is using Alex and not appreciating what he is doing for them. He was blackmailed into working for MI6 when his uncle, Ian Rider, was killed. Since then, he has completed 6 missions successfully, but each time, they find a way to make Alex agree to take on the mission, and each time, they send him in unable to protect himself. They don't allow him to carry a gun to protect himself. They treat him like a child when they're the ones who wants his help. Luckily, Alex has one true friend in MI6. Mr. Smithers.
Smithers is a protagonist who has appeared in all of the novels, as well as in the film adaption. He creates the various gadgets for MI6 agents, a role similar to that of Q's in the James Bond films. It is often implied that Smithers is Alex's only genuine friend at MI6; in Eagle Strike, when Alex attempted to convince MI6 to investigate Damian Cray, he was ignored by Blunt and Mrs. Jones, but Smithers nevertheless supplied him with a high-tech bicycle that played a crucial role in Alex's investigations, and in Ark Angel Smithers took time out from his holiday to provide Alex with new gadgets when the CIA requested Alex's assistance in investigating the father of a new friend. (List of Alex Rider characters, Wikipedia)
Another quote to prove my point about how Alex is used and manipulated by MI6 is
"I don't know, Jack..." Alex looked at the ice cream, melting on his spoon. He wished he could explain how he felt. He didn't want to work for MI6 again. He was sure of that. But at the same time... (Snakehead book 7, Chapter 5, Page 58)
This quote is from my lit circle letter of Snakehead. This quote proves my earlier point because Alex clearly said, in his head, that he doesn't want to work for MI6 anymore. Or any other agencies to that matter. He just wants to be a regular schoolboy, but he can't because the way ASIS (Australian Secret Intelligence Services) manipulated Alex into agreeing to do the mission in book 7, was to have the God father he doesn't remember, Ash, to work together on the mission. The reason he is with ASIS and not MI6 is because shortly after the murder of Alex's parents, Ash did some papers and dropped out of field work, but later decided to leave MI6 and emigrate to ASIS. In the other books to the series, Alex is manipulated and used repeatedly like a tool that can just be replaced if broken. This is what describes Alex Rider.
That's about all I have for my third and last monthly review for the school year of 2009-2010. I might continue doing the blog, but most likely I won't continue the monthly review. So this is good bye for now. Please check out my blog once in a while to see if there is anything new. See you next time. Until then, see ya!
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