''Stormbreaker'' is a

young adult A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...

action-adventure book written by British author

Anthony Horowitz Anthony John Horowitz, (born 5 April 1955) is an English novelist and screenwriter specialising in mystery and suspense. His works for children and young adult readers include ''The Diamond Brothers'' series, the '' Alex Rider'' series, and '' ...

, and is the first novel in the ''Alex Rider'' series. The book was released in the United Kingdom on the 4th of September 2000, and in United States release on 21 May 2001, where it became a

New York Times Bestseller ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...

. Since its release, the book has sold more than nine million copies worldwide, been listed on the BBC's

The Big Read The Big Read was a survey on books carried out by the BBC in the United Kingdom in 2003, where over three-quarters of a million votes were received from the British public to find the nation's best-loved novel of all time. The year-long survey wa ...

, and in 2005 received a

California Young Reader Medal The California Young Reader Medal is a set of five annual literary awards conferred upon picture books and fiction books selected by vote of California schoolchildren from a ballot prepared by committee. The program was established in 1974 with Int ...

. A

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...

, starring Alex Pettyfer as Alex Rider, was released in 2005.

Plot summary

The protagonist, Alex Rider, after the suspicious death of his uncle, secretly becomes a teenage spy for MI6. He is sent undercover to Port Tallen, Cornwall. There he discovers the Stormbreaker computer factory where millions of computers were being filled with biological weapons which would give smallpox to the user. The aim of the attack was to kill hundreds of thousands of British schoolchildren and their teachers.

Critical reception

Critical reception for ''Stormbreaker'' was mixed to positive, with the book being placed on multiple ALA lists.

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

praised ''Stormbreaker'' for its action sequences, but criticised its dialogue and logic.

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

also commented that the book's plot was "preposterous" but stated that the readers "won't care".

Awards

*Wisconsin Golden Archer Award (2003) *

Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award The Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award (RCYRBA) is an annual award given to the author of the book voted most outstanding by students in grades four through eight in participating Illinois schools and libraries. It is named in honor of child ...

(2004) *Utah Beehive Award (2004) *California Young Reader Medal (2005) *Iowa Teen Award (2005) *South Carolina Junior Book Award (2005)

Adaptations

Graphic novel

In 2005 a graphic novel adaptation of ''Stormbreaker'' was released in the United Kingdom and the United States. The graphic novel was an adaptation of the screenplay written for the movie released the same year, and was intended as a

tie-in A tie-in work is a work of fiction or other product based on a media property such as a film, video game, television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property. Tie-ins are authorized by the owners of the original prop ...

for the film.

Film

In 2006 a film adaptation of ''Stormbreaker'' was released to theatres starring Alex Pettyfer as

Alex Rider ''Alex Rider'' is a series of spy novels written by British author Anthony Horowitz. The novels revolve around a teenage spy named Alex Rider and is primarily aimed towards young adults. The series currently comprises thirteen novels, as we ...

with

Geoffrey Sax Geoffrey Sax (sometimes credited as Geoff Sax) is a British film and television director, who has worked on a variety of drama productions in both the United Kingdom and the United States. Life and career He began his directing career in the lat ...

directing. Critical reception for the film was average, with ''Stormbreaker'' holding only a 33% approval rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

with the consensus being that the film was "strictly children's fare, as it lacks originality, excitement, and believabiltity".

Video game

A video game adaptation of the film was released in 2006 under the name of Alex Rider: Stormbreaker for the

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, ...

and

Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in t ...

. The game received mixed reviews, with IGN criticising the game and giving it a rating of 4/10.

References

External links

Official website of the books''Stormbreaker'' at Walker Books
{{Authority control Alex Rider novels 2000 British novels Novels set in Cornwall British novels adapted into films Walker Books books