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Anthony Horowitz's James Bond novel - Trigger Mortis

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  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    edited June 2016 Posts: 17,829
    It's funny that Trixie is leaning on the car... what would Speed say-? :))
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    I could give the cover a shot, too. :)
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,343
    chrisisall wrote: »
    It's funny that Trixie is leaning on the car... what would Speed say-? :))

    "It's okay to do that. It's not a DeLorean." :D
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 8,331
    ClarkDevlin wrote: »
    @CommanderRoss, what were your thoughts on Benson's novels?

    Haven't read those. I was really not into continuation novels at all, but after some encouragement here, or even on the old forum, I decided I'd give them a chance with The Devil May Care. Now that put me off them for quite a bit. Then it was Carte Blanche, which was marginally better and again put me off for quite a bit. So I missed out on Solo, trying again with Trigger Mortis. As you can read on pages past I'm not that convinced, but all in all it's a lot better then those two before. So I figured there should be at least one good continuation novel, and there is and I just read it: Colonel Sun. It isn't perfect and it has some minor flaws in it, but all in all it's a very, very good effort which I thoroughly enjoyed. It's the only one I've read with the same tension buildup as Fleming wrote.

  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,343
    I agree that Kingsley Amis' Colonel Sun remains the first and best of the lot of the Continuation Bond novels.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,829
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    I agree that Kingsley Amis' Colonel Sun remains the first and best of the lot of the Continuation Bond novels.
    Yeah, it's the only one I've read that possibly could have fooled me if it had Fleming's name on the cover...

  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    edited June 2016 Posts: 15,423
    I really am one of the few here, then, who really enjoys Raymond Benson's Bond novels. They are really close to the film Bonds rather than the Literary Bonds. Then again, that's what I always preferred.
  • DoctorNoDoctorNo USA-Maryland
    Posts: 755
    i think Trigger Mortis is better and more Fleming than Colonel Sun. I was always a little disappointed with with CS. Good but overrated.

    Trigger Mortis... I like the idea of the retro cover, but they should have got the artist who did all the Fleming paperback reprints a decades ago.

    If the Fleming estate were to get them reprinted hardcovers with those kind of (but different) retro designs, I would be forced to buy them all over again.
  • Major_BoothroydMajor_Boothroyd Republic of Isthmus
    Posts: 2,722
    I haven't read many of the continuation novels but I think Horowitz delivers about as good as you can expect. Some of the chapters are outstanding - overall the pussy galore diversion was interesting but not very satisfying. The action and suspense sequences are where Horowitz excels and the villain's backstory revelation is standout. Horowitz tries to capture the spirit of fleming and is quite successful I think.
  • timmertimmer
    Posts: 4,622
    ClarkDevlin wrote: »
    Chaps, the new US paperback for Trigger Mortis has been revealed, set to come out on 6th of September later this year, available to pre-order here.

    9SJwifj.jpg

    I have the Cdn hardcover but I'd pick up that pb just for the collectible cover.
    Yes, the pulp look is real catchy
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    timmer wrote: »
    ClarkDevlin wrote: »
    Chaps, the new US paperback for Trigger Mortis has been revealed, set to come out on 6th of September later this year, available to pre-order here.

    9SJwifj.jpg

    I have the Cdn hardcover but I'd pick up that pb just for the collectible cover.
    Yes, the pulp look is real catchy
    Some Roland Shaw music would go well with the pulpy look, don't you think? :D
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,359
    ClarkDevlin wrote: »
    timmer wrote: »
    ClarkDevlin wrote: »
    Chaps, the new US paperback for Trigger Mortis has been revealed, set to come out on 6th of September later this year, available to pre-order here.

    9SJwifj.jpg

    I have the Cdn hardcover but I'd pick up that pb just for the collectible cover.
    Yes, the pulp look is real catchy
    Some Roland Shaw music would go well with the pulpy look, don't you think? :D

  • boldfingerboldfinger
    Posts: 5,767
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    chrisisall wrote: »
    EH, the DB5 is unnecessary...

    Shouldn't it be a DBIII?!

    And I love that US cover too. :)
    If at all, it should be a Bentley. The DB III is introduced in TB :-B .
  • KillmasterKillmaster Roanoke, Virginia USA
    Posts: 15
    TERRIBLE cover! Way too cartoon-y. It looks like an advertisement for the "Archer" animated TV series. I've said it before... when it comes to cover art for the Bond novels, the British versions are head and shoulders above the US versions.
  • PussyNoMorePussyNoMore
    Posts: 520
    Killmaster wrote: »
    ... when it comes to cover art for the Bond novels, the British versions are head and shoulders above the US versions.

    For the most part you are correct but this, and the terrific Penguin USA Richie Fahey Flemings are the exception.
    The UK hardback 'TM' first edition was terrible. Happily what lay between the covers wasn't.

  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    boldfinger wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    chrisisall wrote: »
    EH, the DB5 is unnecessary...

