Alex Rider
- This article is about the fandom. For the character, see Alex Rider (character).
| Fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Alex Rider (Series) |
| Abbreviation(s): | AR |
| Creator: | Anthony Horowitz |
| Date(s): | 2000 – present |
| Medium: | Books, Movie, TV Series |
| Country of Origin: | United Kingdom |
| External Links: | Alex Rider Books |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
This article or section needs expansion. |
Alex Rider is a series of YA spy novels by British author Anthony Horowitz about a 14–15-year-old spy named Alex Rider. The series is comprised of twelve novels, five graphic novels, several short stories and four supplementary books.
Canon
The series originally ended in 2011 with Scorpia Rising, the intended series finale. However, in 2016, an announcement was released on Anthony Horowitz's website that he was continuing the series.[1]
The first novel, Stormbreaker, was released in the United Kingdom in 2000 and was adapted into a motion picture in 2006 starring Alex Pettyfer. As of 2020, the book series has a web television series adaptation which premiered on Amazon Prime Video in the United Kingdom on June 4. The first season is based off of the second novel, Point Blanc, and filming for Season 2 is currently underway.
Popular characters include: Alex Rider, Yassen Gregorovich, K-Unit (Fox, Wolf, Eagle, Snake), Tom Harris
| Main Series | Graphic Novels | Movies | TV Series |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stormbreaker (1) | Stormbreaker | Stormbreaker | |
| Point Blanc (2) (Point Blank in the US) | Point Blanc | Alex Rider, Season 1 | |
| Skeleton Key (3) | Skeleton Key | ||
| Eagle Strike(4) | Eagle Strike | Alex Rider, Season 2 | |
| Scorpia (5) | Scorpia | ||
| Ark Angel (6) | |||
| Snakehead (7) | |||
| Crocodile Tears (8) | |||
| Scorpia Rising (9) | |||
| Russian Roulette (10) | |||
| Never Say Die (11) | |||
| Nightshade (12) |
| Supplementary Books | Other Works |
|---|---|
| Alex Rider: The Gadgets | Secret Weapon: Short Story Collection |
| Alex Rider: The Mission Files | Undercover: Four Secret Files |
| Stormbreaker: Behind the Scenes | |
| Stormbreaker: The Official Script |
History
The first book in the series was published in 2000, but the earliest fandom activity can be found on fanfiction.net in 2004. Before the release of the movie there was a small number of fanfiction, mostly adventures in the style of the books.
The release of the movie Stormbreaker in 2006 brought increased activity to the fandom--fanart and fanvids were created, communities opened up on Livejournal, an Alex Rider specific archive was created, and many fanfics were posted to fanfiction.net. The most popular ship from the main archive of this period (fanfiction.net) was Yassen/Alex, with Alex/Sabina in second place. Other notable ships were Alex/Fox and Alex/Wolf, a sign of the popularity of K-Unit.[2] Although the majority of fanfic was on fanfiction.net, many fans created communities on Livejournal, especially slash and Yalex shippers.
The pairing Yalex was controversial for obvious reasons and in 2009 the community yassen_alex on Livejournal and several Yalex fics were targeted by copyright notices from the Alex Rider publishing company.[3] Vulnerability to purges and copyright takedowns is possibly a reason for why the Alex Rider specific archive ARchive was created during this time. Fic on the ARchive was mainly focused on angst and slash.[2]
The fandom started to decline in around 2011. Scorpia Rising was published, which was ostensibly the end of the series. The character Alex Rider finished the book having retired from the spying life, and the author Anthony Horowitz maintained that there would be no more Alex Rider. Fan activity slowed and the fanfic exchange Spy Fest did not generate enough interest to run in 2012.
The fandom was renewed again by the release of the TV series in 2020. In one year the number of fics on AO3 doubled from 575 (before 04 June 2020) to 1129 (on 04 June 2021). Fandom activity has also increased on tumblr and discord, as well as new fandom events such as Alex Rider Ship Week.
