I think it'd be somwhere in South America, perhaps Peru. It could also take place back in the USA. What do you think?

I've been a huge fan of the Spy School series for nearly a decade now. I first started reading the books back when I was in elementary school in the 2010s when I saw one of my fellow third graders reading a copy of Evil Spy School during independent reading and thought that the cover looked sick as hell, which led me to borrowing a copy from my local library and I've been a massive nerd for the Spy School series ever since.

I still remember how as a little elementary schooler, I would take breaks from reading every time something cool happened to go outside and play pretend that I was also a student at St. Smithen's Science Academy for Boys and Girls, and how I would assist in thwarting SPYDER's nefarious plans and help save the world alongside Ben Ripley and his gang of fellow spies in training. I remained pretty big into the series well into middle/high school and it was around when Spy School Project X released in 2022 that I unfortunately began to lose some of my childhood wonder for the series and stopped keeping up all together.

It's been a few years now since I stopped and I am currently more older, with my elementary school make believe days unfortunately long gone behind me since. I can drive now. I can vote. I can smoke. I can get a job. And quite frankly, it sucks. Missing childhood, I decided recently to go back and re-visit the Spy School series as well as read the new ones that I had missed to see if the series was just as good as I had remembered. (and also as a way to stop spending so much time on my phone.)

These were my thoughts which I really wanted to share with my fellow Spy School fans.

There Is No "Bad" Spy School Book

Like I said, it's been a while since I've kept up with the series so I had forgotten a few key plot points and details. As a result, I actually went back and re-read the books that I had read before (1-10) just to get a refresher before I began to read the more recent ones that I had missed. And the conclusion that I reached after reading every single book in the series is this: There is no bad Spy School book.

I've read bad books before. Books that made me quit not even 25 pages in because of how poorly they were written or how ridiculous the plot line was. There were books I've read where I've hoped a massive tsunami came out of nowhere and flooded the entire setting of the story because I hated every single thing about it. There are books that have made me want to fall asleep or in some cases, quite literally have made me fall asleep from just how insipid they were. None of them have been Spy School books.

Sure, there are ones that certainly aren't as great as some of the others. For example, there is absolutely no way that Spy School Goes North was anywhere near as good as Spy School At Sea was. And Spy School Blackout can't even hold a candle to my personal favorite Evil Spy School. But there was never a moment when I was reading any of the Spy School books that reading the book felt like a chore. I never felt like I had to slog through certain sections or had moments when I thought about DNF'ing the book. Were there moments that felt repetitive? Sure. Did some of the characters start to feel a little stale at the end? Of course. And I'll get into all that later. But all in all, I was pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable each one was to read, even all of the newer ones and was actually shocked a little by how much hate books 11-13 seemed to get on this subreddit.

Ben and Erica's Character Arcs are Officially Over And They Need New Character Development

I hate to say it as I'm a pretty massive Berica fan but I think that as far as any character development is involved with these two, it's pretty much all done.

Think about it. From the very first Spy School book, Ben's character arc is him starting out as an incompetent, unskilled, and unconfident spy who slowly develops into a more experienced, valuable member of the team who learns to trust in himself and his abilities as a secret agent. And time and time again we have seen this exact sane plot line. It was a very compelling hook into his character the first few times. I feel like from Books 1-4, you best get to really appreciate his growing talent as a spy the most. But I feel like after you've saved the world more than ten times over now, that storyline starts to get a little bit stale.

Ben's proved himself over and over again to be an extremely competent spy. Remember when he helped Erica defuse that nuclear bomb on that mountain in Colorado? Or when he had to defuse that rigged nuclear reactor in Panama? Or when he managed to take down that top secret Spanish terrorist group whose existence was so secretive that not even the highest state security apparatuses believed it existed in like...a week? I mean, there's literally a moment in Spy School Revolution when Ben is explaining to his parents about all of his accomplishments as a spy since he first became an agent in training and his father says something about how unbelievable it is and that Ben must be the best secret agent in the whole wide world.

Over the course of 13 books, we have seen him transform from a young, idiotic kid who the CIA used as bait in the first Spy School into one of the most trustworthy and skilled agents in the history of espionage with a 100% success rate. There is no more room for him to grow. He's already done it and literally almost every single character in the book from Erica to Alexander have all mentioned at least once now about how Ben's really grown as a spy. Yet for some reason, Stuart Gibbs seems to keep on painting Ben as this pathetic drooling dolt who can't even tie his own shoes because at the start of every single book, Ben is still unconfident in his abilities and worries that he's not good enough or he's letting someone down. How many more times does Ben need to doubt in his abilities before he cleverly figures out and stops the evil plot from happening and realizing his self worth all in the last 75 pages of the book before Gibbs himself sees that?

(To be a bit fair, he does sort of lean into making Ben a little more confident and competent starting around Spy School Goes North but the whole unconfident to confident trope is still pretty present in books 11-13. I mean, Ben literally has a crisis of confidence in Spy School Blackout before he regains it and goes back to saving the day again which kind of just proves my point.)

And Erica is basically in the same boat. Like Ben, she's also had an overreaching character arc that's existed since the very start of the series. Erica's character arc revolves around her going from a cold, emotionally detached "Ice Queen" into someone who realizes the inherent value in human connection, friendship, and eventually even love. It was really great how we got to see Erica evolve from being that aloof, antisocial introverted secret agent who looked at Ben like he was something she had stepped on into that girl who confesses her love to him in that final chapter of Spy School At Sea. I still remember that stupid grin I had on my face when I finished reading those final five words: Because Erica Hale kissed me. And I really liked how we got to see Erica expand those feelings beyond just Ben in how she learns to see the inherent benefit of friends in Spy School Project X.

