The Gadgets

Alex Rider

by Anthony Horowitz, John Edward Lawson (Illustrator), Emil Fortune

Gives fans of super spy Alex Rider a behind-the-scenes look at top-secret blueprints and plans for his high-tech gadgets, including the Game Boy that doubled as a Geiger counter in Skeleton Key, and the CD player with the fast-spinning saw blade in Point Blank.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Adventure, Espionage, Childrens, Action, Mystery

48 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

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

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this review and more on my blog.

This is such a fun, quick and easy read!

Alex Rider: The Gadgets go through the numerous gadgets that were created by MI6 for Alex Rider's use during his first 6 missions (and first 6 books).

It includes blueprints for each gadget collected in this dossier as Smithers calls it, from the Multifunction Games Console to Project Ark Angel.

As a small book (only 60 pages), all its purpose is to be a guide of sorts to allow people who have read the Alex Rider series and wondered how everything work figure it out.

It also has a handy glossary for some of the more technical terms used within.

[River Schiefer · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like it as much because it was short. One thing i liked was the gadgets that were in it. I like it because it has cool gadgets.

[Raphael Gahagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good and thoroughly detailed. Loved the fact that you get a 3D view of all the components. Brilliant!

[old account (rl) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quirky and original. Perfect for fans of the Alex Rider series but otherwise probably not worth reading. Completed with detailed analyses of the various gadgets - or 'covet weapons' as Smithers prefers - from Alex's first five missions (Stormbreaker to Ark Angel). Its well-written and a good read. The techno-speech explaining how the "gadgets" worked could have been downplayed a little more but I loved how into was introduced by Smithers.

Overall? I would definitely recommended it for Alex Rider fans.

[Grace DuBois · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very helpful.

[curtis :) · Rating 3 out of 5]

not quite sure when I signed up to this science lesson 😊

[Hannah Ferreira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was a thorough description of all the gadgets that Alex uses on his first five missions. With detailed pictures of all of them. Great for any Alex Rider fan.

[Calder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kinda boring, nothing really to it and don’t care about most of the gadget.

[Sarah Welton-Lair · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I knew this book would be short and expository in nature, I was excited to pick it up in order to see a few of the interesting gadgets Alex employs in his missions. I was disappointed. It did exactly what it advertised: showed a blueprint of the gadget described with information about its design, features, and uses. Still, it left out many of the gadgets I found particularly interesting, and included one from the CIA which wasn't even in any of the books. Most of the actual writing was in technical language which led me to skim the descriptions and strictly examine the diagrams. Finally, the book was also too short compared to the amount of gadgets Alex uses. A little more length and a more interesting writing style would really have spruced this up.

[Kirito · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider: The Gadgets book by Anthony Horowitz is a popular book for kids. Unlike the other books I commented, this book is like a non fiction type book but fantasy. This book talks about the equipment that Alex Rider used in the first 5 books. It'll describe very carefully about the gadgets Alex Rider had used in the first 5 books.

I picked up this book because I thought it would be just as good as the Alex Riders chapter books.

I finished this book because I wanted to. It wasn't that awesome though.

I think I would recommend this to my brother because he's a book lover.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Smithers' inventions/gadgets! They are so cool and they always help Alex, even if they seem really weird. Go Smithers! This book isn't terribly exciting, just blueprints of Smithers' inventions that assisted Alex, from Stormbreaker to Scorpia, and their descriptions. But it's still pretty cool.

[Veronica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love the book series, and this brought the amazing gadgets to life! Very intriguing, it makes you wonder if some of these things are possible. I'm so glad that someone took way too much time and effort, looking far deeper into Alex's gadgetry than anyone probably ever intended, because I loved this! Absolutely fascinating!

[Derek Asmus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alex Rider The Gadgets is a very interesting book that tells about the parts and tools that he has used. These parts were designed and also worked for the things that the tools were designed but they were also used for more destructive purposes that saved his life. As you can tell this book is a very good book for people that like spy things.

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just like the title says, this book explains how each of Alex's gadgets work. Smithers is writing this breakdown of the devices for Alan Blunt (doesn't tell us why). It's cool looking at these gadgets and seeing how they work, but, with Smithers describing them, it's a little too wordy.

[Partridge Public]

Horowitz, Anthony

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a misc. book about another book. FOR NERDS ONLY!

[Colin Zorigian · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was kind of boring.

[Ben Sharpe · Rating 3 out of 5]

to much info so it was kinda boring.

[Charlotte · Rating 2 out of 5]

i think that this book is a boy book because as i was reading it i wasnt toltally sure aobut the surroundings and got quite confused.

[McKay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to hire Smithers to make some of these gadgets for me. Check it OUT.

[Kimchi Man -Andrew]

OMG! I WANT 2 READ THIS!!!

[Misha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Could've been better

[Kyle Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was great

[The Third Place A Teen Library]

F HOR ar

[Catalina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had so much fun looking through this. All of Smither's inventions from the first few books! I love the pizza one. Fun.

[Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an adrenaline rush. I would recomend this book to people who like mysteries.

[Aubrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting.

[Shalom Tse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now I finally know how the Invisible Sword works, but my favourite gadget that the Smithers made is Bad Boy Bike

[GothChickVibing · Rating 3 out of 5]

My siblings enjoyed flipping through this one. ;)

[Jessika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well I checked this book out at the library and it is good if you have read the series but isn't all that fantastic.