    Shouldn't it be a DBIII?!

    And I love that US cover too. :)
    If at all, it should be a Bentley. The DB III is introduced in TB :-B .
    Uumm... Nope. Its only appearance is in Goldfinger.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    I too thought it was Goldfinger.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    Yes, with the homing device in it.
  • DoctorNoDoctorNo USA-Maryland
    Posts: 755

    Agree, the Penguin USA Richie Fahey Flemings are awesome. Way better than the Archer cartoon-y they went with.



    penguin11.jpeg?w=529&h=285
  • boldfingerboldfinger
    Posts: 5,767
    ClarkDevlin wrote: »
    boldfinger wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    chrisisall wrote: »
    EH, the DB5 is unnecessary...

    Shouldn't it be a DBIII?!

    And I love that US cover too. :)
    If at all, it should be a Bentley. The DB III is introduced in TB :-B .
    Uumm... Nope. Its only appearance is in Goldfinger.
    I stand corrected. Bond drives Bentley in TB.

  • PussyNoMorePussyNoMore
    Posts: 520
    DoctorNo wrote: »
    Agree, the Penguin USA Richie Fahey Flemings are awesome. Way better than the Archer cartoon-y they went with.



    penguin11.jpeg?w=529&h=285

    To digress, when it comes to cover art I would vote as follows.
    1) Chopping - peerless. FRWL is my favourite. TB a close second and GF a good third.
    2) Hawkey - TB ground breaking. OHMSS blood curdling.
    3) Fahey - FRWL sexy. TSWLM cool.
    Three very different and contrasting styles that show the way.

  • BounineBounine
    Posts: 2,599
    boldfinger wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    Mrcoggins wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    I just got the Orion paperback of Trigger Mortis in Tesco yesterday. It's a lovely cover design.

    Every little helps as they say .

    :))

    Yes, and that's my fourth version of the novel I've bought. I think I've done my bit for Horowitz and IFP! ;)
    After the small paperback came out ;-), I finally read Trigger Mortis.
    I was suprised by how much it reads like a Fleming novel. I would never demand of any other writer to write like Fleming, all the more so I find Horowitz´ achievement impressive. That said, the novel felt as if Horowitz writing as Horowitz and not as someone else flows better.
    As with Fleming´s novels, I enjoyed the action more than the more contemplative parts. In fact, I found the discrepancy even bigger than in Fleming´s novels. The action was written brilliantly. The more quiet bits dragged several times, mainly because they seemed to be more busy having Bond think than having a good flow. The references to other Bond novels felt at the same time annoying and very clever in the way they were used in the context. In any case, they were too many. Horowitz writes so well he doesn´t need those references to make me recognize I´m reading a Bond novel. It seems to be a fashion at the moment to shove such references down the customer´s throat, given that the films also don´t refrain from doing it. I would be happier without.

    No Bond novel feels like a Bond novel to me without the quieter bits. Horowitz's Trigger Mortis didn't drag for me at all. In fact, it felt too rushed in parts. I would have liked to have had more dialogue between Bond and Tanner.
  • BounineBounine
    edited June 2016 Posts: 2,599
    DoctorNo wrote: »
    Agree, the Penguin USA Richie Fahey Flemings are awesome. Way better than the Archer cartoon-y they went with.



    penguin11.jpeg?w=529&h=285

    I love these covers especially the Dr. No one. I had two box sets of these books that I got from a cheap book website when I was living in London. The first box was accidentally delivered to my neighbors so I got them to send another box. After it was delivered, the neighbors dropped off the first box. Before I returned to my home country, I got my friend to sell both boxes on ebay for me as it would have been expensive to have posted them back to my homeland. I regret not keeping one box now. Surely I could have lugged them on the plane with me...

    This Trigger Mortis cover is nice but not up there with the above ones. Still, definitely better than the hardback versions.

    Damn, I hope IFP don't shoot themselves in the foot and ask Horowitz to sign a contract to write a few more. When I read Trigger Mortis, I seldom felt like I was reading a continuation book. In most parts it felt so natural. I haven't felt like that with a continuation book since the early Gardner era. Although I did read a couple of Gardner books when I was only halfway through the Fleming books for the first time back in the mid 90's. I went into the book without a feeling of nervousness too which was due to the fact that so many literary Bond fans liked the book and supported Horowitz.

    Sometimes I can't but help wondering if IFP have chosen to go in a different direction and have decided to ask someone like Cole, Higson or someone else to continue the young Bond books up into Bond's war years until he's recruited in to the service as a young adult (which would be great) and have decided not to continue the adult books in Bond's later years (not good). However, I have been guilty of thinking too much sometimes...
  • boldfingerboldfinger
    Posts: 5,767
    Bounine wrote: »
    boldfinger wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    Mrcoggins wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    I just got the Orion paperback of Trigger Mortis in Tesco yesterday. It's a lovely cover design.

    Every little helps as they say .