But where else do you go from there? What more else is there to build on about Erica, seeing that the character development that's been going on since Spy School #1 is finished? There was that little bit of competition she had with Svetlana in Spy School Goes Wild but that basically ends with Erica also learning to accept Svetlana as a friend and ally just like before. The same thing basically happens with Trixie in Spy School Blackout with Erica learning to see Trixie as a competent ally. Is Stuart Gibbs just going to keep on re-using the same character arcs over and over again? I really hope not. Ben and Erica's relationship is probably my most favorite thing in the Spy School series and I really hope something else comes out of it in Spy School Goes East rather than the same cycle of Ben being shaken in his abilities before saving the day and Erica learning to accept the advantages of being trustful/caring/friendly.

Stuart Gibbs Should Lean into Adult Humor More

Stuart Gibbs is very good at this whole adult humor thing. Here's three of my personal favorites from books 11-13.

Spy School Blackout Page 131

"Gus," Svetlana said, "do you have a sextant on your boat?"

Chip grew excited again. "Ooh! That sounds fun."

Svetlana gave him a nasty look. "A sextant is a device that is used to determine your position at sea by determining the angle between the horizon and a celestial body like the sun or the moon."

"I knew that," Chip said. Even though he obviously had not.

Spy School Goes North Page 68

Meanwhile, Cyrus was still reeling from the bear spray himself - and he was obviously unhappy with me for catching him with friendly fire. "You hit me Ripley!" he wheezed. "I'm blind you Fort King idiot!" (He didn't exactly say Fort King but he was awfully close.)

Spy School Goes North Page 166

"Okay," Catherine said to Cyrus. "Let's think rationally. There are far more lives at stake here than the ones in the wildlife refuge. Igniting all that fuel at once will will release a devastating amount of heat into our atmosphere, triggering a cataclysmic series of events. It will greatly exacerbate the effects of global warming, throwing our entire planet into chaos."

Cyrus gave another snort. "Don\t start with me on all that liberal hooey about climate change."

I know the Spy School series is technically supposed to be for kids and preteens but come on, the series has been going on since 2012. Surely there's enough of a young adult audience now that you could add perhaps just a little bit more?

Stuart Gibbs Should Lean into the Adult Thing More in General

Once again, I know that the Spy School series is meant for kids and preteens, but it is a little bit absurd to have a book about espionage and spying and not have any of the main cast kill anyone at least once. Like I mentioned before, the series has been going on since 2012. Surely there's enough of a young adult audience now that you could add perhaps just a little bit more mature content to turn Spy School from PG to PG-13? Or to be accurate, an transition from middle grade to young adult?

Gibb's explanations \cough, copouts, cough** as to why they don't kill are reasonable enough I suppose. Catherine disapproves of killing people, Erica only brings dart guns and chloroform, good guys don't kill people, Ben is notoriously bad with weapons, etc. But I feel like at some point, it does get a little Looney Tunes-ish. How many more times is Erica going to chuck a canned food item at someone shooting at them with a gun before they finally realize that the academy taught them how to use firearms for a reason? The sheer amount of times a bullet is shot, an explosive is detonated, or a knife is swung only to have no one get injured AT ALL is kind of funny. The only time I can really remember someone getting shot is when Zoe shoots Leo Shang in the foot for mouthing off at her at the end of Spy Ski School.

Not to mention that the CIA isn't really exactly all that sunshine and rainbows of an organization like how the series tries to make it out to be. I could list half a dozen things off the top of my head: MKULTRA, CIA involvement in the cocaine trade, the torture program, Operation Condor, the overthrow of Iran's government in support of the Shah, the overthrow of Chilean President Salvador Allende to back dictator Augustus Pinochet. I'm not saying we should traumatize some poor little girl in fourth grade into thinking that America is the bane of all evil or anything but if Gibb's is willing to talk about the slave trade in Spy School Revolution, stolen Native American land in Spy School Goes North, and the hypocrisy of excessive capitalism in Spy School Blackout, than maybe he could mention some of the CIA's controversies?

Overall, I really do feel like some more elements of young adult should be present in a book about young adults, especially ones that are spies in training for the CIA, and the series would benefit from it more.

The Characters Are Getting Dull

I've talked about Ben and Erica already but let's talk about the others now. Rufus Shang? Really? Leo Shang's evil brother who wants vengeance? That sounds something an AO3 writer would come up with. And I know that he's Ben's nemesis and all but can we finally just get rid of Murray Hill? Even Batman doesn't fight Joker all the time. Murray's shown up as an antagonist in 10/13 Spy School books and it's getting kind of repetitive. A character who's shtick of always outsmarting Ben in the first half before getting thrown into jail gets annoying once they escape from said jail 9 times. Thankfully, he should be gone for good after Spy School Goes Wild.

Same thing with Trixie and Mary Hale. Don't get me wrong, I love both of them as characters and I think they were a nice addition. But how many more of Erica's family members is Stuart Gibbs going to pluck out of thin air to become background characters? Are we going to see one of Erica's second cousins twice removed next? I feel like it's happened so many times now, it's not really a plot twist anymore but more of a reoccurring gag.

And Zoe. Don't even get me started on Zoe. Zoe used to be one of the funniest, most loyal, supportive, and nicest characters in the entire series. I still remember how she used to give people nicknames! It was one of her most endearing qualities. Then she got thrown into that love triangle in Spy School Goes South and her character went downhill from there, where she becomes a sort of almost Frankenstein-esque character looking for love and affection. It's a shame really.

And now, most of her shell of a former self dialogue is centered around Svetlana anyways. I don't hate Svetlana. I actually think an "evil Erica" as Mike says was a pretty cool addition. And then she promptly defects to the Americans. Come on, really? What a wasted opportunity. Zoe hated Murray and Warren because they were evil. What if Zoe loved Svetlana despite her being evil? I feel like that would have been cooler to see them fall in love that way rather than Svetlana just immediately defecting, which in doing so, also promptly relegated her to being yet another background character. Like we didn't have enough of those already.

