The very first Alex Rider novel, published in 2000.
Stormbreaker was adapted as a movie in 2006, but it failed to make its budget back and got unfavourable critical reception. The Show of the Books, Alex Rider, skipped over Stormbreaker in favour of adapting second novel Point Blanc.
Tropes:
- Blackmail: Blunt blackmails Alex into being a spy by threatening to have Jack deported and Alex put into an undoubtedly bad institution.
- Discreet Drink Disposal: In Stormbreaker, Alex dumps the overly sweet supermarket cola into a pot plant while Blunt is out of the office.
- Establishing Character Moment: MI6 as a whole during Ian's funeral as they talk to Alex concerning said death and calling it an "accident", setting up a Red Herring that they might be the big bads that killed Ian in the first place. For a more in-depth one, Mr. Blunt shows off the Good Is Not Nice aspect by threatening to deport Jack should Alex refuse to join MI6.
- The Film of the Book: Was subjected to an unusual variant of
Executive Meddling in that one of the executives Horowitz worked with turned out to be a crook, resulting in the film not being as widely screened as it should have been, ensuring there wasn't enough profit for a sequel. (The fact that the movie was poorly received by critics didn't help matters.) - Glasgow Grin: Sayle's Dragon, Mr. Grin, has one. It's the source of his name, since he can't speak—he lost his tongue when he got the scars.
- Nephewism: The series does this... twice. First, when Alex's parents die, he gets sent to live with his Uncle, Ian Rider, and when he dies, he gets to live with Jack Starbright, who isn't actually family, subverting the trope, the second time.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: SAS trainees only go by "code names". Alex's squadmates are Wolf, Fox, Eagle, Snake, with him being called "Cub" and the Embarrassing Nickname of "Double 0 Nothing".
- Not My Driver: At the end of Stormbreaker, Sayle abducts Alex by posing as a taxi driver.
- Piano Drop: Herod Sayle from Stormbreaker was a street urchin until he saved some rich English tourists from a piano dropped from a fourteenth story window. He was then adopted and brought to live with them.
- Race Lift: In the movie version of Stormbreaker, Herod Sayle becomes a kid from a redneck "trailer park" family who moved to England.
- Training from Hell: To prepare him as their Teen Superspy, MI6 sends Alex to the SAS for 2 weeks. Even with allowances made for his age and size, it's no summer camp.
- Underwear Flag: Herod Sayle, the villain, was subjected to severe bullying after he moved from Egypt to England at age 7, which included his underpants being run up the flagpole.
