One thing I really do love in the Alex Rider TV adaption, both in season 1 and now in season 2 is the constant subtle hints that Alex is actually not your usual kid, despite still being very early in his character arc.
And I’m not talking about the flashy parkour sequences or fight scenes. I mean the offhand comment that Alex knows about the law, or is extremely involved in multiple outdoor activities. His character is shown to have an intelligence and ambition above his peers, be proficient with a gun and competent in tasks that while as simple as pitching a tent, highlight he’s already a class above his own and most likely has extensive knowledge on other useful topics too.
While it’s nice to see him show off a little in the bigger scenes and get a glimpse of the spy extraordinaire to come, it’s also brilliant to see the impact of Alex’s upbringing with Ian included frequently in seemingly mundane scenes and is something I’ve enjoyed picking up on.
Give me Alex Rider’s politics teacher just being absolutely…astounded by the amount of knowledge this kid has on not only the socio-economic climate of literally every freaking country but the most freakishly good instincts of how each new politician that comes along is going to fare. It’s at the point he now has a secret cabinet of sticky notes on Alex’s off hand comments of each new public figure because God Dammit he always turns out to be right.
Give me Alex’s Riders politics teacher who stands up for him against others in the staff room because his essays provide the freshest viewpoints he’s seen in over 20 years. Ethics, politics, morality, social structures, negotiations, public figures, military influences and ulterior motivators; Alex Rider handles each topic with a grace and insight he hasn’t seen since university. Quite frankly he doesn’t know whether to be impressed or terrified. He settles on curious.
Give me Alex Rider’s politics teacher who’s family served in the army, who recognises the shadows of war in those dark brown eyes even if he can never understand why. The only one that seems to notice that seeing Alex’s controlled, efficient steps through a boisterous crowd of school children is like watching a ballet dancer glide through a swarm of drunk seagulls.
Give me Alex Rider’s politics teacher who let’s the poor kid take a nap in class or snack when he wants to (partly because 50% of the time he looks ready to drop) but mostly because deep down they both know there’s nothing that he can teach him here. Alex had an already pretty unusual and impressive grasp of foreign affairs before his uncle died and in the years since then? Well, he’s pretty sure Alex speaks more languages fluently than he has fingers.
Give me Alex Rider’s politics teacher whose subject gives him more of a glimpse into his talents than most people are allowed to see; who takes one good look at his extra little piece of the puzzle and thinks yeah. This kid is brilliant.
Update: This is now updated as of Spring 2022! I feel I like spent a good part of 2021 catching up and finishing series that I started in 2019/2020. Which was my plan (as you can see in the paragraph below). I’ve definitely been meeting my reading goals for the past couple of years, which is a good feeling!
2019 (and some of 2020) was a year of starting series, but not necessarily finishing them. This is a list of series I want to read and finish, but haven’t yet (plus having so many unfinished series stresses me out a little) 2020 was also a year where I started series and reread a lot of favorite books from my teenage years and earlier. I’m glad I did that, and I reread some books I’ve been meaning to for years. But i think 2021 will be a year of me wrapping up/catching up on series.
Series I’ve started but need to catch up on:
The Wayward Children Series by Seanan McGuire. Read book 1, need to read the rest. (it’s a crime that I haven’t continued yet, I know). Update: I’ve now read this first two books… still need to continue!
The Expanse series by James S.A. Corey. Read book 1 January 2021, need to read the rest. Update: I’ve read books 1-5 so far.
Castle in the Air andHouse of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones (companion books to Howls Moving Castle) I know, its a heinous crime that I haven’t read these two when HMC is quite possibly my most favorite book ever.
Veronica Speedwell Series by Deborah Harkness. I’ve read books 1-2.
The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare
The Dark Star Trilogy by Marlon James
Series I want to continue, but I’m waiting for the next book to be released/announced:
Children of Blood and Bonetrilogy
Crescent City series + the new A Court book
Ninth House series by Leigh Bardugo (Hell Bent announced)
Saturday saw me write this definitive text…and I got to say I am trepeditiously pleased. A little over a year in the abstract making and I have a trilogy on my hands! Final word count was 300,074, with page # at 619 enough to see each book comfortably with 200+ pages – of course that’s just cursory, I still have the whittling and honing of editing to do and that always gives or takes!
He was never going to ride a horse or climb a tree or stride purposefully across a room and sweep a lady off her feet. There were a thousand things he’d never do, and you’d think it would have been a man who’d reminded him of this—an able-bodied man who could hunt and box and do all those bloody things a man was meant to do, but no, it was her, Lady Sarah Pleinsworth, with her fine eyes and nimble feet, and every bloody smile she’d bestowed upon her dance partners that morning.
He didn’t like her. He really didn’t, but by God, he’d have sold a piece of his soul right then to dance with her.”
This is one of my favourite passages from The Sum of All Kisses by Julia Quinn. It is Book 3 of The Smythe Smith Series. I HIGHLY recommend the books!
