John Gardner's OTHER FELLOW returns to print

When John Gardner wrote his 14 book James Bond series in the 1980s and 90s, he also penned an original series of espionage novels featuring his own MI6 agent, Herbie Kruger. Gardner's five Kruger novels were: The Nostradamus Traitor (1979), The Garden of Weapons (1980), The Quite Dogs (1982), Maestro (1993) and Confessor (1995).

Now Bello, as imprint of Pan Macmillan, have brought John Gardner's five long out-of-print Herbie Kruger novels back to readers as new trade paperbacks and ebooks.

You can purchase all five Herbie Kruger books direct from the Pan Macmillan website or Amazon.co.uk.

These new Bello print and eBook editions are not available U.S. and Canada. However, you can get new Kindle editions in the U.S. from Mysterious Press/Open Road via Amazon.com.

Thanks to Sarah at Four Coleman Getty.

SOLO U.S. temp cover gets a make-over

U.S. publisher HarperCollins has revamped their temporary cover art for Solo, the new James Bond novel by William Boyd. As you can see below, they've jettisoned their own design and now are using artwork that matches the UK temp art by Jonathan Cape (except with the U.S. release day, October 8, 2013).

Old U.S. temp cover (left) and the new (right).

Yeah, it's definitely an improvement. But it's always nice to have variant artwork on each side of the Atlantic, so I hope they didn't do this just for me. :p

Solo will be released by Jonathan Cape in the UK on September 26, 2013 (Amazon.co.uk) and by HarperCollins in the U.S. on October 8, 2013 (Amazon.com).

SOLO's international publishers (so far)

Here is a list of foreign language publishers (so far) for Solo, the upcoming new James Bond novel by William Boyd. No word on specific release dates for these international editions.

France
Editions du Seuil

Italy
Einaudi

Brazil
Objetiva

The Netherlands
Uitgeverij Atlas Contact

Germany
Berlin Verlag

Spain
Alfaguara

Poland
Foksal

Solo will be released by Jonathan Cape in the UK on September 26, 2013 (Amazon.co.uk) and by HarperCollins in the U.S. on October 8, 2013 (Amazon.com).

Thanks as always to Phoebe at IFP.

Cover art for THE JAMES BOND COLLECTION

Cover art had been revealed for Amazon's upcoming The James Bond Collection. The paperback includes unabridged versions of Ian Fleming's Casino Royale, Diamonds Are Forever, and Dr. No. It's due for release from Amazon's Thomas & Mercer on May 21, 2013.

Pre-order The James Bond Collection on Amazon.com.

Thanks to W. Perry Bullock and SpyVibe for the tip.

New U.S. temp cover for SOLO

U.S. publisher HarperCollins has released new temporary cover art for Solo, the new James Bond novel by William Boyd. Solo is due out in the U.S. on October 8, 2013.

Solo will be released by Jonathan Cape in the UK on September 26, 2013 (Amazon.co.uk) and by HarperCollins in the U.S. on October 8, 2013 (Amazon.com).

UPDATE: If you didn't care for this art, rejoice, it has been changed.

30TH ANNIVERSARY OF JOHN GARDNER'S 'ICEBREAKER'

After his successful comeback in License Renewed and For Special Services, John Gardner's James Bond returned in his third adventure, Icebreaker. The book was first published in the U.S. by Putnam in late April 1983 (I've never been able to nail down the exact date). It was released in the UK by Jonathan Cape on July 7, 1983.

In Icebreaker James Bond is dispatched by M to Northern Finland where he must join a team of agents from the CIA, Mossad, and the KGB. Their mission is to discover whether a Neo-Nazi terrorist organization is stock piling and distribution weapons from within the Arctic Circle. Matters get quickly out of hand and Bond finds himself battling terrorists and his own partners in the frozen forests of Lapland. Ultimately 007 faces off with the terrorist mastermind, Count Konrad von Gloda, inside his massive bunker lair, the Ice Palace.

For me, Icebreaker was that magic #3. It was a bold departure from Gardner's more movie formula-based first two books and was firmly rooted in the world of the literary James Bond. One could not picture Roger Moore in Icebreaker. The book also introduced, for better or worse, hallmarks of the Gardner era, such a double and triple crosses. Icebreaker is a true espionage tale with fresh locations (Libya, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Helsinki, Lapland, Arctic Russia), great characters, a fiendish torture, and one of the best titles ever. For many years Gardner named it as his favorite book. It's still my favorite.

Interestingly, while Icebreaker was far removed from the films in 1983 (the year of Octopussy), I think it's now the Gardner book that is most suited to the more realistic Daniel Craig era. Sure, the Neo-Nazi plot would need to be updated (not too difficult as it's really about terrorists), but it seems to me the idea of Bond being forced, reluctantly, to work as the part of a team is a good next step for Craig's Bond. After Skyfall, Craig's Bond is now firmly 007. But can he tamp down his urge to always go solo and work with agents who might not share his worldview? Can he trust? Should he trust? That is the core of what Icebreaker sets up and explores.

Icebreraker U.S. and UK first editions.

Icebreaker was recently republished in new paperback editions from Orion in the UK and Pegasus in the U.S. I'd say this is one definitely worth revisiting in its anniversary year.

Michael VanBlaricum and John Cork interviewed on NPR

This is an excellent interview with Michael VanBlaricum of the Ian Fleming Foundation and Bond author and filmmaker John Cork about the literary James Bond.

You can read the article and listen to the interview at Illinois Public Radio website, or CLICK HERE to listen to just the interview itself.

007 going 'SOLO' in Africa and the USA

A surprise in today's press release announcing the title of William Boyd's new James Bond novel, Solo, was the additional news of the major locations featured in the book: Africa and the USA.

