Chapter 14: Cobra

In this chapter Alex is recaptured by the MI-6. He meets Alan Blunt and he asks Alex for all the information he can tell him about Scorpia. Alan then reveals to him Scorpia's plan. Alex had no idea of the operation. Alan and Alex are supposed to go to a COBRA meeting which is an emergency council of the cabinent members. The end of the chapter is when the meeting starts.

Chapter 13: Pizza Delivery

In this chapter, Alex is on his first Scorpia mission, which is to take down Mrs. Jones. He dresses up as a teenage pizza delivery and goes to the hotel that Mrs. Jones is staying at. She is expecting him so she puts guards in the lobby. Alex hides his pistol in a plastic bag in a liter bottle of coke. He gets past security in his disguise and gets into her room. He sees her raises his gun and fires. But she was more prepared than he thought because between them was bullet proof glass. An alarm goes off and security guards com into the room and take Alex.

Chapter 12: "Dear Mister Prime Minister..."

This is the chapter where things start to go wrong. Scorpia puts their operation, invisible sword, into place. They send a letter to the prime minister. The letter says that their client wants to change the balance of world power. The letter says that their client demands that America withdraw their troops from all countries, that they must deactivate the nuclear weapons systems, that 1 billion dollars be put into the World bank to be distributed to poor countries and that the president must resign immediately. The President must agree to the terms in three days or it is England that will pay the price. this is because England is "best friends" with America. The English are to persuade the President to do so. If they fail to do so, all English school children at 12:00 noon after the three days are up will die. The letter says that they will give a demonstration of their new weapon when the reserve soccer team arrives back from their tour this afternoon. The prime minister's adviser and Alan Blunt go to see if Scorpia follows through with heir plan. They do and nobody knows what caused it. The soccer team just dropped dead.

Chapter 11: The Bell Tower

At the beginning of this chapter Alex is in the doctors office at the school. He is given a series of tests and check-ups. He also gets a shot for no apparent reason. The doctors doesn't even say what the shot is. It's pretty suspicious to me. After his check-up, Alex goes to the shooting range and instead of the regular targets the teacher set up life sized pictures of people. That day was the worst score Alex ever got at the shooting range. Mrs. Rothmann wants to change that problem. So she gave him a target that he couldn't refuse to kill. Mrs. Jones, the woman who killed his father. I personally think that somehow she doesn't get killed because there are more Alex Rider books, and whats an Alex Rider book without Mrs. Jones?

Chapter 10: How to Kill

In this chapter Alex goes to the school that will teach him to be a Scorpian agent. He meets all the professors and the few students that are there with him. The students are about his own age. At the end of the chapter Mr. Blunt and Mrs. Jones, the heads of MI-6, find out about Alex and want him brought in.

Chapter 9: Albert Bridge

In this chapter Mrs. Rothman tells Alex about his father. She shows him a video that they caught on tape. What happened was that Scorpia had capture an important figure in Britain but MI-6 had also captured Alex's father. They planned to exchange the prisoners on Albert Bridge. On one side of the bridge is MI-6, the other is Scorpia. As the two captives meet in the middle of the bridge, Alex's father says something to the other man. The man starts running to the other end. As Alex's father reaches his side a sniper shoots him dead. There is fighting but eventually it ends. The order to kill Alex's father was made by Mrs. Jones, one of the heads of operations in MI-6. She sent Alex on all his previous missions. Mrs. Rothman asks Alex if he'll join Scorpia and he accepts.

Chapter 8: Designer Labels

In this chapter Alex finally meets Mrs. Rothmann. Alex stays in a luxurious, fancy hotel where he meets her for dinner. The chapter is just Alex and Mrs. Rothmann getting to know each other. The strange part in the chapter is when Mrs. Rothmann asks Alex if he wants champagne. Mrs. Rothmann explains to Alex that she wants Alex to work for Scorpia like his father. At the end of the chapter Mrs. Rothmann is about to tell Alex about his dad and how he died.

