Nightshade (Alex Rider)

As a long, LONG time fan of this series since the very first book came out, I have been keeping up with the reboot of the series almost reluctantly. Enjoying myself, no doubt, but finding myself disappointed as my hands-down favorite book series seemingly dried up (like a lot of franchises do) with the disappointing and forgettable “Never say die” and the far flawed and cheesy “Secret weapon.” I planned on getting nightshade hoping that, at best, it would be better than the two previous installments. Not only was I not disappointed by this book, but it exceeded my expectations to become one of the favorite books in the entire series (surprising for a reboot, I know)*SPOILER REVIEW*Nightshade follows what I would like to call the Scorpia plot of Alex rider stories. Or indeed, never say die officially tied that story up and Nightshade focuses on Alex rider picking up the pieces after what you could call the main plot of the series if officially finished. It does this in a way that isn’t forced or reluctant, but rather brilliant in that it takes all the remaining loose ends from Scorpia (Julius griefs death and Alan blunts retirement, mostly) and uses those to craft a new story that doesn’t feel forced in the slightest. A new threat appears, and mrs Jones being the new head of MI6 has to fight it, along with establishing her presence among the other secret services of Britain, and uses Alex under the cover of a recently deceased Julius to do it. None of those points were created in this book, and that’s my point exactly. This story wasn’t created, it feasibly was going to happen anyways.Seeing Alex pretend to be Julius was an absolute delight and completely turned the tables in a very entertaining way. This book fleshed out Gibraltar and let us long time fans learn more about a very interesting location from the old series, even keeping faithful to the minor details that only a minority of people would notice. Overall I enjoyed that segment a lot.Let’s talk about nightshade.Early on in the book, the term ”more evil than Scorpia” was tossed around and I found myself quite annoyed at that. Scorpia is built as the most dangerous villain corps in all the book series and I didn’t enjoy Hearing it brushed aside. I found however that this statement was quite true the more I thought about it, they aren’t brushing Scorpia aside, nightshade is just a brilliant reimagining of The same principal, Scorpia had a large council and no beliefs, while nightshade is four villains who we will learn more about and they are manipulating kids to be, in a sense, evil without even knowing it. I can definitely understand why people would dislike them more. Scorpia is arguably a more well written enemy, but I am very excited to follow up on Alex defeating nightshade in a similar story beat, and I’m very glad that this book took the time to established it, rather than just having Alex completely destroy them in the end. Needless to say the “cliffhanger” has me very excited!I give this book five stars. My list so far is as follows:1.Snakehead2.Scorpia rising3.Nightshade4.Arc angel5.Scorpia6.Point blank7.Never say die8.Stormbreaker9.Eagle strike10.Crocodile tears11.Sketon key12. Secret weapon

Disclaimer: personal opinion only! Please take it with a pinch of salt. The only reason for me to leave this comment is hopefully Mr Horowitz could notice it and take into consideration for his future Alex Rider books.I’m really glad that Nightshade, following the footsteps of Scorpia Rising and Never Say Die, continues its departure from the “traditional” “Alex Rider formula” which are prevalent from Book 1 to Book 7.I believe what is particularly remarkable about this book is that this book was written like a movie script; rather than a sequential narrative, it has clear scene cuts and built-ups, and with a very clear Three Act Structure (and interesting Bible reference!). Also, it is dynamic in the sense that this book is no longer just about Alex, but we see more character developments of Mrs Jones, Mr Crawley and various other characters. Traditionally, those characters are on the sidelines, and only Alex and his antagonists are the focus. I personally like this way of story-telling – more dimensions, as compared to the linear story telling of Stormbreaker and a few other books.It is also interesting to see how Alex improvise along the way without his usual gadgets. Gadgets may make things too easy for him. We want to see more of Alex rise to the occasion and make the most out of whatever is available to him.Just some minor remark on what I think could be the areas of improvement here. I will try to make this as vague as possible in order not to spoil the plot, but I believe readers may understand after reading the entire book. There are certain elements of similarity between Stormbreaker (Third Act), Scorpia (around First to Second Act) and this book. It is my sincere hope that future books could break out of this pattern – to give readers more surprises! :) Also, there is a certain action scene that bears the resemblance of that of a certain 2007 movie. But I believe this is purely coincidental!Overall, great book! Maybe one day there is going to be a TV series about it!

I have loved reading the Alex Rider series since I was a freshman in high school. Nightshade further developed a certain character and had its fair share of surprises. I finished the book on April 8, the day after it came out, and it held my attention the same way every other Alex Rider series does. However, I can not give this book a five-star rating like some of the earlier books in the series. Part of the intrigue that once kept me thinking about Alex Rider is now gone from the series. For example, we are missing the amazing gadgets that Alex once had when Smithers was working for MI6. We are also no longer discovering new things about Alex and his past. Areas of the books that once kept me scrambling to find the sequels are no longer existent. It feels as if there are no more mysteries for us to solve, just more missions for Alex Rider to save the world. Perhaps this is why Nightshade's mysteries were created to be solved fairly easily by the reader. At least two of the most essential mysteries to the premise of the novel, I had solved before I had completed half of the book. Is this Anthony Horowitz's new way of keeping us drawn in? To have us solve certain mysteries before Alex Rider and MI6? I would much rather learn there are more dimensions to the world that Alex Rider lives in that we are still not aware of.

This book was on a birthday list and prompted getting more in the series.

Bought the book as a gift. Thicker than I thought it would be. Definitely is a book.

Finally! After the complete letdown of Never say die, this book is a white knuckle thriller again. New exiting plot and never a dull moment.The only blatant inconsistency is the belt with a metall buckle to be allowed inside a prison just for the sake of the plot. Every child knows that belts and shoestrings are taken away immediately for obvious reasons. That was a stupid letdown.Secondly, the meaning of the scars was painfully obvious from the first mentioning, only Alex and MI6 had no clue right to the very end.I would like to be suprised by the resolve of a thriller instead of wondering about the stupidity of so called spies.

Anthony Horowitz only gets better with every book and shows why he's one of the very best! For me, the most dangerous and risky mission of Alex Rider is very complete with full thrill and suspense. Whenever Alex is in potential danger, my heart skipped a beat! That's the impact it has on you! Don't worry about whether to buy it or not... Go ahead, you won't regret even a bit!

Eine tolle und spannende Fortsetzung der Alex Rider Bücher. Ein neuer Gegenspieler, der es dem jungen Spion nicht einfach machen wird.Ich bin gespannt wie es weitergeht...Dieses Buch ist in Englisch und es ist einfach zu lesen.Ich habe es förmlich verschlungen.

I just started reading the book and I think I don't have to mention that every Alex Rider series book keeps you hooked up till you reach the end... Even you can't miss the prologue