Conservative Book Talk

Book three of the Alex Rider series. Alex Rider is British, and really, he shines in England. Something about the interactions across the pond seem to flow naturally and be so lifelike I can see the book unfolding in my head. Once you add Americans into the picture, its another story. Or maybe just less of a movie-in-book-form than previous volumes; either way, the Americans stand out like cardboard cut outs on a live action set. Thankfully, that is rectified when our main bad guy shows up (he and the main minions are Russian), and things kick into high gear for another rousing adventure.

PLOT: revolves around Alex getting roped into another mission, this one in America, involving a Russian nuclear nutcase. Instead of the British spy agency backing him all the way, he has to work with two American CIA agents (who aren’t supposed to tell the kid anything), and as usual, nobody knows what they’re actually after, even Alex. Alex, one female agent, and one male agent are soon in Florida, trying to get into the mansion of an impressively protective former Soviet general. His house consumes an entire island, and only a deep underwater cave is left unguarded…

POSITIVE: The world of spies is murky and uncertain in this series (as in real life), and Alex, while clearly brilliant, doesn’t know anything more than the agents he’s assigned with. As in, yay for adult competence! He saves everyone, but only once he’s willing to admit that he doesn’t know very much and so approaches each new thing with caution and humility. The story line also flows very naturally, making the transition from rainy London to the swamps of Florida and eventually the Russian Arctic Circle very natural. One of my pet peeves is “crazy” bad guys who are really just deluded idiots; this one is genuinely crazy, so he’s creepy, but he acts like you’d expect a lunatic to act, with unexpected logic, especially regarding his treatment of Alex. And the supporting minions are developed well enough that they supplement the performance, by treating his insanity as normal. And yes, that will only make sense once you’ve read the book. In short, the author has figured out what makes a good horror story, and applied the principles to his spy tale. He also discusses, subtly, several adult themes of women in the workforce, pride going before a fall, nuclear ethics, manipulation of the media, and security systems and their effectiveness being based on the people running them. These are positive because as an adult I enjoyed finding something to think about over the course of the book, and they are subtle enough that a kid could miss them entirely.

NEGATIVE: This is the darkest book in the series, in my opinion. Usually, authors forget to make the minions behave as if they’ve been minions for a long time, and the illusion of craziness is broken. Horowitz does a good job here of making it very real and therefore very scary. And something like seven different horrific ways to die are presented. Two bad words; many action scenes including bad guy sends minions to their death among the alligators, several life-threatening scenes where a young person is in danger of being electrocuted, eaten alive by sharks, chomped on my mechanical teeth, blown up, nuclear poisoning, ripped in pieces, etc –not graphic, and thereby more terrifying; our hero is unkind to a deformed minion (who wants him chopped in pieces); one stereotypical macho American guy who does stupidly risky things; and several characters consume alcohol liberally and one gets raving drunk.

OVERVIEW: four stars, because as a kids book it’s really rather more mature than it should be, with regard to the creepiness and violence levels. Otherwise, though, it’s very well crafted and though provoking.

Tags: adventure, Alex Rider, Anthony Horowitz, fiction, Mystery, Sincerelyornot, Skeleton Key, youth

Plot: Our hero is an ever-good lad, trying to reach knighthood, and his constant companion is a monk who cannot abide his chosen style of life. Together they live in the fifteenth century, during a war between Wales, Scotland and England. The two do not meet until Oswald, our hero, is accepted in the service of Sir Henry, also known as Hotspur. Oswald meets Roger, our dear bad monk, when he wishes to take some reading and writing lessons, which are taught to him by Roger.

Oswald is recruited as an esquire; his main duty is to run messages to other people for Hotspur. One of his first missions includes taking a secret message to a lord in Scotland, with Roger by his side. Though quite dangerous, Oswald performs it well and escapes when nearly caught. It is soon after this daring mission, that Hotspur obtains leave of monk hood for Roger and sends him to a neighboring lord as a man-at-arms .

Several months later our daring hero is sent to Hotspurs brother-in-law, Mortimer, for short period, in which he may, with the help of twenty men-at-arms and his uncle and Roger, assist Mortimer against Glendower. The Welsh have started an uprising to support Glendowers claim for the Welsh throne; Glendower does have royal blood after all. Only a few weeks after arriving, Mortimer captures Glendowers castle; he soon finds that Glendower escaped upon seeing their approach. Much to his disappointment Mortimer cannot find any of Glendowers daughters; after posting guards around the grounds, Mortimer goes to his home to await the news of whether or not Glendower will try and recapture his castle. Oswald and Roger are on duty together, when they see two figures rise from some bushes and run toward the forest. Catching them quickly Oswald demands they surrender, only to find they are women, daughters of Glendower; they offer the men jewels in return for their freedom. Oswald declines their offer, declaring such a thing would not be honorable; after several moments of discussion with Roger, he decides to let the girls go free. His only reward being a small charm which he could show to any Welshman, should he find himself in need, and they would take him to the girls. Oswald and Roger return to their posts, no one being the wiser for their doings, since he did not want the girls to go to an English prison for many years.