Rest of Chapter 7: Consanto

Alex successfully lands on the roof of Consanto. He finds an unlocked door and goes in. He sneaks around and sees them with tubes of fluid in them. This is what Mrs. Rothman wants from Dr. Liebermann. But what is it? Dr. Liebermann sees Alex and asks him what he is doing here. Alex lies that it is take your son to work day. That's when Nile shows up with a samuri sword. He tells Dr. Liebermann who Alex is and is about to slice Alex... so it seems. Nile actually kills Dr. Liebermann.
He then plants a bomb and says that he was sorry he almost drowned Alex. He said he killed Dr. Liebermann because he wanted more money from Mrs. Rothman. He explains that he didn't realize who Alex was until after he locked him the basement. He tells Alex that Mrs. Rothman wants to talk to Alex. They leave and Nile blows up Consanto.

Chapter 6: Thoughts on a Train - Halfway Thru Chapter 7: Cansanto

Thoughts on a Train is the chapter where Alex explains to his best friend, Tom, about MI-6. There on a train to Naples to see Tom's brother, Jerry. Halfway through the next chapter is when Alex plains to brake into to Cansanto Enterprises. Jerry has a lot of sky diving equipment, so Alex is going to parachute off a cliff and onto the roof of Cansanto. I left off where Jerry is instructing Alex what to do so he doesn't die.

Chapter 4: By Invitation Only - Chapter 5: Flood Tide

Alex explains to his friend Tom that he is going to be party crashing. He doesn't tell him about being a spy...yet. This is a costume party so Alex gets a costume and pretends to be another guests son. he gets into the party and starts sneaking around. He over hears a conversation between Mrs. Rothman and Dr. Lieberman. He over hears the doctor wants to be paid more for sending some kind of drug. He works at Consanto, a medicine enterprise, in Amalfi. Alex goes into Mrs. Rothman's office and looks though her desk to find out about Consanto. He then gets attacked by Mrs. Rothman's pet tiger. A person comes in the room and clicks a button on a controller and the tiger immediately falls asleep. The person introduces himself as Nile. Alex tells him his name and tries to lie about getting lost. But before Alex can get away Nile knocks him out. Alex finds himself locked in the basement and can't get out. Since the house is on water the basement floods. Alex now has to find a way out or he will drown. He finds a sewer pipe in the ground and figures it's the only way out. It must lead to the sea. he tries it and nearly drowns but makes it.

Chapter 3: The Widows Palace

This chapter is where the action starts. It is the last day of their one week vacation before they leave for Naples to see Toms brother. Alex hasn't found a trace of Scorpia. then he sees a motor boat with a golden scorpian on the side. He follows the motor bout to a giant mansion built over the water like most houses in Venice. This mansion is called the Ca'Vedova. That's Italian for Widows Palace. Tonight there is going to be a costume party at the mansion and Alex plans on breaking in and finding out more about Scorpia and his dad.

Chapter 1: Invisible Sword-Chapter 2: Scippatori

These chapters are the first 25 pages of the book.Invisible Sword reveals a lot of important things you need to know. Scorpia is one of the biggest, most powerful, most wealthy, most elusive terrorist organization. Scorpia stands for Sabotage, Corruption, Intelligence, and Assasination. These are their areas of expertise. There are 8 leaders who share equal power in Scorpia, but every operation has a leader. To reword that, one of the 8 leaders is chosen to be a head leader for each operation. Their new operation, Invisible Sword, is being led by Julia Rothman. She personally knew Alex's father who was their best assasin. I'll tell you more about him in upcoming chapters.

Scippatori is a short chapter which basically introduces the main character of the book:Alex. Alex is on summer vacation with his best friend Tom. They both are in Venice where Alex was told he would find Scorpia. Alex helps a woman from being robbed, but that has no importance to the book. That is basically all that happens in that chapter.

