Friday, December 28, 2012

Has Boyd delivered his BOND 2013 manuscript?

If this quote is accurate, then there's a new James Bond book in the world! According to a report in the Radio Times, the manuscript for William Boyd's new Bond novel should now be in the hands of Ian Fleming Publications:

He is just putting the finishing touches to the manuscript, which has to be delivered before Christmas. Publication is autumn 2013. There’s no title as yet and Boyd is tight-lipped about plot details.

Hopefully we'll start getting some details in the new year. There hasn't been much news on the Boyd book yet -- certainly less than there was on the last Bond novel by Jeffery Deaver at this same time (remember the whole "Project X" tease?).

William Boyd's new Bond novel will be published by Jonathan Cape in the UK and HarperCollins in the U.S and Canada.

Friday, December 21, 2012

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER manuscript sells for £97,250

An original manuscript for the James Bond novel Diamonds Are Forever with Ian Fleming's handwritten corrections sold for £97,250 ($158,000) at Sotheby's auction of "English Literature, History, Children’s Books & Illustrations" on December 12.

The manuscript was Lot 111 and had carried an estimate of £50,000 - £80,000. The final price includes a Buyer's Premium.

The manuscript had been owned by Fleming's typist, Ulrica Knowles, and had remained in her family until 2008. According to the auction, among the many revisions in the manuscript is the fact that the book's hoodlum "Dolly" Kidd is called "Boofy" Gore throughout (the name was changed following the objection of Fleming's former schoolfriend from whom the name was taken).

Diamonds Are Forever was Ian Fleming's fourth James Bond novel and was first published by Jonathan Cape on March 26, 1956.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

THRILLING CITIES and THE DIAMOND SMUGGLERS getting the classic treatment in 2013

Ian Fleming's two non-Bond books Thrilling Cities and The Diamond Smugglers will be released by Vintage in 2013 with cover art that matchs their recent 007 Classics editions.


Both books are due out on April 4, 2013.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

IAN FLEMING statue to be erected in Kent

This is Kent reports that a statue of James Bond author Ian Fleming will be one of three life-size steel figures that will stand alongside a wooden bench on Dover's promenade. Fleming was chosen as the third statue by the public with 45% of the vote.

The other statues are Dame Vera Lynn, English singer-songwriter and actress who sang the wartime classic The White Cliffs of Dover, and local hero Jamie Clark, who brought the Olympic Torch into Dover and was the town's first Torchbearer during the 2012 London Olympics.

Ian Fleming's third James Bond novel, Moonraker, is set largely in Kent and includes action set at the White Cliffs of Dover.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

The Making of THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS

Here's news that both excellent and frustrating. Charles Helfenstein, who wrote the superb The Making of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, has now written the definitive book on The Making of The Living Daylights, Timothy Dalton's 1987 debut James Bond film based loosely on the Ian Fleming short story of the same name.

The frustrating part is that the book was released back on October 5 and is currently out of stock on Amazon. Not only did I not know this book came out, but I didn't even know Charles was working on it!

I don't have the book in hand to give an opinion of it, but if Charles' OHMSS book is any indicator, then this book will be excellent.

Hopefully its unavailability on Amazon is only temporary.

UPDATE: A quick update from the author himself. The book was copyrighted Oct 5, but only released recently, so this wasn't missed for as long as I thought. Also, the book is readily available from BN.com.

UPDATE 2: My book arrived today and I've had a quick flip through it and...OMG!...this is a masterwork. If you have to forgo all the other 50th Anniversary whatnot to get this book, DO IT! You have been advised.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

No SKYFALL for Boyd

There's been a sudden flurry of press about the new James Bond novel due next year, with The Telegraph and the Mail Online emphasizing author William Boyd's comment about Bond being a "massive boozer" in the books and early films (it's true).

The Independent takes a different approach, building their report on the fact that the book is set back in 1969 ("James Bond will be thrust into a world of Woodstock, Vietnam protests and man's first steps on the Moon.")

