I’ve always been a pretty big fan of Anthony Horowitz. This started with his Alex Rider series, of course, and so naturally I couldn’t help myself when I found out that he’d written a short story about one of his side characters. I didn’t really have a lot of expectations for this, of course, since it has firstly been a great deal of time since I read the series but also because the character this story is about was never one that I was particularly attached to. Still, I was curious enough to feel that it was worth reading.
I didn’t love The White Carnation nor is it something I think I’ll remember well later on in my life or ever bother to re-read, but it wasn’t bad either. The one-shot-esque story about everyone’s favorite assassin from the Alex Rider series was intriguing enough to keep me interested and had just enough of a connection to the original stories to be somewhat enjoyable. Now, since it’s been a long time since I read the series—my copies have been sat in my little brother’s room for several years at this point and reading this has made me quite tempted to ask for them back so I can read them once again—but I do have a vague recollection of this particular story being mentioned at some point within the novels.
I think it’d be interesting to return to the original series just to see where the connection actually does exist. Ultimately, The White Carnation is a rather fascinating psychological look into the personality of the assassin and the experience that shaped him and his mind for his actions in the Alex Rider novels. It’s small and definitely isn’t a necessary read for anyone, but it’s still something I found quite cool to be able to read.
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Reader Fox 