Mere Mortals Book Reviews

A short snippet on the way we do things behind the scenes as the new year approaches and a concerted effort in our book reviews rises. Connect with Mere Mortals: Website: Discord: Twitter/X: Instagram: TikTok: Connect...

In this Mere Mortals book review, I dive into Secret Weapon, the 12th entry in the Alex Rider series, but not a traditional one. Instead of a full-scale mission, Horowitz delivers seven short, fast-paced stories set...

A raw, no-fluff review of The Two Towers — the darker, tighter middle act of LOTR. I cover the split structure, why Book III feels punchier (Helm’s Deep, Ents), why Book IV slows to a crawl before the Shelob crescendo...

Alex Rider returns in Never Say Die — a fast, zany, throwback instalment that swaps grit for velocity. I break down what works (pace, scale, that classic Rider ingenuity), what doesn’t (the Jack twist), and the one big...

Horowitz turns the camera away from Alex and into the fire that forged Yassen. Set around the Stormbreaker timeline, this darker companion novel binds the series together with grit, symmetry and consequence. It’s not...

Alex Rider stops being bulletproof. In Scorpia Rising, Anthony Horowitz cashes in every IOU the series has dodged: real stakes, identity games, and a gut-punch that actually lands. Today I break down why this is the...

A new villain and a new frontier. Crocodile Tears throws Alex Rider into the jaws—literally. We open in Scotland, meet philanthropist-on-paper Desmond McCain of the First Aid charity, and quickly discover a...

“The enemy isn’t out there. It is within.” That line sets the tone for Snakehead, the seventh Alex Rider novel: darker, sharper, and closer to the bone. We open in Australia (very on-brand for me), surge into Bangkok...

Into space we go! Ark Angel takes Alex Rider higher, literally, as he stumbles from a hospital bed into a conspiracy that leads straight into orbit. Anthony Horowitz throws his young spy into billionaire plots, CIA...

Scorpia isn’t just another Alex Rider adventure, it’s the book where everything shifts. Darker, grittier, and more morally complex, this is where Alex discovers the terrifying legacy of his father, the manipulative...

In this review, we dive into Eagle Strike, the fourth Alex Rider book by Anthony Horowitz. Alex finds himself on his own against the billionaire villain Damian Cray, with MI6 refusing to back him. Packed with action...

There will always be someone selling BS, but you can learn how to spot it. 'Bad Science' by Ben Goldacre is an expose of sorts showcasing instances of media (individuals & as a whole) distorting statistics & scientific...

The future of Asia is interesting but even more so is the man who created it! 'Lee Kuan Yew' by Allison & Blackwill is a compiled selection of speeches & quotes from Lee Kuan Yew bundled together to come across as a...

Tolkien doesn’t write chapters; he builds civilisations. The Fellowship of the Ring is a slow, deliberate march through languages, histories and the lived feel of time, a marathon of meaning more than a sprint of...

A world changing industry that kind of happened by coincidence. 'Chip War' by Chris Miller is a detailed history of the semiconductor industry from its origins in the 1950's to the present day. Important...

In this Mere Mortals book review, we revisit Skeleton Key, the third Alex Rider novel, blending teenage espionage with lessons on stoicism, discipline, and composure. Beyond the action-packed spy drama, I explore how...

Not only is history written by the victors, but it's altered by the academics! 'The Lessons Of History' by Will & Ariel Durant is a small book that attempts to sum-up the history of humanity across several categories of...

Move aside Sparta, there's a new power in town! 'Lords of the Sea: The Epic Story of the Athenian Navy and the Birth of Democracy' by John R. Hale is a historical book that recounts the period from 483-322 BC of Ancient...

In this Mere Mortals book review, we dive into Point Blanc by Anthony Horowitz, a fast-paced youth fiction novel that sparks deeper questions about cloning, perfectionism and identity. Using the wild plot as a...

Be wary of association with the Wizard Of Wall St.... unless you are family or friends! 'The Wizard Of Wall Street & His Wealth' by Trumbull White is a biography detailing the life of Jay Gould, at one point one of the...

In this episode, we dive into The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, the timeless tale that launched the modern fantasy genre. You'll hear why Bilbo Baggins’ unlikely hero’s journey still resonates today, what Tolkien nailed in...

The fun side of rather questionable behaviour. 'Reminiscences Of A Stock Operator' by Edwin Lefevre is a fictional 1st person account of a Wall St trader in the early 1900's, but largely based on the real life operator...

In this Mere Mortals Learnings episode, I unpack the raw insights from Right Thing, Right Now by Ryan Holiday. This book, focused on the Stoic virtue of justice, might not be his most thrilling but it’s undoubtedly the...

We're back from travelling, wiser & thankfully not sad about it. In this special episode we are covering 3 books of essays/philosophical investigations by written by 3 authors in the 20th century. The books themselves...

In this Mere Mortals book review, I tackle Right Thing, Right Now by Ryan Holiday, the third in his Stoic Virtue series. It’s a slower, deeper, more reflective book centred on justice, the virtue that’s hardest to sell...