Celebrating ICEBREAKER

 Ian Fleming Publications celebrates the 40th Anniversary of John Gardner's Icebreaker, released in the UK on July 7, 1983.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ian Fleming, Author (@ianflemings007)

Summer of '83

This summer sees two important James Bond 40th anniversaries. The first is the anniversary of the Roger Moore Bond film Octopussy, released in June 1983. I loved Octopussy when I saw it that summer and I still love it today. It will always be one of my favorite James Bond films. Remember when Bond movies provided fun and fantasy? Long live Octopussy!

Unfortunately, we never got a proper tie-in edition of Fleming's Octopussy and this was before the resumption of the novelizations (with the exception of these). As with For Your Eyes Only, the closest we came was a Marvel comic book adaptation written by Steve Moore with art by Paul Neary. The FYEO adaptation was published as two standalone comics, a paperback book, and a magazine. For Octopussy we just got the magazine. But you can bet I snapped it up and still have it. 

But there was another Bond release that summer that had me just as excited. John Gardner's third 007 novel Icebreaker was released by Putnam in April in the U.S. and July in the UK. Boy, was this a different James Bond from the movies! I admit at the time I didn't fully appreciate Icebreaker as it felt a little too different, not just from the films, but from Gardner's first two books that stuck closer to the Bond formula. But from day one I loved the title and idea of a largely snowbound 007 adventure set in the Arctic Circle. With subsequent re-reads, Icebreaker has become my favorite Gardner book and one of my favorite continuation novels in general. Long live Icebreaker!

Happy 40th Anniversaries to Octopussy and Icebreaker. For me these were both All Time Highs.

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!

Finding what's NEW in the past

Movie Bond fans may think they have it tough having to endure yet another delay in the release of No Time To Die. But at least they have something to wait for! Us book Bond fans don't even have that much. And try as I might, I just cannot get my literary Bond fix from the Dynamite comics. I'm starving.

So in these desperate times, I've gone into the past to find something new. Below are some goodies from the 1980s when the literary Bond was BACK every year. We know it can happen!

May 3, 1981.

May 1, 1983

Click to enlarge.

ICEBREAKER 1985 Coronet paperback

Continuing our look back at the 1985 UK Coronet paperbacks, here's Icebreaker, my favorite John Gardner Bond novel and another great cover.

Check out the 1985 Coronet Licence Renewed, For Special Services, and Role of Honour.

Erik Carlsson, 1929-2015

Erik Carlsson, a.k.a. "Mr. Saab", has passed away at age 86. Carlsson was an international rally racing star who assisted author John Gardner in research for his third James Bond novel, Icebreaker. Gardner thanked Carlsson by including him in the book:

Bond then flew via Helsinki to Rovaniemi, to meet up with driving experts, like his old friend Erik Carlsson and the dapper Simo Lampinen. The Driving Course took only a few days, and after a word to the massive Erik Carlsson, who promised to keep an eye on the Silver Beast, he left the hotel near Rovaniemi in the early hours of a bitterly cold morning.

Later Carlsson brings Bond's Saab 900 Turbo north and leaves 007 a note in his glove compartment which reads:

Good luck, Whatever You're Doing... Remember what I've taught you about the left foot!!! -Erik.

Read Erik Carlsson's obituary at The Telegraph.

Cover art for new JOHN GARDNER German reprints

The first three James Bond novels by John Gardner will be reprinted in German with original cover art by Michael Gillette. You'll recall that Gillette did the covers for the Centenary editions of the Ian Fleming novels in 2008. Below are Gillette's covers for License Renewed, For Special Services, and Icebreaker, which come courtesy of Simon Gardner. Publication dates are yet to be announced.

License Renewed

For Special Services

Icebreaker

Thank you, Simon.

30TH ANNIVERSARY OF JOHN GARDNER'S 'ICEBREAKER'

After his successful comeback in License Renewed and For Special Services, John Gardner's James Bond returned in his third adventure, Icebreaker. The book was first published in the U.S. by Putnam in late April 1983 (I've never been able to nail down the exact date). It was released in the UK by Jonathan Cape on July 7, 1983.

In Icebreaker James Bond is dispatched by M to Northern Finland where he must join a team of agents from the CIA, Mossad, and the KGB. Their mission is to discover whether a Neo-Nazi terrorist organization is stock piling and distribution weapons from within the Arctic Circle. Matters get quickly out of hand and Bond finds himself battling terrorists and his own partners in the frozen forests of Lapland. Ultimately 007 faces off with the terrorist mastermind, Count Konrad von Gloda, inside his massive bunker lair, the Ice Palace.

For me, Icebreaker was that magic #3. It was a bold departure from Gardner's more movie formula-based first two books and was firmly rooted in the world of the literary James Bond. One could not picture Roger Moore in Icebreaker. The book also introduced, for better or worse, hallmarks of the Gardner era, such a double and triple crosses. Icebreaker is a true espionage tale with fresh locations (Libya, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Helsinki, Lapland, Arctic Russia), great characters, a fiendish torture, and one of the best titles ever. For many years Gardner named it as his favorite book. It's still my favorite.

