ANTHONY HOROWITZ on The Bond Experience

A terrific interview with Bond author Anthony Horowitz and David Zaritsky on The Bond Experience. Horowitz penned three novels, Trigger Mortis (2015), Forever and a Day (2018), and With A Mind To Kill (2022).

With A Mind To Kill U.S. PAPERBACK released

The U.S. trade paperback edition of With A Mind To Kill by Anthony Horowitz is released today by Harper Paperbacks. 

Cover art is the same as the U.S. hardcover with the addition of a quote from The Guardian and a blurb touting Horowitz as a New York Times bestselling author. 

You can purchase the With a Mind To Kill U.S. paperback at Amazon.com.

Charlie Higson talks ON HIS MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE

Really excellent interview here with Charlie Higson and David Zaritsky on The Bond Experience. So good to hear Charlie talking Bond again. Still waiting for my Goldsboro edition of OHisMSS to arrive from the UK, but I can't wait to read it! Enjoy.

You can purchase On His Majesty's Secret Service from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.

ON HIS MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE released today

Charlie Higson's On His Majesty's Secret Service is released today by Ian Fleming Publications. Charlie has written a terrific personal message that I'm taking the liberty of reproducing in full below. You can also read it HERE. I loved Charlie's work on the Young Bond series and I can't wait to get my hands on this new book. Thanks Charlie and IFP for giving this fan a much needed Bond boost!

To all Bond readers, Chapter One of SilverFin begins with the following line: ‘The smell and noise and confusion of a hallway full of schoolboys can be quite awful at twenty past seven in the morning.’ My first Young Bond novel was published in 2005 and my final Young Bond story, ‘A Hard Man to Kill’ was released in 2009. That seemed to be the end of that particular era of my writing.  Until now. It’s always an easy headline to say, ‘Bond is back’, so instead let’s boldly and modestly state ‘Higson has returned’. It’s been 14 years and much has changed with the world, with publishing, with popular culture and literature. But Bond hasn’t changed. And people still want to read Bond books. Including me. The time is always right for a James Bond adventure. Whether all is right with the world or all is wrong with the world, it is always a pleasure to relax at home with a cocktail, a cigarette and wearing a perfectly tailored suit (just me?) and become lost in the stories of Ian Fleming’s creation. The timing was particularly apt this year when in February 2023 I got the call from Ian Fleming Publications inviting me to write an original story for charity to time with the Coronation of King Charles III. A chance to dive back into the world of 007 – and produce a story in three weeks. How could I refuse? The day before I got the call, I had no notion of a new Bond adventure. It was not on my mind. And yet just a day or two after the call, the idea leapt almost fully formed – it shot out with the clarity and decisiveness of a poisoned blade hidden in the sole of a Smersh shoe. My story is set two days before the Coronation and finds Bond reflecting on his recent mission – to ‘neutralise’ a threat to King Charles III in the form of the self-styled Æthelstan of Wessex who sees himself as the true heir to the throne. The mission takes Bond to Croatia, Hungary and an ancient castle where Bond must take on Æthelstan and his army. Some things go as planned. Others do not. That is the case with this whole experience. And that’s okay. Myself and Ian Fleming Publications had not planned a new James Bond book for this year and yet here we are. With nothing but lots of encouragement, early morning scrambled eggs and late night coffee, we managed to create and deliver On His Majesty’s Secret Service in time for the historic occasion this May.

All royalties from the book are going to support the National Literacy Trust so please support their cause by buying a copy. It is available in hardcover (with some signed copies floating around), eBook and audiobook, read by me. So please, when you have finished watching the Coronation, sit back and lose yourself in Bond once again, as I have so enjoyed doing these last few months.

See you in another 14 years or so, Charlie Higson

Purchase  On His Majesty's Secret Service by Charlie Higson from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.

Writers Guild solidarity

As an emeritus member of the Writers Guild of America, I stand with them and wish them well during their current strike.

Purchase ON HIS MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE on the U.S. Amazon

Heads up! You can now purchase the UK edition of Charlie Higson's upcoming Bond novella On His Majesty's Secret Service on the U.S. Amazon for only $14.02.

This listing actually shows "in stock" and shipping in 3 to 4 days. IFP had tweeted that an audiobook read by Charlie Higson and eBook will also be released in the U.S., but no sign of those yet. They've also hinted at an official U.S. release in the future.

So here's a great way for U.S. Bond fans to have the book in hand on or near coronation day.

Purchase On His Majesty's Secret Service on Amazon.com.

