Coming out of the darkness?

This is just a video game, but, damn, it feels great to see James Bond 007 himself back in action. Great title too.

Call me crazy, but Bond's slim build in this silhouette kind of reminds me of the 007 we see on some very early book covers.

KIM SHERWOOD on Ian Fleming's style

In the run up to the release of Double or Nothing, HarperFiction on Twitter is sharing a series of short film clips of author Kim Sherwood talking about her journey from Bond fan to Bond author. I really like today's installment in which she recalls reading Ian Fleming's From Russia With Love for the first time.

Today we have another very special #DoubleOrNothing sneak peek video from our filming with author @kimtsherwood at @BarbicanCentre. In this clip Kim shares her favourite #JamesBond memory...

Pre-order the @Waterstones special edition here: https://t.co/5MxXEIZkKw @TheIanFleming pic.twitter.com/1GuIgIP5VU

— HarperFiction (@HarperFiction) July 22, 2022

Double or Nothing will be released in the UK on September 1, 2022 and is available for pre-order on Amazon.co.uk.

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE turns 60

Ian Fleming's From Russia With Love celebrates its 60th Anniversary this month (first published April 8, 1957). To mark the occasion, Ian Fleming Publications has released this anniversary image and is holding a special competition. Details below.

First published in the UK on the 8th April 1957, Ian Fleming's legendary James Bond thriller FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE is 60 years old today! 

The novel, famous for its inclusion on President Kennedy's top ten book list, has been published and enjoyed all over the world, with many fans citing it as their favourite Fleming thriller. 

With its unforgettable sequences on the Orient Express, in the backstreets of Istanbul and in the dark corridors of the SMERSH headquarters, we're very pleased to announce this anniversary and encourage readers old and new to delve into the pages of this 50s classic. 

Help us celebrate and win some special James Bond prizes by entering our cover design competition, details HERE.

Folio Society releases new FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

The Folio Society, who last year released a beautiful illustrated slipcased edition of Casino Royale, have now released Ian Fleming's From Russia With Love.

Named as Ian Fleming’s finest novel in numerous polls, and described by the author as, ‘In many respects, my best book’, this nail-biting thriller sees 007 ensnared by an elaborate plot devised by the Soviet counter-intelligence agency, SMERSH. Set among the bazaars and minarets of Istanbul, and aboard the Orient Express, the novel features some of the series’ most memorable characters. The ebullient and dissipated Darko Kerim reigns over ‘Station T’ with the help of his many children, and becomes Bond’s firm comrade. Rosa Klebb is the repugnant SMERSH operations chief whose weaponry includes a boot concealing a poison-tipped knife; Red Grant is the terrifying psychopath whose lust for murder has made him Chief Executioner. Tatiana Romanova is the ravishing, guileless instrument of a deadly honeytrap designed to destroy and defame the Secret Service’s greatest agent. This elegant edition features a pictorial slipcase and alluring illustrations by Fay Dalton, whose work also appears in the Folio edition of Casino Royale.

Bound in blocked cloth
Set in Miller Text
272 pages
Frontispiece and 6 colour illustrations
Printed slipcase
9˝ x 6¼˝

The From Russia With Love Folio Edition is priced at $59.95 and is available now from the Folio Society website.

From Russia With Love (1959)

To celebrated the imminent arrival of Strike Lightning, I thought I'd share another cover that features train action imagery. This is the first UK paperback edition of Ian Fleming's From Russia With Love published by Pan Books in 1959.

Title: From Russia With Love

Author: Ian Fleming

Year: 1959
Edition: 1st Printing

Publisher: PAN Books

Also see: JAMES BOND UK first edition paperbacks 1955-1979.

From Russia With Love (1986) Italian paperback

Here's a 1986 Italian paperback edition of Ian Fleming's From Russia With Love from publisher Oscar Mondadori. One of my favorite covers.

"Tatiana" sells at auction

Stephan Bäckman reports on his excellent James Bond blog that an original painting of Tatiana Romanova by Richard Harvey sold at auction today for $594. Here's the image and description from the Swann auction website.

