A review by spiderstapdance
Scorpia Rising by Anthony Horowitz
5.0
Wow. What a ride these nine books have been.
Scorpia Rising was very well done. Unlike the previous books in the series, it is organized in two parts: the first, Scorpia, gives the reader insight into the plan the criminal organization will soon begin to enact against Alex, and the second, Alex, picks up the narrative in the way we're used to, following Alex from the beginning to the end of his mission. This was a brilliant move on Anthony Horowitz's part. The first part gives enough details to develop a strong sense of dramatic irony as Alex tries to work things out, without giving too much away and damaging the suspense (which is just as strong).
As the final installment of a series, it was great to see all the nods to Alex's previous missions. It relied a lot more on suspense than on plot than the past books, but it worked. There seemed like less action on Alex's part as well, but that too, worked. This was probably due to the split perspectives of the storytelling.
The resolution was bittersweet, but it suited my feelings about completing a series I have grown up with.
I first read [b:Stormbreaker|136782|Stormbreaker (Alex Rider, #1)|Anthony Horowitz|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1288354739s/136782.jpg|833565] when I was a few years younger than Alex was, and I'm now nearly five years older than he is in Scorpia Rising. I remember at one point after I had passed him in age (I think it was during either [b:Ark Angel|94319|Ark Angel (Alex Rider, #6)|Anthony Horowitz|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1311648941s/94319.jpg|90923] or [b:Snakehead|1821571|Snakehead (Alex Rider, #7)|Anthony Horowitz|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1349007138s/1821571.jpg|2066979]), I could hardly believe that a fourteen-year-old kid could possibly be doing all the things he does in these books. Whereas when I was eleven, it had made perfect sense. After Scorpia Rising, it makes sense again. Yes, Alex is extraordinary: his uncle gave him the kind of training he would need for the life of a spy, but he has also grown up exponentially in the year-and-some-months that the books span. By the end, he moves beyond his uncle's training.
And that's something that I really like about the Alex Rider series. Alex isn't some kind of superhuman James Bond figure going from mission to mission completely untouched by the things that happen to him. He's a fourteen, later fifteen, year old kid, blessed (or cursed) with the luck of the devil. The things he witnesses and the things he is forced to do change him and scar him. I love Alex because he isn't untouchable. And I think that fact makes these stories richer, particularly Scorpia Rising.
Scorpia Rising was very well done. Unlike the previous books in the series, it is organized in two parts: the first, Scorpia, gives the reader insight into the plan the criminal organization will soon begin to enact against Alex, and the second, Alex, picks up the narrative in the way we're used to, following Alex from the beginning to the end of his mission. This was a brilliant move on Anthony Horowitz's part. The first part gives enough details to develop a strong sense of dramatic irony as Alex tries to work things out, without giving too much away and damaging the suspense (which is just as strong).
As the final installment of a series, it was great to see all the nods to Alex's previous missions. It relied a lot more on suspense than on plot than the past books, but it worked. There seemed like less action on Alex's part as well, but that too, worked. This was probably due to the split perspectives of the storytelling.
The resolution was bittersweet, but it suited my feelings about completing a series I have grown up with.
I first read [b:Stormbreaker|136782|Stormbreaker (Alex Rider, #1)|Anthony Horowitz|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1288354739s/136782.jpg|833565] when I was a few years younger than Alex was, and I'm now nearly five years older than he is in Scorpia Rising. I remember at one point after I had passed him in age (I think it was during either [b:Ark Angel|94319|Ark Angel (Alex Rider, #6)|Anthony Horowitz|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1311648941s/94319.jpg|90923] or [b:Snakehead|1821571|Snakehead (Alex Rider, #7)|Anthony Horowitz|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1349007138s/1821571.jpg|2066979]), I could hardly believe that a fourteen-year-old kid could possibly be doing all the things he does in these books. Whereas when I was eleven, it had made perfect sense. After Scorpia Rising, it makes sense again. Yes, Alex is extraordinary: his uncle gave him the kind of training he would need for the life of a spy, but he has also grown up exponentially in the year-and-some-months that the books span. By the end, he moves beyond his uncle's training.
And that's something that I really like about the Alex Rider series. Alex isn't some kind of superhuman James Bond figure going from mission to mission completely untouched by the things that happen to him. He's a fourteen, later fifteen, year old kid, blessed (or cursed) with the luck of the devil. The things he witnesses and the things he is forced to do change him and scar him. I love Alex because he isn't untouchable. And I think that fact makes these stories richer, particularly Scorpia Rising.