Friday, September 30, 2011

MORE JOHN GARDNER PAPERBACK COVER ART REVEALED

More cover art for the new UK paperback editions of John Gardner's James Bond novels have been revealed on Amazon.co.uk. This time we get a first look at Role of Honour, Nobody Lives Forever, and No Deals, Mr. Bond.

Click to enlarge

I love that Role of Honour has a blimp on the cover, and the mace on No Deals is appropriate, but a scorpion on Nobody Lives Forever? I don't recall a scorpion in the book -- I was hoping for a vampire bat (the book contains a terrific sequence in which a vampire bat is dropped into the shower with Bond). But this is probably because the original UK hardcover featured a scorpion on the cover, so...

These three books are due out on May 10, 2012. Check out our special Gardner Renewed page for pre-order links and the latest release date information on all the Gardner-Bond reprints in the U.S. and UK.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

007 refights the Battle of Waterloo; John Gardner's lost scene from ROLE OF HONOR

In a 1985 interview with Richard Schenkman published in BONDAGE magazine #14, John Gardner spoke at length about a key sequence he was forced to cut from his fourth James Bond novel, Role of Honor. Here is what Gardner had to say about the excised scene in full:

"One of the major pivot scenes in the book had been written. It's a very lengthy sequences in Bond and Holy played "The Battle of Waterloo", a very realistic computer program. One in one room, the other in the other room.
It was a strategic battle game, and it could be done; I checked it out with programmers. They had zoom-in capabilities, so they could see the troops on the ground, and I actually got Bond's mind onto the battlefield. They re-fought Waterloo.
I'd written this sequence first, to drop it into the book, and spent a lot of time on it. Suddenly, at the last minute, there was a message from the States saying, 'There is a computer game in Never Say Never Again. We can not use it. You can not use this idea.' Having lost that, I felt the the whole thing was weakened, and I had to put the Bunker Hill game in, which was played as a sort of role-playing game.
I thought I had gotten the modern equivalent of the famous golf game [from Goldfinger], or bridge game with Drax [from Moonraker]. I'd been looking to do that from the very beginning, when I started these books. And I knew I gotten it. I felt disgruntled and having to remove what I considered was a key sequence, and I think it weakened the book."

I've always found it odd why it would matter what was in Never Say Never Again, an unofficial James Bond film. But there was so much litigation surrounding that film, I guess everyone was being a little hyper-cautious. It's really a shame this scene has never seen the light of day. I love that Gardner says he "got Bond's mind onto the battlefield."

Back was I first lobbied for Gardner reprints on CBn, I suggested restoring this scene to Role of Honor if possible, or maybe just including it as an extra ala "007 in New York." Here's hoping this key scene still exists somewhere and one day we might all be able to read about "007 at Waterloo."

Visit our special Gardner Renewed page for information and links for all the current and upcoming John Gardner-James Bond reprints (including Role of Honor) in the UK and U.S.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Two CARTE BLANCHE UK paperbacks confirmed

Click to enlarge
The good folks at Ian Fleming Publications have helped me lock down news on two Carte Blanche UK paperback editions coming our way this year and next.

The first will be a trade paperback due for release on November 10, 2011. The current listing on Amazon (which features the cover art right) shows this as being a "hardcover", but I've been assured that this is indeed a trade paperback edition.

Next is a mass market paperback due on May 24, 2012. I first told you about this last month, but now it has appeared for pre-order on Amazon. No word yet on cover art, but I'm hoping they'll change it up and do something a little different for this edition.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

John Gardner JAMES BOND COLLECTION box art revealed

Box art for the John Gardner JAMES BOND COLLECTION from Orion Books has been revealed on john-gardner.com. Very nice!

Click to enlarge

Limited to an initial print run of 200, the set contains new hardcover reprints of Gardner's first five 007 novels: Licence Renewed, For Special Services, Icebreaker, Role of Honour, and Nobody Lives For Ever. The books all feature their original UK cover art.

The set can be pre-ordered at Amazon.co.uk. Release date is November 10, 2011.

Visit our special Gardner Renewed page for information and links for all the current and upcoming John Gardner-James Bond reprints in the UK and U.S.

Thanks to Simon Gardner.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

GARDNER BOX SET will be limited, release date Nov 10

UPDATE: You can now see the BOX ART at www.john-gardner.com!


An update today on the upcoming John Gardner James Bond BOX SET from Orion. According to Simon Gardner, the set will be "limited to an initial print run of 200" and the release date is now November 10, 2011 (moved from Nov 3).

No image yet, but I'm intrigued by the notation on the Orion website that this set has "original artwork from Richard Chopping". But maybe that's just a reference to the Licence Renewed cover?

The set is currently 44% off at Amazon.co.uk, bringing the price down from £80.00 to £44.80. These new hardcovers from Orion feature the original UK cover art and are currently available individually.

Visit our special Gardner Renewed page for information and links for all the current and upcoming John Gardner-James Bond reprints in the UK and U.S.

Daniel Craig says BOND 23 has a title

According to a tweet by CNN reporter Andrea Mineo, the next James Bond movie has a title, but star Daniel Craig isn't saying what that title is.

Will it be one of these remaining Fleming titles: The Hilderbrand Rarity, The Property of Lady, 007 in New York or my personal favorite, Risico? Or might the filmmakers opt for a chapter title or even a rejected Fleming title? They have considered going the route in the past. I have it on good authority that Death Leaves an Echo (a working title for For Your Eyes Only) was at one time considered for the Bond 22, which ultimately became Quantum of Solace.