But all the reports include a mention of how Boyd has purposely avoided seeing the new mega-hit James Bond film, Skyfall, although none explain exactly why. Presumably Boyd doesn't want to be influenced by the Film Bond? Fair enough. But The Independent also has this:

An expert in Bond’s life and times, Boyd corrects an error in the climax of Sam Mendes’ film, which sought to return OO7 to his childhood home, the Skyfall Lodge in Glencoe, Scotland. “Bond was brought up by an aunt in somewhere like Wiltshire,” Boyd said.

Boyd isn't entirely right about this. Bond's time at Skyfall Lodge precedes his going to live with his aunt. Skyfall was the home of his parents. After their death, he was sent to live with his aunt. Of course, the Skyfall mythology is a completely new invention by the screenwriters, but one of the many things I liked about the new Bond film is how it included Bond's childhood without contradicting Fleming or even Charlie Higson's Young Bond series.

Anyway, here are the articles, all of which appeared today:


William Boyd's Bond novel will be published in Fall of 2013 by Jonathan Cape in the UK and HarperCollins in the U.S and Canada.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Here's the full set of JOHN GARDNER 007 reprints

Now that all the books have been released (in the UK), here is the full set of all 16 new paperback editions of the John Gardner James Bond novels from Orion. This is the first time the Gardner books have ever been printed in a uniform set, and the first time the novelizations of Licence To Kill and GoldenEye have ever been included in any set. I think the cover art by Dan Mogford looks sensational, and it's wonderful to see the dream I first articulated in this thread on CBn become a reality (I still wonder if that thread had anything to do with this).


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

Saturday, December 8, 2012

LINK: Rare James Bond manuscript with Ian Fleming notes to fetch £80,000

The Telegraph reports that a rare manuscript of the James Bond novel Diamonds Are Forever featuring Ian Fleming's handwritten corrections could fetch as much as £80,000 when it goes up for auction at Sotheby's on December 12. Click the headline to read.


Sunday, December 2, 2012

"It's an ordinary mission that goes hideously wrong."


William Boyd has provided some information about his upcoming James Bond novel in a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times. The mention of an "ordinary mission" that "goes hideously wrong" is new and intriguing. Here's the section of interview dealing with Bond.

You're also working on the new James Bond novel. Can you tell us anything about it? 
I am being annoyingly tight-lipped. It's 1969 and Bond is 45 years old. This is not the young hotshot spy anymore, this is a man who's maybe not quite as limber or confident as he was in 1953. There's no mountains full of atom bombs or a bubonic plague that will destroy the world. It's an ordinary mission for a middle-aged spy that goes hideously wrong.
Did you get a lot of leeway in terms of the story? 
You have total freedom. There's no point in asking somebody like me or [Devil May Care author] Sebastian Faulks to write a Bond novel if you then say "You have to do this." There are certain boxes you have to tick, but within those relatively few parameters you're free to invent your own story. That's one reason I went back to read all the novels again. In those novels was a lot of information about Bond and his tastes, his moods, his dark side. So that's what I've really plundered the novels for rather than cars with ejector seats.

William Boyd's Bond novel will be published in Fall of 2013 by Jonathan Cape in the UK and HarperCollins in the U.S and Canada.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

LINK: Literary Bond Superior to Movie Version

Here's a good article on The Daily Beast championing the book Bond over the movie Bond. Click the headline to have read.

Compare Ian Fleming’s fictional creation in his novels to what we see on the screen and the differences start piling up. It's the books, not the films, that should be the standard Bond, writes Allen Barra.

Saturday, November 24, 2012

LINK: The Curious Case Of Colonel Sun: Kingsley Amis's Missing Bond Novel

Aug Stone revisits the only James Bond novel to remain out of physical print, discussing its place within the mythology of 007 and Amis's sizeable contribution to the franchise. Click headline to read at The Quietus.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

CASINO ROYALE is also at an all-time high

Sure, Skyfall is tearing up the worldwide box office, but Ian Fleming's very first James Bond novel, Casino Royale, is also being celebrated with honors this Autumn.

Ian Fleming Publications reports that the 1953 novel has been selected as one of the twenty featured titles for World Book Night 2013. Held on 23rd April 2013, UNESCO’s International Day of the Book encourages people to read with 20,000 volunteer "Givers" across the UK and Ireland handing out half a million books directly to the hardest to reach potential readers.

