Hey hey :)
So, as you have probably noticed, I've been a bit lax with my posting frequency lately. I have few excuses -I'm just lazy. But I have decided to make a few changes. I'm going on holiday for a couple of weeks so evidently won't be able to post at all, but when I get back I'll be doing things differently.
Whilst I did enjoy doing these past 2 books chapter by chapter, I've found it really difficult to find time to put together a good review every day. I know I'm in the holidays right now, but when term starts again I really want to focus on my studies because I'm aiming to get a First which I'll really need to work for... Yeah I can totally see that not happening, but I'll do my best. So I'm going to do less frequent posts, like before, but at the moment I'm thinking I'll just review each book as I finish. Don't worry, my course book list for next year stands at 39, so I won't be short of material! I don't want to stop doing this blog, but I've found that doing it so frequently has become a bit of a chore sometimes, so I hope that this will keep the posts fresh and interesting; maybe even with a few intelligent insights (PAH!) along the way.
So see you in September, when I shall be posting my overall review of Scorpia Rising!
xx
Tuesday 23 August 2011
Tuesday 16 August 2011
Quick note
Heeey! I forgot tomention that I'm away again this week and although I have access to the internet I only have time to post late at night, by which time I'm really tired. If I get a chance to post I will, but I can't say how often it will be. Hopefully write soon :]
Friday 12 August 2011
Scorpia Rising - Chapter 6: Secrets and Lies
I always enjoy chapers that are set in MI6 Headquarters and this one was no exeption. Although we're still in 'Part 1: Scorpia' (the final chapter, in fact) this chapte took place in Alan Blunt's office and was, in my opinion, my favourite chapter in this book so far, and probably the most interesting of these types of chapters in the whole series. It's from Alan Blunt's POV and we see him weeks away from forced resignation as Head of MI6. I was actually surprised by his blase attitude towards it: I kind of expected a Devil Wears Prada-esque refusal to leave and some kind of anger-inducing manipulation, but apparently not. Alan Blunt rarely seems to feel any emotion at all, and I suppose I should have realised that this would extend to his job. He even goes so far as to hope that Mrs Jones will replace him. Maybe he too feels that he's made too many mistakes.
As he muses on his past year with ALex Rider, I can't help but detect some respect in his thoughts, and I think, especially after what hesaid in the last book, he really is coming to think very highly of Alex.
He turns his attentions to a file that details the finding of a body in the Thames. The body has been identified as Levi Kroll, a founder of Scorpia, and is therefore being treated with the utmost secrecy. This is obviously the body planted by Scorpia, and one of the effective results of writing the book in this way means that we know so much more about the situation than Blunt, which is rare this early on in the novel. There were many points when I was yelling in frustration at the pages in my hand because it was so obvious what was happening, and HOW COULD BLUNT BE FALLING FOR THE TRAP??? But, of course, he knows nothing of this trap and can't be expected to.
The coded message has been found, and although Bluntfinds it suspicious that a message of this importance would be written on Kroll's phone, he dismisses it - making me scream in irritation and admiration at Horowitz's tantalising yet brilliant story-telling. Enter Mrs Jones. I've always liked her, despite the fact that she's in MI6, there just seems to be a touch more humanity in her than in Blunt, and she does sympathise with Alex, defending him againts her superior. She comes bearing lots of new information about the body, and it really does astound me how much MI6 areable to work out from just one body. For example, they work out according to the tidal directions where the body must have been thrown in, where his clothes were bought, and therefore where he's been recently and of course how long ago he was shot. Although we know that this information is certainly wrong, because Jurst stck him in a freezer directly after the murder, just to throw MI6 off his scent. Evil genius.
Jones tells Blunt how they have managed to work out the code, and then a new woman is introduced, someone we've never met. She is described as having photographic memory and "the analytical skills of a world-class chess player". Samantha Redwing also - to Blunt's surprise has a normal life outside MI6. It's interesting that this extra information is given, and I can't help but wonder how she's going to come into play later on in the novel. She was vital in working out the coded message, and they have finally decided that it's hinting towards some kind of attack on a SCHOOL in Cairo. The school is a famous arts school, containing the children of many rich and famous parents. Blunt and Jones agree that should this come under threat, Scorpia would "have enough leverage to start a world war". Great!
Blunt's mind instantly makes a connection between this and the recent news of JULIUS GRIEF'S DEATH.
BLUNT, YOU GENIUS!
And then he decides to disregard it, as it can't possibly be related.
BLUNT, YOU FOOL!!!! YOU FRUSTRATE ME SO MUCHHHHHH
But, of course, we know that this isn't actually going to happen - at least we don't think it is. I can't tell if Scorpia are actually going to threaten the school, or if they're just threatening to threaten it... if you get what I mean...
Naturally - unfortunately - Blunt's mind skips to Alex. We've been told earlier in the chapter that the Prime Minister forbade Blunt to use Alex - or any other teenager - ever again, but now Blunt doesn't seem to care. Mrs Jones reminds me why Ilike her so much though, as she tells Blunt that she will by no means let him use Alex again. He is not to be touched and they should send an adult spy in as a teacher or cleaner, but NEVER ARE THEY TO USE ALEX RIDER AGAIN.
<3<3<3
:)
Oh Alan Blunt, you just got TOLD!
Something really interested me at the end though, Samantha Redwing voices her concerns about the whole incident: planting a seed of doubt about its authenticity in the minds of Blunt and Jones. She mentions that the medical report showed that the contents of his stomach contained food that might well be eaten in France (correct) or England, but would not likely be served in Egypt, where it seemed he had been before. She also noted the galss that was lodged in his bullet wound, pointing out that he must have been shot whilst inside and then dragged out to the river and dumped. Was it, she wonders, Scorpia hoping that the body would indeed be found? For once Blunt is sensible and agrees with her, and I am now positive that we will see more of Samantha.
Blunt finishes by saying that they will send an agent into the school, although he admits it could be pointless, and Jones knows that he's still thinking of Alex and she promises herself that she will never let Alex be involved.
The question, now that we've finished Part 1 and head on to 'Part 2: Alex', is how is Alex going to end up involved? If it seems that Jones is determined not to let him get mixed up, how is Blunt going to change her mind? Is he going to go behind her back? Are Scorpia going to notice that Alex hasn't been sent and expand their plan, forcing MI6 to send Alex into Cairo, back into the deadly cluches of his worst enemies?