The reason I'm so excited to learn what type of title they will use is this could be an indicator as to whether we'll get a novelization of the 23rd James Bond film. This is The Book Bond after all! As a general rule, IFP issues tie-in reprints when the filmmakers use a Fleming title (Casino Royale) but have created novelizations when they use an original title (Die Another Day).

Come on original title!

Sunday, September 18, 2011

ROLE OF HONOR and NOBODY LIVES FOREVER U.S. reprints in May 2012

1984 U.S. 1st edition
Listings have just appeared on Amazon for the U.S. trade paperback reprints of Role of Honor and Nobody Lives Forever from Pegasus. The listings show a release date of May 1, 2012.

There's no indication whether these editions will contain new introductions as will Pegasus' License Renewed, For Special Services, and Icebreaker reprints due for release on October 12, 2011.

It's also worth noting that Pegasus will release a new hardcover edition of John Gardner's 1974 Sherlock Holmes novel, The Return of Moriarty.

Visit our special Gardner Renewed page for pre-order links and the latest release date information on all the Gardner-Bond reprints in the U.S. and UK.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

CHITTY UK website takes flight & U.S. edition revealed

The official website for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again by Frank Cottrell Boyce is now live at http://uk.chittyfliesagain.com.

The book is a sequel to the classic Ian Fleming children's novel, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car, first published in 1964.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again is the first of three Chitty new books by Boyce. It will be published in hardback and ebook on October 7, 2011, by Macmillan Children’s Books in the UK, Republic of Ireland and Commonwealth, excluding Canada, and can be pre-ordered now on Amazon.co.uk.

In other Chitty news, looks like the book will be published in the U.S. by Candlewick on March 13, 2012. Below is the cover art. It can be pre-ordered on Amazon.com.

U.S. edition

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Jeffery Deaver's Italian CARTE BLANCHE book tour dates

Jeffery Deaver embarks this weekend on a tour of Italy promoting his new James Bond novel, Carte Blanche (or Carta Bianca, if you will). Here is the tour schedule from Deaver's official website:

September 17, 2011, Pordenone, Italy
Literary Festival in Pordenone
11 am - Presentation of the book in Piazza Marconi. Introduced by Luca Crovi.

September 18, 2011, Treviso, Italy
5:30 - Presentation of the book at Ubik Bookshop, Corso del Popolo, 40.
Introduced by Maurizio Crema, journalist at Gazzettino Veneto.

September 19, 2011, Padova, Italy
Noir Festival
6:00 - Presentation of the book at Lovat Bookstore (Mall center Padova Est). Introduced by Alice Bertolini, journalist at Corriere Veneto.

September 20, 2011, Marsala, Sicily
9 pm - Presentation of the book to Cantine Pellegrino, via del Fante, 39.

September 21, 2011, Palermo, Sicily
6.30 pm - Presentation of the book at Flaccovio bookstore, inForum Shopping Centre, Via Filippo Pecoraino. Introduced by Adriana Falsone

September 22, 2011, Messina, Sicily
8 pm - Presentation of the book at Ciofalo Bookstore, Piazza Municipio, 35

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Meet the real Major Boothroyd

Check out this sensational video of Geoffrey Boothroyd -- the real-life "Major Boothroyd" (aka Q) from the Ian Fleming novels -- discussing the guns of James Bond. This promotional video was made during the production of Goldfinger and first aired on the BBC. It can also be found on the Dr. No DVD.



Thanks to CEL Welsh for the tip.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Now that's a BOND title

As 007 fans eagerly await the title of the next James Bond film (will it be a Fleming or original?), I thought I'd throw up this terrific bookstore teaser from 1983 showing what was then the new James Bond book, ICEBREAKER. Certainly this is one of the great Bond titles for one of the very best Bond books. I'm also just partial to one-word Bond titles.


Ironically, ICEBREAKER was a title that author John Gardner had to fight for. In a 1985 interview with Bondage Magazine (Number 14) he spoke about what was then his fifth Bond novel (Nobody Lives Forever), saying:

"We haven't a title yet...I got an odd title that they said, 'Well, maybe...but maybe we can do better than that.' But they said that with Icebreaker. They went though a hundred and one different titles, and then went back to Icebreaker."

(BTW, Gardner's "odd title" choice for his fifth book was You Only Die Once.)

I expect Eon is currently going thorough their own one hundred and one title ideas. Let's hope when they settle it's a title that's as solid as ICEBREAKER.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Ian Fleming on the "death" of JAMES BOND

The HMSS Weblog (my go-to source for Bond film news, especially Bond 23 updates) has uncovered a fantastic letter Ian Fleming wrote to a fan who was concerned about James Bond's "death" at the end of the novel, From Russia With Love.

Fleming responds with a bulletin from Sir James Molony, Department of Neurology, St. Mary's Hospital, giving an update on 007's condition.

You can read the letter at the blog: Letters of Note.

You know, could this be considered canon? Yes, I think it should! :)

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Pegasus will use UK artwork on their upcoming JOHN GARDNER reprints

Great news today for those fans who were not crazy about the cover art for the U.S. John Gardner reprints from Pegasus (and I count myself among those). Simon Gardner has posted on Facebook that Pegasus will jettison the original designs and instead use the the same artwork that is to feature on the new UK paperback editions from Orion.

For Special Services old artwork (left) and the new (right)

Not only is this a vast improvement (IMO), but this also means we'll also have these covers sooner than expected as the first three Pegasus books, License Renewed, For Special Services, and Icebreaker are due for release in the U.S. on October 12, 2011.

Check out our special Gardner Renewed page for pre-order links and the latest release date information on all the Gardner-Bond reprints in the U.S. and UK.

Thank you Simon!

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