I'm not even going to talk about Ivan.

In Conclusion

I still love the Spy School series with all my heart. They will always be dear to me and I will always remember them fondly. And despite what you may think, Stuart Gibbs is still my most favorite author. In addition to being a huge Spy School fan, I also happen to be a massive Funjungle fan as well. Despite all of my criticisms and thoughts, I still have faith in him. Truly. And I really, really do hope that Spy School Goes East will be the best one yet. Here's hoping.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading.

I rmember reading this when i was like 10, and something still feels off, so in like evil spy school, ben gets sent to the spyder school, but he beats up people in his old school right, and he sort of got exposed as a spy. Then erica then claims to be his ex girlfriend, goes to the school, and tells people ben was just secretly learning martial arts. But then in ski spy school, erica pretends a new girl and befriends mike, claiming he wont recognise her, and it says that mike does not recognise her in the ski resort. But how on earth does he not recognise her when it says erica legit showed up to mike's school to claim that she was his ex and says he learnt martial arts.

MORE HUGE NEWS: Disney+ is developing Spy School as a series! | Stuart Gibbs

What are your thoughts?

Look this is my first reddit post I've made cause I like just check reddit especially here every once in a while but just saw the announcement today like a month later and did see that their was a post but wondering if you guys have any more thoughts about it.

Also disclaimer, sorry I write really werid, so I hope you can understand it and sorry if it's annoying

I guess I could share some of mines and honestly with this series I'm more of a glass half full guy where I am excited for every spy school book and honestly haven't had a negative experience or boring experience with any of them as I have enjoyed reading and rereading. I will say that as in Blackout I am excited for the kids to be on their own as one post has already said (except Catherine, but there's a possibility that she won't even be there either, but like if there was a spy you would want to be with them, it would probably be Catherine, at least in my opinion cause she's a good spy and honestly fits well with the kids compared to the other spies) Also as another post has said, that is where Pulser is, so that's probably why they are in China.

Random thoughts now: I honestly kind of hope that the Shang's will be back, errr actually mostly Jessica because idk why but I honestly think that she was one of the best side characters and really blended in well with the gang, as her morals were the same (also maybe she could actually help them out for once because she has got her share of the money so she could help them finically, although fan-fictions now lead my next thought to be that she gives them a place that betrays them, but I hope that doesn't happen as I really don't want here to become evil)
Also one comment on a reddit post did say something along the lines of "what if the conspiracy theory around Ben came back because it is a city space now" which is a fair point and would be a nice callback and could happen, but I kinda hope it doesn't happen because that would kind of mess up the book a little for more and provide way to much drama.( Project X is my favorite book by the way, although I still kinda wished it just stuck to the assassins as although the conspirators were probably needed, I kinda wished they didn't come in the book)

Also as last book had no Berica, I do kinda agree that I do want to have another Berica moment again in the book. ( And I do know that you guys want conflict to have them stay relavent and yes I do get that but look I am kind of more a sunshine and rainbows type guy although I obviously do love conflict if I'm reading this book series but ok finally what I mean is that they have had so much conflict already that it's like, idk maybe more of a minor conflict or something or realization for Erica or like I just realized that both of them have been used at least twice so idk what else there is honestly, it was just a thought to have their relationship incorporated in a different way)

Also I know that you guys say that you wish Gibbs would focus more on specific characters so you're probably thinking that this book will be bad but genuinely I do kind of like the more kids as even though some can be background, because of the last book and the setting of no adults, they don't feel useless in some way I can't describe. And it like makes the book feel more alive and enjoyable in some way (I can't be the only one right? Again I do like character focused books but with the context I do like some more characters, also this adds to how realistic this could be as it is fiction but if it's only Ben and Erica doing this it kind of give like superhero type vibes compared to more people)

Ok, maybe last semi-thought (as you guys will probably have better/more complete thoughts than me that are way more legible) but Gus technically is still in the diameter and I've honestly not seen anyone talk about him, so I'll be first (actually proably second or third as I feel like maybe have not been the first person to talk about him, so I don't want to claim the first title) but maybe the best way to say this is to put my social media lingo on: Gus was lowkey a chill guy. Seriously though I did kind of like him as he is one of the two (non-related to spies) non-spy/villian characters (if you know what I mean) to get revealed to and he did seriously help them on their mission and did blend in fairly well (although he is a side character so we don't know how he is but oh well) since he does have the yacht he could possibly flow over into this book. (also wow, random thought that came to my mind for some reason-------------- imagine Gus and Jessica ended up together or something)

Anyways with that sort of thought I think we need to end my first reddit post ever I think. Yayhyyyyyy!!! ohhh, they're all saying boo, oh well

I know this will be controversial. For a while now, the series hasn’t really matured, and it’s quite frankly getting kinda annoying. I think what Stuart gibbs needs to do is show Ben the world isn’t so black and white even more, pushing him into a villain arc, and what he can do with that is cross it into a more mature series, maybe for the teenagers who like spy school but kinda outgrown it, so anyhow this could explore Ben’s villian arc, or explore another perspective of a character in spy school watching this happen, and it would be a good way to end the old series that has quite frankly become very repetitiv, which satisfying the older readers who still love the series and the characters

Hello everyone,

I just finished reading Spy School Blackout and I am deeply disappointed. The book had so much potential and I feel like Stuart Gibbs is just ”throwing away” characters instead of building deep plot lines. I will explain my changes bellow.