"Tatiana." Chalk and airbrush on paper showing a voluptuous woman lounging in bed, as James Bond, seen reflected in the mirror above the headboard, dons his robe. 394x559 mm; 15 1/2x22 inches, sight size. Unsigned but with publisher's label on verso. Illustration for "From Russia with Love" by Ian Fleming, published by The Reader's Digest in the 1980s; chosen and exhibited at The Society of Illustrators. Archivally matted and framed.

Bantam's BOND

Well, the last series I featured here, the Jove paperbacks, received a drubbing in the comments, with several of my UK friends complaining (justifiably) that they were far too "American" in their look and design. So to redeem the USA, here is another U.S. series -- which I'd say is just as "American" in look and vibe -- but one that I find pretty darn terrific! In fact, as far as cover paintings go, this might actually be one of the very best paperback series of them all, and it's a shame Bantam only did a handful of the books in this style.

Bantam first entered the Bond game in May 1969 when it published the paperback edition of Colonel Sun by Kingsley Amis. The book featured original cover art by the great Frank C. McCarthy, who in conjunction with Robert McGinnis painted the classic Bond movie posters for Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, and On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Then, starting in May 1971, Bantam released more Bond titles with McCarthy artwork, including Casino Royale, From Russia With Love, and Doctor No. The new series featured a bold JAMES BOND down the side and a tag-line touting the books a "All-Time" Bestsellers. Bantam would also reissue Colonel Sun with the new series look (this is a rare one), and finished off the year with a tie-in edition of Diamonds are Forever featuring movie poster art.

Bantam came back in June 1972 with a new edition of Goldfinger featuring McCarthy artwork that offered a rare glimpse of nudity. While they kept the "All-Time" tag, they didn't continue the series look, but instead established a new visual link -- first established on their Diamonds Are Forever tie-in -- of featuring the 007 movie logo on the backs of the books. In March 1973 they released Moonraker with the 007 logo backing and the same font as their DAF tie-in, but with very different "mod" cover art by an uncredited artist (which I still love as representative of its time). Perhaps had they continued the series we would have gotten more mod Bond covers like this?

Bantam concluded their run with a Live and Let Die tie-in released in July 1973. Ironically, this one would not feature the 007 movie logo on the back.

Speaking of movie art, elements of McCarthy's Colonel Sun artwork would later find their way onto the Thai poster for Never Say Never Again (1983).

Bantam's two movie tie-in editions.

Bantam U.S. paperback publication order:

Colonel Sun - May 1969

Casino Royale - May 1971

From Russia With Love - May 1971

Doctor No - July 1971

Colonel Sun (series art reissue) - ?

Diamond Are Forever (movie tie-in) - December 1971

Goldfinger - June 1972

Moonraker - March 1973

Live And Let Die (movie tie-in) - July 1973

Ian Fleming on the "death" of JAMES BOND

The HMSS Weblog (my go-to source for Bond film news, especially Bond 23 updates) has uncovered a fantastic letter Ian Fleming wrote to a fan who was concerned about James Bond's "death" at the end of the novel, From Russia With Love.

Fleming responds with a bulletin from Sir James Molony, Department of Neurology, St. Mary's Hospital, giving an update on 007's condition.

You can read the letter at the blog: Letters of Note.

You know, could this be considered canon? Yes, I think it should! :)

From Russia With Love gets the Penguin Ink treatment

Ian Fleming classic James Bond novel From Russia With Love has been released as a part of the "Penguin Ink Series."

The cover art is designed by Chris Garver, who is widely considered to be among the world's best tattoo artists.

Pretty nice!

'From Russia With Love' Decades Edition

CommanderBond.net has revealed cover art for a new edition of From Russia With Love. Part of the Penguin Decades series, the book is due for release in the UK on April 1st.

"Penguin Decades bring you the novels that helped shape modern Britain. When they were published, some were bestsellers, some were considered scandalous, and others were simply misunderstood. All represent their time and helped define their generation, while today each is considered a landmark work of storytelling."

Decent cover, but certainly that Walther P99 is an odd choice. Bond used a Beretta in From Russia With Love. If they wanted to use a Walther, certainly the PPK is the iconic Bond gun of choice. The P99 came into being in 1997 in the Pierce Brosnan Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies. Fans never warmed to it, and Eon wisely brought back the PPK in Quantum of Solace.