Interestingly, while Icebreaker was far removed from the films in 1983 (the year of Octopussy), I think it's now the Gardner book that is most suited to the more realistic Daniel Craig era. Sure, the Neo-Nazi plot would need to be updated (not too difficult as it's really about terrorists), but it seems to me the idea of Bond being forced, reluctantly, to work as the part of a team is a good next step for Craig's Bond. After Skyfall, Craig's Bond is now firmly 007. But can he tamp down his urge to always go solo and work with agents who might not share his worldview? Can he trust? Should he trust? That is the core of what Icebreaker sets up and explores.

Icebreraker U.S. and UK first editions.

Icebreaker was recently republished in new paperback editions from Orion in the UK and Pegasus in the U.S. I'd say this is one definitely worth revisiting in its anniversary year.

WHATCULTURE.COM counts down the "10 Unadapted 007 Stories We’d Love To See Made Next"

Whatculture.com has posted a blog counting down 10 continuation novels that could make good Bond films. It's a pretty thoughtful list, although I would have swapped out #4 Scorpius in favor of Brokenclaw, which I think could make a great Craig-era Bond. Read: "Bond 24: 10 Unadapted 007 Stories We’d Love To See Made Next."

If you don't feel like clicking through, here's the list:

10. High Time To Kill (Raymond Benson)

9. Young Bond (Charlie Higson)

8. License Renewed (John Gardner)

7. For Special Services (John Gardner)

6. Icebreaker (John Gardner)

5. Devil May Care (Sebastian Faulks)

4. Scorpius (John Gardner)

3. Colonel Sun (Kingsley Amis)

2. The Man With The Red Tattoo (Raymond Benson)

1. Carte Blanche (Jeffery Deaver)

Second wave of UK JOHN GARDNER reprints now shipping

The second wave of John Gardner UK reprints from Orion are now shipping from Amazon.co.uk. The books are Icebreaker, Role of Honour and Nobody Lives For Ever.

Orion is reprinting all the John Gardner James Bond books in paperback with terrific new cover designs by Dan Mogford. Next up will be No Deals, Mr. Bond and Brokenclaw on July 5 (no, I don't know why Brokenclaw is being released out of order).

Visit our special Gardner Renewed page for links and release date updates for all the Gardner-Bond reprints in the U.S. and UK.

The Most Dangerous Covers Ever...

We've been talking a lot about James Bond cover silhouettes lately; from the U.S. silhouettes of the 1980s to the alleged "Brosnan" silhouette of 1990 to the move away from silhouettes on the new Classic covers from Vintage. So I thought it was time to post up these reprints of the first six John Gardner books in the UK by Coronet (No Deals, Mr. Bond was a first). These were released in 1987 and I always thought the new cover silhouette looked like Timothy Dalton, who was reigning as "The Most Dangerous Bond Ever" at the time. Look at the looser cut of his tux and the longer hair... I don't know, says Timmy D to me.

Oh course, Timothy Dalton would only make two Bond films, The Living Daylights (1987) and Licence To Kill (1989), and Coronet would revamp the Gardner (and Fleming) covers in the 1990s. So even if these silhouettes aren't inspired by Dalton, these were the books on the shelves during his era, so I will always think of these as "the Dalton editions."

Breaking the ICE in 1983

Here's an advertisement for John Gardner's third James Bond novel, Icebreaker, which ran in the Los Angeles Times on May 1, 1983. A great ad for my favorite Gardner book.

Icebreaker was reissued last year in the U.S. in a new paperback edition by Pegasus. It will be republished by Orion in the UK next month.

The fangs of ICEBREAKER

After posting my blog about the John Gardner first edition paperbacks, reader Dan Gale alerted me to something that I never knew. It's appears my UK Icebreaker is not a first edition after all, and this is obvious from the cover art. First editions of Icebreaker had an error in the artwork which resulted in the skull having "fangs". In actuality, they are not fangs, but sections of the artwork that should have been colored in black or cut out completely. This error was fixed on the second print onward.

Icebreaker fanged (first) and defanged (second).

Looks like I'm on a fang hunt. Thank you Dan!

Limited John Gardner THE JAMES BOND COLLECTION box set released in UK

The John Gardner JAMES BOND COLLECTION box set from Orion Books has been released in the UK. Limited to an initial print run of 200, the set contains the new hardcover reprints of Gardner's first five 007 novels: Licence Renewed, For Special Services, Icebreaker, Role of Honour, and Nobody Lives For Ever. The books all feature their original UK cover art.

The set is currently 44% off at Amazon.co.uk, bringing the price down from £80.00 to £44.80.

Visit our special Gardner Renewed page for information and links for all the current and upcoming John Gardner-James Bond reprints in the UK and U.S.

The John Gardner James Bond Box Set features the original UK cover art (above).