1. Svetlana + Zoe Problem

First of all, I support the LGBTQ community and this isn’t a rant against homophobia. However, I feel like Svetlana and Zoe have just been thrown away in Spy School Blackout, especially Zoe who I think hasn’t been relevant since Spy School Revolution. Anyway let’s start with Svetlana… Honestly, I feel like her introduction in Spy School Goes North was alright, it felt kinda rushed that she basically just left her family to join Ben and the team, but I understand that Gibbs needed a plot break. However, in Spy School Blackout her entire arc is basically about her hating how and I quote “she hates the size of mansions and how rich people are”? Like WHAT? She had only like, max 6 lines in the entire book and those lines were basically her complaining how rich people had large houses and were destroying the environment. When I was reading Spy School Blackout I was genuinely cringing but the lack of lines and her basically repetitive phrases. Anyway, I think Svetlana needs to be thrown away, not like literally. But maybe just stay back in some missions because she is honestly just a useless character outside of her relationship with Zoe or her competition with Erica. This leads to a greater problem in these books that I feel that there are TOO many character, but we can talk about that later. Now for Zoe.

The Zoe Problem

Like Svetlana, I feel like Zoe has disappeared and Gibbs is just keeping her to make the group seem complete. However, I feel like everything after Spy School Revolution that Zoe arc and character has gradually disappeared. For example, in Spy School at Sea she is absent for most of the book, save for the end where she helps Ben find the ship blueprints. Then, in Spy School Project X, a better book. We actually see her help out the team and show that she is a developing spy as well. However everything after this is just plain bad. Spy School Goes North is just a massive drop. I feel that her reveal that she is BI is a bit random and she doesn’t really contribute that much, save for her dumping and connecting with Svetlana. Now in Spy School Blackout, I feel that it all fell apart. Like Svetlana, she doesn’t really have an arc outside of her just acting like a side character and helping around. Anyway, I just feel like she needs individual moments to shine and a brand new arc such as trying to deal with her emotions with Svetlana and how everyone might feel about it, idk that’s just what I think.

2. The Ben Problem

It pains me to say this, but Ben is just too overpowered. Like in Spy School Goes North, he can now actually fight enemies efficiently and now ALWAYS knows what the bad guys are planning, which is soo repetitive. Like I feel like the books are just copy and paste storylines nowadays which is so annoying to read. ( I’ll talk about that later though). Anyway I can understand Ben knowing how to fight better but it just feels like the Story runs through Ben now with no one else knowing what to do or helping. And yes I know that Ben is the protagonist, but I wish other people would just contribute more to the plot. For example, in Spy Ski School, everyone had an important part. Erica was good at fighting, Zoe acts as a good fighter, loyal friend to Ben and Erica sorta friend, Mike has a great arc of discovering spy school. Anyway I could be more in depth, but everyone has a good role. Now I’m Spy School Goes North and Blackout, the story is basically 85% Ben, 10% Erica, 3% Enemies, and 2% everyone else.

Its just so annoying, I liked the earlier books where everyone had a role and it was fun to see their dynamics.

3. There Are Too Many Characters

This is honestly my largest problem with the books now. Gibbs keeps on adding characters to missions and it is so hard to keep track. For example, in Spy School there were 2 main characters Ben and Erica which I felt was effective because I really had good insight into their dynamics. Now we have people like Mary Hale, Svetlana, or even Mike who just seem to be in the way. For example, Mike has literally no impact on the plot outside of just being a funny character to break up tension. I feel like Gibbs needs to go back to making books where their are max 3 characters so we can actually understand their dynamics instead of 8+ characters with limited dynamics.

ALSO, like I’ve said previously, the story basically runs through Ben now, but it would be so much better if we had different people discovering the enemy plot or contributing.

Anyway I could write so much more but I’m tired. So what do you guys think?

Hey everyone,

Sorry for such a late post.

It’s clear that we need more active moderators for the sub so if you’re interested, please comment under this post.

I will do my best to add a couple people to be mods.

I’m sorry for the lack of any moderation and the sub being private for the past few years. If you’re wondering what happened read below:

I became a mod for spy school years ago. I don’t remember when. Back then it was just the original creator of the sub and me.

I started reading by school when the first book came out when I was in fifth or sixth grade, now I just recently graduated from college.

As you can imagine, I became really busy the past few years with my personal life and career.

I did check in on the sub every now and then and I did notice that the sub became private so I posted on the R/mod support sub, Reddit asking for help to open up the sub and add new people.

Luckily, some people were able to also reach out to Reddit and get the sub unlocked and added as moderators.

This fandom is seriously starving for fanfictions. I am a Star Wars fan first and foremost, and I was horrified to discover that there are NO good fanfiction works in this Fandom. So I am writing this.

The premise is that 12-year-old Anakin Skywalker one day wakes up on 2010 Earth, a year before the events of Spy School. As he spends more time on Earth, he starts recreating Star Wars Technology, because he's an engineering prodigy. He literally built C-3PO in one year when he was 8.

He builds experimental tech, like attempts at cloaking fields, repulsors, and shield generators. Successful attempts.

After hearing about SPYDER from his friend in MI6, Anakin decides to join SPYDER, hoping to take it down from the inside. He poses as "Jesus" an independent mercenary-engineer who is willing to do bad things for money, to fund his experiments.

"Jesus" is a big Star Wars fan, so he carries a prop lightsaber everywhere. Little does anybody know, it's real.

After building Joshua Hallal a hand and an eye, He joins Spyder as an independent agent, then becomes a dependent agent by enrolling at Wiseman Preparatory Academy. There, he meets Ashley Sparks and Nefarious Jones.

He doesn't hide the fact that his projects are beyond modern science, and truthfully says that he is self-taught. So Joshua and SPYDER know that he has blasters that fire plasma bolts. And he has hover technology, since he's openly working on an ID-9 prototype.

Joshua asks young Ani if it's possible to build a brain chip to connect to the droid, and Ani says yes, but that it's really hard because to control the droid, you need somebody with a really powerful brain, and those people are one in a billion.

After saying this, Anakin is confident that he made Joshua give up on this idea, but surprise, surprise, a week later Joshua rolls up in a limo with Ben's unconscious body. He makes Anakin work together with a kidnapped surgeon to plant the chip, and luckily, Anakin manages to do the surgery without any previous brain surgery experience.