Fandom
The Alex Rider series has a fairly small fandom, dubbed the "Sock Drawer" and its fans the "socks".[4][5][6] Due to the TV adaptation, the fandom has grown considerably. It is also quite old, with many communities and members owning accounts on LiveJournal. There is also a fandom discord server, Cub's Army, that was made in 2018 by Hollow Rosewood.[7]
Fandom Tropes
- Yassen Gregorovich Lives - Many in the fandom prefer to ignore the end of Eagle Strike, as evidenced by this being one of the top 10 additional tags on AO3
- Alex joins Scorpia - The most popular fic for this trope is pongnosis' The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. There are several fanfics set in this universe and also many fanfics with their own take on this trope.
- Alex returns to Brecon Beacons - This is an older trope that has fallen out of favour. It would often involve Alex's class joining him at the training camp with Alex having to hide his identity (amitai's Hell is Other People is a popular example of this).
Shipping
The fandom is unusually focused on Gen, with 49.4% of fanworks being Gen compared to the AO3's average of 17.1%.[8] The shipping fanworks are dominated by one pairing, Yalex, which has more than nine times the number of fanworks than the second most popular pairing, Tomlex.[9] This is perhaps due to the solo nature of the books and the lack of recurring characters who have interesting interactions with Alex.
Yassen/Alex
Yalex – Yassen Gregorovich/Alex Rider: Yassen has only appeared in three books in the series but he has made a big impact on the fans, evidenced by the movie and TV show putting his character into a much larger focus. He has an unusual relationship with Alex--he is an assassin antagonist but he refuses to kill Alex, and he has a link to Alex's father. Their characters also mirror each other, both being forced into an adult world after their childhood was destroyed at age 14, but on opposite sides. Although the pairing can be very dark many creators choose to age Alex up and reimagine their relationship in a happier context.
Tom/Alex
Tomlex – Tom Harris/Alex Rider: As Alex's closest school friend, Tom did not show up in the book series until book five 'Scorpia'. The TV show, however, has centred their friendship as a much bigger part of Alex's normal life. This has proven to be a welcome development for AR fans, as approximately half of Tomlex fanfic on AO3 was written after the show aired.[9]
Yassen/Ian
Yian – Yassen Gregorovich/Ian Rider: This was an extremely obscure ship until 2022, when it battled its way up into the top 5 most popular ships for the fandom[10]. Ian barely appears in any Alex Rider adaptation before being killing by Yassen, but the TV show teased some never-before-seen backstory for the two of them. They are close enough to use nicknames, for Ian to hide Yassen's existence from MI6, and for Yassen to appear genuinely regretful at killing Ian. This tantalising mystery has garnered interest in the pairing and lead to it being joint second most popular AR ship with Tomlex.[11]
Other Pairings
Other pairings include: Yassen Gregorovich/John Rider | Alex Rider/Wolf | Fox/Alex Rider | Sabina Pleasure/Alex Rider | Alexmis – Artemis Fowl II/Alex Rider | Ian Rider/Jack Starbright | Wolf/Jack Starbright| Fox/Jack Starbright | Eagle/Jack Starbright | Yassen Gregorovich/Jack Starbright | Derek Smithers/Wolf | Alex Rider/James Sprintz | Ian Rider/John Crawley | Julius Grief/Alex Rider | Snake/Eagle | Fox/Snake | Eagle/Fox | Fem!Alex/Eagle | Yassen Gregorovich/Wolf | Yassen Gregorovich/Derek Smithers | Yassen Gregorovich/Monica Peretti
Fandom Events
- SpyFest – the first AR fic-exchange. It is no longer running.
- SpyFest Revival – an AR fest. This event takes place every July.
- Flufftember – This took place in September, 2020, in an attempt to produce more fluffy content for the fandom. Due to the small turnout, it seems this event was not very successful.
