Wednesday, October 9, 2013

OFFICIAL: YOUNG BOND RETURNS IN 2014

Ian Fleming Publications announced today that the bestselling Young Bond series will return in Fall of 2014 in the first of four new books penned by author Steve Cole. Here's the official press release:

Steve Cole (Photo © Paul Wilkinson)
We are delighted to announce that a new series of four YOUNG BOND titles will be published by Random House from Autumn 2014, penned by Steve Cole.

Cole, who takes over from the original creator of Young Bond, Charlie Higson, is the author of a number of hugely successful children’s books – including the Astrosaurs series and several authorised Doctor Who novels. He is a lifelong fan of Fleming’s Bond novels:

‘I first encountered Bond in print as a teenager, when I read From a View to a Kill. Fleming´s writing was so vivid and authentic, Bond and the world he inhabited seemed suddenly real to me – and the danger and glamour led me through book after book. It´s both a thrilling privilege and an exciting challenge now to be shaping a new era in the life of such an iconic character – with many firsts and surprises to come as James´s life in the dangerous 1930s develops.’ 
Cole’s first Young Bond novel will launch with a bang in Autumn 2014. It will be published in hardback on RHCP’s highly respected Jonathan Cape children’s imprint.

Whilst Higson’s five novels chart Bond’s childhood at Eton and his introduction to the world of espionage, Cole’s first title will pick up where By Royal Command (2008) left off and will follow teenage James in the aftermath of his expulsion from Eton. This period in Bond’s life has never been explored before and readers can expect all the thrills, action, glamour and tension that are the essential ingredients of a classic Bond adventure.

Philippa Dickinson, Managing Director of Random House Children’s Publishing, says, ‘I’m absolutely delighted to be working with Ian Fleming Publications to publish a new quartet of Young Bond adventures. The period when James Bond would have been a teenager was an extraordinary time – a perfect setting for thrilling storytelling for young adults. Steve Cole is an exceptional storyteller with a wonderful ability to connect with his readers. A winning combination.’

Random House Children’s Publishing have acquired UK and Commonwealth rights in four titles from Ian Fleming Publications Ltd, the first of which will be published in hardback in Autumn 2014. Corinne Turner, Managing Director of IFPL, comments, ‘Steve Cole is an imaginative and engaging author whose plots are addictive and gripping, so we were thrilled when he agreed to steer Young Bond through his mid-teen years. As publishers of Ian Fleming’s original Bond books and William Boyd’s new Bond continuation novel, SOLO, Random House are the perfect partner to work with us in bringing the next generation of Young Bond books to life. On behalf of Ian Fleming Publications and the Fleming family, I’d like to welcome Steve Cole to the exciting world of 007 – we can’t wait to see what scrapes James gets into next.’

Exciting news! (And it looks like there was some validity in this after all.)

Click here to read my five part series on The Secret History of Young James Bond.


10 comments:

  1. I'm hopeful the first villain will be a large talking dinosaur

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  2. This is a man who has written lots of books for very young children about dinosaurs and talking cows. He's an editor at Random House. He used to edit the Doctor Who books, and was notorious for commissioning himself a lot and mediocrity - just trawl the Who boards and ask them what reputation he has. This is an internal hire, not some headhunted top talent. These books will be competent, but nothing more.

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    1. Charlie Higson will be a hard act to follow. But this is a big job and great opportunity, so I'm sure Steve will give this his all.

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  3. I was surprised that the press release mentioned his talking dinosaur books for younger kids, but said nothing about the YA teen spy series he co-writes, Tripwire. Surely that's more relevant? Anyway, I've ordered the first book from that series to get a taste of his style... and because I'm a fan of the teen spy genre in general.

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    1. Are those spy books written for a different publisher maybe? Or maybe they don't want a direct comparison. I wonder if the cited The Saint in '73 to show how Roger was qualified for Bond. Probably not. Bond is Bond.

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    2. Somehow I bed EVERY article about Moore taking over as Bond cited The Saint! But Moore sadly hadn't made any talking dinosaur movies.

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  4. Well I wish him luck and look forward to his description of a teenage Bond losing his virginity and his pocketbook to a French prostitute in the pages of a young adult fiction novel.

    Unless Mr Higson already covered it...I've yet to read them.

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    1. Charlie Higson hasn't covered the pocket book and French hooker affair. His audience was little kids and us literary Bond fans. John Pearson wrote about it and like all of his book it was written very well. It's my favourite Bond book by a continuation author. Fantastic.

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  5. I wish him well and luck with it, I think Charlie Higson is a great writer but failed to pull in young readers. Why wasn't authors with experience of writing teen spy novels do it? Such as Anthony Horowitz; Alex Rider series, or Mark A. Cooper; Jason Steed series, or Joe Craig; Jimmy Coates series. All three have a proven track record or writing teen spy novels that teens actually love.

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