And this is where chapter 1 will start. I've started writing the story, and the Prologue is almost complete (3500 words).

Addressing plot holes:

1. Anakin hasn't learned most Jedi techniques yet, so no Mind Tricks, Mind Reading, and he can't do any big feats at all. What he CAN do is levitate small objects, soften falls, jump high, and use precognition in fights. So basically, he's a better fighter than Erica, Catherine, or Cyrus.
2. Of course, he watched the Star Wars movies. He sees his own future and is deeply disturbed by it, but after a year on Earth, he has mostly adapted to this knowledge, the future he averted.
3. Ani has morals and knows that if he discusses Turbolasers or exposes Pandora to the world, it would be really bad. So he hides how much he can actually help create.

A couple of details that are important in this story, that could turn off readers:

1. Sniper Ben Ripley: A side effect of the chip is that his hand stops shaking, and now he's a really good shot. Plus, Ani makes Ben a really cool weapon, just for him.
2. I will not be using this writing style on the actual story, don't worry, I know my reddit writing sucks.
3. Squad leader Ben Ripley: The Evil Spy School squad, Murray, Ben, Jesus, Ashley, and Nefarious (called Inferno Squad because I am so original, it's a cool name), is led by co-captains Ben and Murray.
4. Iden Versio Ben Ripley: Ben is a sniper, a mission leader, has a spy droid that sits on his back, and is a tactical genius. I will be using quotes like "First in Last Out" from BF2. I've got this really cool image in my head, Ben in black commando clothing, droid on his back folded up, carrying a big Blaster Rifle with 4 modes: Kill, Stun, Ion, and Tracker (tracker is a really small

Also, the chip is not for mind control, just a way for Ben to control his droid. Since making an AI is too complicated for Anakin.

Okay. So, I am posting it here so that you people ( r/SpySchool ) have something to look forward to. I'm also crossposting it to r/SWFanfic for extra attention. Tell me if you don't like Anakin's alias as Jesus. I think it fits very well, though, and reminds you every time you hear it that it's just an alias. He will never be referred to as Anakin in this story, only Ani.

It will be Ao3 exclusive. ThatOtherEntity - Profile | Archive of Our Own

I like the series fine and well enough, but it REALLY feels like it’s dragging on at this point, especially since it’s been like a dozen books and nobody has really aged past a few years

How much more can possibly be squeezed out of the series as it is now ?

I would have liked the Spy School to not be blown up ,it would have been fun seeing Erica graduate, and Ben get better over the years- are they going to be 14-16 forever ? Have some mission literally every WEEK ? I honestly feel like it could’ve ended with them defeating Spyder if they weren’t meant to grow up

I feel like if they dialed the frequent missions back a bit, gave us more development with Erica’s family, explored Spy School some more (the school itself, not the series), and actually let the characters grow up and GRADUATE, I would be satisfied

Stick with my now because I’m basically just writing fanfiction at this point:

But I feel like it would have been better to defeat Spyder at their regular canon age, stretch out the other missions over longer years- and use the downtime to explore the school more (we really didn’t get enough of it), and get more insight to the side characters, and then end with Erica GRADUATING, with Ben able to do missions by himself without having to rely on her really (since he’d be older/more skilled)- and we could have an open ending

I’m just at the point where I kinda can’t be bothered with any of the newer books and want a satisfying ending already

It's been a long time since I've read Spy School (well, four months to be exact and I haven't started SSGN yet), but Jawa has always been my favorite character since he was introduced. Which kind of sucks because Jawa gets barely ANY attention in the series despite him being the second best student. He has a lot of potential to be a great character, but...yeah. That's not working out.

So, I've come here to talk about him, since what else can I do? Literally just say ANYTHING that comes to your mind when Jawa's mentioned. I don't expect many responses since the fandom ALSO ignores him, but still.

Thank you for reading <3

Negativity sells. I don’t think we need to question that. Lately this subreddit has been talking about a lot of the things that we currently dislike about the Spy School series, and rightfully so. You’d be lying if you said these books haven’t been dipping in quality for a while, and it’s important to note that most of our negative opinions come from a place of wanting to see the series be as good as it used to be or at least close to.

Now with that being said I thought it would be good to dedicate a post to things about the series that we do like, and with Goes East around the corner talk about the things I’m optimistic about. I’m gonna do my best to avoid any negativity and only bring up things I don’t like as a way to compare. I would also like to mention that this post isn’t trying to get anyone’s hopes up, I just wanna talk about the things I’m looking forward to and hoping will be in Goes East, and things about the series that I like.