World Book Night is now calling for members of the public to apply to be a Giver. Each Giver will receive 20 free copies of their chosen book to distribute. Applications will close on 23 January 2013, and successful applicants will be informed by mid-February 2013.

To apply to give away free copies of Casino Royale, and to read more about World Book Night, please visit their website.

Also, the Casino Royale audiobook read by Dan Stevens has been shortlisted for Audiobook of the year in the 2012 Specsavers National Book Awards. The awards take place in London on December 4th.

On their newly redesigned website, IFP comments, "We are extremely proud that this interpretation of Ian Fleming’s first novel Casino Royale has already been marked out by this great honour."

Amazon.co.uk

Saturday, November 17, 2012

SKYFALL is an all-time high


I know I didn't post anything about the release of Skyfall, the 23rd James Bond film, but did I really need to? I don't think this one was going to slip past any Bond fan.

The film is doing stellar box office -- it's already the second highest grossing movie of all time in the UK and was #1 in the U.S. opening weekend. I've seen the film twice and the only word I can come up with is miraculous. It's just a miracle of a Bond movie -- I can't believe it can still be this good. Congrats to Danjaq and all the creators of Skyfall for keeping The Movie Bond at the top of his game.

But I'm still bummed we didn't get a novelization.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Final 4 JOHN GARDNER reprints released in the UK

The final four John Gardner James Bond reprints from Orion are now shipping from Amazon.co.uk. With the release of Never Send Flowers, SeaFire, GoldenEye and COLD, the Orion set becomes the first complete and uniform set of John Gardner novels and novelizations ever released.


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

Friday, November 2, 2012

James Bond The Authorised Biography eBook released

The most obscure but most excellent James Bond continuation novel, James Bond The Authorised Biography by John Pearson, is released today as an eBook by Ian Fleming Publications. Amazon does not yet have the cover art posted, but thanks to our friends at IFP, I have it for you right here:


James Bond has graced our bookshelves and screens for over fifty years. The martini-drinking, super-smooth character has become an icon and national treasure. Like most of the many million James Bond fans around the world, John Pearson assumed that the world's most famous spy was no more than a figment of Fleming's highly charged imagination. Then he began to have his doubts. He finally became convinced that James Bond was not only real but alive and well in Bermuda. With candour, Bond began to recount the story of his life to Pearson, revealing the most amazing series of adventures only hinted at in Ian Fleming's novels. This sensational biography promises to show a side of Bond never seen before.

Purchase the James Bond The Authorised Biography eBook from Amazon.com (U.S.) and Amazon.co.uk (UK).

Thursday, October 25, 2012

IFP revamps their official IAN FLEMING website

Ian Fleming Publications has redesigned their official website, and it looks terrific! The URL remains the same, so go have browse at www.ianfleming.com.

www.ianfleming.com

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Link: CHARLIE HIGSON brings Ian Fleming into the Twitter age

CommanderBond.net has landed an exclusive interview with Young Bond author Charlie Higson who has embarked on a mission of condense all the original Ian Fleming novels into single individual tweets. Click the headline to have a read at CBn.

Which book?

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Amazon's new IAN FLEMING paperbacks released today


Amazon has released their new Ian Fleming paperbacks and Kindle eBooks today. The series sports a new, avant-garde look and are published under Amazon's Thomas & Mercer imprint. The eBooks will initially only be available via Amazon's Kindle store. Below are links to all the paperback editions (with some up to 50% off).

Octopussy and The Living Daylights

Click here to see all the covers of Amazon's new Ian Fleming James Bond novels.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

IAN FLEMING in The UK Sunday Times today

The Sunday Times Magazine (UK) has a cover profile of James Bond author Ian Fleming today. It's nice amid all the Skyfall and 50th Anniversary hype to get a nod to 007's creator. The article illustration, by the way, is by our friend Peter Lorenz of the excellent blog, Illustrated 007. Congrats Peter!

Friday, October 12, 2012

WIN LOSE OR DIE and BROKENCLAW coming to U.S. in 2013

Good news. My fears that Pegasus wouldn't finish reprinting the John Gardner James Bond novels in the U.S. appear to have been unfounded.

