New Adult Bond Novel Coming in 2008

Ian Fleming Publications have announced plans to commission a one-off adult James Bond novel to celebrate the centenary of Ian Fleming's birth in 2008.

Following the success of Charlie Higson's Young Bond series (Book 2, Blood Fever is to be released in January 2006), IFP are keen to commission a big-name author to pen the new novel.

"We are still in the planning stages, but at the moment the idea would be to have it done by an established author - potentially a big name," said Zoe Watkins of IFP. "The literary Bond is something we want to focus on and any work would have to be in keeping with the literary aspects of the books. If it was successful there could be scope for further novels."

According to Ms Watkins, the new novel will be far removed from the gloss of 007's cinematic incarnation, marking a return to the dark and complex nature of Fleming's early works.

Scotsman.com reports the early favorites to be approached to pen the new novel include Lee Child (Killing Floor), Frederick Forsyth (The Day of the Jackal) and John le Carré (The Tailor of Panama).

John Gardner, who penned 16 James Bond novels throughout the 1980s and 1990s (including two novelisations) has ruled himself out for taking on the new project. "Sorry, but for me Bond is very much in the past. No more comments, no more interviews."

The adult literary James Bond went on hiatus in 2002, following the publication of Raymond Benson's The Man With The Red Tattoo and the novelisation of Die Another Day. Earlier this year, Penguin released the first in a series of five novels by Charlie Higson, focussing on Bond's time at Eton in the 1930s.

Asked about the possibility of him writing the new adult Bond novel, Higson commented, "I'm very honored. But I'm busy writing the young Bond books and I can't take the time out. It's a shame because I'd love to do it."

Source: CommanderBond.net

Young Bond Book 2 is BLOOD FEVER

PRESS RELEASE

Following the huge success of the first Young Bond book, SilverFin, Puffin Books and Ian Fleming Publications are delighted to reveal the title and jacket image for the second book in the series, Blood Fever, which will be published on Thursday 5th January 2006. The book is by the much-acclaimed author of SilverFin, Charlie Higson.

SilverFin, which was published in March this year, has sold 125,000 copies in the UK alone, and was in the Top Ten of the Children's Bestseller lists for 11 weeks. In the book, readers are introduced to a 13-year old James Bond, who gets involved in an evil plot in the Scottish Highlands while in his first year at Eton. Blood Fever is set largely in Sardinia, where James is spending his summer holidays, and features, in Charlie Higson's words, pirates, bandits, art thieves and a shoot-out in a cave; everything you could want from a James Bond book. It is the second in a planned series of five Young Bond books.

Francesca Dow, Managing Director of Puffin, said: "We are delighted with the success of SilverFin and anticipate a huge second bestseller in Blood Fever. Gritty, action-packed and villain-ridden - it is unputdownable."

THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH large print edition released

Raymond Benson’s novelization of The World Is Not Enough, originally published in 1999, has just been released in a large print edition by Ulverscroft Large Print and can be purchased at Amazon.co.uk.

What makes this particular book interesting (and collectible) is that it uses cover art radically different from what appeared on the original 1999 U.S. and UK releases. While many large print editions opt for variant covers, novelisations typically stick with the movie poster art. But not this time.

This is the second large print edition of a Benson Bond film novelisation, the first being Die Another Day. Benson’s original Bond books High Time To Kill, DoubleShot, and Never Dream of Dying have also been published in large print. There were plans for a large print edition of The Man With The Red Tattoo, but the book has yet to materialize.

Large print editions can be highly collectible as they are typically published in small quantities with most going to libraries. All the Fleming novels and most of the James Bond novels by John Gardner have appeared in large print editions.

THE MAN WITH THE RED TATTOO museum to open in Japan

Raymond Benson

The government of Kagawa Prefecture in Japan will honour author Raymond Benson with a museum dedicated to his sixth original James Bond novel, The Man With the Red Tattoo.

Between 1996 and 2002, Benson, a resident of Buffalo Grove, Illinois, was the third writer officially commissioned by the Estate of Ian Fleming to pen 007 continuation novels. During his tenure, Benson wrote and published six original James Bond novels, three film tie-in “novelizations,” and three short stories. His sixth and final original 007 novel, The Man With the Red Tattoo (published in 2002 in the U.S. by Putnam and in the U.K. by Hodder & Stoughton), was set in Japan. A major part of the story takes place on Naoshima Island in Kagawa Prefecture.

Since the novel’s publication, Kagawa Prefecture, Naoshima Town, and a number of other organizations have been working together to promote the cinematic adaptation and filming of the novel in a move to revitalize Naoshima and the wider Seto Inland Sea region. Their efforts have been receiving a great deal of attention in the Japanese media, leading to the construction of a facility which could be used to introduce the locations on the island.

The 007 The Man With the Red Tattoo Museum aims to present Naoshima as a Bond location on a national scale, introduce visitors to the story of The Man With the Red Tattoo and other James Bond 007 novels, feature information on Benson and the other successive authors who have contributed to the legacy of 007, and exhibit material and memorabilia related to the novels and films.

