The Folio Society releases THUNDERBALL

The Folio Society has released their next illustrated slip-cased Ian Fleming classic, Thunderball.

Thunderball, the latest volume in the Folio Bond Collection, features a new delectable series of images by Fay Dalton, and introduces one of Ian Fleming’s greatest villains – the nefarious Blofeld.

Fay Dalton continues her celebrated work on Folio’s collectable Bond series, bringing fans of the agent more of her glamorous, sexy and dangerous interpretation of Fleming’s iconic creation. In this latest set of illustrations, Dalton glories in the darker side of the adventure, depicting Blofeld’s grisly execution of an underling, and the brutish Emilio Largo, doused in hellish light and ready to extract the information he needs from his prone victim, by whatever means necessary. Balancing these sinister visions are glittering images of the casino, the cool spectacle of a plane sinking beneath the waves, and the sunlit tropical fantasy of Bond carrying a bikini-clad girl from the ocean.

The pictorial slipcase – such a feature of this lavish series – shows Bond exploring a seabed fraught with hazards, in one of the book’s most memorable scenes. A stylish cloth binding, inspired by Bond’s impeccable suits, rounds off this exquisite edition.

The Thunderball Folio Edition is priced at $62.95 and is available now from the Folio Society website.

Also available are illustrated editions of Casino Royale, Moonraker, Diamonds Are Forever, From Russia With Love, Dr. No, and Goldfinger.

Vintage to release THE SPECTRE TRILOGY in October

In what looks to be a gentle tie-in with the new James Bond film, SPECTRE, Vintage books will release The SPECTRE Trilogy on October 1st. The book collects the Ian Fleming novels, Thunderball, On Her Majesty's Secret Service and You Only Live Twice.

These three novels had previously been collected and published under the title The Blofeld Trilogy in 2009.

You can pre-order The SPECTRE Trilogy now at Amazon.co.uk (UK) and Amazon.com (U.S.).

Brush up on SPECTRE before 'SPECTRE'

The big news out of Pinewood Studios in the UK today was the announcement of the title and cast of the 24th James Bond film, SPECTRE. After announcing the title, director Sam Mendes said, "Those for you who have some knowledge of the Bond franchise and the legend of Bond will probably have some idea of what that refers to, but I couldn't possibly comment."

Of course, we know exactly what this means, and that's why Bond fans are buzzing today. S.P.E.C.T.R.E. (Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, Extortion) was created by Ian Fleming in his 9th Bond novel, Thunderball, released in 1961. Bond battled the worldwide criminal organization and it's mysterious leader, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, in three books: Thunderball, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and You Only Live Twice. The Bond films featured SPECTRE as an antagonist until Diamonds Are Forever in 1971. For legal reasons, the filmmakers have been unable to use Bond's most famous foe until now.

Ian Fleming's SPECTRE trilogy.

John Gardner's SPECTRE trilogy.

While the return of SPECTRE is exciting news, it's actually not the big first comeback for the organization. The "hook" of John Gardner's second James Bond novel, For Special Services, was that SPECTRE was back! Gardner created his own SPECTRE trilogy (like Fleming, interrupted by one non-SPECTRE book) with For Special Services, Role of Honor, and Nobody Lives Forever. That last book, released in 1986, saw the final appearance of SPECTRE in book or film until today.

"So, concluded Bond as he cleared the tray away and got down to his books, SPECTRE walks again! But down what road this time?"

- On Her Majesty's Secret Service

Timothy Dalton in...THUNDERBALL?

I always enjoy finding copies of the James Bond books that use one of the Bond actors as their image of 007 on the cover. The best are the mis-matches, like using Roger Moore on the cover of You Only Live Twice. Here is one of my favorites. This is a Hungarian Thunderball with the image of Timothy Dalton (from The Living Daylights advance poster) on the cover. I found this in Budapest in 1990 when Dalton was still "the Bond of record."

Click here to check out some more Dalton era Bond covers.

'The Blofeld Trilogy' released in UK

CommanderBond.net reports that Penguin Classics new Bond anthology, The Blofeld Trilogy, has been released in the UK.

The Blofeld Trilogy collects the Ian Fleming novels Thunderball, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and You Only Live Twice -- all of which feature 007’s arch-nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld. The book also features an introduction by Nick Lezard.

The Blofeld Trilogy trade paperback is available from Amazon.co.uk.

Charity shop finds Thunderball first edition in donation bin

Wick St Barnabas charity shop volunteer Roger Butterworth was amazed to find a first edition copy of Ian Fleming's Thunderball, published in 1961, novel among the donations.

Butterworth, who also volunteers at the Littlehampton Museum, instantly recognised the value of the book, which is in excellent condition.

The 007 volume is on prominent display in Littlehampton Museum's popular summer exhibition, "On His Majesty's Secret Service", which celebrates the town's link with Bond creator Fleming. The museum is accepting bids in excess of £100 on behalf of the charity shop

The book will remain on display until the exhibition ends, on September 4.

Source: Littlehampton Gazette

'The Blofeld Trilogy'

CommanderBond.net reports that Penguin Classics will release The Blofeld Trilogy on October 1, 2009.

This new omnibus will include the Ian Fleming novels Thunderball, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and You Only Live Twice -- all of which feature 007’s arch-nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld. The book will also feature an introduction by Nick Lezard.

The Blofeld Trilogy paperback will retail for £14.99 and is available to pre-order from Amazon.co.uk.