The next two original books in the series, Win, Lose or Die and Brokenclaw are now available for pre-order on Amazon with a May 1, 2013 release date. (Curious why they skipped over Licence To Kill.)


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

Thursday, October 11, 2012

When Charlie Higson talks BOND, we listen

Check out this video clip from The Cheltenham Literature Festival of Young Bond author Charlie Higson. Charlie starts out by discussing his zombie-horror series (the latest book, The Sacrifice, was released in the UK last month), but then he talks about James Bond at length. It's always a pleasure to hear Charlie talk Bond.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

COLONEL SUN eBook released today

Great news! The very first James Bond continuation novel, Colonel Sun by Kingsley Amis (as Robert Markham), is released today as an eBook by IFP. Cover art matches the artwork on the recent Raymond Benson eBook releases.

Lunch at Scott's, a quiet game of golf, a routine social call on his chief M, convalescing in his Regency house in Berkshire - the life of secret agent James Bond has begun to fall into a pattern that threatens complacency … until the sunny afternoon when M is kidnapped and his house staff savagely murdered.The action ricochets across the globe to a volcanic Greek island where the glacial, malign Colonel Sun Liang-tan of the People's Liberation Army of China collaborates with an ex-nazi atrocity expert in a world-menacing conspiracy. Bond finds himself working in alliance with the beautiful tawny-blonde agent of a rival secret service in the struggle to overpower this ruthless enemy who discards the unwritten rules of espionage. Stripped of all professional aids, Bond faces unarmed the monstrous devices of Colonel Sun in a test that brings him to the verge of his physical endurance. Colonel Sun was published in 1968 and is the first novel featuring the character of James Bond to appear after the death of his creator, Ian Fleming. It was published by Kingsley Amis under the name of Robert Markham.

Purchase the Colonel Sun eBook from Amazon.com (U.S.) and Amazon.co.uk (UK).

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Vintage Classics WALLPAPER

For a limited time, the cover art for Ian Fleming Vintage Classics are available as desktop wallpapers for your computer. Click here to see the entire selection.


Visit The Book Bond's Vintage Fleming page for links to all the new Ian Fleming paperbacks and eBooks from Vintage.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Behind the scenes with the Croatian DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER cover art team


PRESS RELEASE:
Croatian Special Edition
of Ian Fleming’s Diamonds Are Forever
Presented at a Gala Event in Zagreb

ZAGREB, October 3, 2012 – “I knew you all expected Mr. Bond to show up for his promotion,” said David Slinn, Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Republic of Croatia, “but he is currently at an undisclosed location, performing undisclosed duties.” His excellency was addressing an audience of some hundred people, gathered in good cheer at the Café Kinoteka in Zagreb on September 19th for the unveiling of the first Croatian edition of Ian Fleming’s Diamonds Are Forever, joining numerous Olympic and Paralympic athletes freshly returned from their successes at the 2012 London Games.

The UK Embassy and the Bond publisher, Algoritam, used the opportunity to not only present a classic Fleming title to the local audiences, but to also congratulate the athletes on the Olympic achievements that inspired the nation. Mr. Slinn was joined on the stage by Vladimir Cvetković Sever, the imprint’s editor, translator and creative director, and Lana Petanić, who portrays the book’s indefatigable female lead, Tiffany Case, on the cover. The assembly was greeted by Fergus Fleming, the Chairman of Ian Fleming Publications Ltd., in a letter which stated, “This latest volume is a splendid addition to the annals of Agent 007, and I wish it every success.” It was the fifth in a unique line of Ian Fleming Bond covers which Algoritam has been producing, under license from IFP, since 2008.

“The challenge for this cover,” said Cvetković Sever, “was to connote the brilliance and timelessness of diamonds without depicting any, as Tiffany Case does not wear them in the story. So it was a stroke of good fortune when we secured Lana’s participation. She is not only one of Croatia’s top models, but her looks easily rival those of any currently working supermodel anywhere in the world. With Lana aboard, we had our diamond, cut and polished; we could concentrate on the character she so fully embodies.”

Photographer Belizar Valić and Tiffany Case model Lana Petanić on set.    