Funnily enough, it was exactly a year ago that The Spectator suggested that Boyd's Bond could be set in Africa based on comments the author made at the Oxford Literary Festival that year. Looks like the first rumor out of the box proved to be true. (Funny how often that happens.)

This is actually 007's second trip to Africa in a row. A large part of Jeffery Deaver's Carte Blanche was set in South Africa. Of course, Carte Blanche was a contemporary adventure while Boyd's novel is set in 1969, so I expect we will be visiting a very different Africa in Solo.

However, I'm even more excited by the news that 007 will be traveling to the USA in Solo. Can you believe that the literary James Bond has not set foot in the U.S. since Raymond Benson's The Facts of Death in 1998? In that book Bond traveled to Texas. Exactly where Boyd is taking Bond in the American portion of his book is not yet known. The last time Bond visited America in the classic Fleming timeline was The Spy Who Loved Me (1962).

At today's London Book Fair unveiling, Boyd said, "He goes on a real mission to real countries and the world he's in is absolutely 1969. There are no gimmicks, it's a real spy story. . . there is a very precise reason why I chose that year."

Hmmm....

Solo will be released by Jonathan Cape in the UK on September 26, 2013 (Amazon.co.uk) and by HarperCollins in the U.S. on October 8, 2013 (Amazon.com).

Note: The image here is fanart.

JAMES BOND IS BACK IN 'SOLO'

William Boyd announced the title of his new James Bond novel today at The London Book Fair: SOLO. Here is the official press release:

William Boyd announces title of new Bond book

at The London Book Fair

www.jamesbondsolo.co.uk

William Boyd, whose James Bond continuation novel is set to be one of this year’s publishing highlights, has today announced that his book will be called Solo. 

The announcement came on the opening day of The London Book Fair, where Boyd is Author of the Day. 

He explained his choice of title: 

‘Sometimes less is more. For me as a novelist the simple beauty of Solo as the title of the next James Bond novel is that this short four-letter word is particularly and strikingly apt for the novel I have written. In my novel, events conspire to make Bond go off on a self-appointed mission of his own, unannounced and without any authorization - and he’s fully prepared to take the consequences of his audacity. 

‘The journey Bond goes on takes in three continents – with the main focus honing in on Africa. It’s what happens to Bond in Africa that generates his urge to “go solo” and take matters into his own hands in the USA. 

‘Thus far and no further, at this stage…’ 

He continues: ‘Titles are very important to me and as soon as I wrote down Solo on a sheet of paper I saw its potential. Not only did it fit the theme of the novel perfectly, it’s also a great punchy word, instantly and internationally comprehensible, graphically alluring and, as an extra bonus, it’s strangely Bondian in the sense that we might be subliminally aware of the “00” of “007” lurking just behind those juxtaposed O’s of SOLO…’ 

Very little else has been revealed about the book at this stage, other than that it will feature a veteran secret agent, with Bond aged 45. It will be published on 26 September in the UK by Fleming’s original publisher, Jonathan Cape, an imprint of Vintage Publishing, part of The Random House Group, in hardback, ebook and audio editions. HarperCollins will publish the book in Canada and the U.S. on 8 October. 

Quote from Corinne Turner, Managing Director of Ian Fleming Publications Ltd: 

‘Ian Fleming had a great aptitude for naming his books and his Bond titles have become true classics. Solo is a simple yet striking title which fits perfectly alongside the other books in the Bond canon. The announcement of the title marks the lead up to the launch of William Boyd’s novel in September, which we and the Fleming family are looking forward to immensely.’ 

Quote from Richard Cable, Managing Director, Vintage: 

‘We are delighted to be announcing Solo as the title for the new James Bond novel on the day on which William Boyd is celebrated as Author of the Day at London Book Fair. The few of us with the good fortune to have read Solo can testify that Will has written an absolutely brilliant book and we look forward with mounting excitement to a huge worldwide publishing event on September 26th. The timing of the announcement is particularly apt as we mark the 60th anniversary of Jonathan Cape’s first publication of Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale.’

Solo... I think I love it. Not an obvious Bond title, but still very Bondian. Elegant, but also tough. And I love one word titles. We haven't had a one word title on an adult Bond novel since Doubleshot in 2000.

Solo will be released by Jonathan Cape in the UK on September 26, 2013 (Amazon.co.uk) and by HarperCollins in the U.S. on October 8, 2013 (Amazon.com).

WILLIAM BOYD interviewed at The London Book Fair

William Boyd will reveal the title of his new James Bond novel TODAY at 11:30AM (GMT) at The London Book Fair. While we wait for that, here's an interview with the author.

I will post the title here on The Book Bond around 7AM (PST).

UPDATE: JAMES BOND IS BACK IN 'SOLO'

WIN LOSE OR DIE and BROKENCLAW released in U.S.

Pegasus has released (a few weeks early) their next two John Gardner James Bond reprints, Win, Lose or Die and Brokenclaw.

Pegasus appears to have skipped over Licence To Kill. Perhaps the U.S. publisher isn't going to reprint the novelization as Orion did in the UK? The next two books, The Man From Barbarossa and Death Is Forever, are scheduled for release on February 6, 2014.

• Purchase Win, Lose or Die on Amazom.com
• Purchase Brokenclaw on Amazon.com

Visit our special Gardner Renewed page for links and release dates for all the Gardner-Bond reprints in the U.S. and UK.

60 YEARS OF CASINO ROYALE

It was 60 years ago today on April 13, 1953, that British publisher Jonathan Cape released Ian Fleming’s first novel, Casino Royale. The book introduced the world to secret agent James Bond 007, and has never gone out of print. Below are some Casino covers from the last 60 years. Happy birthday, Mr. Bond!