As he muses on his past year with ALex Rider, I can't help but detect some respect in his thoughts, and I think, especially after what hesaid in the last book, he really is coming to think very highly of Alex.
He turns his attentions to a file that details the finding of a body in the Thames. The body has been identified as Levi Kroll, a founder of Scorpia, and is therefore being treated with the utmost secrecy. This is obviously the body planted by Scorpia, and one of the effective results of writing the book in this way means that we know so much more about the situation than Blunt, which is rare this early on in the novel. There were many points when I was yelling in frustration at the pages in my hand because it was so obvious what was happening, and HOW COULD BLUNT BE FALLING FOR THE TRAP??? But, of course, he knows nothing of this trap and can't be expected to.
The coded message has been found, and although Bluntfinds it suspicious that a message of this importance would be written on Kroll's phone, he dismisses it - making me scream in irritation and admiration at Horowitz's tantalising yet brilliant story-telling. Enter Mrs Jones. I've always liked her, despite the fact that she's in MI6, there just seems to be a touch more humanity in her than in Blunt, and she does sympathise with Alex, defending him againts her superior. She comes bearing lots of new information about the body, and it really does astound me how much MI6 areable to work out from just one body. For example, they work out according to the tidal directions where the body must have been thrown in, where his clothes were bought, and therefore where he's been recently and of course how long ago he was shot. Although we know that this information is certainly wrong, because Jurst stck him in a freezer directly after the murder, just to throw MI6 off his scent. Evil genius.
Jones tells Blunt how they have managed to work out the code, and then a new woman is introduced, someone we've never met. She is described as having photographic memory and "the analytical skills of a world-class chess player". Samantha Redwing also - to Blunt's surprise has a normal life outside MI6. It's interesting that this extra information is given, and I can't help but wonder how she's going to come into play later on in the novel. She was vital in working out the coded message, and they have finally decided that it's hinting towards some kind of attack on a SCHOOL in Cairo. The school is a famous arts school, containing the children of many rich and famous parents. Blunt and Jones agree that should this come under threat, Scorpia would "have enough leverage to start a world war". Great!
Blunt's mind instantly makes a connection between this and the recent news of JULIUS GRIEF'S DEATH.
BLUNT, YOU GENIUS!
And then he decides to disregard it, as it can't possibly be related.
BLUNT, YOU FOOL!!!! YOU FRUSTRATE ME SO MUCHHHHHH
But, of course, we know that this isn't actually going to happen - at least we don't think it is. I can't tell if Scorpia are actually going to threaten the school, or if they're just threatening to threaten it... if you get what I mean...
Naturally - unfortunately - Blunt's mind skips to Alex. We've been told earlier in the chapter that the Prime Minister forbade Blunt to use Alex - or any other teenager - ever again, but now Blunt doesn't seem to care. Mrs Jones reminds me why Ilike her so much though, as she tells Blunt that she will by no means let him use Alex again. He is not to be touched and they should send an adult spy in as a teacher or cleaner, but NEVER ARE THEY TO USE ALEX RIDER AGAIN.
<3<3<3
:)
Oh Alan Blunt, you just got TOLD!
Something really interested me at the end though, Samantha Redwing voices her concerns about the whole incident: planting a seed of doubt about its authenticity in the minds of Blunt and Jones. She mentions that the medical report showed that the contents of his stomach contained food that might well be eaten in France (correct) or England, but would not likely be served in Egypt, where it seemed he had been before. She also noted the galss that was lodged in his bullet wound, pointing out that he must have been shot whilst inside and then dragged out to the river and dumped. Was it, she wonders, Scorpia hoping that the body would indeed be found? For once Blunt is sensible and agrees with her, and I am now positive that we will see more of Samantha.
Blunt finishes by saying that they will send an agent into the school, although he admits it could be pointless, and Jones knows that he's still thinking of Alex and she promises herself that she will never let Alex be involved.
The question, now that we've finished Part 1 and head on to 'Part 2: Alex', is how is Alex going to end up involved? If it seems that Jones is determined not to let him get mixed up, how is Blunt going to change her mind? Is he going to go behind her back? Are Scorpia going to notice that Alex hasn't been sent and expand their plan, forcing MI6 to send Alex into Cairo, back into the deadly cluches of his worst enemies?
Saturday 6 August 2011
Scorpia Rising - Chapter 5: Over the Edge
What up! Sorry about the short, uninteresting post yesterday, I was really tired and in a bad mood! Just in case you were wondering, I did survive work this morning! Onward!
Wow. So chapter 5. I don't even knwo where to begin.
Last chapter we were introduced to Julius Grief, and began to understand really how mad he is. The stuff he was imagining about killing was truly horrific, and in thia chapter, we get to see the insnaity in action.
Before we start on that though, I'd like to talk about something first. I was thinking about this boy's upbringing - how he was treated, told to act etc must have had a huge impact on how he is now. We find out so much about his - and all the other 15 clones of Hugo Grief - childhood. We learn that he learnt to shoot aged 9, and first killed someone aged 11. Seriously? That's just wrong. We also find how trained he is in martial arts, fighting, driving and all that, and I was reminded of Alex, the spy-in-training from the age of 5 or 6. I then wondered how much this behaviour was inevitable in Julius, or how much it was formed in his father's (can you call him father?) training of him. It's that whole environmental factor vs biological factor debate. In Julius's case he is actually a clone, so would he only inherit his 'father's' physical appearance, or would he also have inherited that mad drive for power, that awful coldness towards other human beings? It also reminded me of Voldemort. As we find out more about him in Half-Blood Prince we see how deranged he was throughout his life, but one wonders how much living in that orphange, being one of many homeless children, being a 'number' rather than an individual made him strive to be different. Was it that that made him want ultimate power, or was it something else, something that was inherent within him?
In this chapter we first join Julius immediately after his meeting with Dr Flint as he is on his way to the library to recieve his next instructions. His coldness and detachment from all the other risoners and guards really is quite creepy. He identifies a book in the children's section which he knows belongs somewhere else and so guesses it's meant for him. As he secretly opens the book he finds that the pages have been cut away to hide a gun and a note. We don't see what the note says, but it is obviously instructions for his escape. I still find it so strange that a 15 year old can take a gun so easily. It's such a jarring image. He's so different to Alex.
