Snakehead by Anthony Horowitz 4th post

'There was a photograph attached to the cover, but as always he had been forced to rely on the official report:
Physical description/attributes
Subject is five feet, seven inches tall, still short for his age, but this adds to his operational value. Weight: 140 pounds. Hair color: fair. Eyes: brown. His physical condition is excellent but may have been compromised by his recent injury (see Scorpia file). The boy is known to be fluent in two languages--French and Spanish--and is also proficient in German. He has practiced karate since the age of eight and has reached first kyu grade (black belt). Weapons training: none. Progress at school has been slow, with negative feedback from many of his teachers. Spring and summer reports from Brookland School are attached. However, it must be remembered that he has been absent from class for much of the past nine months.
Psychological profile
AR was recruited by the Special Operations Division of MI6 in March of this year, age fourteen years and one month. His father was John Rider--alias Hunter--who was killed in action. His mother died at the same time, and he was brought up by his uncle, Ian Rider, also an active agent with MI6. It seems certain that the boy was physically and mentally prepared for intelligence work at the earliest age. Quite apart from the languages and martial arts, Ian Rider equipped him with many skills, including fencing, mountain climbing, white-water rafting, and scuba diving. And yet, despite his obvious aptitude for intelligence work (see below), AR has shown litte enthusiasm for it. Like most teenagers, he is not a patriot and has no interest in politics. MI6 (SO) found it necessary to coerce him to work for them on at least two occasions' (Horowitz 26).

The main reason why I chose this passage is because of its thorough description of the main character, and because the author chose to introduce him into the story via an intelligence report. The author describes the main character in great detail, even down to basic facts such as his height, weight, and eye color. Yet at the same time, the author also indulges into the character's past, as a way of familiarizing the reader with him. That way the reader knows what to expect of him, even though he has not yet entered the story line. I also chose this excerpt from the book because it is the first book I have read in which the main character is treated like a supporting role. So far into the book, he has only been mentioned briefly on the side, which gave me the impression that he was not very important to story. But this passage finally proved that he was indeed the main character of the book.
Some questions I have about the text so far include: When is the main character going to finally show up? How come the Australian intelligence service knows so much about Alex Rider?