First set of JOHN GARDNER U.S. reprints now shipping

The first three John Gardner U.S. reprints from Pegasus, License Renewed, For Special Services, and Icebreaker, have slipped out ahead of their official Oct 12 release date and are shipping NOW from Amazon.com. Below is the final cover art, which is a vast improvement over the originally planned art, IMO.

Click to enlarge

These first three books contain new introductions by Raymond Benson and Otto Penzler, and mark the first time the Gardner books have been published as trade paperbacks in the U.S. Role of Honor and Nobody Lives Forever are scheduled for release next year.

Check out our special Gardner Renewed page for links and the latest release date information on all the Gardner-Bond reprints in the U.S. and UK.

Thanks to Anders at From Sweden With Love for the higher res cover images.

UPDATE: Got 'em!

Now that's a BOND title

As 007 fans eagerly await the title of the next James Bond film (will it be a Fleming or original?), I thought I'd throw up this terrific bookstore teaser from 1983 showing what was then the new James Bond book, ICEBREAKER. Certainly this is one of the great Bond titles for one of the very best Bond books. I'm also just partial to one-word Bond titles.

Ironically, ICEBREAKER was a title that author John Gardner had to fight for. In a 1985 interview with Bondage Magazine (Number 14) he spoke about what was then his fifth Bond novel (Nobody Lives Forever), saying:

"We haven't a title yet...I got an odd title that they said, 'Well, maybe...but maybe we can do better than that.' But they said that with Icebreaker. They went though a hundred and one different titles, and then went back to Icebreaker."

(BTW, Gardner's "odd title" choice for his fifth book was You Only Die Once.)

I expect Eon is currently going thorough their own one hundred and one title ideas. Let's hope when they settle it's a title that's as solid as ICEBREAKER.

FIRST SET OF JOHN GARDNER 007 REPRINTS RELEASED TODAY

The first three hardcover reprints of the classic John Gardner James Bond novels are released today by Swordfish/Orion Books. The titles are License Renewed (first published in 1981), For Special Services (1982), and Icebreaker (1983). The books each feature their beautiful original cover art (above). The cover for License Renewed is done by Richard Chopping, who provided covers for many of the Fleming titles.

Rowland White, Non-fiction Publishing Director and Publisher of Swordfish says: “As I grew up in the 1980s, John Gardner’s Bond was, to a large extent, my Bond. I missed out on the chance to anticipate the publication of a new Bond from Ian Fleming. Instead I looked forward to my next fix of 007 from the hand of John Gardner. It’s a huge pleasure and privilege to now have the opportunity to publish new editions of these classic thrillers on the Swordfish list.”

John Gardner

Corinne Turner, Managing Director of Ian Fleming Publications Ltd said “We are delighted that the 30th anniversary of the first Gardner Bond novel is being celebrated with such a lovely edition. I can’t imagine a more fitting tribute to one of our longest serving and most dedicated Bond authors.”

Simon Gardner, the author's son, said "My father, John Edmund Gardner, was extremely proud to have been asked to take on the role of Bond continuation novelist, and if he were alive today he would be overjoyed to see his Bond novels back in print for a new generation of fans to enjoy. On behalf of the family, I would like to say how pleased we all are that The Orion Publishing Group are re-printing these first five novels, complete with their original jackets. It is very exciting that these will be released under Orion's new imprint, Swordfish. We all find it hard to believe it is the 30th anniversary of the publication of Licence Renewed."

Personally, I'm extremely excited about the release of these books. I also grew up with Gardner's Bond. I can recall when and where I got every book, and who I was at the time. The Gardner books are really what made me such a fan of the literary 007. I also lobbied for 30th Anniversary editions, so this is a dream come true. I'm thrilled that younger fans can now rediscover John Gardner's James Bond for themselves.

Orion will release Role of Honor and Nobody Lives Forever in July. They will then release a Box Set of all five hardcover reprints in November, and then ALL the John Gardner James Bond novels in paperback with all-new cover art throughout 2012 and 2013. For the full release timeline, visit our special Gardner Renewed page.

Original ads for License Renewed, For Special Services, and Icebreaker

Interesting ICEBREAKER art

Flipping through some old German fanzines, I came across this interesting artwork for John Gardner's third James Bond novel, Icebreaker.

The artwork is similar to the UK hardcover in that it is Choppingesque, but is very different in design. The UK cover shows the skeleton hand pinned beneath a wooden plank clutching a broken ski pole. This art shows the hand clutching dandelions against an Iron Cross background.

Could this have been a rejected cover design that was then used for adverts?

Don't know much about this, and this is the best image I have. Does anyone have a better one?

LINK: The best Bond car ever

"James Bond is back in a Saab Turbo."

Say what?

That's right. When James Bond returned in 1980 in the first John Gardner novel License Renewed, the author gave 007 a "fuel efficient" Saab Turbo 900. The car was nicknamed "the Silver Beast" and it appeared in the next two books, For Special Services and Icebreaker. Most younger fans now balk at the idea of James Bond driving such a "common" car, but for my money the Saab was the greatest Bond spy car of them all precisely because it was a common car. But oh the secrets it hid under its hood.

Click here for my look back at Bond's Beast.

.