With A Mind To Kill UK PAPERBACK released

The UK paperback edition of With A Mind To Kill by Anthony Horowitz is released today by Vintage. The paperback features different cover art from the hardcover. It can be purchases at Amazon.co.uk.

Cover art for ON HIS MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE

Cover art has been revealed for Charlie Higson's upcoming Bond novel On His Majesty's Secret Service. The book will be released on May 4, 2023 to mark the coronation of King Charles III. It's a simple cover suited to the occasion and considering this book was entirely conceived only a matter of months ago, I'm thrilled with everything about this!

You can pre-order On His Majesty's Secret Service by Charlie Higson from Amazon.co.uk. Goldsboro Books is also offering a signed limited edition.

LINK: Double O Seventy - A report for the 70 Years of James Bond 007 celebration

Our friend Ajay Chowdhury reports on the 70th Anniversary celebration event in London. Check it out at From Sweden With Love.

70TH ANNIVERSARY editions released today

Today sees the release of Ian Fleming Publications all-new 70th Anniversary reprints of the classic James Bond novels by Ian Fleming. The set also includes his two non-Bond novels Thrilling Cities and The Dimond Smugglers. Fans have been overall positive about the new cover art. Less so about the "sensitivity" edits. But it's great have these books still and print and still as popular as ever 70 years after the first appearance of James Bond in Casino Royale. Raise a glass to 007!

You can purchase these new editions at Amazon.co.uk.

DOUBLE OR NOTHING released in the U.S.

Today sees the release of Kim Sherwood's Double or Nothing in the U.S. by publisher William Morrow. Cover art is the same as the UK edition with some differences in the text and typeface. The book is hardcover and can be purchased at Amazon.com.

No word yet on Kim's next Double O novel. The series is planned for three books.

Folio Society limited edition CASINO ROYALE

The Folio Society has announced a limited edition of Ian Fleming's Casino Royale to mark the book's 70th anniversary. Looks nice, but at $725, this one might be for few eyes only.

Celebrating 70 years since publication, Folio’s fabulous anniversary edition of Casino Royale, limited to 750 numbered copies, exudes sophistication and glamour. Bound in blocked leather and signed by artist Fay Dalton, this is the perfect collector’s edition of Fleming’s first Bond novel.

Casino Royale Limited Edition can be purchased from the Folio Society website.

Also available: Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, Moonraker, Diamonds Are Forever, From Russia With Love, Dr. No, Goldfinger, For You Eyes Only, Thunderball, The Spy Who Loved Me, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, You Only Live Twice, The Man With The Golden Gun.

New Bond book from CHARLIE HIGSON coming May 4

Some fantastic news this morning from Ian Fleming Publications. The great Charlie Higson, author of the Young Bond novels (and my favorite continuation author) has written a new adult James Bond book set to be published May 4, 2023. Yes, that's in just a month! Here's the full press release from IFP.

On His Majesty’s Secret Service:

Charlie Higson commissioned to write new James Bond adventure to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III

Published 4 May 2023, in partnership with the National Literacy Trust

LONDON. Charlie Higson, author of the bestselling Young Bond series, has been commissioned by Ian Fleming Publications to write a new James Bond adventure to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III, it is announced today, Friday 31 March.

On His Majesty’s Secret Service will be published on Thursday 4 May ahead of the Coronation on Saturday 6 May – and 60 years after the publication of Ian Fleming’s tenth novel, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, in 1963. All royalties from the sale of the book will go to support the work of the UK charity, the National Literacy Trust.

The action of this entirely new 007 adventure brings Bond into the present day. It is the 4th of May, two days before the coronation of King Charles III and the world's favourite spy has his work cut out for him. Bond is sent at the last minute to thwart an attempt to disrupt the Coronation by the wealthy, eccentric and self-styled Athelstan of Wessex, who is on a deadly mission of his own to teach the United Kingdom a lesson. Can Bond dismantle his shady plans and defeat his privately hired team of mercenaries?

Corinne Turner, Managing Director of Ian Fleming Publications Ltd, comments: “The Coronation of King Charles III is a momentous occasion for the country. We asked ourselves how we at Ian Fleming Publications could celebrate it, and the answer seemed obvious. Ian Fleming’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was first published on 1st April 1963. What better way, sixty years on, to mark this new chapter in history than with a brand new story: On His Majesty’s Secret Service? We shared our thoughts with Charlie, and he was delighted to take on the challenge of writing a Bond adventure in time for publication in May. Together we hope this book will give valuable support to the National Literacy Trust.”

