posted on 26 May 2025

Alex Rider: Stormbreaker (silver edition) by Anthony Horowitz

If you’ve never heard of Alex Rider, I can only ask one question - where on Earth have you been hiding? September 2025 marks the 25th anniversary of the first Alex book – Stormbreaker – when we get to meet the schoolboy James Bond recruited by MI6. Since then, there have been the best part of twenty more novels, short stories and specials – not forgetting a film and television series – and they have sold in their borrow-loads.

Speaking to The Guardian in 2015, Horowitz explained the inspiration for his young hero:

“Clearly, he came out of James Bond. That was where he began. The idea began with the thought that wouldn’t it be great if James Bond was a teenager? Having had that thought the secret was to make him as different from Bond as possible and I based him on lots of people. Mainly it was on a son of a friend of mine; a boy called Alex. He came to lunch around the time I was thinking of the book. He spoke French because his father was French (his father is one of my best friends). He was quite a physical boy. He did Taekwondo and various sports so I used bits of him for Alex.”

Now to mark this anniversary, Walker Books have released a special ‘silver edition’ of Alex Rider: Stormbreaker in a beautifully produced paperback with orange-sprayed edges. And, as an extra-special treat, it includes an exclusive new short story ‘Nine Ways To Die’.

It is, I guess, possible that there will be those who are unfamiliar with Alex and his adventures and for those a (hopefully non-plot spoiler) synopsis of the Stormbreaker plot might put you on the right path. This one comes courtesy of the BookTrust website:

“Fourteen-year-old Alex Rider finds his life turned upside down on discovering that his late uncle wasn't a mild-mannered banker, but instead a field agent for MI6. Soon, Alex himself is dragged into the world of espionage and intrigue.

This well-written and action-packed story is the first in the bestselling Alex Rider series about a daring teenage spy. Cleverly plotted and full of excitement, the combination of spy gadgets and undercover escapades will ensure this story is completely irresistible to young fans of action and adventure.”

And these are the key words here: ‘action and adventure’. Although I do my best to resist the lazy assumption that there are books for girls and books for boys, it’s undoubtedly the case that the Alex Rider series will have hooked in plenty of otherwise reluctant boy readers with the high adrenalin excitement. And, as a series, the helter-skelter, headlong rush of the stories doesn’t let up and Horowitz maintains a really high level of writing quality – never obscure but always richly textured. Even by the time we reach the fourteenth book in the series (reviewed by us here) the thrills don’t let up.

You’ll be able to get this special anniversary edition from your local independent bookshop – who will, of course, order one in for you if they don’t have it on their shelves.

 

Terry Potter

May 2025