Silverfin (Young Bond Series #1)
4.1
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5
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Paperback(Reprint)
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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781423122623 |
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| Publisher: | Little, Brown Books for Young Readers |
| Publication date: | 03/10/2009 |
| Series: | Young Bond Series , #1 |
| Edition description: | Reprint |
| Pages: | 352 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.90(d) |
| Age Range: | 10 - 14 Years |
About the Author
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
SilverFin
4.1 out of 5
based on
0 ratings.
50 reviews.
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This book has some great things in it and some things that can be improved. One positive is that the author wrote in amazing detail. I could just picture the scene in my head at the exact moment it was taking place. I could imagine the characters, the castle, the loaded shot-gun, and Red Kelley's hair. It was amazing! Also, it had an interesting plot. You probably figured out that Lord Hellebore is a bad man and that James had to find a way to stop his plan, but did Hellebore stop him? One last positive in this book was the characters. The author uses realistic characters that act like everyday kids. They act like kids would today in my school. Now, I'll tell you about the negatives. One negative is that during the book there were parts like part one and part two. It was almost an immediate change from Eton school to Scotland. It kind of confused me. Something else that I didn't like was the things they did at Eton. They had terms for people and I didn't really catch on to all of those names too well. For example, some of these terms were a wet bob, a dry bob, and a slack bob. I did not remember which was which and I just got very confused. One last negative was Lord Hellebore had a brother that did experiments and he accidently turned his brother into an eel/man. Up to that point the book was realistic and was like something that could happen today, but when the brother turned into an eel/man it no longer was realistic. So, those are the positives and the negatives of this book.I think the author of this book was amazing! The author's writing was so clear I understood the plot right from the prologue. His topics and plots are also very clear because he uses so much detail. While he is describing the Hellebores' castle he spends about a whole page writing detail on it. It had a 10,000 volt fence surrounding the whole castle including their outside property. There was a giant lake told to have the great Silver Fin eel from a legend, a look-out tower with two guards looking for intruders, six guards patrolling the grounds and walking along the fence, and more! In this book the author writes in third person but I think it would be quite interesting to read it from James' standpoint because you could hear his thoughts on George, Red, and Lord Hellebore so that would be something the author could do differently if he made another book similar to this one. So, all in all, I think the author did an amazing job on this book.
There are some similar novels you can check out. They are H.I.V.E., Alex rider series, and the rest of the James Bond series. Some other books that I enjoyed reading are the Harry Potter series. This series is about magic and Harry goes through seven years at Hogwarts castle. I also like the Lightning Thief series by Rich Riordan. These are fantasy books written about the Gods and their children growing up and having their powers and learning how to fight and defend themself. One last group of books is the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. These books are a realistic fiction and what happens could happen to anyone any day. Some things that the author, Jeff Kinney, puts in the books are things that both the main character and I dislike, such as parents telling you to go outside instead of playing video games, parents not knowing how to take a picture with their new camera and then they try it and the picture is very bad. I hope that what you get out of this review is that you are ready to go by Silver Fin by Charlie Higson!
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A class effort from both Charlie Higson and Kev Walker. Both have nailed this well. I think that Kev Walker should be congratulated on a well imagined true Bond character from the 1930s. Loved the detail on the Bentley 3 litre
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Very exciting and fun book to read, definately reccomend to read it.
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A page turning book that starts out slow, but pays to read to the end. Story that you will want to buy the next one the day you start reading it.
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Malcolm and I were on one of our book buying escapades and feeling slightly experimental (books are so much cheaper in England than Australia - until you start buying in bulk...). Malcolm pointed out the (then) new novel that introduced James Bond as a boy and I was instantly intrigued by the idea. I've never been much of a James Bond fan, although I have no problem watching Sean Connery as a rule - it's all too gruesome for me. So I've never read any Ian Fleming. But when Malcolm pointed out Silverfin I knew he was interested, and I was in the mood to be impulsive and just "try it out." I didn't really expect to enjoy it that much but I thought that Malcolm would read it anyway, so the money wouldn't be wasted. That's how reckless we were with our book spending back then. Sigh.As it happens, several years have passed and I am still the first of us to pick it up (I guess that now that we can't buy books so madly, we're finally having to catch up with our old purchases!). I have no way to compare it with the original Bond novels. But I don't care. It's a great book. For the first two thirds, apart from a few dark hints, it doesn't even seem like Bond to me. It's a fascinating, and not particularly fast-paced story, about a boy's first half at Eton. I enjoyed every minute of the development of James' character and his life at Eton. It has the same satisfying feeling that entering Hogwarts has - there is enough space devoted to "normal" life to really appreciate and enjoy it, unlike the tantalising glimpses one is afforded of some fictional universes. I felt I was able to walk around and get to know James' Eton without ever being bored.I was also startled by the essential thread of "Britishness" that runs as a connector between the characters of Arthur Ransome, Enid Blyton and Ian Fleming / Charlie Higson. At points James might very well be a member of the Famous Five, setting up camp and trying to solve the mystery of the castle. At other times, he and his friends display the kind of practical know-how that typify the Swallows, Amazons and Death or Glories. James Bond could so easily be a grown up Julian with added toughness.The more gruesome elements are left to the final third of the novel and the vivid and imaginative portrayal wouldn't disgrace a Bond movie. But by the time I reached this section I was hooked on the characters and had to continue. Interestingly, there were even moments that reminded me of John Marsden's Tomorrow series. James' combination of experience and inexperience is very reminiscent of Ellie and her companions. But I'm just glad that books were sufficiently cheap in England that I was tempted to feel reckless one day...