We next hear from Dr Flint's perspective, and we find that she knows more than Julius thinks she does. She also thinks about something I hadn't considered. The fact that Julius looks exactly like Alex, that every time he looks in a mirror, passes his reflection in a window or sees himself in a puddle, he in confronted with the face of his enemy. What must that do to his mind? It's no wonder he hates him so much, maybe even contributing to his madness. Can you imagine looking in the mirror and seeing the face of the person you dislike most in the whole world? Although in his case it's the person who ruined everything and indirectly killed his father and brothers.
Just as she's thinking about him, he rings the doorbell, holding a bunch of flowers. Although it seems obvious to us that he's up to no good, she hopes that maybe he's come to apologise for his behaviour this morning and has come to talk to her. Of course not. He pulls out the gun and tells her that she must come with him. Leading her to the gates, gun pointed to her head, he is finally stopped by the guards, all pointing their guns at him. Of course, they don't shoot or they could kill Dr Flint, and Julius makes the most of this, by ordering the govenor to open the gates for him or he'll kill her. I think everyone knew that these were not empty words.
As he walks out of the prison he hits Flint over the head and begins to run, knowing that he won't have much time before the gurads catch up. Following the instructions on the paper he finds a car which, of course, he knows how to drive. There follows a huuuge car chase which I'm not going to describe except to say that it was really cool, but Julius is being closed in on and, although I didn't think it would happen, I started to hope that he would be recaptured. He drives the car straight through a barn and for a couple of seconds his car is not seen. Then it bursts out of the other side, careering across the field they are in, surrounded by guards, and rockets straight off the top of the cliff and into the sea below.
For a second I couldn't believe it: was Horowitz really going to make it that easy? Surely not! But then I remembered that for a second or two the car was unseen. Unbeknownst to the guards, Scorpia were waiting inside the barn with an identical, remote-controlled car ready to drive off the edge. They smuggled Julius down through a hidden trapdoor and he escaped.
The last line of this chapter was the most chilling:
Wow. So chapter 5. I don't even knwo where to begin.
Last chapter we were introduced to Julius Grief, and began to understand really how mad he is. The stuff he was imagining about killing was truly horrific, and in thia chapter, we get to see the insnaity in action.
Before we start on that though, I'd like to talk about something first. I was thinking about this boy's upbringing - how he was treated, told to act etc must have had a huge impact on how he is now. We find out so much about his - and all the other 15 clones of Hugo Grief - childhood. We learn that he learnt to shoot aged 9, and first killed someone aged 11. Seriously? That's just wrong. We also find how trained he is in martial arts, fighting, driving and all that, and I was reminded of Alex, the spy-in-training from the age of 5 or 6. I then wondered how much this behaviour was inevitable in Julius, or how much it was formed in his father's (can you call him father?) training of him. It's that whole environmental factor vs biological factor debate. In Julius's case he is actually a clone, so would he only inherit his 'father's' physical appearance, or would he also have inherited that mad drive for power, that awful coldness towards other human beings? It also reminded me of Voldemort. As we find out more about him in Half-Blood Prince we see how deranged he was throughout his life, but one wonders how much living in that orphange, being one of many homeless children, being a 'number' rather than an individual made him strive to be different. Was it that that made him want ultimate power, or was it something else, something that was inherent within him?
In this chapter we first join Julius immediately after his meeting with Dr Flint as he is on his way to the library to recieve his next instructions. His coldness and detachment from all the other risoners and guards really is quite creepy. He identifies a book in the children's section which he knows belongs somewhere else and so guesses it's meant for him. As he secretly opens the book he finds that the pages have been cut away to hide a gun and a note. We don't see what the note says, but it is obviously instructions for his escape. I still find it so strange that a 15 year old can take a gun so easily. It's such a jarring image. He's so different to Alex.
We next hear from Dr Flint's perspective, and we find that she knows more than Julius thinks she does. She also thinks about something I hadn't considered. The fact that Julius looks exactly like Alex, that every time he looks in a mirror, passes his reflection in a window or sees himself in a puddle, he in confronted with the face of his enemy. What must that do to his mind? It's no wonder he hates him so much, maybe even contributing to his madness. Can you imagine looking in the mirror and seeing the face of the person you dislike most in the whole world? Although in his case it's the person who ruined everything and indirectly killed his father and brothers.
Just as she's thinking about him, he rings the doorbell, holding a bunch of flowers. Although it seems obvious to us that he's up to no good, she hopes that maybe he's come to apologise for his behaviour this morning and has come to talk to her. Of course not. He pulls out the gun and tells her that she must come with him. Leading her to the gates, gun pointed to her head, he is finally stopped by the guards, all pointing their guns at him. Of course, they don't shoot or they could kill Dr Flint, and Julius makes the most of this, by ordering the govenor to open the gates for him or he'll kill her. I think everyone knew that these were not empty words.
As he walks out of the prison he hits Flint over the head and begins to run, knowing that he won't have much time before the gurads catch up. Following the instructions on the paper he finds a car which, of course, he knows how to drive. There follows a huuuge car chase which I'm not going to describe except to say that it was really cool, but Julius is being closed in on and, although I didn't think it would happen, I started to hope that he would be recaptured. He drives the car straight through a barn and for a couple of seconds his car is not seen. Then it bursts out of the other side, careering across the field they are in, surrounded by guards, and rockets straight off the top of the cliff and into the sea below.
For a second I couldn't believe it: was Horowitz really going to make it that easy? Surely not! But then I remembered that for a second or two the car was unseen. Unbeknownst to the guards, Scorpia were waiting inside the barn with an identical, remote-controlled car ready to drive off the edge. They smuggled Julius down through a hidden trapdoor and he escaped.
The last line of this chapter was the most chilling:
"Nobody was watching that night as a fishing boat with a single, smiling passenger slipped out of Gibraltar Harbour beneath a full moon and a starry sky and began its journey south."
Friday 5 August 2011
Scorpia Rising - Chapter 4: Prisoner 7
Aaaargh I am sooo tired right now. Had a stressfull morning at work and seriously can't be bothered to get up tomorrow and go back =/ I guess that's what being a student does to you, but seriously, I haven't had a lie-in since LAST FRIDAY and I won't get another till NEXT FRIDAY. I'm lazy, I know. Gaah!