This restrained approach extended to the photographer. As luck would have it, Belizar Valić has had prior experience working with Petanić in various fashion editorials over the years. The Diamonds Are Forever cover photoshoot marked one of his rare returns to the kind of work he loved to do before turning his full attention to Sonic Models, the modelling agency which he runs with his partner and this book’s stylist, Iva Tuđa. “Early on, Vladimir decided to depict the iconic Tiffany Case scene, the introduction of her character as she gazes in the mirror of her dressing table, wearing black lingerie, while Feuilles Mortes plays in the background,” said Valić. “He drove us crazy with that song, in half a dozen different covers ranging from Yves Montand to Iggy Pop! But it certainly helped create the mood. Lana had a lot of Tiffany in her, and she was able to pull off the character’s emotion without any extraneous help from my lighting. In creating a character that is designed to have only two or three photos to exist in, I let her face tell the story, while concentrating on simply staying true to her portrayal.”

The final cover design depicts Case in a very feminine purple room, its dilapidation suggested only by the state of the dressing table mirrors and its rough surfaces. Staring into her own eyes on the front cover, she notices an imaginary Bond and begins to turn on the spine thumbnail, revealing her full figure to the reader’s gaze only on the back cover. “Years ago, a Croatian stylist referred to Lana’s legs as belonging to the Aston Martin class,” noted Cvetković Sever. “I learned of his comment much later, but I found it more than fitting – and true – once she became a Bond Girl.”

The result is the softest and most feminine of the five Bond covers produced in Croatia so far, true to every aspect of Ian Fleming’s prose – from the gaudy setting of the fictional Trafalgar Hotel to the chatoyance in Tiffany’s eyes – while capturing both the period and the continuing appeal of the original text. “I’ve had people comment on how perfectly these images capture the fifties, or the seventies, or the eighties look,” added Cvetković Sever wryly. “That is the true beauty of the original Bond Girls – they belong to every era. Due to Ian Fleming’s insistence on a natural, timeless look, with little makeup, simple hairstyles and no nail varnish, these ladies have lived on as symbols of grace, courage, determination and fortitude in the pages of his prose. Despite being grounded in their time and place, they go on forever. And each model we’ve had the fortune to work with has embodied her own character flawlessly, while putting her own unique spin on it; it is our hope that in presenting the first flesh and blood Bond Girls as written, we have hewed as closely as possible to Ian Fleming’s mental image of them.”

Despite being one of the fastest translators in Croatia – last year, he shared George R.R. Martin’s “gold medal” for producing the world’s first translation of his bestselling A Dance with Dragons – Cvetković Sever takes his time with the Fleming material, producing roughly one translation per year. “Simply put, these books are a labour of love,” he concludes. “Every pixel on their covers has to be just right, and so does every term and every comma in the actual text. Diamonds Are Forever had offered its readers their initial glimpse under the shady canopy of the illicit diamond trading, and that sorry business has continued to bring misfortune to Africa and every other part of the pipeline that Fleming so memorably began to depict.” “Alas, we didn’t actually have a Bond to put an end to these things in the mid-fifties,” added Petanić, who researched her role thoroughly. “There are other women living Tiffany’s life at this very moment, and we were all quite aware of that sobering fact as we worked on this cover.”

The first Croatian edition of Diamonds Are Forever is currently available in Croatian bookstores; the search for the perfect model to portray Tatiana Romanova in From Russia with Love has already begun.


Makeup artist Kristina Hošnjak, stylist Iva Tuđa, model Lana Petanić and 
creative director Vladimir Cvetković Sever at the Croatian Diamonds Are Forever 
photoshoot in the Jadran Film Studios.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Second wave of IAN FLEMING reprints now available


The second wave of Vintage's new Ian Fleming James Bond paperbacks are now available in UK stores and from online retailers. The wave 2 books are:


Visit The Book Bond's Vintage Fleming page for links to all the new Ian Fleming paperbacks and eBooks from Vintage. You can see the second wave covers here.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Music to read James Bond by

Adele's Bond theme for Skyfall has been released. I love it.

