When Bond went LIVE AT FIVE

Check out this artwork for Raymond Benson's short story Live At Five. The story appeared in TV Guide in November 1999 as part of a special issue showcasing The World Is Not Enough (recall that Raymond wrote the novelization for that film). I love how it evokes the classic Signet series artwork with Fleming's name running down the edge.

Live At Five is a unique Bond short story in that it's a "flashback" adventure set in the year 1985 (a year without a Gardner novel, which may or may not have been intentional on Raymond's part). In it, Bond travels to Chicago to help a Russian ice-skater defect with the help of a television news reporter, Janet Davis. In my CBn Interview with Raymond, he recalled:

"The idea for the plot had to do with a Russian defector, an ice skater. In order for that to make any sense, the story had to take place prior to 1989, before the fall of the Soviet Union. Simple as that. So I framed the bulk of the story within the context of Bond remembering the events of that time prior to meeting the girl again in the present. The story has a nice twist, I think, when the identity of the girl is revealed."

Live At Five was included in the 2011 anthology collection of Raymond's Bond work, Choice of Weapons.

Benson is back in 'The Union Trilogy'

Pegasus Books has released a Raymond Benson James Bond omnibus, The Union Trilogy. The collection includes the novels High Time To Kill, Doubleshot, and Never Dream of Dying.

As a bonus, the book also includes the full version of Raymond's first Bond short story "Blast From The Past." This uncut version has never before been published in English.

Raymond Benson was the James Bond continuation author from 1997 to 2002.

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Blast from the past: Benson returns in 2008

Great news today! K1Bond007.com reports that Pegasus Books will re-publish a selection of Raymond Benson's James Bond novels in an omnibus edition in October 2008.

The collection will contain the "Union Trilogy"-- High Time To Kill, Doubleshot, and Never Dream of Dying... plus, as a bonus, the complete uncut short story Blast From The Past.

Blast From The Past originally appeared in the January 1997 issue of Playboy in a truncated version (image right). The full-length version was published in Italian and in French. This will be its first appearance in English.

Raymond will provide a new introduction to the book. A title for the collection has not yet been selected. Pegasus hopes to publish a second volume of Benson's remaining 007 novels and short stories in 2009.

The Heart of Erzulie

Fant art.

In an exclusive interview on CommanderBond.net, former James Bond continuation author, Raymond Benson, revealed the existence of a never published James Bond short story, “The Heart of Erzulie.”

Says Benson, “There was another Bond short story I wrote in-between Never Dream of Dying and The Man With The Red Tattoo. It wasn’t very good. I did it on spec, just for something to do during the off months between the outline and research trip for Tattoo. It was called "The Heart of Erzulie," and it took place in Jamaica. IFP thought it was too much of a Fleming pastiche. I guess I agree. Oh well, it kept me busy for a month.”

According to the website Encyclopedia Mythica, “Erzulie is the Voodoo love goddess and goddess of elemental forces, as well as of beauty, dancing, flowers, jewels, and pretty clothes. She lives in fabulous luxury and appears powdered and perfumed. She is as lavish with her love as with her gifts. On her fingers she wears three wedding rings, her three husbands being Damballa, the serpent god, Agwe, god of the sea and Ogoun the warrior hero. As Erzulie Ge-Rouge, she huddles together with her knees drawn up and her fists clenched, tears streaming from her eyes as she laments the shortness of life and the limitation of love. She is personified as a water snake. She is also called Ezili.”

“You’re correct,” says Benson. “The story had a voodoo theme to it. Believe me, it shouldn’t see the light of day!”

Benson also revealed that he’s written a book chronicling of his adventures in the world of 007. “Last fall I wrote my Bond memoirs, a small autobiography so to speak, that relates my lifelong experiences with 007. It’s called James Bond and Me–A Memoir for lack of a better title. I don’t know what I’ll do with it. I can’t imagine anyone really being that interested. It would probably have to be one of those limited edition books that private presses have done, like Richard Kiel’s book, or Syd Cain’s book. Maybe I can get a thousand copies printed and sold. I haven’t decided.”

Here’s hoping someday one, or both, of these unpublished Benson works will become available for Bond fans to read.

This article first appeared on CommanderBond.net.