Anyhoo, rant over. I did get time in between crying over my lost hours in bed to read the next chapter. Well. This was... interesting. One of the quotes on the back of this book says how much darker this final one is to the other stories and I am quickly beginning to see why.
So end of last chapter I forgot to mention that Razim had a plot to get hold of this one person who hates Alex Rider and use them somehow in his evil plan. I didn't quite understand how this person is going to fit in, but I'm sure I'll find out. He said that the person he's thinking of probably hates Alex more than anyone in the world and wants him dead. So I'd been trying to figure out who this could be, and I was a bit stumped: pretty much every enemy of Alex is dead right? the only person I could think of who survived was Paul Drevin, the son of Alexei Drevin, the bad guy in Ark Angel. But he's fourteen, and I couldn't see how he would hate Alex so much.
When the chapter started it described a fifteen-year-old boy with blonde hair. I naturally thought it was Alex. But then Horowitz mentions that he is in a prison. Alex couldn't be in a prison, could he? I racked my brains at this point, then realised how Horowitz is just as much of an evil mastermind as his characters. In Point Blanc a clone of Dr Hugo Grief was made, a very power-hungry person. They were then altered to look exactly like Alex, and although Alex defeated Grief this clone came looking for him, intent on killing him. He never managed, falling into a fire, and I assumed that he had died. Apparently not. This I worked out mere sentences before the reveal, and I can't believe Horowitz has gone that far back and affected the plot of this book so much. It's almost worthy of JK Rowling, Queen of foreshadowing and hidden clues.
We really get to see into the mind of Julius Grief here, and I did not like what I saw. He is in a meeting with a child psychiatrist, and all he ever seems to think about is killing Alex Rider. He imagines all the ways of killing him slowly, painfully, and it really was a horrible thing to read. It is obvious that the psychiatrist, although very good, doesn't understand the extent of his - can we call it insanity? - and he knows it. Unfortunately he recieved a note telling him that someone was going to help him escape, instructing him to go to the library at 12pm for more information. This is obviously Scorpia and it's very worrying to think that two forces so powerful are going to come together to destroy Alex Rider. I know I've said it time and again, but I really don't know how on earth he's going to come out of this alive. Scorpia aren't prepared to make any more mistakes, and they have very little to lose. There is no way they're going to let him off this time. I can't see it ending well.
I know this is a really short review, but I don't have that much time. Just a head's up - I'm going away for a few days so there will not be any reviews from Sunday to Thursday. I'll be back up next Friday though, so never fear!
Anyhoo, rant over. I did get time in between crying over my lost hours in bed to read the next chapter. Well. This was... interesting. One of the quotes on the back of this book says how much darker this final one is to the other stories and I am quickly beginning to see why.
So end of last chapter I forgot to mention that Razim had a plot to get hold of this one person who hates Alex Rider and use them somehow in his evil plan. I didn't quite understand how this person is going to fit in, but I'm sure I'll find out. He said that the person he's thinking of probably hates Alex more than anyone in the world and wants him dead. So I'd been trying to figure out who this could be, and I was a bit stumped: pretty much every enemy of Alex is dead right? the only person I could think of who survived was Paul Drevin, the son of Alexei Drevin, the bad guy in Ark Angel. But he's fourteen, and I couldn't see how he would hate Alex so much.
When the chapter started it described a fifteen-year-old boy with blonde hair. I naturally thought it was Alex. But then Horowitz mentions that he is in a prison. Alex couldn't be in a prison, could he? I racked my brains at this point, then realised how Horowitz is just as much of an evil mastermind as his characters. In Point Blanc a clone of Dr Hugo Grief was made, a very power-hungry person. They were then altered to look exactly like Alex, and although Alex defeated Grief this clone came looking for him, intent on killing him. He never managed, falling into a fire, and I assumed that he had died. Apparently not. This I worked out mere sentences before the reveal, and I can't believe Horowitz has gone that far back and affected the plot of this book so much. It's almost worthy of JK Rowling, Queen of foreshadowing and hidden clues.
We really get to see into the mind of Julius Grief here, and I did not like what I saw. He is in a meeting with a child psychiatrist, and all he ever seems to think about is killing Alex Rider. He imagines all the ways of killing him slowly, painfully, and it really was a horrible thing to read. It is obvious that the psychiatrist, although very good, doesn't understand the extent of his - can we call it insanity? - and he knows it. Unfortunately he recieved a note telling him that someone was going to help him escape, instructing him to go to the library at 12pm for more information. This is obviously Scorpia and it's very worrying to think that two forces so powerful are going to come together to destroy Alex Rider. I know I've said it time and again, but I really don't know how on earth he's going to come out of this alive. Scorpia aren't prepared to make any more mistakes, and they have very little to lose. There is no way they're going to let him off this time. I can't see it ending well.
I know this is a really short review, but I don't have that much time. Just a head's up - I'm going away for a few days so there will not be any reviews from Sunday to Thursday. I'll be back up next Friday though, so never fear!
Thursday 4 August 2011
Scorpia Rising - Chapter 3: Fly By Night
Good grief. This situation just seems to get worse and worse! I thought Alex was going to be in trouble after reading the last chapter, but that's nothing, nothing compared with this chapter! But I'm getting ahead of myself: let's start at the very beginning (a very good place to start...)
We now come to the first Scorpia meeting we've had in this book. I'm actually getting to enjoy this stint of spying on Scorpia, I think it's very intriguing and informative, and of course it's nice to have a change in the structure of these books. What particularly surprised me though was the fact that we learn pretty much exactly what Scorpia are up to: usually we get teased a small amount of information and it's up to us and Alex to work out what's happening - either that or Alex gets told later on in the book, victim to the classic case of 'bad guy conveniently tells all his plans to hero who subsequently escapes' sydrome. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that we were going to be given all the information - at first: I then was filled with such a deep sense of despair that I wondered whether I would have preferred not to know!