Goes East

First off I just wanna say that the cover art for this book is really good in my opinion. Probably the best and most vibrant one since At Sea or Project X it definitely ranks high up there for me in terms of cover art for the series. Blackout ended in a cliffhanger which is something I really like about it. It’s been a minute since the last one which was in Goes South and it feels refreshing for the series to not end in a cookie cutter, everything goes back to normal with no consequences and we all live happily ever after ending which we’ve grown accustomed to. It’s also very interesting, the Hale parents have been captured and it’s up to the kids to save them. A plot point that’s been in the books since the beginning is the adults still seeing the kids as just kids and not agents who have saved the world multiple times over. Goes East could put a nice little bow tie on that theme with the kids being the ones to save the adults and stop the bad guy by themselves. The little excerpt that we’ve gotten has got me optimistic about the idea of the mission being to save the adults, and I’m really interested to see how the kids handle not having that structure that the adults usually bring. Who’s gonna step up as leader? How is it gonna effect Erica and Trixie since it’s there family whose been captured? Is there gonna be even more competition between Erica and Svetlana to see who’s gonna be the team leader? Is Catherine also gonna captured? There’s a lot of possibilities for the story and how it’s gonna unfold. Now I’m not gonna get my hopes to high as this idea of one of the adults getting captured has been done before and fell absolutely flat. Goes North’s marketing was all about Cyrus getting captured by a Russian family rival, and I’m sure most of us believed that it was gonna be a major plot point in the story. Well it wasn’t. Cyrus was only in captivity for like six or so chapters, and the first time the kids found him they were able to save him in a very anti-climactic fight scene and without any much resistance. Cyrus doesn’t get captured again and the whole plot point was brushed off for a more boring and generic villain scheme. I’m hoping that this doesn’t happen in Goes East and that the adults stay captured for most of the book and are only saved at the end or stay captured to continue the story into the next book. I don’t want them to be saved right at the beginning and the rest of the book be the gang chasing the villain around China. It seems that Trixie and Mike’s relationship might be in the forefront for Goes East. Trixie got upset at Mike in Blackout for not believing that she could contribute to the team and it never actually got resolved in the book, so I’m hoping that it gives something for both characters in Goes East to work through as there relationship has been all sunshine and rainbows since they got together. We’re also most likely gonna get another Erica moment of feeling like she’s not good enough and Ben coming in to make her believe in herself again. I also wouldn’t mind seeing a subplot of Erica questioning if she really wants to be a spy or not. Erica and Trixie had a conversation at the end of Blackout where they talked about why Erica was chosen to be a spy and Trixie wasn’t and we learn that Erica wasn’t really given a choice and was forced to be a spy by Cyrus. We learn that while she likes saving people and the world, she never chose to do so, and that she also feels obligated to do so. I’m hoping that gets expanded upon in Goes East. Blackout also brought up the idea of the mission’s physical and mental toll that’s being taken on the team, mainly Ben. Remember most of these missions happen weeks, if not days after each other, so it would be nice to see that continue into Goes East. Maybe have Ben not think as critically as he usually does. Maybe have Erica and Svetlana be more tired and not able to fight as well as they can. Maybe have it cause some conflict within the group as everyone is on edge and tired. I have a lot of hope for Goes East and I’m genuinely excited for it. Now again I’m not gonna get my hopes up because more likely than not none of what I talked about is gonna be brought up, but it doesn’t hurt to talk about the possibilities until the book actually comes out. Try not to form an opinion about the book yet just go in neutral and without any expectations.

What I like in General

Now I wanna talk about the things I like about the series in general. One of the main things is the vibes. The first I would say nine books have this vibe about them that I can’t fully explain. Gibbs was able to blend comedy and action amazingly, especially in the first four books where it never felt too serious or too silly. I think we can all agree that SPYDER is, and most likely always will be, the best villains in the series, and Gibbs always made sure that their evil scheme were clever and never easy to find out. They felt threatening, even when they weren’t fully present. They were like a looming shadow, always lurking in the background. It was never straight forward with them and you were always on your toes as the story progressed and we learned more and more about what they were up too. Evil Spy School and Goes South probably had the best villain schemes in the series. They were clever, but not too outlandish that they felt unbelievable. The character work was also amazing too. Erica’s character arc is one of the best things about the series. Watching her grow from cold and distant, to opening up a little and allowing herself to have friends and not being perfect all the time. It didn’t feel rushed, especially her and Ben’s relationship, which never felt liked it dragged on longer than it needed to. When they finally got together at the end of At Sea it was genuinely a top moment in the series and Gibbs did an amazing job of keeping it interesting up to that point. I also liked some of the themes. Themes of lying about who you are, betrayal, whether friends are a strength or a weakness. They were themes that never felt too dark for the series, but not too childish either, and they were written into the series really well. Ben’s character has always been written well, and while I feel his growth has stalled in these last few books, seeing him go from being completely incapable, to being somewhat competent is something that really drew me in. Ben feels relatable, just a kid that got roped up into situations way out of his league. He never came off as too cool, but never feeling so incompetent that it was annoying. Gibbs did a good job of highlighting both Ben’s, and Erica’s, strengths and weaknesses, and making sure that they worked together really well, and making the chemistry between them feel real and something that other characters respect.

Conclusion

There are probably many other things I like about the series that I can’t think about right now. I feel that it’s important to not only talk about the things we don’t like, but also the things we do like. What are some of the things ya’ll like about the series? What drew you in? What are you looking forward to? I want this post to be more optimistic and positive than the last few ones and spark discussion about things we love.

Yours truly,

LittleMoneyMan8.

What Disney character do you think each character is closest too?

Guys... does making Svetlana betray everybody else like a good plot?

I dont think Gibbs will do it and all but still be so fr it would be cool

Hey y'all, Tyrone here. Or Hot wear1060, which is a very unfortunate generated Reddit username I would love to change, but I can't for some reason. Since you would have no idea who I am, since the last time I checked, no one lives in my walls, I feel I need to say that I have been reading Stuart Gibbs' books for a really long time, like Secret Service was about to come out when I started reading (2017ish).

Aware of how unc I am to this book franchise, it's quite interesting to see how books have changed over time for the better and for the worse, well, mainly for the worse :(. And since I just finished reading Spy School Blackout, I was filled with determination to talk about the weak points of the last three books and what should be improved in the next books (The next one is titled Goes East, which is the most creative title ever! Can't wait for Goes 45° South of West! ). Spy School Blackout wasn't that bad of a book, but Goes Wild and Goes North were RANCID!

That being said, this is going to be a long post, so I'm making the sections bright as day to skip to because I like making long rants because something something freewill

The Book Plots

I beleve that the books when into three stages:

• The Golden Three (1 -> 3). The best of the serise with little compaints here and there
• The Exceptional Seven (4 -> 10). I still love these books but they fall flat on what the Golden Three master but they still hold true to what the over arching stories about
• Post-project X (11 -> ∞²). this is what we talking about today becase these books really, realy suck. And Im saying this from a place of love, kinda like how a mother will always love her chud son.