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This book has a nice fast pace. It is easy to read except for some chapters that could have been left out about driving sports cars. As soon as I came across these chapters I skipped them, and I wondered why they had not been edited out, they made no difference to the book. I can only presume that they were to be true to James Bond by Ian Flemming. THis is a worthwhile read.
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A boy went in to this property where and there is a sign that says, if you come in here you will be killed. The boy went in and started fishing, then he was never seen again. Then James Bond comes o visit his aunt and he hears about the missing boy and he trys to help him.Great Book for kids who like James Bond. This book is book #1 in the Young Bond sereies.
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Takes you back to how James Bond became the James Bond. This story was slow to take off. However, when it did it was fast paced and gripping.I really enjoyed it.
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I picked this up on a whim and in many ways, James is a similar type of character to Alex Rider. He's brave, but cautious and sometimes does things without thinking about the consequences. One of the things that made Silverfin interesting was that we're reading about what James Bond, the man we're all familiar with as an adult, might have been like as a child. I thought it was fascinating, especially his experiences at Eton. But the more interesting parts of the book were when he was trying to suss out what Silverfin really was. The book was a quick read, a bit gross in places, but that's part of it's charm (both for me and reluctant male readers). If you like the Alex Rider series, give Silverfin a go. I'll definitely pick up the second book in the series.
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First title in the Young Bond series. Students who enjoy the Philip Muchamore Cherub series should move onto this series with pleasure.
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This audiobook made a very long drive much more pleasant. Higson starts the Bond legend a few decades early, with Bond's time at Eton as a young teen. Die-hard Bond fans will find many sly references to Bond mythology, and even those unfamiliar with the franchise will find something to enjoy. The book gets more over the top and predictable as it nears the end; Higson is much better at writing the day to day than he is a epic, dramatic moments. Still, an enjoyable read for those liking adventure or a good British school story.
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The main character attends Eton (male boarding school in England for the rich and famous, the British Royal Family has attended for genrations.) The story takes place over the Easter Holidays and is set mainly in the Scottish Highlands. 2 boys are trying to solve the mystery of the disappearance of a third boy. The young snoops operate below the radar because the story is set in the 1930's. They have no supplies, no cell phone, no computer but neither does the evil scientist with the rich benefactor. The author is British and the language he uses is proper English and may be cumbersome for Americans. It is exciting in a low tech environment. Book 1 of a series.
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you should read this book and the whole series this series is really good
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A good start. But a shame the story had to be written in the 1930's. It should have been done in the 1970s to make it current.
I would recommend Cherub books, Alex rider and Jason Steed first.
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This book is very exciting. I loved it.
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This is a great book. Each book improves on each other. The breakthrough ones are Double or Die, Hurricane Gold, and By Royal Command (BRC only in UK for now). But this is the only one where Higson tries to copy Anthony Horowitz's (author of YA series Alex Rider) by giving unoriginal repulsive descriptions of disgusting things and brain information (like how a car works). I thought it was easy besides info on the cars, and I marvel at how James registers all that info.
But forget about flaws. This book is action-packed and absorbing. Bond is different than Alex and Potter, and is very unique and likeable. You could see the Bond we know releasing by a bit. The Daniel Craig Bond is released during book 3 and continues on. The cover is attractive. My 17 year old bro only liked the final three, because he said they were Young Adult, and saying the first two are easy. But it isn't easier than Percy J and HP, it's just that Alex Rider raised the Young Adult thriller bar up too high.
Awesome book. Buy it. Once you get to book 3, you'll love the books.
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