Charlie Higson’s phenomenally successful Young Bond series has sold over a million copies in the UK alone and has been translated into more than 24 different languages. He adds:

“When IFP came to me with the idea of writing an adult Bond story a little more than a month ago, I was thrilled – until I realised it had to be ready for the Coronation in May. Getting it written and turned around in such a short space of time was going to be as tense and heart-pounding as any Bond mission. Although, of course, nobody would actually be shooting at me. But I’ve been thinking about writing an adult Bond adventure ever since working on the Young Bond books, and he came bursting out of me with both fists flying. It was all I could do to keep up with him and get his story down on paper. Fleming famously wrote fast, and I channelled that energy. And now it’s so exciting for me to finally enter the world of grown-up Bond. Everything you want from a Bond story is in there – sex, violence, cars, a colourful villain with a nasty henchman, and of course, Bond himself. So well-known and yet so unknowable.”

Jonathan Douglas CBE, Chief Executive of the National Literary Trust, says: “James Bond has been creating avid readers for seventy years and we are delighted that the royalties from On His Majesty’s Secret Service will go towards our own not-so-secret mission: to support the literacy skills of children and adults in the nation’s most disadvantaged areas. We hope that this partnership will create a whole new generation of readers, who will continue to discover the thrills of Bond for years to come.”

This brand new James Bond adventure arrives during a momentous year for Ian Fleming Publications. 13 April 2023 marks 70 years since the initial publication of Ian Fleming’s first James Bond novel, Casino Royale. The company are celebrating 70 years of 007 throughout 2023, with many events planned, including the release of the Bond books under their own imprint on 13 April.

On His Majesty’s Secret Service is published by Ian Fleming Publications. It will be available digitally as an eBook, as an audiobook (read by Charlie Higson), and as a hardback, online and in bookshops from 4 May.

This is great news and I can't wait to add this next Bond adventure to my shelf. 

You can pre-order On His Majesty's Secret Service by Charlie Higson from Amazon.co.uk.

70th ANNIVERSARY James Bond UK covers revealed

Cover art for the 70th Anniversary James Bond UK paperbacks by Ian Fleming have been revealed on the official Ian Fleming Publications website. They're pretty nice! Click the image below to see them all.

The new books will be released on April 13, 2023.

JOHN CORK on the 70th Anniversary edit controversy

When it comes to James Bond, there's no one whose opinion I respect more than John Cork. John has weighed in on the controversy over edits made to the upcoming 70th Anniversary Ian Fleming James Bond novels. This is well worth your time. Click the image below to read at 007 Magazine.

IFP issues statement about Anniversary edition edits

Ian Fleming Publications has issued a statement about the edits to their upcoming Anniversary re-issues of the original Ian Fleming James Bond novels. Click the image below to have a read at the official Ian Fleming Publications website.

Variety reports 70th ANNIVERSARY editions will be edited

Today's Variety is reporting that IFPs new 70th anniversary editions of Ian Fleming original James Bond books will contain edits to remove perceived racist content. You can read the full article HERE. Below is an excerpt:

A commonly used pejorative term used for Black people by Fleming, whose Bond books were published between 1951 and 1966, has been removed almost entirely and replaced with “Black person” or “Black man.” In other instances, references have been edited.

For example, in “Live and Let Die” (1954), Bond’s opinion of Africans in the gold and diamond trades as “pretty law-abiding chaps I should have thought, except when they’ve drunk too much” has been altered to “pretty law-abiding chaps I should have thought.”

Another scene in the book, set during a strip tease at a Harlem nightclub, was originally “Bond could hear the audience panting and grunting like pigs at the trough. He felt his own hands gripping the tablecloth. His mouth was dry.” This has been revised to “Bond could sense the electric tension in the room.” A segment in the book describing accented dialogue as “straight Harlem-Deep South with a lot of New York thrown in,” has been removed.

For some additional context, both U.S. editions of Live and Let Die and Diamonds Are Forever were edited for sensitivity back in Fleming's day, so this isn't entirely new. But these edits appear to be going further than those and I'm sure this news is going to draw a lot of comment from Bond fans.

For me personally, I want the original unedited texts. Full stop. I was very happy when the U.S. editions were finally updated with the UK texts in 2002. Fleming's words and thoughts should remain unchanged, even if offensive. History and art should not be altered. But a disclaimer is certainly appropriate and I think a good idea.

But I also understand IFPs dilemma. They are marketing these editions to a mass audience and they have to deal with the times we are in. For those who want the unedited texts, you can certainly still find those. And maybe some day the texts will be returned to the original. I'm not sure if these changes will make these 70th Anniversary editions more collectible or less so, but they better have some pretty spectacular cover art to overcome the taint that I think these will forever have for Fleming purists.