Since Blackout was a bit of fresh air were are gonna mainly talk about Goes North and Wild. The big issue with theses two books is that it fails to handle Villian of the Week like villians and makes them really forgetable.

• Ivan Shumovsky - This guy's problem is that (drum roll please) he's lame. I cannot rember much he does without having to go back at look at the book. Because guess what? He threathens to bomb Alaska, stands around untill the very end when he finaly desides to bomb Alaska but doesnt becase he's afirad of losing his daughter (which he did anyways becase Zoe kidnaped her using lust). I think its harder to make a Villian of the Week that is sympathetic rather than evil straight up becase you only have the 200ish pages of the book to make it a wourthwille character arc that will make the audeice forgive them in the end which he wasnt even there for it.
• Rufus Shang - Bro is stupid. He is the an IQ too low crow. He let ben know he exist and his master plan just becase he wanted him to do hard labour. He also not an iteresting character like prime Murray or Joshua, he just a spoiled, rich brat

Without a villian that is able to provide a scheme in need of foiling, the rest of the book will fall short becase of the rest of the book is just going between action scene to the next. the rest of the book job is to get Ben and there crew to figure out were and how they need to thawrt the evil plans, but not to convince you that you need to care abou the evil plan. That why I beleve the whole Spy School vs SYDER worked so well becase we know about this evil orgainazation and how powerfull they are, the books can focus more on the action rather than reintroducing who the antagonist are and supply new informantion. But it feels like the new vilians are not getting the right about of sunlight and water to be rememberable vilains.

The Characters (and Zoe)

I think what really tanked the quality of the recent Spy School books is the characters and their relationships. You can tell that Mr.Gibbs is running out of things that could happen between the characters interpersonally, which is why Svetlana must had to spawn in out of nowhere to be apart of the team to add somthing to the team. Same thing with Chip and Jawa, they came in just to add more flavour to the team. However, the big problem that series runs into that their is too many character that Mr.Gibbs can write to be a unique member of the team. Right know there is too many character that are the same or close enough to another charater to the point were you can wonder if they were needed in the first place. without futher ado, lets bully fictional people >:)

• Ben - He's Ben alright. I dont really have much to compain about Ben since he been kept preaty consistent thoughout the books. However thought out books there is parts it feels like he is more of a camera than a actual character. This could be becase the books want to give more spotlight to other chacters so this is more of a worry than an actual complain becase as the party grows, less and less time can go into Ben as a character.
• Erica - Its Erica bro. what am I suppost to say, she didnt kick hard enought on page 167 of Goes Wild. Well actually, my only real compiant for her is that the whole Berica situation is on life suport ever since post project X to the point where it feels like the reationship doent exist, which is a bummer becase I think it will help a lot on her character arc of trying to be a more open person.
• Cyrus Hale - He just there to be a negivtie person and clown down the efforts of the other characters. Now a mean-spirited character can work and had worked for Cyrus, however mean-spirited have to work a little harder to the audicene to prove thier stay in the serires they are in or else people will hate them. Cyrus did have proven his worth many times over before project X by being an avid member of the team. When he was wacked silly in British Invasion, it was felt thoughout the entire team. up intill Goes North he was the life line of the time but after, he was treated more a joke and he got sidelined more than his son that he hates with a burning passion. Another problem is that he is not trying to see how much Alexander has grown. Now, Alexander is still far from perfect but his actually found somthing that he does have skills in and can support the team now though being the driver, but Cyrus throws a blind eye to all of this and treats him objectively worse than when we first meet him in Spy Camp. However I will like to say HE WAS THE ONLY PERSON IN GOES NORTH WITH MORE THAN 1 IQ!!!!!!
• Zoe - every day I wake up and thank Mr.Gibbs for not parring up Ben with her becase my god did Ben dodge a bloody NUKE. Zoe is the most toxic, useless, annoying character in the entire series. Hell, I like her girlfriend more than her and Svetlana comes in out of nowhere to add nothing to the story. If at any point she dies in the series, Im pinning that page to my wall to make it the first thing I see every moring and I will feel great (Im overplaying my hatred for her quite a lot but I still dont like her). Let me be clear, I never really liked her. Her character up till Goes South is that she treates Ben as if he is the second coming to christ and she has anger issues that she'll lash out at people she didnt really like. Then in Goes South he tranforms into Ben second love interess being the only one who seems to care about Ben but is manipulating Ben into chousing her or else. Then when Ben finaly goes out with Erica, Zoe becomes depressed and cries every chance she gets that she has no romantic partner. Then Svetlana came into her life in the most disney channel movie way possable. Though funnily enough I think on Zoe the relationship makes sence since she was ready to marry one of the rock surrounding the camp. But yeah, this is it to Zoe's character all she does for plot is fight random goons which is really worth having a whole character to fill that hole, after all there is all of the Hales exept Alexander that could just need to trough an extra punch. So to fix Zoe is by getting rid of her.
• Svetlana - Ok, I can see why we will need her in Goes North ok. But like, after that? She just Erica 2. And the relationship beteen her and Zoe feels so fake. I don't think Svetlana actually cares for Zoe. Zoe sure does care about her, she makes it loud and clear but I hardly beleve that Svetlana is going to reciprocate to feeling any time soon. Also slime her out.
• Murray - What have they done to my son?! Murray used to be somone you saw as a threat. He was always two steps ahead, even when Ben and the gang put stop to one of hes plans he would whip another get the jump on them. This guy out bested Erica on a few times. However, as the series moved on, the less and less the more cunning side of Murray that made him a evil Ben turned him into a fat lazy chud that only thinks of eating. The books loved to downplay who Murray was by straight up fat shaming him and made fun of him for is poor hygiene (which brother, they are spitting facts please go brush your teeth). which I dont know what caused this big shift in character but It was temporarily redemed by Project X where Murray's plan was so devious that it put rippled though out the entire CIA and stut down the Spy School and in Goes North where he tricks the entire main cast and frees himself from an abaondoned island all by himself. But that was all sidelined in Goes Wild where he become worst of his worst and becomes a whinny little baby. I feel that Goes Wild would have work so much more if it was just Ben and Murray trying to stop Ruffus Chang and only Ben and Murray. Most of the book will fouse on the morallity of the two character and how they are the same person but the only thing that seperates them was to be a person doesnt follow by the rules to get what they want. I would be suprised of Joshua presented himself the same way to Murray as Murray did to Ben: a friend. The way I see Murray is that, ever since he came to Spy School he most likey was bottom of his class. Maybe not failling like he was when he choused to be a mole but not doing so hot ethier. all his other classmates and teachers saw him as a weakling but Joshua comes along and get Murray to gets him to get him infomation becase maybe this is after he fakes his death but fames it in a way that its harmless. When Murray successes he will get praise, which would be the first time he gets any since he joined the school. Then at some point Joshua reveal SPYDER to him explaining that now not only he will be payed for is work but he will be powerfull with all the money he will be given. Which is a simmular dillema presented to Ben in the first Book but for Murray, He takes it becase Joshua was the only one that actually saw Murray for what he was. And I think would be interesting if Murray had a story like this, he would paint the picture as if he was allways in the right and he made the right chouse becase I dont want Murray to be redemed I feel he worked best when he was evil for evil sake. I just didnt like his last book being him being at the lowest he ever been rather than ending things with a bang like prime Murray owuld have wanted

