Silverfin

Silverfin By Charlie Higson Before James Bond was 007,he was a 13-year-old boy. But that doesn't mean he didn't spy. Young James goes to a boarding school called Eton after his parents died. James is miserable at Eton, he liked living with his parents, but, then again, it is a new chance to make some friends...and enemies. George Hellebore is the most popular kid in school because his dad is funding an athlete's event that consists of shooting, swimming and running but George just can't stand James and is giving him the worst time he could possibly have. He is determined to win the event, no matter what. When the event starts, James decides to spy on George and sees George's dad give him some kind of pill. Then, in the next trial, which is swimming, George becomes really strong. He is cheating and his dad is making something illegal. James must get to the bottom of this. I thought that the book was really grabbing and I got lost in the text because it was so suspenseful. It was cool to read about James Bond as a kid; he was pretty daring and very brave. Kind of like he is now. I'd recommend this book to any boy that loves action and cliffhangers. -Mike O.

"The last thing he saw before he sank back into the black depths of the water was the man's face; only it wasn't a man's face . . . it was an eel's face, a nightmarish face -- chinless, with smooth, gray, utterly hairless skin pulled tight across it, and fat, blubbery lips that stretched almost all the way back to where the ears should be. The front of the face was deformed, pushed forward, so that the nose was hideously flattened, with splayed nostrils and bulging eyes forced so wide apart that they didn't look in any way human. The ghastly thick lips parted and a wet belching hiss erupted. Then the waters closed over the boy and he knew nothing more." Alfie Kelly, a local boy from a Scottish town, goes missing under mysterious circumstances and people wonder what happened to him. He was going fishing alone and he was never seen again. I mainly read this book because I am a fan of James bond and I thought reading a prequel to his 007 years would be interesting. The plot turned out to be very interesting and original. Young James Bond is on vacation from Eton, his boarding school, and James hears about Alfie Kelly's disappearance. James of course finds the whole situation entirely suspicious and in true Bond style decides o investigate. James Bond's character is captured as a restless boy who hates rules and restrictions but follows them when he has to. The character of Bond's aunt explains how James was raised to be so world-wise. My favorite part of this book is something that would reveal the plot so I'll tell my second favorite part. It is when James' uncle Max tells him how a car works and teaches him how to drive. Because James learned to drive so early in life, that might explain why he is such a skillful driver when he is older. The theme of this book, besides seeing what Bond was like as a kid, is that you can't cheat life; money and drugs can't make your life better. Any fan of James Bond should read this book because although its sad to say, the storyline is better than some of the Bond movies. Also if you have read any of the Alex Rider Adventures by Anthony Horowitz or if you just like action thrillers or mysteries then this book is for you. There could have been a little more action and blood-chilling suspense but overall, this book was very well written.

Upon opening SilverFin and skimming a bit through the first pages, it looked like this might be nothing more than a Harry Potter clone novel. But I am a Bond fanatic at times and like to try all aspects of the series, many of which I enjoy. The prologue of the book brings up an interesting point I think: this isn't the average children's novel. It doesn't seem to be as magical or clean as say, a Harry Potter story is (although it has been quite some time since I last read one of those). I think it finds a niche somewhere between an adult-based murder/action novel and a more toned down Harry Potter fantasy story. I would have liked to see it even more in the direction of the grittier, Ian Fleming styled novels, but this is Young Bond. The eels are a great idea and used effectively throughout the entire story. The first section of the story, ETON, tells of young "James", (a bit odd not to see it written as "Bond" all the time now) finding his way through school. Higson writes to make him seem like a loner or different than all the other boys at times, but it seems to generally work. I expected a childhood rivalry and/or confrontation(s) to occur, so they didn't really surprise me when they did. So far at least, Higson has clearly made this his own James Bond, perhaps he has the benefit of not having to follow after Fleming like Gardner and Benson did with the older James Bond we're used to. SCOTLAND is the next section of the book, and the poorest in my opinion. While Red Kelly makes for a fair ally (he really doesn't seem to be needed all that much), the weakest character by far in the entire story is "Bond girl" Wilder Lawless. Why, oh why, oh why did that horse have to be named Martini? She has little character development and that so called risque passage where she pins down James on the ground is more embarrassing and out of place than...hmm...risque. Stuffing leaves in his mouth? THE CASTLE, the third and final section of the story is the best I would say. I look at the villains of movies and books as often being just as important as the hero. You need a strong villain to show off a strong hero. At least in SilverFin, we have a fairly good villain in Lord Randolph Hellebore. I'm not going to go deep at all into descriptions about him or his plan due to spoiler issues, but I think he is developed well from beginning to end. At least in this final section we get to the action, the adventure, and the danger of a James Bond story. His escape from the castle, and the ordeals with the eels are well thoughtout. The ending may not seem as too big a surprise to readers, it didn't to me personally, but it was still relatively enjoyable. I was pleased to see a change in Bond's actions and character towards the very end of the novel compared with what we see in the first sections of the story. In the end, it's not a Harry Potter novel. It's darker and more distinct in it's own ways and being a change from the normal continuation novels may hel

