MISSION CONTROL · SPOILER-LIGHT

The complete Alex Rider mission timeline.

By Does Your Duck Quack

Thirteen books appear in the official series catalogue. Twelve follow Alex’s continuing missions; one steps backwards to tell Yassen Gregorovich’s story. Here is the clean route through both.

Recommended first-reading order

Use publication order. It preserves revelations, emotional consequences and the moment the series chooses to reveal Yassen’s past.

OFFICIAL CATALOGUE POSITION 1 · 2000Stormbreaker

Alex’s first MI6 mission and the beginning of the main sequence.

OFFICIAL CATALOGUE POSITION 2 · 2001Point Blanc

The second mission sends Alex undercover at an Alpine school.

OFFICIAL CATALOGUE POSITION 3 · 2002Skeleton Key

A Wimbledon assignment expands into a CIA operation and island threat.

OFFICIAL CATALOGUE POSITION 4 · 2003Eagle Strike

Alex investigates without MI6 backing when danger reaches his personal life.

OFFICIAL CATALOGUE POSITION 5 · 2004Scorpia

Venice, Scorpia and questions about Alex’s father move to the centre.

OFFICIAL CATALOGUE POSITION 6 · 2005Ark Angel

A kidnapping propels Alex towards a billionaire’s orbital project.

OFFICIAL CATALOGUE POSITION 7 · 2007Snakehead

Australian intelligence and a criminal people-smuggling network shape the mission.

OFFICIAL CATALOGUE POSITION 8 · 2009Crocodile Tears

A public philanthropist’s plan drives a mission from Britain to East Africa.

OFFICIAL CATALOGUE POSITION 9 · 2011Scorpia Rising

The Cairo operation closes the first long arc of Alex’s missions.

OFFICIAL CATALOGUE POSITION 10 · 2013Russian Roulette

Yassen Gregorovich’s origin story; chronologically earlier, but published here.

OFFICIAL CATALOGUE POSITION 11 · 2017Never Say Die

The Alex-led sequence resumes with a message and a search across Europe.

OFFICIAL CATALOGUE POSITION 12 · 2020Nightshade

Alex confronts an organisation that weaponises gifted children.

OFFICIAL CATALOGUE POSITION 13 · 2023Nightshade Revenge

The Nightshade conflict continues through an augmented-reality threat.

Where Russian Roulette belongs

OrderPlacementWhy
Story chronologyBefore StormbreakerThe official synopsis calls it Yassen’s story and says its beginning occurs before Alex’s first MI6 case.
First-reading orderAfter Scorpia RisingThat is its official publication position. Reading it tenth protects the earlier books’ staged revelations about Yassen and Alex.
Reread optionPrologue, then StormbreakerOnce the series is known, a chronological reread creates a darker lead-in to Alex’s first mission.

Three useful eras

Original mission arc · 1–9

Stormbreaker through Scorpia Rising: the continuous foundation, best left in order.

Yassen dossier · 10

Russian Roulette: an origin novel, not a new Alex assignment.

Return and Nightshade · 11–13

Never Say Die resumes Alex’s sequence; Nightshade and Nightshade Revenge form the newest connected conflict.

Kept off this line

Short-story collections, companions and graphic adaptations have their own shelf entries and are not counted as new main missions.

Short-story placement: where the evidence allows it

Secret Weapon gathers seven adventures from different points in Alex’s career. The publisher describes them as a collection rather than assigning numbered slots, so this timeline includes only defensible anchors.

StoryBest-supported placementConfidence note
Christmas at GunpointBefore StormbreakerIan Rider is alive; this is the clear pre-MI6 anchor.
The Man with Eleven FingersAfter StormbreakerAlex’s MI6 experience is already established; no narrower official slot is asserted.
Alex in AfghanistanBetween numbered missionsThe collection supplies an interstitial mission but no official numbered position.
High TensionBetween numbered missionsTreat as a school-life interstitial; exact placement is not fixed by the publisher synopsis.
Secret WeaponBetween numbered missionsThe school-trip premise belongs within Alex’s active spy career; no exact slot is officially assigned.
Spy TrapBetween numbered missionsA continuity-sensitive interstitial best read in the collection’s published order.
Tea with SmithersBetween numbered missionsA Smithers-centred extra; no official numerical slot is asserted.

Undercover: kept as its own dossier/short-story publication entry. Its component material is not forced into unsupported numbered slots.

Alex’s age and school status

The publisher’s current MI6 Datafile identifies Alex as 14 and a high-school student. The official mission synopses do not provide a new age for every book, so this tracker refuses to manufacture birthdays.

BooksSupported ageSchool-status reading
Stormbreaker–Scorpia Rising14 · series datafileSchool student repeatedly removed from ordinary education by missions.
Russian RouletteNot applicableYassen-led origin story, not an Alex school-year instalment.
Never Say Die–Nightshade Revenge14 · current official datafileStill identified by the publisher as a student; missions and recovery continue to disrupt normal schooling.

This is a canon-status entry, not a realistic calendar calculation: thirteen publication years do not equal thirteen years in Alex’s life.

Continuity guidance — reveal mild series-shape notes

Do not jump directly from the Yassen prequel into later Nightshade books on a first read. The main sequence accumulates changes in Alex’s relationships with MI6, Jack, Tom and recurring enemies; publication order delivers those changes deliberately.

Russian Roulette explains Yassen but does not replace Stormbreaker as the series entry point.

Sources

The thirteen-title order and individual premises were checked against Anthony Horowitz’s official Alex Rider catalogue on 20 September 2026. The official Russian Roulette page explicitly places Yassen’s beginning before Stormbreaker. The recommendation to retain publication order is clearly labelled fan guidance.