Any other character I didnt mention is either I have no problems with at all (Mike, Catherine, Alexander) or they are also more people that I think done nothing for the story and should leave (Mary,Chip, Jawa Trixie) I love Chip and Jawa as much as the next guy but their reintroduction into the series felt unnecessary becase Chip is now a puching bag and Jawa would be just another fighter. and Trixie? well shes just Erica but bad at fighting but two time more annoying (well I'll cut her slack when Erica wanted to jump into shark infested water becase it is quite morronic but everything else no).

If I were to redo the team I would make it be:

• Ben - Hes the main character and hes has a logic brain thats unmatched
• Catherine and Alexander Hale - Anytime Catherine is not busy she and Alexander would provide as adults to the team to help with what only the adults can do. also Alexander knows how to beep beep vroom vroom
• Erica - I dont think I need to explain much, She works really well with ben as they are the dream team
• Mike - Mike is quite helpfull though he crazy crackpot ideas which I dont even know where he get them from half they fill in the gaps of what the logic Ben works with can do

Maybe Cyrus being kinda the old wise mentor but no promises.

Anyway uh thanks for reading my TedTalk! I will make shorter ones when other books come out becase I still like the books so I'm reading untill we end off at Spy School Goes To the Senior Home. And I will love to see your guys thoughts!

The three henchmen cousins - Dane Brammage, Bjorn Turok and Soren Swollen - are all a play of names.

If you reverse the D and the Br in Dane Brammage, you get Brain Damage.

If you say Bjorn Turok, it kind of sounds like Born to rock.

If you say Soren Swollen, it kind of sounds like Sore and swollen.

Why did I figure this out right now? 😭

Featuring obvious spoilers for SSB.

On a side note, book 15 was confirmed to exist via Stuart Gibbs's website and is slated to release in the fall of 2027. Nothing is known about it though.

Hello y'all. today me gonna rate za first 7 books of za spy school series. I am like a big fan of the series and like have read all the books until Spy School Goes Wild. I am reading Blackout soon enough so I'll update it when I finish it (21st in line for it 😭). So without further ado let's go.

Spy School (Book 1) - Personally I don't really like it. It does like a good job opening up for the future books and stuff but the plot seems like really not well-written for me. It's good and all, but like, its a meh for me. 2/10.

Spy Camp (Book 2) - If the last book was boring, so is this one. I mean yeah we're getting deeper into Ben's feud with SPYDER but still the plot is again not really deep enough to get past a 7/10. The intro of Cyrus isn't great either, but some moments in the story is kind of entertaining. 4/10.

Evil Spy School (Book 3) - This is the first book I genuinely liked. The plot is well-written and chaotic, but it kind of derails after the Sandy Hook episode. Not bad, but the starting saved the book not gonna lie. 6/10.

Spy Ski School (Book 4) - Not too memorable. A good book, yes, and the characters and inner drama is nice, and Mike's new role against Ben is good as well, but like no. I personally like it better than the first two books, but I still like Evil Spy School better. 5/10.

Spy School Secret Service (Book 5) - This is one of my favourite books in the series. It is like really well written, the plot is entertaining, it does have a few off moments but the introduction of Catherine Hale and the general plot against SPYDER is really good. The only thing that people may possibly not like is the negative role coming in for Zoe. 8/10.

Spy School Goes South (Book 6) - Also a nice book. SPYDER is still at large but Murray leaves them in this book. Their journey through the jungle is similar to Spy Camp, but a good book. Sorry for the grammar there. Zoe's character continues to cave in and starts to become negativity supreme. 7/10.

Spy School British Invasion (Book 7) - One of the greatest books for me. Their journey in Britain and Paris and defeating SPYDER with a truly great climax to top it off. They finally introduce Mr. E as well. 9/10.

In SSBlackout, there is no mention at all that Ben and Erica are dating, and they basically treat eachother like friends in the book. Did I miss something? Was Erica too invested in the mission to care? I know her motto was "relationships complicate missions" or something so is she embracing this?

Hey everyone,

This subreddit is lockdown because me the only mod is not active enough in the moderation. However, I can’t appoint a new mod because the owner is AFK.

If someone can help me figure out how to open up the sub Reddit because there’s a huge backlog of people wanting to join, but they can’t that would be great.

is this book good enough to return to the series with? I dropped off after SSGN since it wasn't great