Razim, that evil, twisted genius, has unfortunately got it all worked out. He says that in order to successfully get the British government to hand over the Elgin Marbles, Scorpia must threaten them with something that will make every other country look at Britain with disgust, something that will cripple the government and break the country. At first I wasn't particularly worried: Razim said that given that option the government would return the Marbles in an instant, and I thought I agreed with him. However I just couldn't see what threat there really was to the country - they manage to escape global humiliation and in return give Greece back these ancient sculptures. What exactly are they losing out on? Brtain isn't famous for having them, they don't get that many tourists coming just to see them, they're not even going to endanger the security of the country. Its not like in Book 5 when America was being forced to disarm. Nothing bad can come of returning the Marbles to Greece, can it?
I just didn't understand why they would take such drastic measures just to retrieve old stone. Even though now I know the full horrors of Razim's plan I can't help but wonder whether its motivations don't seem a little weak? Is this really all Horowitz could come up with? Maybe I'm missing out on something, maybe they're detrimental to the relationship between Britain and Greece, maybe there'll be something revealed about them later. Until then I can't see what the fuss is about.
I can, however, see that Alex is once again in grave danger. Of course Scorpia know about him: he's beaten them twice and they're not going to forget that in a hurry. Razim points out that if it was known that Alex had been used time and time again for missions, forced to fight and be nearly killed for his country, a fourteen year old boy, people are going to be disgusted and the government would crumble.
But, of course, he doesn't stop there. What if Alex Rider got sent on one more mission, a mission that got him killed. There could be a public outcry and that would be it for the government and MI6. Unless they hand over the Marbles.
So that's it. That's the plan. Make sure Alex gets sent on another mission, one they plan to set up themselves, and make sure he is killed.
I think "oh dear" is an understatement of the century here.
Razim did say something very interesting though. He said that Blunt and Jones have been in power for too long. He said they've shown patterns of behaviour, made the same mistakes and fallen into habits, making it easy to work out how to manipulate them into getting Alex back one last time. This again brings back what the Prime Minister said at the end of Crocodile Tears about sacking Blunt, and I'm starting to think that this will be a recurring theme throughout this book. Initially I was hesitant - would someone be able to do as good a job? Now it looks as though a change might be a good idea, and I'm actually surprised that Blunt, ever safety-conscious, didn't think about this before.
The final bit of this chapter confirmed by suspicions from the end of last chapter and made Alex's situation, if possible, ten thousand times worse. Razim says that before Alex is killed he wants a little time with him for "an experiment". We all know what that means...
We now come to the first Scorpia meeting we've had in this book. I'm actually getting to enjoy this stint of spying on Scorpia, I think it's very intriguing and informative, and of course it's nice to have a change in the structure of these books. What particularly surprised me though was the fact that we learn pretty much exactly what Scorpia are up to: usually we get teased a small amount of information and it's up to us and Alex to work out what's happening - either that or Alex gets told later on in the book, victim to the classic case of 'bad guy conveniently tells all his plans to hero who subsequently escapes' sydrome. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that we were going to be given all the information - at first: I then was filled with such a deep sense of despair that I wondered whether I would have preferred not to know!
Razim, that evil, twisted genius, has unfortunately got it all worked out. He says that in order to successfully get the British government to hand over the Elgin Marbles, Scorpia must threaten them with something that will make every other country look at Britain with disgust, something that will cripple the government and break the country. At first I wasn't particularly worried: Razim said that given that option the government would return the Marbles in an instant, and I thought I agreed with him. However I just couldn't see what threat there really was to the country - they manage to escape global humiliation and in return give Greece back these ancient sculptures. What exactly are they losing out on? Brtain isn't famous for having them, they don't get that many tourists coming just to see them, they're not even going to endanger the security of the country. Its not like in Book 5 when America was being forced to disarm. Nothing bad can come of returning the Marbles to Greece, can it?
I just didn't understand why they would take such drastic measures just to retrieve old stone. Even though now I know the full horrors of Razim's plan I can't help but wonder whether its motivations don't seem a little weak? Is this really all Horowitz could come up with? Maybe I'm missing out on something, maybe they're detrimental to the relationship between Britain and Greece, maybe there'll be something revealed about them later. Until then I can't see what the fuss is about.
I can, however, see that Alex is once again in grave danger. Of course Scorpia know about him: he's beaten them twice and they're not going to forget that in a hurry. Razim points out that if it was known that Alex had been used time and time again for missions, forced to fight and be nearly killed for his country, a fourteen year old boy, people are going to be disgusted and the government would crumble.
But, of course, he doesn't stop there. What if Alex Rider got sent on one more mission, a mission that got him killed. There could be a public outcry and that would be it for the government and MI6. Unless they hand over the Marbles.
So that's it. That's the plan. Make sure Alex gets sent on another mission, one they plan to set up themselves, and make sure he is killed.
I think "oh dear" is an understatement of the century here.
Razim did say something very interesting though. He said that Blunt and Jones have been in power for too long. He said they've shown patterns of behaviour, made the same mistakes and fallen into habits, making it easy to work out how to manipulate them into getting Alex back one last time. This again brings back what the Prime Minister said at the end of Crocodile Tears about sacking Blunt, and I'm starting to think that this will be a recurring theme throughout this book. Initially I was hesitant - would someone be able to do as good a job? Now it looks as though a change might be a good idea, and I'm actually surprised that Blunt, ever safety-conscious, didn't think about this before.
The final bit of this chapter confirmed by suspicions from the end of last chapter and made Alex's situation, if possible, ten thousand times worse. Razim says that before Alex is killed he wants a little time with him for "an experiment". We all know what that means...
Tuesday 2 August 2011
Scorpia Rising - Chapter 2: Measure of Pain
This is the first book in this series in which Horowitz has really strayed from the normal structure. This is the first time that the second chapter in a row is not about Alex, and indeed the first eight or so chapters will not be: it says in the contents that this is 'Part 1: Scorpia' and the next will be 'Part 2: Alex'. I wonder why Horowitz has done it like this. I suppose he had a lot of back story which he needed to convey for this story to work, and rather than interject them at different points in the story like usual, he's going to bunch them together. The question is, will this all take place before Alex's part starts or will they overlap? The latter might be quite interesting, though I don't know how exactly he'd do it. It's interesting to find out more about Scorpia and into the minds of those who control it. I can only assume this will come in highly important in the coming events...