JAMES BOND: LE DOSSIER SECRET

Our good friend Kevin Collette of Our Man From Bond Street has joined the ranks of Bond author with the release of his book, James Bond Le Dossier Secret. Here's a translation of the French blurb from Kevin.

Did you know that... 
One of the very first early screen treatment of Casino Royale had James Bond replaced by a … Girl as the main character of the plot? 
Alfred Hitchock was activately courted by Ian Fleming for directing the very first Cinematographic James Bond adventure? 
George Lucas & Steven Spielberg created the adventures of Indiana Jones after being rejected by Albert Broccoli as potential directors of a James Bond movie?

Author Ian Fleming intended originally to have James Bond dying at the end of From Russia With Love. 
All this and more. 
More. 
Much more is revealed in Kevin Collette 's very first essay on the James Bond phenomenon, which took the world by surprise at the movies way back in 1962 – the very year our writer was born.

With an exclusive foreword penned by the delightful Miss Rachel Grant – aka Peaceful Fountain of Desire in Die Another Day) the book packs 200 pages of information even the most die-hard fans of 007 will find entertaining – including exclusive ITWs with Raymond Benson, Sam Rolfe, Jeffery Deaver and others famous Bond people and distinguished 007 connoiseurs from all over the world . 
A movie critic for more than thirty years, Kevin Collette has been truly mesmerized by the first James Bond movie he saw as a kid in a theater in 1971. The film was Diamonds Are Forever, and the kid never recovered since…

James Bond Le Dossier Secret will be released in France this month. Watch Our Man From Bond Street for details.

UPDATE: Pre-order here.

Monday, October 1, 2012

RAYMOND BENSON Bond novels and MONEYPENNY DIARIES released as eBooks

The six James Bond novels by Raymond Benson and the three Moneypenny Diaries novels by Kate Westbrook a.k.a. Samantha Weinberg have been released by IFP as eBooks. The eBooks sport terrific new cover art and are available for the Kindle from Amazon in the U.S. and UK.


James Bond eBooks by Raymond Benson
Zero Minus Ten - Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk
The Facts of Death - Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk
High Time To Kill - Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk
Doubleshot - Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk
Never Dream of Dying - Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk
The Man With The Red Tattoo - Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk



The Moneypenny Diaries eBooks
Guardian Angel - Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk
Secret Servant - Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk
Final Fling - Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk

Thanks to IFP for the cover images.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

It's official: Charlie Higson is the next JAMES BOND

Yes, it's true. Young Bond author Charlie Higson will play "James Bond" in 2013!

RadioTimes reports that Charlie Higson has adapted the Miss Marple adventure A Caribbean Mystery for ITV1, and will have a cameo role as unassuming American ornithologist, James Bond.

Of course, this is nod to the real James Bond, author of Birds of the West Indies, whose name was "borrowed" by Ian Fleming for his fictional super spy.

A Caribbean Mystery finds Agatha Christies "spinster sleuth" investigating the death of a guest at a lavish hotel on the tropical island of St Honore. It will be broadcast on ITV1 in the UK in 2013.

Directed by Charlie Palmer, A Caribbean Mystery will feature Julia McKenzie as Miss Marple. Supporting players include Robert Webb, Montserrat Lombard, Daniel Rigby, Hermione Norris, MyAnna Buring, Warren Brown, Antony Sher and Higson, Charlie Higson as JAMES BOND.

First photo of the new Bond. (Note character name on window card.)

Speaking of Higson, the latest book in his popular Enemy series, The Sacrifice, has just been released by Puffin Books in the UK.

Thanks to marktmurphy at the CBn Forums for the alert. Follow Charlie Higson on Twitter @monstroso.

Second CHITTY sequel published today in the UK

The second sequel to Ian Fleming's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is released today in the UK.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang And The Race Against Time by Frank Cottrell Boyce is the follow up to his Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again released last year. The book is again illustrated by Joe Berger and picks up with the Tooting family stranded in the Cretaceous period.

Warning: May contain dinosaurs!

From the cover art, it appears the traditional Chitty car is back. In the first book the engine of Chitty inhabited a magical VW Bus.

Purchase Chitty Chitty Bang Bang And The Race Against Time at Amazon.co.uk.

