Comments on: Brand, James Brand.

Brand, James Brand.

crossoverman — Mon, 26 May 2008 05:12:22 -0800

Sebastian Faulks' Devil May Care sees the return of the literary James Bond to the 1960s. Published on May 28th in celebration of creator Ian Fleming's Centenary, the 007 brand name will also be back on the big screen in November - with Daniel Craig's second outing as the British Secret Service Agent in Quantum of Solace.

As part of the Fleming Centenary celebrations, there is also a Radio adaptation of Doctor No, an exhibition at the Imperial War Museum in London, a set of James Bond stamps from the Royal Mail and the re-release of Fleming's most famous non-Bond work, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The character of James Bond can also be seen in the Young Bond series of books by Charlie Higson - the fifth and final book of the first series - By Royal Command, due out in September. A graphic novel adaptation of the first Young Bond novel, Silver Fin, will also be released in 2008. And if you ever wondered about M's secretary's life (!), the Moneypenny Diaries trilogy will also be completed this year.

By: Faint of Butt

Faint of Butt — Mon, 26 May 2008 05:18:59 -0800

"Quantum of Solace"? Who let Square Enix start naming Bond films?

By: crossoverman

crossoverman — Mon, 26 May 2008 05:25:34 -0800

The new film title comes from a Fleming short story.

By: HuronBob

HuronBob — Mon, 26 May 2008 05:27:37 -0800

I grew up reading Fleming's books, sneaking them into classes in school in paperback form, reading them behind my french and history books... (I'm still terrible at french)... When Fleming died I was devastated... none of the authors (Ames, Pearson, Gardner, Benson) that attempted to recreate Bond found the formula that worked so well for Fleming... That said... thanks for the post... some neat stuff to explore on a rainy day...

By: Shepherd

Shepherd — Mon, 26 May 2008 05:59:11 -0800

I quite liked the excerpt from the new novel. The first 1000 words or so read like the James Bond Checklist, but once he gets on the road, it starts feeling very Fleming indeed.

By: Prospero

Prospero — Mon, 26 May 2008 07:29:00 -0800

Also, Penguin UK is reissuing Fleming's 14 Bond novels in hardcover this week. The new editions have beautiful retro cover art. (I don't think they're available in the US, though.)

By: DU

DU — Mon, 26 May 2008 08:03:53 -0800

Interesting that the Young Bond site seems to be set in the 20s. Historical! Are the YB books any good?

By: redsparkler

redsparkler — Mon, 26 May 2008 08:48:20 -0800

Lovely larger editions of the previously mentioned beautiful retro cover art can be pored over at illustrator Michael Gilette's very own site. Mmm....

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Mon, 26 May 2008 09:11:56 -0800

Quantum of Solace is a pretty awful title, whether it's Fleming's or not.

By: Shepherd

Shepherd — Mon, 26 May 2008 11:12:14 -0800

Damn, redsparkler, those are gorgeous covers. My Bond love constantly wrestles with my dislike for the series'/character's casual misogyny, so the women-as-accessories theme on the covers rubs that discomfort in my face... but it also captures that whole Maurice Binder aesthetic so beautifully. I'm trying to listen to the little voice in my head that says "it's okay if it's self-aware kitsch!" at least until the books are ordered. But that doesn't seem to be possible from here in North America, so maybe it's not something I'll have to realistically wrestle with.

By: Shepherd

Shepherd — Mon, 26 May 2008 11:12:57 -0800

Props also to Prospero for linking the covers, sorry.

By: grabbingsand

grabbingsand — Mon, 26 May 2008 18:17:41 -0800

At her station outside M's door sat Miss Moneypenny, a tailored Cerberus at the gates of whatever underworld awaited him. Brand cash-in or no, that's a pretty great description.

By: ninebelow

ninebelow — Tue, 27 May 2008 03:55:44 -0800

The Higson YB books are fun but nothing special. They do teach kids to question authority, take up cross country running and solve cryptic crosswords which is a message I can endorse. Oh, and the villain of the first book is called Lord Hellebore and the love interest is called Wilder Lawless so you know where you are.

By: featherboa

featherboa — Tue, 27 May 2008 05:15:24 -0800

To slightly contradict ninebelow, I enjoyed Silverfin enormously, I kept missing my Tube stop as it got exciting. By quite some way better than Alex Rider or Artemis Fowl. And the YBs are set in the 30s, in keeping with the timeline of the originals and feature "canon" incidents, such as (in the new book) Bond's expulsion from Eton.

By: ninebelow

ninebelow — Tue, 27 May 2008 06:03:24 -0800

I would certainly agree that Higson wees all over Anthony Horowitz from a great height.