Before I get into what happens in this chapter, I just want to talk about the synopsis - if you can call it that. It has got me thinking a lot. This is what it says:
This brings up the interesting topic of whether Alex will actually be able to kill. We went through it in Scorpia and at that point therewas no real way he could kill. Now though, he has been through so much more, seen horrors most of us can't even imagine, and has been damaged maybe beyond repair. Has he changed enough to be able to kill? I wonder what that would mean for the series? He started off as a boy who's uncle had just died, and will he really end up a killer? Not to mention the message Horowitz is sending to his readers. Of course, he wouldn't be making murder ok, but he'd be turning their hero, the one who always stands up for what he believes in and saves the world rather than turn over and ignore everything, into a cold killer. He'd be turning him into Alan Blunt. And I don't know who could recover from that.
Moving into chapter two then. This chapter tells us about Razim, the man who has been assigned the project of taking the Elgin Marbles from England, and it is clear instantly that there is something seriously wrong with him. Born in Iraq he knew he was different from a young age, as his terrible tantrums and violent attacks drove three Nannys away. He soon realised that he was different because he felt absolutely no emotion. To test this, he strangled his dog.
This is an eight year old child.
That is just wrong.
So he does amazingly at school, but then Saddam Hussein takes over and his parents host a secret meeting to decide how to get rid of him. Razim records the meeting. He hands it over to the police. They shoot his parents.
This is some seriously twisted stuff here, probably far worse than Horowitz has ever gone before.
When Razim is being thanked by the police chief it is noted that, "he had the face of waxwork, eyes that could have been made out of glass. There was no warmth or curiosity. There was nothing at all." He is sent to a foster family and does well in everything, goes to university and then gets asked to join Iraq's terrifying secret service. Following comes a slowly expanding picture of this man and his hideous rise to power. He has allegiance with no one, cares for nothing and is completely and utterly ruthless. I think I can safely say that he could be Alex's most dangerous enemy, one that he might not even escape from.
Some men have found it difficult to comprehend fighting a teenage boy, but I am 100% sure that Razim wouldn't hesitate to kill a baby, and therefore I'm taking what the synopsis says as completely true: this really does seem like it will be Alex's deadliest mission yet.
But oh, wait, don't worry, Horowitz is not finished - he's just preparing to write something that will no doubt give me nightmares for years to come.
We go back to the present-day Razim, a man hidden away from his enemies in a desert fort, hiding a terrible secret. In a room which used to be a chapel he has some kind of lab with computers and scientific equipment. In the middle of the room is a man strapped to a chair. This man, we are told, is a French spy who came a step too close to finding out where Razim is hiding. Razim explains to the man that he's always wanted to invent something. He says that there is a measurement for nearly everything: temperature, pressure, weight, watts etc; and he has realised that there is no measurement for pain.
Oh great.
The thing is, everyone reacts differently to pain because everyone is slightly different, but wouldn't it be much easier if you could go to a doctor and give them a specific amount of pain you're experiencing so they can help you better? But of course, Razim needs to do tests. And that's what he's going to do on this poor man. As he's getting his tools ready he thinks how he really should test this on a woman to make sure he doesn't leav anything out. And of course, if one comes his way, a teenager.
Crap.
Before I get into what happens in this chapter, I just want to talk about the synopsis - if you can call it that. It has got me thinking a lot. This is what it says:
Alex Rider wants his life back. But when you're the world's most successful spy, there's only one way out. Alex's final mission will be the deadliest of all.
One bullet. One life. The end starts here.Ok, great, that really makes Alex's situation sound promising doesn't it? Let's break it down shall we?
- "Alex Rider wants his life back" - sooo maybe he really is being left alone by MI6 but the damage done by his previous missions is taking their toll and he can't cope well in the normal world. That would be heartbreaking, because all he ever wanted was to be a normal school boy.
- "...there's only one way out" - well that just sounds like death doesn't it? How else can that be interpreted?? Unless it's kill every enemy he's EVER made! Which brings us to the next point...
- "One bullet. One life. The end starts here" - aside from that being the coolest line in the history of everything except Harry Potter (because, let's face it, Harry Potter is on another level to everything else) - this sounds INCREDIBLY ominous. I mean, "One bullet" - is that a bullet to kill Alex or a bullet for Alex to kill with? "One life" - Alex's, or someone else's?
This brings up the interesting topic of whether Alex will actually be able to kill. We went through it in Scorpia and at that point therewas no real way he could kill. Now though, he has been through so much more, seen horrors most of us can't even imagine, and has been damaged maybe beyond repair. Has he changed enough to be able to kill? I wonder what that would mean for the series? He started off as a boy who's uncle had just died, and will he really end up a killer? Not to mention the message Horowitz is sending to his readers. Of course, he wouldn't be making murder ok, but he'd be turning their hero, the one who always stands up for what he believes in and saves the world rather than turn over and ignore everything, into a cold killer. He'd be turning him into Alan Blunt. And I don't know who could recover from that.
Moving into chapter two then. This chapter tells us about Razim, the man who has been assigned the project of taking the Elgin Marbles from England, and it is clear instantly that there is something seriously wrong with him. Born in Iraq he knew he was different from a young age, as his terrible tantrums and violent attacks drove three Nannys away. He soon realised that he was different because he felt absolutely no emotion. To test this, he strangled his dog.
This is an eight year old child.
That is just wrong.
So he does amazingly at school, but then Saddam Hussein takes over and his parents host a secret meeting to decide how to get rid of him. Razim records the meeting. He hands it over to the police. They shoot his parents.
This is some seriously twisted stuff here, probably far worse than Horowitz has ever gone before.
When Razim is being thanked by the police chief it is noted that, "he had the face of waxwork, eyes that could have been made out of glass. There was no warmth or curiosity. There was nothing at all." He is sent to a foster family and does well in everything, goes to university and then gets asked to join Iraq's terrifying secret service. Following comes a slowly expanding picture of this man and his hideous rise to power. He has allegiance with no one, cares for nothing and is completely and utterly ruthless. I think I can safely say that he could be Alex's most dangerous enemy, one that he might not even escape from.
Some men have found it difficult to comprehend fighting a teenage boy, but I am 100% sure that Razim wouldn't hesitate to kill a baby, and therefore I'm taking what the synopsis says as completely true: this really does seem like it will be Alex's deadliest mission yet.
But oh, wait, don't worry, Horowitz is not finished - he's just preparing to write something that will no doubt give me nightmares for years to come.