It isn't due for release in the U.S. until March 2013.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

BOND ON SET: FILMING SKYFALL released

Bond on Set: Filming Skyfall has been released by DK Books. The book is a collection of candid behind the scenes photographs from the set of the latest Bond film by official photographer Greg Williams.

Previous "Bond on Set" books have covered Die Another Day, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace.

The photos are terrific, but I miss "making of" books that actually tell the story of the filming (you know, with words). Licence To Kill, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, and The World Is Not Enough all had nicely informative official "making of" books. And, of course, the unofficial The Making of On Her Majesty's Secret Service by Charles Helfenstein is the greatest of all the Bond "making of" books, IMO.

But if you crave behind the scenes pics, then this is a must buy.

Purchase Bond on Set: Filming Skyfall from Amazon.com (U.S.) and Amazon.co.uk (UK).

Related: IFP confirms no Skyfall novelization (dang it).

CATCHING BULLETS – MEMOIRS OF A BOND FAN out now

Catching Bullets - Memoirs of a Bond Fan by Mark O'Connell has been released by Splendid Books. The book is described as "Fever Pitch meets 007 - a personal trawl through growing up as a gay Bond fan in the 1980s." It's getting great early reviews and contains a Foreword by Mark Gatiss, an Afterward by Maud Adams, and a Prelude by Barbara Broccoli.

From the offbeat vantage point of a movie-obsessed teenager whose grandfather was chauffeur to legendary 007 producer Albert R. Broccoli, CATCHING BULLETS – MEMOIRS OF A BOND FAN is a love-letter to James Bond, Duran Duran title songs and bolting down your tea quick enough to watch Roger Moore falling out of a plane without a parachute. 
 When Jimmy O'Connell took a job as chauffeur for 007 producers Eon Productions, it would not just be Cubby Broccoli, Roger Moore and Sean Connery he would drive to James Bond. His grandson Mark swiftly hitches a ride on a humorous journey of filmic discovery where Bond movies fire like bespoke bullets at a Reagan-era Catholic childhood marked with divorce, a closet-gay adolescence sound-tracked by John Barry and an adult life as a comedy writer still inspired by that Broccoli movie magic. 
“Mark O’Connell is a great new writing talent and we are delighted to be publishing his first book,” says Splendid Books’ Editorial Director Shoba Vazirani. CATCHING BULLETS is very funny and he brings a genuinely new insight into the Bond film phenomena.
“The book is a fascinating journey, in which Mark reconsiders all the Bond films as they fire into his and everyone’s cinema-going memories.”

You can purchase Catching Bullets - Memoirs of a Bond Fan at Amazon.com (U.S.) and Amazon.co.uk (UK).

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Pegasus NO DEALS MR. BOND U.S. paperback ships early

The new U.S. paperback edition of John Gardner's No Deals Mr. Bond from Pegasus has been released early. Originally scheduled for October 15, Amazon shows the book as in stock now.

Scorpius was also announced for October 15. So far that release date is holding. My question/concern is whether Pegasus will actually release all the Gardner books in the U.S. as Orion has done in the UK. So far they've not announced any books beyond Scorpius. Also, Orion's UK editions are now listing on the U.S. Amazon.

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

Thanks to Neil Bulk for the alert.

UPDATE: Word is Scorpius is now shipping as well.

Friday, September 21, 2012

007 RELOADED subway advert

Check out this sensational subway advertisement for AudioGo's new 007 Reloaded audiobooks. Bond is back indeed.

Click to enlarge

Thanks to the Bond and Beyond Facebook page.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Raymond Benson and Jeffery Deaver team up for ICE COLD


Bond authors Jeffery Deaver and Raymond Benson have joined forces and will be editing a new Mystery Writers of America anthology of short stories called, ICE COLD: Tales of Mystery and Intrigue from the Cold War. The book will be published in 2014. Here is the press release announcing the project.

