For the most part, I really like most of these contributions. Alex Rider: Secret Weapon: Seven Untold Adventures from the Life of a Teenaged Spy is an anthology collecting seven short stories, which takes place during various points in the time span of the series: Alex Rider is a series of spy novels by the English author Anthony Horowitz. The novels revolve around a teenage spy named Alex Rider and is primarily aimed towards young adults. The series currently comprises 14 novels, as well as six graphic novels, seven short stories, and a supplementary book.

Another story in first person, ‘Christmas At Gunpoint’ was pretty epic. I loved the imagery of the ski resort as I have never been to one myself. It was interesting to see Alex and Ian together in a dangerous situation, and how naive Alex was, hehe. The skiing climax was brilliant too. I enjoyed it. In the past I wished we had seen more of Ian Rider, so I’m glad we saw a little more of him here. 4 stars. Christmas at Gunpoint," the sixth story is the only one in which Ian Rider appears. During a ski trip to Gunpoint, Colorado, Alex meets Sahara Sands, a fellow teen, there with her dad, who does "something in government" The two teens have lots of fun skiing and snowboarding, but one night, he catches his uncle fighting with a man over a gun with a silencer, then he sees Sahara looking scared and being escorted into a gondola by two rather sketchy men. This is an exciting story, and Ian's lesson for Alex here is to closely observe the people he meets - how they dress, how they speak, what they eat and drink, and where they carry their guns: "You have to notice these things, Alex...all the details. People tell a story the moment they walk into a room. You can read them." (pg. 227) What does this advice have to do with the story - only everything. The first novel, Stormbreaker, was released in the United Kingdom in the year 2000 and was adapted into a film in 2006, starring Alex Pettyfer as the titular protagonist. The second and fourth books were adapted into a TV series in 2020 and 2021 respectively, this time starring Otto Farrant. Walker Books published the first novels in the United Kingdom alongside Puffin in the United States. More recent entries in the series were published by Philomel Books, an imprint of Penguin Books. Once or twice we have noticed stories over-lap from one series to the next. No wonder many readers suspected the books were written by the same author, turned out they are not, but two very close British authors.seeing Alex in this one was sort of heartbreaking a little bit because this one is set after the events of book 3 and before the events of book 4. So seeing Alex put himself in so many more dangerous missions and getting caught in each one is the Alex that i don't really like because he really isn't like that in the main series.

My complaints about this volume are minor. As you'd expect, there's violence, but it's rarely bloody and never gory. Profanity occasionally comes up; mostly uses of the h-word. Drugs are mentioned, but their use is vilified. The most disappointing part was about a villain's body piercings; talk about too much information! I am so grateful to Georgie at Walker Books Australia for the chance to read the thirteenth Alex Rider adventure, Nightshade! I have so many happy bookworm memories attached to this series – Alex and his spy adventures make up some of my most favourite stories from childhood. Alex Rider: Secret Weapon: Seven Untold Adventures from the Life of a Teenaged Spy is an anthology of seven short stories which was written by Anthony Horowitz. This anthology collects seven short stories pertaining to the Alex Rider series from different moments in the series.I don't think I'll ever not enjoy an Alex Rider book. If I ever do then there is something wrong (with me).

Well its was a fun read but if you really dissect the novel. It has gotten rather formulaic with a plot that can be summarized as Another book in the series done and its book 12 in the series and don't get me wrong i love this series but it really should end now rather than going any further cause it's starting to get repetitive. broun, lisa (16 December 2020). "Anthony Horowitz: Alex Rider". Cheltenham Festivals . Retrieved 11 December 2020. [ permanent dead link] Short story told in first person. Christmas at Gunpoint is set before Stormbreaker and Alex reminisces about a Christmas he spent with his uncle, Ian Rider, and almost discovered his secret spy life. This story is now available as part of the short story collection; Secret Weapon.

Secret Weapon is out now!

Clarke, Stewart (24 July 2018). "Alex Rider Series Heads to TV With Sony, Eleventh Hour". Variety . Retrieved 18 October 2018. Having already been mistaken for Julius Grief, Alex is shipped out to the facility from which he is thought to have escaped. The psychologist there is the only one who knows the truth about Alex, and it’s up to Alex himself to find a way in to befriend Freddy. Originally published as Quite a Ride and Incident in Nice and now titled, High Tension. The basic premise is the same but the names of the family Alex stays with are changed. This short story is set after Point Blanc and before Skeleton Key. Okay that was odd. Alex has tea with Smithers and is challenged to find his latest invention. It's a hologram Smithers. Plus we get to learn more about why Smithers joined M16 - he's grandfather was a Special Operations Executive creating gadgets and weapons for WWII. This was a very short interlude told in first person and like most of the rest of the collection, set after Point Blanc. It was pretty random but interesting I guess. 2 stars.

Weaknesses: Freddy is very vicious, so this starts out with more brutal killings than most books. This does, however, serve to highlight Alex's compassion and dislike for killing. Though it feels like Alex grows up with you across this series – due to the extremely dangerous situations he finds himself in – I tend to forget that he is only 15 years old! The series – though spanning 13 books – only occurs across a year or two, as Alex is forcibly recruited by MI6 at 14! If you've read my review of the previous Alex Rider novel, Never Say Die, you'd know that I was quite critical of it. I still am, and that book remains a blemish on the Alex Rider name in my eyes. I was hoping that the next installment would return to Alex's previous greatness, and it did, but not entirely. Horowitz, Anthony. Secret Weapon (Alex Rider) . Walker Books. Kindle Edition. An enjoyable little interlude, set after Eagle Strike. 2 stars. Secret Weapon (previously published with same title, now updated and expanded. Set after Eagle Strike)

Summary

This was a weird one. Good, but weird. Alex is on holiday, though that’s obviously never going to work out, and there’s actually no bad guy for once. Instead, this was a really good show of Alex’s creativity and character. He’s brilliant, and I have to respect it. I don’t have the brain cells to react to things like he does, so I’m constantly impressed. All the Alex Rider plots are usually so complex and dangerous that I’m used to Alex being hit by malicious and nefarious plots. I’m surprised he didn’t assume there was something wrong beyond the norm, because I was totally waiting for Scorpia to parachute out of the sky with machine guns or something. Alex was caught more easy in these missions then he was in the main missions and the conversations between all the characters were also a little dull to me. Would I recommend this book? Yes, I definitely do. Would I read another Alex Rider book? Well, I do have Book 1, Stormbreaker on a hold at the library. I received a copy of this book for review purposes from the publisher as part of the Kids Know Best Blogger Campaign. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.