We go back to the present-day Razim, a man hidden away from his enemies in a desert fort, hiding a terrible secret. In a room which used to be a chapel he has some kind of lab with computers and scientific equipment. In the middle of the room is a man strapped to a chair. This man, we are told, is a French spy who came a step too close to finding out where Razim is hiding. Razim explains to the man that he's always wanted to invent something. He says that there is a measurement for nearly everything: temperature, pressure, weight, watts etc; and he has realised that there is no measurement for pain.
Oh great.
The thing is, everyone reacts differently to pain because everyone is slightly different, but wouldn't it be much easier if you could go to a doctor and give them a specific amount of pain you're experiencing so they can help you better? But of course, Razim needs to do tests. And that's what he's going to do on this poor man. As he's getting his tools ready he thinks how he really should test this on a woman to make sure he doesn't leav anything out. And of course, if one comes his way, a teenager.
Crap.
Monday 1 August 2011
SCORPIA RISING - Chapter 1: Stolen Gods
It's finally here! The final book of the terrifyingly suspenseful Alex Rider series. I'm going to have to savour this moment, because soon I will know all! Not that there seem to be that many secrets in this series, unlike Harry Potter, but I will bet my broomstick that there will be some twists on the way!
Let's talk about the title shall we? So we know that Alex pretty much decimated Scorpia in books 5 and 7 (Scorpia and Snakehead), making them look like idiots to be beated by a fourteen-year-old. The thing we've learnt about them in the past is that they NEVER fail. And to have failed twice in one year is humiliating enough even without the knowledge that their downfall was caused by a boy. Soooo I'm guessing that the title is saying that this novel is about their redeeming act: something that they do now is suppoesed to re-boot their reputation and see them shoot back up to being the 'Master of Crime' type thing. Which if course is definitely NOT good.
Chapter one, Stolen Gods, is not from Alex's point of view. I suppose I should have been expecting this as most of the books start with someone different, but I was so eager to find out what's happening there that I was a bit disappointed. At first. Because then Horowitz reminded me why I like his writing and his books so much.
It opens on Zeljan Kurst (how do you say that btw? Is it Zel-yan??), the new chief exec. of Scorpia *booooohiss*. He's getting off a plane and doesn't know that he's being watched. At first, before they mentioned the whole Scorpia thing, I thought he'd be another murder victim, as we've had in so many of these books, who ges killed by the bad guy and we don't find out the significance till later. But no, definitely not. We are told that he is being followed by MI6, that they could have killed him straight away in the airport but "it had been decided, at the very highest level, to follow him and see where he went". So that means Mr Blunt. Does this mean is job's secure? Or is this event possibly overlapping the last book and the Dam disaster hasn't happened yet? Interesting.
His taxi pulls up outside the British Museum (a pretty awesome museum in my opinion) and the MI6 operatives following him get worried because it's going to be difficult to find him inside and they can't confront him in such a public place because there's no knowing what he might do. As they call for reinforcements we follow him through the museum. He walks past all the artifacts in the museum, the statues of Greek gods, the Turkish temple, the lions and exotic animals, and I was thinking that it doesn't seem very British does it? They call it the British Museum and yet it's filled with things from other countries. I've been there various times and seen the Egyptian Mummies and pieces from the Greek Parthenon and Roman statues and all this stuff, and so little is from Britain. I guess it dates back to the Victorian era when there was a surge in colonialisation and the British ventured to so many different countries and took souveniers back which they never returned. It does seem quite selfish.
That leads on very nicely to the man Kurst is going to meet. He's a man called Yannis Ariston Xenopolos, and he's very ill. He's waiting in the room containing the Elgin Marbles. I googled these and it said on the British Museum's website that they're relics taken by Lord Elgin between 1801-5 from the Parthenon in Athens. They were then bought by the government and presented to the British Museum. I'll get back to that later. So Kurst and Xenopolos greet each other, and it's evident that the latter is slowly dying. He's in a wheelchair and has an oxygen mask and I predict that he'll die by the end of the book (don't laugh if I'm wrong!!)
He remarks to Kurst the beauty and magnitude of these works of art, lamenting Greece's loss. He tells how they were stolen from Greece, how the country begged to have them back but were refused every time. It was evident that he wanted Scorpia to return the Marbles to their rightful country, adn to be honest I agreed with him. What right to we have to keep them? They're not ours, never have been and belong in Greece, so why have they been in our country for over two hundred years? Don't get me wrong, it's wondeful to have them here but surely if Greece want them they should get them right? For once I'm actually agreeing with who I'm assuming is the villain (well, one of). Unfortunately Kurst points out that if Scorpia steal them and give them to Greece, Britain will likely demand them back and suggests blackmail, to which Xenopolos replies, "You can kill half the population of this loathsome country if it will achieve what I want".
Too far Xeno, too far.
May have lost a lot of sympathy for him there.
Xenopolos then reveals that he knows of Scorpia's humiliations recently (though not about Alex) and wasn't prepared to pay more than £10 million. But Kurst says how they have re-grouped, taken on new people and are "stronger than ever". Greeeeat. They agree on more and part. This is where things start to go wrong for MI6.
On Kurst's way out he is confronted with a young, inexperienced MI6 agent who gives the game away and ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE. A load of people who were mentioned in passing earlier in the chapter turn out to be Scorpia people in disguise. I suppose I should have guessed - Scorpia never do anything by halves and we know from earlier books that they're masters of camouflage and disguise. As more and more Scorpia/MI6 people work out what's happening they begin to shoot at each other, terrorising the public and allowing Kurst to escape. As he jumped into his taxi unscathed my heart sank. It seemed a dead cert from the beginning of this chapter that by the end he would be, well, dead, and I didn't expect MI6 to fluff it.
That's something I've been noticing very gradually throughout the series. At first, and for a while they ran tightly, efficiently and left without a trace. But more and more MI6 have slipped up, betrayed themselves and got things wrong. It started in Eagle Strike when Alex was onto Damien Cray but Blunt refused to listen. Then because of the way they'd treated him he tried to join Scorpia, nearly resulting in the death of Mrs Jones. In Snakehead someone who they thought was on their side ended up betraying them, and in the last book they barely managed to stop a famine that shouldn't even have nearly happened. Most importantly though is the fact that they're relying more and more on the instincts and luck of Alex Rider, a teenager, who should have nothing to do with them. As Blunt said at the end of Scorpia, "there's something seriously wrong with the security of a country if they have to rely on a teenage boy". What the Prime Minister said about getting rid of Mr Blunt, although I had my reservations, I now see may actually not be the worst thing that could happen. Obviously I don't know if anyone can fill his shoes, but he does seem to be losing his touch. At the beginning he was so cold, like a corpse, and now he's made grave mistakes. The only thing I can think of that's changed is his 'fondness' (or whatever you can call it) for Alex. You don't think that could be the factor that has caused all this could it? (Rhetorical question, don't say if you know!)
