What happened?" he demanded. "I heard an explosion!" "Yeah.That was me. I set the boat alight." "What?" "I set fire to the boat." "But we're on the boat!" "I know.

Look at self-satisfied pop singers or greasy, semi-literate athletes. People worship them. Why?” "Because they’re talented.

Writing about magic is harder than writing about spies because you're dealing with something that doesn't really exist.

I'm not very good at creating worlds. I prefer to write about the world as it is.

My perfect reader doesn't just read - he or she devours books.

Until he lost all his money, my father was a successful north London Jewish businessman. He was unusual among his immediate family in that he was enormously cultured and had an incredible library.

What is this place? Hogwarts? -- Alex Rider