Cover art above is from a 1970 Pan edition of The Man With The Golden Gun. UK cover art for the 70th Anniversary editions have not been revealed.

UPDATE: IFP have issued a statement HERE.

70th Anniversary eBOOKS released

Today new digital eBook versions of the fourteen Bond adventures, plus the two Fleming non-fiction titles Thrilling Cities and The Diamond Smugglers, have been released to retailers of digital books within the UK. The release of the eBooks marks 71 years to the day that Ian Fleming sat down at his typewriter in Goldeneye, Jamaica, and began writing Casino Royale.  

These digital releases represent the first step in Ian Fleming Publications’ 70th Anniversary reissues of the original books. For now, the eBooks are being distributed with holding covers. IFP says the official new covers will remain "top secret a while longer."

WITH A MIND TO KILL UK paperback cover art

Cover art for the UK paperback edition of Anthony Horowitz's With A Mind To Kill has appeared on Amazon. I'm excited to see they've gone with an original design instead of using the hardcover art.

Pre-order the With A Mind To Kill UK paperback at Amazon.co.uk. Release date is April 27, 2023.

Dynamite announces FOR KING AND COUNTRY

Dynamite has announced a new series to tie-in with the 70th Anniversary this year. Cover and description below.

2023 marks the 70th Anniversary of Ian Fleming‘s internationally famous MI6 spy James Bond 007. And Dynamite vows to celebrate the milestone with a special 007 series: 007: For King and Country from writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson and artist Giorgio Spalletta. 

 This time around though, Bond is the hunted. Accused of a murder on British soil, M dispatches the other 00s to revoke Bond’s license permanently. Forced to go underground, he can only count on the presumed dead 003, Gwendolyn Gann, as his ally because — in reality — they are on a top secret mission to prevent a globe-shattering event. Will they be able to unravel a conspiracy before M’s best catch up with them and punch their tickets?

For King and Country will be released in April. 

IFP reveals new 70th Anniversary logo

In celebration of #CasinoRoyale turning 70 this year, we are beyond thrilled to share our brand new #70yearsof007 logo. Here's to a Bond-tastic 2023. pic.twitter.com/dAGYjPvtoH

— Ian Fleming (@TheIanFleming) January 4, 2023

Anniversary BONDS for 2023

HAPPY NEW YEAR and welcome to another year of The Book Bond. Here's a rundown of the Bond novels that will be celebrating notable anniversaries this year. Break out the bookmarks and champagne!

70th Anniversary

"This is the big one, Double-Oh-Seven." This year sees the 70th Anniversary of the book that started it all. Ian Fleming's first Bond novel, Casino Royale, was published by Jonathan Cape in the UK on April 13, 1953. It wouldn't be released in the U.S. until the following year.

60th Anniversary

Another Fleming classic, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, turns 60 this year. In this one Bond gets married and, well, you know the story! O.H.M.S.S. was published by Jonathan Cape in the UK on April 1, 1963. It was released in the U.S. in August by the New American Library.

50th Anniversary

This overlooked continuation novel is, IMHO, a true gem! James Bond The Authorized Biography of 007 by John Pearson was first published in 1973 by Sidgwick & Jackson in the UK and William Morrow & Co. in the U.S. [Read: THE BEST JAMES BOND NOVEL YOU'VE NEVER READ.]

40th Anniversary

My personal favorite John Gardner Bond novel, Icebreaker, marks its 40th. In this one 007 heads to the frozen forests of Northern Finland to battle Neo-Nazis. The first U.S. edition (pictured) was published by Putnam around April 1, 1983. The UK edition by Jonathan Cape arrived on July 7, 1983. 

30th Anniversary

John Gardner's 12th original James Bond novel, Never Send Flowers, finds 007 facing off with a psychotic actor. A late era Gardner novel that I've always liked. The U.S. edition from Putnam was published on May 31, 1993. The UK edition (pictured) was released by Hodder & Stoughton on July 15, 1993.

25th Anniversary

A strong second novel from Raymond Benson, The Facts of Death finds 007 on a mission in Greece and Cyprus. The UK edition was released by Hodder & Stoughton on May 7, 1998. The U.S. edition from Putnam followed on June 15, 1998.

10th Anniversary

SOLO by William Boyd turns 10 this year. I really like this novel about the older 007 on a mission in Africa. The UK edition was released by Hodder & Stoughton on September 26, 2013. The U.S. edition from Putnam was released on October 8, 2013. [Read: SOLO is the thinking man's OO7.]

A good line-up of anniversary Bonds this year if I do say so myself. Happy reading!