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A review by thesummer
Scorpia Rising by Anthony Horowitz
5.0
*SPOILER ALERT!!*
I gave this book five stars, which is not to say it wasn't flawed. There were certainly parts I will complain about, but the reason I gave it five stars was because it rounded off the series very well, and some parts of the series suddenly made sense.
In terms of plot, my favourite is still Scorpia Rising, but in terms of emotions and endings, this was definitely my favourite, because, as reluctant as I am about the ending, it had to happen that way. The set up for this, with non-Alex points of view, was really long, around 100 pages or something, and I was irritated and impatient to see Alex again, but it was necessary, I suppose, and well-written. I thought the plot was pretty interesting overall (the middle lagged a bit), even if it didn't have the type of moral and political messages the other books have had, but there was definitely a couple good twists in there. The Black Devils and scorpion thing was genius, and I am still reeling over the Smithers thing- who could have seen that one coming?! I liked Razin. I thought he was a suitably clinically-insane villain. It was certainly interesting to read from his point of view.
When I was at the beginning of this series, I kinda hated Sabina and Jack Starbright. Sabina, because, well, this is a teen spy novel, and generally, the protocol for these books is that the romantic interest be a mysterious, strong-willed, gorgeous girl who has questionable loyalty to the good side. But Sabina? She was just kind of normal. She didn't really have much of a personality either. She just didn't fit into Alex's spy life. Same with Jack- she seemed like such a flat, cardboard character. The loving, doting, "big sister" figure with red hair and a big smile who cared. Just again, too NORMAL. But by the end of this book...I understood it. The normalness- that was the point.
Whereas with other spy kid novels, even with amazing ones like CHERUB, the kids are eager to become spies. It's cool, it's fun, it's saving the world! But with Alex Rider, one of the most important elements is that Alex doesn't want to be a spy. He doesn't want to be put in danger, to have his loved ones in danger. It's not happy missions where everything turns out okay. And I think that while, originally, I was like "Alex, you are MEANT to be a spy! It's so COOL!", by the end of this book, I just understood that he's just a kid. He shouldn't be forced to do these things, to have to kill people. And when Jack was killed, and when he shot Julius, and he kind of shut down, I understood it. He was out into a situation where he had to kill someone. This was emotionally traumatic for him- a good person like him should not kill people, and if they do, there a mental consequences. Jack was always the light for him, she was the normal, only adult he could count on, who would love and care for him unconditionally. She was his link to a normal life, and her death was, in fact, quite necessary. However, I think the way it was written could have been done much better, to have a bigger effect on the reader. The way J K Rowling and Suzanne Collins do deaths, they're very different styles, but they both achieve amazing effects. I think Anthony Horowitz just didn't achieve the kind of emotions they did.
In my mind, I imagine that someday, Alex'll grow up and work for the government again, but that's just a little fantasy of mine. In reality, Alex has been scarred beyond belief, and his stint as a spy is most probably finished forever. I think he DESERVES a normal, happy life. But in the end, really, was there any other way to end the series? Alex Rider had to have something extremely traumatic happen, and it had to end with him leaving the spy world forever, to live that normal life every kid should be given. In the end, that's what Sabina represented- a normal life. A safe one, a happy one, where he could heal, and live in peace.
I gave this book five stars, which is not to say it wasn't flawed. There were certainly parts I will complain about, but the reason I gave it five stars was because it rounded off the series very well, and some parts of the series suddenly made sense.
In terms of plot, my favourite is still Scorpia Rising, but in terms of emotions and endings, this was definitely my favourite, because, as reluctant as I am about the ending, it had to happen that way. The set up for this, with non-Alex points of view, was really long, around 100 pages or something, and I was irritated and impatient to see Alex again, but it was necessary, I suppose, and well-written. I thought the plot was pretty interesting overall (the middle lagged a bit), even if it didn't have the type of moral and political messages the other books have had, but there was definitely a couple good twists in there. The Black Devils and scorpion thing was genius, and I am still reeling over the Smithers thing- who could have seen that one coming?! I liked Razin. I thought he was a suitably clinically-insane villain. It was certainly interesting to read from his point of view.
When I was at the beginning of this series, I kinda hated Sabina and Jack Starbright. Sabina, because, well, this is a teen spy novel, and generally, the protocol for these books is that the romantic interest be a mysterious, strong-willed, gorgeous girl who has questionable loyalty to the good side. But Sabina? She was just kind of normal. She didn't really have much of a personality either. She just didn't fit into Alex's spy life. Same with Jack- she seemed like such a flat, cardboard character. The loving, doting, "big sister" figure with red hair and a big smile who cared. Just again, too NORMAL. But by the end of this book...I understood it. The normalness- that was the point.
Whereas with other spy kid novels, even with amazing ones like CHERUB, the kids are eager to become spies. It's cool, it's fun, it's saving the world! But with Alex Rider, one of the most important elements is that Alex doesn't want to be a spy. He doesn't want to be put in danger, to have his loved ones in danger. It's not happy missions where everything turns out okay. And I think that while, originally, I was like "Alex, you are MEANT to be a spy! It's so COOL!", by the end of this book, I just understood that he's just a kid. He shouldn't be forced to do these things, to have to kill people. And when Jack was killed, and when he shot Julius, and he kind of shut down, I understood it. He was out into a situation where he had to kill someone. This was emotionally traumatic for him- a good person like him should not kill people, and if they do, there a mental consequences. Jack was always the light for him, she was the normal, only adult he could count on, who would love and care for him unconditionally. She was his link to a normal life, and her death was, in fact, quite necessary. However, I think the way it was written could have been done much better, to have a bigger effect on the reader. The way J K Rowling and Suzanne Collins do deaths, they're very different styles, but they both achieve amazing effects. I think Anthony Horowitz just didn't achieve the kind of emotions they did.
In my mind, I imagine that someday, Alex'll grow up and work for the government again, but that's just a little fantasy of mine. In reality, Alex has been scarred beyond belief, and his stint as a spy is most probably finished forever. I think he DESERVES a normal, happy life. But in the end, really, was there any other way to end the series? Alex Rider had to have something extremely traumatic happen, and it had to end with him leaving the spy world forever, to live that normal life every kid should be given. In the end, that's what Sabina represented- a normal life. A safe one, a happy one, where he could heal, and live in peace.