The Publications Committee of Mystery Writers of America is delighted to invite our members to submit original short stories for the next MWA anthology to be published in 2014. We are very pleased to announce that this new anthology of original short stories will be co-edited by Raymond Benson and Jeffery Deaver. These two outstanding writers, the only two American authors of official James Bond novels, have joined forces to edit our annual anthology of original short stories. 
Centered on the Cold War, this book will let our members unleash their own interpretations of a tense and scary era in history. Raymond and Jeff will each write an original story for this exciting anthology and have invited other top MWA members to do so as well: Joseph Finder, John Lescroart, Laura Lippman, J. A. Jance, T. Jefferson Parker, Sara Paretsky, Katherine Neville, and Gayle Lynds with John Sheldon.
Ten new stories will be selected by an expert MWA panel from a pool of blind submissions by our current members. Members in any category of membership may submit stories -- you do not need to be previously published, but you must be a member in good standing (dues paid). 
Please consider joining these ten outstanding authors in this exciting venture. Stay within the theme, and send in your story by February 1st for consideration by our panel of judges. Here is the final title and theme for this thrilling project: 
Ice Cold:
Tales of Mystery and Intrigue from the Cold War
Edited by Jeffery Deaver and Raymond Benson 
“Spies. Femme fatales. Shady diplomats. Covert meetings in foreign cities. Nervous political leaders. Nuclear threats and brinksmanship. Paranoia. The Cold War had all of these and much, much more. The frigid time between 1945 and 1989 was a real-world maze of dead drops, double (and triple) agents, and clandestine meetings—and betrayals.
Sharpen your writing instruments to pen stories set during this terrifying time, when war between the superpowers was a frightening possibility that could be jump- started at the touch of a button. The Cold War background lends itself to a variety of stories—mystery, thriller, pulp, noir—each one highlighting the danger and fear that stalked secret agents, reporters, or even everyday citizens. So flip up the collar on your trench coat, and make sure you aren’t being followed as you step into the shadowy world of the Cold War.”

Watch Raymond Benson's official Facebook page for updates.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

New SKYFALL poster is familiar

The final U.S. one-sheet for Skyfall has been released. As usual, some Bond fans are voicing their displeasure, but I really like the simple strong image and the unusual placement of the credits. But maybe I like it because it reminds me of something?

Thanks to Tanner over at the stellar Double O Section blog for reminding me that the image of Daniel Crag is reminiscent of the silhouette first used on the 1982 Berkley paperback edition of Goldfinger (below). The same silhouette later appeared on the covers of Raymond Benson's Never Dream of Dying and The Man With The Red Tattoo.


Click here to read more about the Berkley silhouette series of the 1980s. You might also be interested in reading about another cover silhouette that sparked controversy for being too similar to the films. And check out my article on the surprising similarities between the films and the books, Déjá vu Mr. Bond, soon to be updated with Skyfall.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

JAMES BOND POSTER BOOK pulled from Amazon (update)

Here's a wild bit of news. It appears that DK has pulled their new book James Bond: 50 Years of Movie Posters from Amazon. The listing now says the book in "under review." So what happened?

Well, Graham Rye, editor of OO7 Magazine, posted on the CBn forums that he sent an email to DK "containing 55 separate comments concerning the errors and text omissions in the book." Graham says they "now intend to reprint it in a corrected version."

I sent an email to DK several weeks back seeing if I could get a review copy of this book, but never heard back. I took the plunge and purchased it this week. While the book does indeed contain errors and omissions typical of official publications (no Tomorrow Never Dies U.S. advance one-sheet, the poster listed as the Never Say Never Again U.S. one-sheet is clearly not), it's still a very nicely put together book with some sensational concept artwork. Certainly it is a vast improvement over the last official poster book.

It baffles me why DK didn't run a proof by any one of several readily accessible James Bond experts and collectors who could have easily flagged these problems before they became, well, this BIG problem.

What does this mean for those of us who already purchased the book? That I would like to know.

Check out this thread at the CBn Forums where the book is being discussed. Also feel free to add any new info in the Comments below.


UPDATE: Looks like the book is again available for purchase on Amazon. No word from DK about what happened or whether there will be a corrected edition. Weird.

UPDATE 2: According to Graham Rye, the book was pulled because someone complained that the book was not what it purported to be in its Amazon listing. The customer who complained to Amazon believed the book was a portfolio of pull-out posters you could hang on the wall. So...no corrected edition, etc.