Background Information

The books before this one are Stormbreaker, Point Blank, Skeleton Key, and Eagle Strike. if the titles didn't give it away already, the genre is spy/mystery. Alex Rider is the protagonist. He is a 14 year-old from England, and was very young when his parents died. So he lived with his uncle, Ian Rider, in London with his 20 year-old house keeper, Jack Starbright (Yes, Jack is a girl) until his uncle died in a "car crash". Thus begins Stormbreaker. Alex finds out that his uncle was in no car crash but rather killed by a contract killer named Yassen Gregorovich. Alex finds out that the "bank" his uncle worked for is actually the MI-6. The MI-6 is the British equivilant of the CIA. His uncle was on to something but was killed before he could tell MI-6. I won't go into greater detail to save time and incase anyone wants to read the books, but it's up to Alex to save the world and take the place of his uncle. Each book is a separate mission to save the world. In the last book I read, Yassen appears again. Yassen isn't exactly a villian or a hero. He's just a contract killer who's doing his job. He seems to take a liking to Alex, and at the end of the book we find out why. Yassen and Alex's father worked together before he died. As Yassen takes his final breaths he tells alex to find Scorpia and he will find the truth about his father. If I need to explain anything else I will put it in along with my posts so you can understand. Enjoy.

New Project...Same Blog

This year I have a new English project, but Miss K is no longer my teacher. Mrs. Washburn is. I will be reading the book Scorpia by Anthony Harowitz. It's the 5th in a series. therefore I must give you background information so you can understand what goes on in the book. Also pay no attention to the blogs below, they are from last year, unless you want to read about the War of the Worlds. The book's title is interesting because it's my astonomical sign.

The Last Post... For Now...

Since I read 3 books I will say one thing I liked about each book.

War of the Worlds- I liked this book because was suspenseful and scientifically correct. That means that everything in the book, besides some minor details, could possibly happen. I've figured out that in all scifi that everything seems possible, but somewhere in the plot there is a fault that prevents it from happening.

Lord of the Flies- I liked this book because it was not only a well plotted book but it had a deep meaning that you had to look for.

Animal Farm- I liked this book because I am very interested in Soviet Russia. Although the book was more of like a history documentary it was very good. The book was so correct about how countries operate it is was almost as if Animal Farm was it's own country.

The War Rages On

There are, now, 20 tripods that are controlled by the martians as if they were tanks. There are 2 martians per capsule that is launched at Earth and there are 10 capsules as far as we know. Throughout the book, artillery is supposedly killing some of the tripods, but as it turns out only one was killed. The martians themselves are just big round heads without any digestive organs. They just have a circulatory system and feed by sucking blood like spiders. They have tentacles for arms and tentacles for legs. The main character describes them as the 100 armed creatures from Greek mythology. Everyone thinks that this is the end of man kind and that the martians can't be stopped, like it's part of their destiny. The martians are also building flying machines that have the heat ray. They also build these big tubes that shoot canisters, like RPG's almost. The canister is filled with "Black Smoke" that suffocates everyone. By now the main character is just hoping to reunite with his wife lets see how it turns out...

The War and The Worlds

The war is between humans from the Earth and martians from Mars. The actual martian people are strange and I don't understand how the book describes them but apparently they have tentacles and this thing that shoots invisible heat rays. They are stuck in this pit that they're pod made when it crashed. The martians can't get out of the pit because our gravity is stronger an weighs them down, but that doesn't stop them. A second pod (there are 10) comes and there are giant tripods with saucer heads. I don't know if they have heat rays or not, but they must still kill people somehow. The army is useless against all four of these martians. FOUR!! Two martians and two tripods. If this happened during our time the army could nuke the martians to pieces. I don't know how they are going to stop the martians, if they ever do.

“Good literature substitutes for experience which we have not ourselves lived
through.” – Alexander Solzhenitsyn

I think that what Mr. Solzhenitsyn is saying is also kind of what Mr. Lewis was saying. Scince literature is real it substitutes for things we have not experienced. If we read a book about Mt. Everest and have not climbed it ourselves, we just did because we read somthing that is real and it substitued for the experienced we don't have.

This quote applies to Lord of the Flies. Even though I have never turned savage, killed someone, halucinated, or been trapped on an island, the book substituted for my lack of experiences.

Libro Tres: The War of the Worlds

I haven't gotten far in the story but I think it's about a war between us and Mars. This is supposed to take place in the early 20th century. This book was written when scifi was very interesting. I also know that before televisions, things would be played on the radio. When they played War of the Worlds on the radio it sounded as if a reporter was telling the events of what was going on. Some people tuned in late and thought that it was real. Back then it was believable. Lots of people committed suicide because they thought they were being attacked by martians. I have a recording of this radio broadcast on CD and it did sound real if you believed it was real. There were also 30 second intermissions with cheesy music, but that's beside the point. I will keep you updated once I get a hold of the plot.

