Steve Cole updates YOUNG BOND progress

Steve Cole has posted to his official blog an update on his progress with his Young Bond books:

"Well, since last I wrote I’ve written two drafts of my third Young Bond, finished off the second Young Bond, and been visiting a lot of schools and theatres."

Steve has been commissioned to write four Young Bond novels. His first, Shoot To Kill, was released in 2014. His next, Heads You Die, will be released in the UK on May 5, 2016.

SPECTRE on Blu-ray and DVD, February 9, 2016

I don't think this has been officially announced yet, but according to Amazon.com, the new James Bond film SPECTRE will be released on Blu-ray and DVD in the U.S. on February 9, 2016.

The latest Bond film pulled from a host of literary sources, including: Thunderball, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, You Only Live Twice, Octopussy and Colonel Sun (the Kingsley Amis estate even gets an acknowledgement in the credits).

Pre-order SPECTRE on Blu-ray or DVD from Amazon.

Season's Greetings from IFP

Ian Fleming Publications have sent out a holiday card using artwork inspired by their big 2015 release, Trigger Mortis.

and

The Book Bond

A tale of three silhouettes

Here's another international James Bond paperback with cover features worth taking a closer look at. What I like about this 1990 Portuguese edition of John Gardner's Win Lose or Die is that two of three 007 silhouettes that grace the cover were never used on the Berkley paperbacks of the 1980s (and later on the Benson paperbacks).

The silhouette on the right you'll recognize as first appearing on the U.S. paperback edition of License Renewed and later on the John Gardner hardcovers. But those other two never found their way onto any book as far as I know. I especially like the one on the left that shows Bond reaching into his jacket. You'll also notice that the "James Bond" title treatment is from the Berkley editions, and the background is similar to that used on the UK hardcover of Scorpius, so this is an interesting combination of elements.

And if you think I'm silly for obsessing on silhouettes, check out: SILHOUETTE-GATE.

Happy Holidays to all.

Mixed BOND

James Bond with Sean Connery's head and Roger Moore's body gazes out at us from the cover of a 1991 Italian edition of Scorpius by John Gardner. I like the title treatment with the scorpion and the Avante Carte logo behind OO7. And Bond against a light streaked marble wall kinda recalls SPECTRE.

Scorpius was John Gardner's seventh James Bond novel. It was first published by Putnam in the U.S. on May 9, 1988. UK publication by Hodder & Stoughton was on June 2, 1988 (one of the few Bond novels to be published first in the U.S. first).

U.S. TRIGGER MORTIS paperback in September

Amazon.com now has a listing for the U.S. paperback edition of Trigger Mortis by Anthony Horowitz. Release date shows as September 6, 2016 from Harper Paperbacks. No cover art yet.

The UK paperback from Orion will be released May 5, 2016.

Pre-order the Trigger Mortis U.S. paperback at Amazon.com.

Another unofficial JAMES BOND novel hits the market

Another unofficial James Bond novel, BOND on the ROCKS by Curtis Cook, has been self-published under the Berne Convention's "life plus 50" rule of copyright, which, apparently, puts James Bond in the public domain in several counties (not just Canada, according to this book). Below in the cover and plot description:

James Bond faces his most diabolical challenge of all time -- modern life. The cultural icon that role-modeled behavior of men for generations was pushed into retirement 20 years earlier in a feminist rebellion at Regents Park. He has blown through the personal fortune he accumulated as an irresistible and heavy-drinking super spy and survives on a modest pension in a world stumbling toward globalization, privatization and war. He is a jobless senior citizen on the brink of losing his Chelsea flat to the bank. "Very sad, very troubling but actually very funny all at once. We witness the real-world frailties, humiliations, joys, quirks and anguish of human struggle that the mythical hero has always managed to keep off-camera."

Mary Goodnight calls on him and is appalled at the pathetic version of the man she had once served and loved. She connects him with the former 006 who is now CEO of a flourishing private corporation in the emerging international security industry. Despite misgivings over the loyalties and principles of private enterprise, Bond finds the incentives, perks and female staff highly appealing. He is dispatched to Saddam Hussein's Baghdad to locate and buy off a Russian physicist who absconded with plans for an advanced missile defense system. But the physicist is a stubborn, Soviet-era Communist who resists all offers to relocate to the West. With a major bonus at stake, Bond resorts to enhanced interrogation to uncover the missing plans - a bad move.

Banned in the U.S., "Bond on the Rocks" (unsanctioned by the Franchise) is still available at reasonable cost in Canada, Japan, Cuba, New Zealand, China and many other countries that adhere to the "life plus 50" rule of the Berne Convention.

Unlike the recently released Licence Expired, Bond on the Rocks is currently available on the U.S. Amazon. It also says inside that it's "Printed in the USA." Seems this one is pushing the Bern Convention rule, so if you want it, I would act fast. I'm still amazed this is happening at all.

TRIGGER MORTIS UK paperback coming in May

The UK paperback edition of Trigger Mortis by Anthony Horowitz will be released on May 19, 2016. The book will be published by Orion. No cover art yet.

Pre-order the Trigger Mortis UK paperback at Amazon.co.uk.

JAMES BOND: VARGR #2 released

Dynamite's James Bond VARGR #2 is released today. This is the second installment in a six issue graphic novel series by Warren Ellis.

James Bond is in Berlin, alone, unarmed and with no idea of the forces ranged in secret against him. If he can make it to the Embassy, he might survive for a few hours more. But he's getting into that car with that woman, which means he has only minutes to live...

You can purchase VARGR #2 and see all the variant covers and sample pages at the Dynamite website. Issue #3 is due out January 6.