- Angstober – This took place next month, with a much larger turnout. AR fans seem to greatly enjoy angst.
- Alex Rider Febuwhump - A whump prompt fest for every day in February 2021
- Alex Rider Ship Week Tumblr - This takes place in late March and features a choice of two prompts--one naughty and one nice--for each day.
Fannish Resources
Archives
- Alex Rider works at AO3
- Alex Rider works at FFN
- ARchive, an Alex Rider fanfiction archive
Fanwork Recs
- Fanwork Recs in 2023 by AR Shipweek
- Shipping Recs by AR Shipweek
- Alex Rider Fanfic Recs
- Alex Rider Fic Recs for Newbies Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 by A Few Bulbs Short of a Tanning Bed
- Unusual Fics by pongnosis
- Crossover Fics by pongnosis
- Anywhere But Here (Alex Rider story) by Scorpia710
- The Best Friends by Crowlows19
- Hell is Other People by amitai (2007-2020) (incomplete)
- On Roman Roads by galimau
- onward march by Ireliss
- Point of Divergence by pongnosis
Meta
- Yassen Gregorovich Books vs TV by irelise, 4 July 2020. (Accessed 9 April 2021)
- First Touch: Incidences of Intimacy Between Yassen Gregorovich and Alex Rider by H.J. Bender, 22 November 2010. (Accessed 6 June 2021)
- Shipping in AR Fandom. A Not Entirely Scientific Look at the AR Fandom by rirren and pongnosis, 21 February 2021. (Accessed 07 April 2021)
- Popular Ships, 01 March 2021. (Accessed 07 April 2021)
- Fic kudos/hit ratios for different genres and characters by Valak, 04 April, 2021. (Accessed 16 April 2021)
- Shipping in 2022, 27 February 2022. (Accessed 12 June 2022)
- A History of Alex Rider Fandom by rirren and pongnosis, 07 March 2022. (Accessed 12 June 2022)
- Yalex Shippy Moments, 14 March 2022. (Accessed 12 June 2022)
- Non-Yalex Shippy Moments, 14 March 2022. (Accessed 12 June 2022)
- Shipping in 2023, 18 February 2023. (Accessed 06 March 2023)
- The Four Yassen Gregorovichs by AFewBulbsShortofaTanningBed, 6 March 2023. (Accessed 06 March 2023)
Other
- Royal and General Bank
- Alex Rider is a Sock Drawer
- AR on LiveJournal
- Alex Rider Kinkmeme
- Flash Rider - Livejournal community for AR flash fic
References
- ^ "New Alex Rider novel coming in 2017!". 2016-10-19. Archived from the original on 2022-05-04.
- ^ a b Alex Rider Ship Week. A History of Alex Rider Fandom by rirren and pongnosis, 07 March 2022. (Accessed 12 June 2022)
- ^ yassen_alex Welcome post, 20 May 2009. (Accessed 12 June 2022)
- ^ "what does your url mean". 2014-02-24. Archived from the original on 2022-05-04.
- ^ "The Alex Rider Fandom is a Sock Drawer". 2015-04-18. Archived from the original on 2022-05-04.
- ^ "where did the name sock drawer come from". 2015-04-18. Archived from the original on 2022-05-04.
- ^ "HEY SOCK DRAWER! (Alex Rider's Discord Server)". 2018-08-31. Archived from the original on 2022-05-04.
- ^ Alex Rider Ship Week. Shipping in AR Fandom. A Not Entirely Scientific Look at the AR Fandom by rirren and pongnosis, 21 February 2021. (Accessed 07 April 2021)
- ^ a b Alex Rider Ship Week Popular Ships, 01 March 2021. (Accessed 07 April 2021)
- ^ Alex Rider Ship Week Shipping in 2022, 27 February 2022. (Accessed 06 March 2023)
- ^ Alex Rider Ship Week Shipping in 2023, 18 February 2023. (Accessed 06 March 2023)