Still Don't Get It

I read to the end of the book and I still don't get it. The last chapter is weird in a savage way and it is kind of sad and everything happens so suddenly. it is really shocking that by the end of the book, before they get rescued, they are all savages that kill each other, besides Ralph and Piggy. They are the only sensible ones. To think, also, that they were a group of 12-year-old choir members that turned savage. It also never explains where the dead guy in the parachute came from. It also doesn't explain if the beast was real or who the Lord of the Flies is or if he's real. As a matter of fact it doesn't mention the Lord of the Flies at all after the conversation with Simon.


P.S.
In my post titled: The Lord of the Flies: The Confusing Stuff , when it says they can roll rocks onto the bridge of the fort (the fort is just a pile of rocks that is connected to the island by a "bridge" of rocks) they end up using it as a weapon. They roll rocks down the bridge if they see an intruder coming. I forgot to tell you that when I say "they" I mean Jack and the other "biguns" that turn into savages. Ralph, Piggy, Sam, Eric, and the "littluns" are the other faction. Simon doesn't chose a side. They split up into these factions by the end of the book, and in the last chapter Ralph is all that's left of his faction. All the "littluns" join Jack, and Sam and Eric too.

Soundtrack for Animal Farm

I am going to make a Soundtrack for Animal Farm just because it's fun.

The first song would be "Back in the U.S.S.R." by the Beatles. This song would explain how the story relates to the U.S.S.R. or communist Russia. It also says in the song "You don't now how lucky you are boys, back in the U.S.S.R." This also would explain that the pigs want the animals to think that what they're doing is better and "lucky" for them to have.

Another song would be "Revolution" by the Beatles. This song would explain all the revolutions and rebellions in the book. Unlike the song where it says you should have a peaceful revolution, in the book all the revolutions are evil.

Another song would be "Sugar Mountain" by Niel Young. In the book there is a crow who speaks of a mountain where animals go when they die. They eat cake and sugars and sweets up there. This would be a good song for the book.

Even More Confusing

**WARNING**

Unlike the last post, I can't give you an excerpt to explain things. It makes it a lot easier if you have read this book. I will try my best to explain because even I, yes I, am confused at this conundrum story.

Simon is the guy who kind of revealed a lot in the book. First of all, after a scene with Ralph and Piggy, the story turns right to Simon who is by himself in the middle of the jungle. He is talking to the Lord of the Flies. For one thing this is the first time in the entire book that mentions anything about a Lord of the Flies. Second of all it doesn't explain what the Lord of the Flies looks like or where he/she/it came from. I will correct myself from the warning above. I will give you an excerpt of their conversation. Here is where it immediately starts after Ralph and Piggy:

"You are a silly little boy," said the Lord of the Flies,"just an ignorant, silly little boy."
Simon moved his swollen tongue but said nothing.
"Don't you agree?" said the Lord of the Flies. "Aren't you just a silly little boy?"
Simon answered in the same silent voice.
"Well then," said the Lord of the Flies, "you'd better run off and play with the others. They think you're batty. You don't want Ralph to think you're batty, do you? You like Ralph a lot, don't you? And Piggy, and Jack?"
Simon's head was tilted slightly up. His eyes could not break away and the Lord of the Flies hung in space above him.
"What are you doing out here all alone? Aren't you afraid of me?"
Simon shook.
"There isn't anyone to help you. Only me. And I'm the Beast."...
"Come now," said the Lord of the Flies. "Get back to the others and we'll forget the whole thing."...
"This is ridiculous. You know perfectly well you'll only meet me down there-so don't try to escape."...
"This has gone quite far enough. My poor misguided child, do you think you know better than I do?"
There was a pause.
"I'm warning you. I'm going to get angry. D'you see? You're not wanted. Understand? We are going to have fun on this island. Understand? We are going to have fun on this island! So don't try it on, my poor misguided boy, or else-"
Simon found he was looking into a vast mouth. There was blackness within, a blackness that spread.
"-Or else, " said the Lord of the Flies, "we shall do you? See? Jack and Roger and Maurice and Robert and Bill and Piggy and Ralph. Do you. See?"
Simon was inside the mouth. He fell down and lost consciousness.