Let's talk about the title shall we? So we know that Alex pretty much decimated Scorpia in books 5 and 7 (Scorpia and Snakehead), making them look like idiots to be beated by a fourteen-year-old. The thing we've learnt about them in the past is that they NEVER fail. And to have failed twice in one year is humiliating enough even without the knowledge that their downfall was caused by a boy. Soooo I'm guessing that the title is saying that this novel is about their redeeming act: something that they do now is suppoesed to re-boot their reputation and see them shoot back up to being the 'Master of Crime' type thing. Which if course is definitely NOT good.
Chapter one, Stolen Gods, is not from Alex's point of view. I suppose I should have been expecting this as most of the books start with someone different, but I was so eager to find out what's happening there that I was a bit disappointed. At first. Because then Horowitz reminded me why I like his writing and his books so much.
It opens on Zeljan Kurst (how do you say that btw? Is it Zel-yan??), the new chief exec. of Scorpia *booooohiss*. He's getting off a plane and doesn't know that he's being watched. At first, before they mentioned the whole Scorpia thing, I thought he'd be another murder victim, as we've had in so many of these books, who ges killed by the bad guy and we don't find out the significance till later. But no, definitely not. We are told that he is being followed by MI6, that they could have killed him straight away in the airport but "it had been decided, at the very highest level, to follow him and see where he went". So that means Mr Blunt. Does this mean is job's secure? Or is this event possibly overlapping the last book and the Dam disaster hasn't happened yet? Interesting.
His taxi pulls up outside the British Museum (a pretty awesome museum in my opinion) and the MI6 operatives following him get worried because it's going to be difficult to find him inside and they can't confront him in such a public place because there's no knowing what he might do. As they call for reinforcements we follow him through the museum. He walks past all the artifacts in the museum, the statues of Greek gods, the Turkish temple, the lions and exotic animals, and I was thinking that it doesn't seem very British does it? They call it the British Museum and yet it's filled with things from other countries. I've been there various times and seen the Egyptian Mummies and pieces from the Greek Parthenon and Roman statues and all this stuff, and so little is from Britain. I guess it dates back to the Victorian era when there was a surge in colonialisation and the British ventured to so many different countries and took souveniers back which they never returned. It does seem quite selfish.
That leads on very nicely to the man Kurst is going to meet. He's a man called Yannis Ariston Xenopolos, and he's very ill. He's waiting in the room containing the Elgin Marbles. I googled these and it said on the British Museum's website that they're relics taken by Lord Elgin between 1801-5 from the Parthenon in Athens. They were then bought by the government and presented to the British Museum. I'll get back to that later. So Kurst and Xenopolos greet each other, and it's evident that the latter is slowly dying. He's in a wheelchair and has an oxygen mask and I predict that he'll die by the end of the book (don't laugh if I'm wrong!!)
He remarks to Kurst the beauty and magnitude of these works of art, lamenting Greece's loss. He tells how they were stolen from Greece, how the country begged to have them back but were refused every time. It was evident that he wanted Scorpia to return the Marbles to their rightful country, adn to be honest I agreed with him. What right to we have to keep them? They're not ours, never have been and belong in Greece, so why have they been in our country for over two hundred years? Don't get me wrong, it's wondeful to have them here but surely if Greece want them they should get them right? For once I'm actually agreeing with who I'm assuming is the villain (well, one of). Unfortunately Kurst points out that if Scorpia steal them and give them to Greece, Britain will likely demand them back and suggests blackmail, to which Xenopolos replies, "You can kill half the population of this loathsome country if it will achieve what I want".
Too far Xeno, too far.
May have lost a lot of sympathy for him there.
Xenopolos then reveals that he knows of Scorpia's humiliations recently (though not about Alex) and wasn't prepared to pay more than £10 million. But Kurst says how they have re-grouped, taken on new people and are "stronger than ever". Greeeeat. They agree on more and part. This is where things start to go wrong for MI6.
On Kurst's way out he is confronted with a young, inexperienced MI6 agent who gives the game away and ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE. A load of people who were mentioned in passing earlier in the chapter turn out to be Scorpia people in disguise. I suppose I should have guessed - Scorpia never do anything by halves and we know from earlier books that they're masters of camouflage and disguise. As more and more Scorpia/MI6 people work out what's happening they begin to shoot at each other, terrorising the public and allowing Kurst to escape. As he jumped into his taxi unscathed my heart sank. It seemed a dead cert from the beginning of this chapter that by the end he would be, well, dead, and I didn't expect MI6 to fluff it.
That's something I've been noticing very gradually throughout the series. At first, and for a while they ran tightly, efficiently and left without a trace. But more and more MI6 have slipped up, betrayed themselves and got things wrong. It started in Eagle Strike when Alex was onto Damien Cray but Blunt refused to listen. Then because of the way they'd treated him he tried to join Scorpia, nearly resulting in the death of Mrs Jones. In Snakehead someone who they thought was on their side ended up betraying them, and in the last book they barely managed to stop a famine that shouldn't even have nearly happened. Most importantly though is the fact that they're relying more and more on the instincts and luck of Alex Rider, a teenager, who should have nothing to do with them. As Blunt said at the end of Scorpia, "there's something seriously wrong with the security of a country if they have to rely on a teenage boy". What the Prime Minister said about getting rid of Mr Blunt, although I had my reservations, I now see may actually not be the worst thing that could happen. Obviously I don't know if anyone can fill his shoes, but he does seem to be losing his touch. At the beginning he was so cold, like a corpse, and now he's made grave mistakes. The only thing I can think of that's changed is his 'fondness' (or whatever you can call it) for Alex. You don't think that could be the factor that has caused all this could it? (Rhetorical question, don't say if you know!)
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