Snakehead: The Graphic Novel

by Anthony Horowitz, Antony Johnston, Amrit Birdi (Illustrator )

A bold and striking graphic novel adaptation of the seventh novel in Anthony Horowitz's acclaimed Alex Rider series.

Teenage spy Alex is forced into the Australian secret service. His target is the criminal underworld of South East Asia, and a ruthless organization known as the Snakehead

Genres: Graphic Novels, Espionage

176 pages, Paperback

Published August 1, 2024

About the author

Anthony Horowitz, OBE is ranked alongside Enid Blyton and Mark A. Cooper as "The most original and best spy-kids authors of the century." (New York Times). Anthony has been writing since the age of eight, and professionally since the age of twenty. In addition to the highly successful Alex Rider books, he is also the writer and creator of award winning detective series Foyle’s War, and more recently event drama Collision, among his other television works he has written episodes for Poirot, Murder in Mind, Midsomer Murders and Murder Most Horrid. Anthony became patron to East Anglia Children’s Hospices in 2009.

On 19 January 2011, the estate of Arthur Conan Doyle announced that Horowitz was to be the writer of a new Sherlock Holmes novel, the first such effort to receive an official endorsement from them and to be entitled the House of Silk.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/anthon...

Reviews

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

This stays close to the original, which includes more information than we get about Alex's parents than any other book in the series. I like the new illustrator. The graphic novels focus a lot on the action, which my students like, but I prefer the originals. Smithers appears very briefly and gives Alex some great gadgets, and even a big hug. I love Smithers. At the end, Sabina shows up, which is nice. The picture of Alex's row of houses with snow falling, and his thought that Christmas would be good, gave me a warm feeling that Alex's life wasn't entirely taken up with spying. Will he ever be able to extricate himself?

I need to go ahead and order all of the graphic novels even though I wish my students would just read the novels.

[Dominika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't get me wrong, Snakehead is one of my favourites in the series. But this illustration style and text adaptation just didn't work for me and I thought didn't do the original book justice.

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alex returns from space off the coast of Australia, and the Australians decide to take advantage of the situation and recruit him to help with an op to uncover Snakeheads operations. He will go undercover as a refugee boy in Bangkok with his godfather also posing as a refugee, seeking to be smuggled out of Bangkok to Australia. The chance to meet his godfather is too tempting, so Alex agrees. But of course, no assignment is simple. An AWOL MI6 agent is plotting revenge and planning to take out a charity concert and half the Australian coast. Can Alex uncover Snakehead's operatives, expose a mole, and stop a bomb?

I didn't remember all the weak plot points in this story when I read it before, but this felt like one of the weaker Alex Rider plots. I will give it somewhat of a pass as it does highlight the very real issues refugees face at the hands of unscrupulous people. The bad guy has brittle bone syndrome and we're supposed to believe he made it through basic training and several missions for MI6 before discovering he had it? You're born with the condition. I'm dubious. The illustrator has clearly never seen the inside of the Suvarnabhumi airport as it wasn't portrayed accurately and my students will notice (I teach at an international school in Bangkok, all my students have been through the airport multiple times). On the other hand, he had seen pictures of the balcony of the Peninsula hotel on the river. I also found it hard to believe that they could get Alex to pass for an Asian refugee just by dying his hair. Yeah, no. And he just washes the dye out later, after getting it wet multiple times??? Horowitz can write some stunningly crafted mysteries, but this is reminiscent of the papers I see from students written at 3am, not the best work. On the other hand, there is important information on Alex's parents finally revealed in this one, and the human rights issues exposed are important ones.

Notes on content:
Language: A couple minor swears and one use of strong profanity.
Sexual content: None
Violence: Alex is dropped on a beach being used for military practice, he's forced into a Muay Thai fight, there's some shootings that result in deaths and injuries, Alex is sent to a place for his organs to be harvested and sold on the black market, threat of a bomb that will kill thousands.
Ethnic diversity: Australians, Asian refugees from a number of countries, Thais, Indonesians, white British, Indian British, half Hong Kong Chinese/half British.
LGBTQ+ content: None specified.
Other: Inaccurate portrayal of brittle bone syndrome. Greed and revenge motivate bad guy. Taking advantage of refugees. Betrayal.

[YSBR · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alex Rider is a unique special agent because he’s only fourteen years old. In this new version of the popular novel, Alex is recruited by the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) to infiltrate Snakehead, the world’s most notorious criminal organization, and work under his longtime nemesis, Scorpia. Working alongside a godfather he never knew existed, Alex is persuaded to go undercover to unmask these dangerous villains. He hopes that completing this mission will fill the holes in his past and provide insight into the parents he never knew, but finding people to trust proves challenging. This graphic novel is fast-paced; Birdi artistically uses color to enhance the story’s energy and convey character’s emotions throughout the narrative. The kinetic rendering of characters and action sequences will draw in readers who may be reluctant to tackle the original novel.  This condensed graphic-adaptation of the original title is sure to hook struggling readers and espionage fans alike, making it an excellent gateway into the Alex Rider novels. Link to complete review: https://ysbookreviews.wordpress.com/2...

[Anakin Manu · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the Alex Rider graphic novels when I was in high school, as I found graphic novels much easier to read and get into. However, since the illustrators have changed after the eagle strike, I have struggled to enjoy the newer graphic novels, especially this one, which changes the illustrators again. Overall, I don't think the journey in this is as interesting as the others, but I look forward to hopefully more graphic novels in the future to complete the series.

[XOX · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustration is okay, but not great. The style is American, standard and not memorable.

The story is about Alex Rider, getting to know Ash, a friend of his father. He is sent to find information about human trafficking and ends up in a cage fight. He survived and got into trouble again to discover the use of a stolen bomb that will kill many people.

The psychopath is strange, and like everything British. With his order, he wants to keep Alex alive for his amusement. The British intelligence is not that competent in the story. That's why Alex got to play a key role in stopping the psychopath.

An okay read. 4 stars.

[Elvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

very good