(end of chapter)

After this Simon wakes up and goes to the top of the mountain by himself. There he finds what everyone else thought was the beast because they saw it at night. Simon sees it in daylight. It is a dead man in a parachute. I don't know who it is or how it got there. It just floated down at the beginning of one chapter. What happens next is confusing, sick, savage, and...I don't know what. I'm not going to reveal to you what happens if you want to read this book. By the way, i recommend this book greatly.

The Lord of the Flies: The Confusing Stuff

I've told you about the plot, but now I'm going to tell you about the book and the way its written. It is written in 3rd person limitted. It shares the thoughts and views of Ralph, the main character character. The dialoge is all over the place. I never understand who is saying what and it is so confusing to understand whats going on. Here is an excerpt of dialoge from my book:

"Jack. The beast might be on the other side. You can lead again. You've been."
"We could go by the shore. There's fruit."
Bill came up to Ralph.
"Why can't we stay here for a bit?"
"That's right."
"Let's have a fort."
"There's no food here," said Ralph, "and no shelter. Not much fresh water."
"This would make a wizard fort."
"We can roll rocks-"
"Right onto the bridge-"
"I say we'll go on!" Shouted ralph furiously. "We've got to make certain. We'll go now."
"Let's stay here-"
"Back to the shelter-"
"I'm tired-"
"No!"

It is very confusing. Am I right?

Soundtrack

One song on the "soundtrack" would be Sting and the Police's "Message in a Bottle" because these kids are trapped on the island and they are trying to be rescued by lighting a fire on top of a mountain. It isn't exactly sending a message in a bottle but it they are trying to send an SOS.

Another would be "Good Times, Bad Times" by LED ZEPPELIN. You knew this was coming, there had to be a LED ZEPPELIN song in here. This relates to the story because in one scene Jack, who is head hunter and is also in charge of keeping the fire lit, has an obsession for hunting pig on the island, but he has never got one. He gathers everyone except a few to go hunt and leaves the fire unattended. He gets his pig but there was a ship that was out at sea that might have seen them if the fire was going. It shows their ups and downs and for better or for worse situations.

The 3rd song would be "Helpless" by Niel Young. This explains the little the boys can do except light a fire day and night. It also explains the helplessness of Ralph trying to keep all the "littluns" and Jack under control. The Beatles' "Help" would also work.

The 4th song would be "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath. This song would explain the paranoid feeling of everyone on the island. Everyone is afraid of this "Beast" that people have claimed to see, especially the "littluns".

Another would be "Run Through the Jungle" by Creadence Clearwater Revival. Half the island is a jungle that the boys run and play in. It would also work in the scene when the twins Eric and Sam are running through the jungle away from the beast that is supposedly chasing them.

The song "Yellow Submarine" by the Beatles would work because all the boys are just one big family on a small island like all the people are one big family on a small submarine in this song.

"Stairway to Heaven" by LED ZEPPELIN would be a good song for this just because its a good song.

The Beast

The two big issues in this book are keeping the fire lit on the mountain so rescuers see it, and The Beast. The beast has been an issue since the beginning of the book, but now people are starting to take notice of it. There have been sitings but no one is sure. I think they are either hallucinating from dehydration or they are just scared and homesick.

In Which I Answer The Tough Question

What I think Mr. Lewis is saying is that books don't describe and relate to life, but are appart of it and make it more meaningful. It enriches our "desert". For example, War and Peace may be about war and peace and it may describe life, but it isn't there to describe the reality of war in the world, it is there to add to it. I don't mean it contributes to war, maybe I worded that wrongly. What I mean is that it is apart of the reality, not the war and peace itself.

This relates to the story I'm reading, because it doesn't just describe the efforts of a lot of stranded boys, but there's more to than just a story. It adds to the meaningness or meaningless of life. that si what makes this book a classic. It adds to the reality of war, peace, boys, girls, lochness monsters, martians, time machines, submarines, dwarfs, mustaches, and whatever else a peice of literature is about.