In the 1930s in the Scottish Highlands, fourteen year old Alphie Kelly sneaks under a fence that contain dead animals and other keep out trespassing notices to go fishing at Loch Silverfin. However, strange behaving eel attack the lad. At the same time that Alphie vanishes, James Bond enters Eton after spending the last couple of years living with his Aunt Charmian following the deaths of his parents in a mountain climbing incident. He runs into trouble from the start with an older student, American George Hellebore and the teen's father weapons tycoon Randolph. James heads to Keithly, Scotland to spend the Easter holidays with his beloved aunt and his ailing Uncle Max. On the train, he befriends Red Kelly who is heading to the same area to search for his missing cousin. In Keithly, James and Red breech the perimeter fence, trespassing on Randolph's property where he is conducting experiments on a super soldier that will eliminate the frailty of those he observed during the last Great War. SILVERFIN is a fine young James Bond tale in which the lad shows glimpses of the cool spy, but just as often displays young teen bravado to hide a lack of confidence. Thus the middle school audience that this novel targets can believe that this is indeed James during his school years. The investigation is intriguing and Randolph is a solid Bond villain. The Eton chapters set the tone for James and his allies vs. the father and son Hellebores. Fans will enjoy their altercation that makes up Part Two of the fine novel. Harriet Klausner

SilverFin by Charlie Higson puts the pleasure in pleasure reading. It is one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read. I stayed up very late on many school nights reading it because I couldn't put it down. It is a very addictive book. I've read six James Bond novels by Ian Fleming in my time and I enjoyed reading SilverFin more than some of them. Mr. Higson is a fantastic author because he writes with great detail, his writing style makes the story very easy to comprehend, and it is evident that he did much research. SilverFin started off the Young Bond™ series very nicely with a perfect introduction to James Bond's formative years. I liked how Higson made James weak in the beginning and made him grow tougher as the story progressed. James was vulnerable and scared of bullies in the beginning but that all changed at the end of the story. I am eager to see more evolution in young James as the series continues. I am a little disappointed that James wiped off the kiss he received from Wilder Lawless because at thirteen years old a boy should not believe in "cooties" anymore. When I was thirteen years old I was kissing girls but maybe it was different in the 1930s but I doubt that. I would have expected James Bond to enjoy that kiss even at thirteen. Isn't this the same James Bond that lost his virginity at sixteen, only three years later, to a prostitute in Paris? I was also a little disappointed by James' group of friends at Eton. To me they came off as the school "rejects" but I guess that Higson wanted to show us that James is an outsider, which makes sense. James' friend, Red Kelly, is a good character. He is important to the plot and also a source of comic relief, which got annoying at some parts. I enjoyed learning about James Bond's family. The part about his parents is very touching. Higson keeps the reader hooked by hinting about his parents throughout the beginning. Later on the story of their death is revealed in an appropriate way. Aunt Charmian and Uncle Max are great characters and they obviously had influences on James that carried on into adulthood, which is evident in the Fleming novels. For example, James learned about spying and fast cars from his Uncle Max. I like how May was Uncle Max's housekeeper. If you've read the Fleming novels you would know that she becomes James' housekeeper. I am disappointed that Uncle Max passed away because he was such a lovable character but it was obvious that he would die at some point since his health was pretty bad. The villain in SilverFin is a very good villain. He is a very sick and cruel man, which is surprising since this book is aimed at pre-teens. His plan of creating a genetically altered race of men and beasts is very interesting especially because this story takes place in the era of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. His son, George Hellebore, was a good enemy until his predictable change of heart. He turned on his father therefore becoming a good ally for Bond later on when toge