Oswald performs his battles well during the Welsh uprising and highly praised by Mortimer when sent back to Hotspur.

Positive: When one reads a G.A. Henty, it is sometimes difficult to get into the story, not so with this one. In the first chapter he draws you and keeps your nose in until the end. Mr. Henty gives a lot of information about the time period, and does an excellent job in describing the battles and scuffles our good people get into.

Negative: I can’t say much of anything negative about it, no bloody descriptions, no swearing. So this paragraph is rather small, but that’s good!

Overall: I thoroughly enjoyed this Henty book, it kept my nose in the pages after the first paragraph. The history is fun to learn, and completely worth the time spent reading it. I highly recommend it to all ages.

Other Henty reviews.

Tags: G. A. Henty, Hannasus, Historical Fiction, Over the Border, youth

While traveling recently, my wife brought along the final installment of the Harry Potter series. Having read all of the books (entirely as audio books) and watched the movies, I finally am ready to write a little bit about them. For a long time, I have heard Christians rail on the stories as being anti-God, demonic etc…. I have heard Christians proclaim that the books can be used to teach people about God (like others have done with the Lord of the Rings and Star Wars). I say they are both wrong.

Before I make comments on the series generally, I’d like to give a few observations about this specific book. For starters, Rowling did an excellent job of wrapping up the series and pulling together threads from the last few books. It would appear that the last half of the series had a much more coherent plot structure than the first couple of books. The ending was satisfying and conclusive. There were no loose ends hanging around that opened the door for a sequel.

On the flip side, there was more profanity in this book than the rest of the series combined. Rowling is no longer writing for children (her original audience is either in college or graduated now). This book has plenty of death and violence but that would fit with the nature of war. Overall, I enjoyed the conclusion to this series.

Some Christians have argued against the use of magic. I hope they also boycott the Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia for the sake of consistency. I don’t really understand that point of view and I probably only have one objection on that front. The Harry Potter books present magic in the hands of normal real-life children unlike other fantasy that sets the magical powers in a far flung world. There is a definite blurring of the edges between reality and fantasy in these books. I have been in the rooms of children and seen the Harry Potter craze; the materials encourage the children to practice “good” magic. Whatever. If children are believing this to be real, then there are other issues.

If I were to object to these books, it is because they encourage children to disobey, use profanity, and encourage general behaviors inconsistent with Christian character (think: revenge, anger, hate, theft, lying etc…). I will probably use them as training tools some day to teach my children about handling objectionable elements. But that’s me and I’ve got time before that becomes an issue so who knows? I could change my mind by then. And those who try to use this to teach Christian values? Get your head screwed on straight. There is nothing Christian about these books. As there is nothing Christian about The Lord of the Rings.

One other negative. Rowling can’t write. Sorry. No offense meant, but she can’t. She has created excellent characters, a great plot line and an enjoyable “universe,” but that doesn’t mean she can write. Her books tend to drag along for large sections. In this book, Harry, Hermione, and Ron all sit around in a tent for months. Literally. Then occasionally, dumb luck would wander in and hand them clues to follow. After that, it was back to sitting around for weeks on end. (This goes on for chapters.) Her plots drag as if she were filling in words to make a bigger book that sells for a higher price. My wife and I were talking about Rowling and we’re not certain if she can transition to anything else. It will be interesting to see if she is successful at any new writing ventures.

Overall, I enjoyed the plot lines and would certainly recommend them to teenagers and adults. The creativeness of the stories make them worth reading. Rowling is certainly creative if she is anything. Still, there are plenty of reasons to object to the material included in these books. A parent should read them alongside their children if they choose to allow their kids to read them at all.

Your thoughts? Care to write a dissenting review?

Some earlier thoughts by Tim Taylor:
Magic and Harry Potter/
Harry Potter Continued/
Realism in Harry Potter/
Conclusion of Harry Potter Series/

Tags: Deathly Hallows, fantasy, Harry Potter, J. K. Rowling, Matt Gardenghi, Young Adult