Designed by Hidemi Inoue of Inoue Commercial Space Planning, The 007 The Man With the Red Tattoo Museum will open on July 24, 2005. It is located at 2310 Miyanoura, Naoshima (one minute from Myanoura Bay). For more information, contact the International Affairs Division, Kagawa Prefectural Government, Tel: 087-832-3026, Fax 087-837-4289.

To keep up with Raymond Benson’s latest work, appearances, and to purchase his books, visit www.raymondbenson.com.

CHARLIE HIGSON IN LOS ANGELES

Charlie Higson with CBn's Athena Stamos

CBn was on the scene last night when Young Bond author Charlie Higson appeared at Borders Books in Torrance, California to promote SilverFin. This was Higson’s fifth stop in his seven city U.S. book tour. Most of the attendees were a bit older than the Young Bond pre-teen target audience. “I’m glad to see so many kids here,” quipped Higson when he appeared at 7:00.

In person, Higson appears much younger than in his pictures. He is also quite soft-spoken and witty. Considering he is a major TV star in the UK, he’s surprisingly humble and self-effacing about himself and his work.

Higson started his talk by explaining how he got the job and his intention to create a good, rousing adventure novel and not a “boy spy” book. “This is not Cody Banks or Spy Kids,” he said.

He also talked about how Ian Fleming Publications (IFP) wanted to stay true to Fleming and initiate a whole new James Bond “line” with the new series. However, a problem arose in that Fleming fudged James Bond’s age throughout his books (and the films have fudged it even more). IFP and Higson made a decision to firmly plant Bond’s birth date in the year 1920, making him 13-years-old in SilverFin.

Higson then retrieved a copy of Ian Fleming’s You Only Live Twice and read a section from James Bond’s official obituary — the only time Fleming wrote about Bond’s past in any real detail. He explained this is what he used as the basics for Bond’s background in SilverFin. But Higson cautions he will keep Bond at Eton for more than “two halves” as stated in the obit. He fears purists will “crucify” him for this (and he wasn’t kidding, he really is worried about fan reaction here). He said he will work it all out in Book 5 — but I say what I think Fleming would say on this matter, “Don’t worry about it.”

Higson then spoke about the real Eton of the 1930s and read the introductory paragraph in which we meet young James Bond. He noted afterwards how he thought a boy at Eton would introduce himself quite formally as “Bond, James Bond,” thereby forming a lifetime habit. (Quite clever, that.)

Higson then read from the chapter in which we meet the villain of the book, Lord Hellebore. He apologizing for making his villain an American, and for his own poor attempt at doing an American accent. “This will be my revenge for all those American actors who come over and try to do and English accents,” he said with a grin.

Far from being offended, the crowd seemed to enjoy being cast as the villain — which is always the best role anyway.

After the talk there was a lively Q&A session in which a few interesting new details about SilverFin and the Young Bond series emerged:

★ Higson will probably not be writing the Young Bond graphic novels himself, but he is a big fan of “comics” and hopes IFP will get a major graphic novelist for the new series (which Higson will oversee).

★ Higson was originally commissioned to write only one Young Bond book with the idea of there being a different writer for each of the five novels. But one by one the other writers “sort of fell away” and the full job was handed to Higson.

★ Higson completed the SilverFin manuscript well before IFP made the formal announcement of the Young Bond series. They wanted to see if the book worked before they committed to the concept.

★ Higson seemed excited about Book 2 and repeated what CBners already know about Sardinia, art theft, and bandits. But he added that he has a very Bond-like climax set in a cave “with lots of gunfire,” etc.

★ IFP planned to release Book 2 in Fall ‘05 in conjunction with the release of Casino Royale. But when the film was delayed a year, IFP decided they didn’t need to rush the release, hence the push back to Jan ‘06.

★ Higson said IFP has many exciting James Bond projects in the works with an announcement of something very cool coming soon. He mentioned a few of these projects, but then cautioned, “I don’t know what I can talk about and what I can’t.”

When the inevitable question about a Young Bond film arouse, Hisgon acknowledged that the question of James Bond films right is a complex one, but Eon doesn’t automatically own the film rights to the Young Bond series. Still, IFP wants to establish the books before they think about doing any Young Bond films.

(It should be noted that during the Q&A, CBn’s own Athena007’s cellphone rang out the James Bond theme, drawing a very amused reaction from Higson and the assembled crowd.)

After the Q&A, Mr. Higson signed copies of SilverFin and chatted one on one with all the attendees. He recalled doing his CBn Interview and said he thought it “helped.” He’s been pleased with fan reaction to his book.

As the crowd dispersed, Higson signed a stack of books for the store (yes, you can get a signed SilverFin from Borders Books in Torrance, folks).

Charlie Higson continues his book tour Thursday in New Jersey. The tour concludes Friday in Washington D.C.

All in all, it was a terrific time and a real treat to meet the man who now holds James Bond’s literary license to kill.