Libro Dos: Lord of the Flies

The next book I am reading is Lord of the Flies. So far in the book, from what I can gather ( I say this because in the beginning of the book it tells you nothing whats going on), the main character is a 12 year old named Ralph who meets a boy he has never met, who is nicknamed Piggy because he's fat, and apparently they have been in the same plane crash together. the pilot had them bail out on this uncharted, uninhabited island. Sounds to me like Swiss Family Robinson or Robinson Crusoe or my kind of adventure story. So they finally find there way out of the jungle and to the beach. Here they find a conch which they blow to summon all the other kids. Apparently conch shells are loud like horns, I didn't know that. It goes on about how they build a community and there are two "levels of order": the "littluns" and the "biguns". It is almost like Animal Farm, but without the animals and communism.

El Fin

I finished the book and the ending was unexpected. I won't reveal too much for those who want to read it. All I'll say is that they are back where they started.

Puns and Rebellion

I figured out the pun for Benjamin's name. Since he is smart old and wise he is named after the man on the 100 dollar bill. There are 10 pages left in the book and years have gone buy and a few of the older animals are dead. Ben isn't dead of course. Know I'm having doubts about that rebellion.

SICK AND CRUEL

Boxer died:( He was dying and Napoleon promised to send him to a vet. Napoleon also needed money. So, taking advantage of the other animals inability to read, he actually called a horse slaughterer to take him so he could get money. Ben for the first time, since he is the only one who can read of the others, saw this and tried to save his friend but it was to late. Napoleon was even sick enough to say that Boxer had died in the hospital and that he was at his bedside when he died.

Puns and Republics and ... Cuba?

there are a few puns in the story with the names. The dictators name is Napolean, his servant that announces stuff for Napolean is Squealer, the strong hard working horse (who is now dying) is named Boxer.

Also in the book the dictator is declaring Animal Farm a republic. The only candidate is Napolean and he wins unanimously. This is what is going in Cuba. In the book there was, in the beginning, no leaders and now there is a "republic" where the already dictator now changes the form of government to please the animals and then just declares himself president for life in a way. It is a lot like Cuba.

Caught in the Act

The communistic dictator broke the cammandment of No animal shall drink alchohol. In the night there was a crash and the animals got out side to see The dictator's servant running away from a broken ladder and a bucket of paint next to the Seven Commandments. Next to the commandment about drinking it said "without excess". None of the animals were smart enough to know what was going on except the wise old donkey named Ben, but he keeps everything to himself.

Genre

I think I figured out what the specific genre of my book is: Realistic Historical Government Fiction/Fantasy with some Adventure and a pinch of Mystery that is instantaneously solved on the following page, because its so fast paced, with absolutely no Comedy, Romance, or Science Fiction at all of any kind whatsoever

COMRADES??!!!??!!!??!!:^(??!!!

If this book says "comrades" one more time I think I'll be sick. My mom said that it says comrades to make reference to the communistic Russia

FIRST POST (with a title)

well the de'tat just broke another of the seven commandments and killed the animals that were in league with the animal that he overthrew. It sounds like a military dictatorship like in Argentina and Cuba

In the book so far there has been a coup. Like in today's world in the Middle East. The coup de'tat is breaking one of the seven commandments as well. The animals are starting to not like the new dictator and I think there is going to be another rebellion soon.

The book is very fast paced. Thats probably why its only 101 pages. There are also a lot of names to memorize like in Watership Down. Only Watership Down was different. It was longer so if a character wasn't mentioned for a while you forgot about them. Watership Down was similar in that it is about animals, but solely rabbits. Its different in that it was MUCH, MUCH more slower paced than animal farm.

to answer your questions Miss K, I chose both Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies because I thought that they would be interesting stories about building communities and rebellion and forms of government. I chose War of the Worlds because I like action/adventure scifi. Scince Animal Farm is only 101 pages I thought, since we have to read 100 pages a week, that it would be a challenge to finish this book by Monday.

If you were wondering what my title means the translation is "conqerer of 3 books" because I'm reading 3 books. the 3 books are Animal Farm, War of The Worlds, and Lord of the Flies.