    :))

    Yes, and that's my fourth version of the novel I've bought. I think I've done my bit for Horowitz and IFP! ;)
    After the small paperback came out ;-), I finally read Trigger Mortis.
    I was suprised by how much it reads like a Fleming novel. I would never demand of any other writer to write like Fleming, all the more so I find Horowitz´ achievement impressive. That said, the novel felt as if Horowitz writing as Horowitz and not as someone else flows better.
    As with Fleming´s novels, I enjoyed the action more than the more contemplative parts. In fact, I found the discrepancy even bigger than in Fleming´s novels. The action was written brilliantly. The more quiet bits dragged several times, mainly because they seemed to be more busy having Bond think than having a good flow. The references to other Bond novels felt at the same time annoying and very clever in the way they were used in the context. In any case, they were too many. Horowitz writes so well he doesn´t need those references to make me recognize I´m reading a Bond novel. It seems to be a fashion at the moment to shove such references down the customer´s throat, given that the films also don´t refrain from doing it. I would be happier without.

    No Bond novel feels like a Bond novel to me without the quieter bits. Horowitz's Trigger Mortis didn't drag for me at all. In fact, it felt too rushed in parts. I would have liked to have had more dialogue between Bond and Tanner.
    The quieter bits didn´t drag for me because the were quieter, but because I didn´t like how they were written.

  • BounineBounine
    Posts: 2,599
    boldfinger wrote: »
    Bounine wrote: »
    boldfinger wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    Mrcoggins wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    I just got the Orion paperback of Trigger Mortis in Tesco yesterday. It's a lovely cover design.

    Every little helps as they say .

    :))

    Yes, and that's my fourth version of the novel I've bought. I think I've done my bit for Horowitz and IFP! ;)
    After the small paperback came out ;-), I finally read Trigger Mortis.
    I was suprised by how much it reads like a Fleming novel. I would never demand of any other writer to write like Fleming, all the more so I find Horowitz´ achievement impressive. That said, the novel felt as if Horowitz writing as Horowitz and not as someone else flows better.
    As with Fleming´s novels, I enjoyed the action more than the more contemplative parts. In fact, I found the discrepancy even bigger than in Fleming´s novels. The action was written brilliantly. The more quiet bits dragged several times, mainly because they seemed to be more busy having Bond think than having a good flow. The references to other Bond novels felt at the same time annoying and very clever in the way they were used in the context. In any case, they were too many. Horowitz writes so well he doesn´t need those references to make me recognize I´m reading a Bond novel. It seems to be a fashion at the moment to shove such references down the customer´s throat, given that the films also don´t refrain from doing it. I would be happier without.

    No Bond novel feels like a Bond novel to me without the quieter bits. Horowitz's Trigger Mortis didn't drag for me at all. In fact, it felt too rushed in parts. I would have liked to have had more dialogue between Bond and Tanner.
    The quieter bits didn´t drag for me because the were quieter, but because I didn´t like how they were written.

    What about the writing didn't you like?
  • boldfingerboldfinger
    Posts: 5,767
    Bounine wrote: »
    boldfinger wrote: »
    Bounine wrote: »
    boldfinger wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    Mrcoggins wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    I just got the Orion paperback of Trigger Mortis in Tesco yesterday. It's a lovely cover design.

    Every little helps as they say .

    :))

    Yes, and that's my fourth version of the novel I've bought. I think I've done my bit for Horowitz and IFP! ;)
    After the small paperback came out ;-), I finally read Trigger Mortis.
    I was suprised by how much it reads like a Fleming novel. I would never demand of any other writer to write like Fleming, all the more so I find Horowitz´ achievement impressive. That said, the novel felt as if Horowitz writing as Horowitz and not as someone else flows better.
    As with Fleming´s novels, I enjoyed the action more than the more contemplative parts. In fact, I found the discrepancy even bigger than in Fleming´s novels. The action was written brilliantly. The more quiet bits dragged several times, mainly because they seemed to be more busy having Bond think than having a good flow. The references to other Bond novels felt at the same time annoying and very clever in the way they were used in the context. In any case, they were too many. Horowitz writes so well he doesn´t need those references to make me recognize I´m reading a Bond novel. It seems to be a fashion at the moment to shove such references down the customer´s throat, given that the films also don´t refrain from doing it. I would be happier without.

    No Bond novel feels like a Bond novel to me without the quieter bits. Horowitz's Trigger Mortis didn't drag for me at all. In fact, it felt too rushed in parts. I would have liked to have had more dialogue between Bond and Tanner.
    The quieter bits didn´t drag for me because the were quieter, but because I didn´t like how they were written.

    What about the writing didn't you like?
    It´s hard to define technically. I could say that more compressed desciptions of thoughts and feelings and relationships between men and women distract me less from the overall feeling I like about a book, like for instance it can be found in Elmore Leonard´s novels. However, I recently read Don Winslow´s The Kings of Cool, which pretty much expands on those elements, and I wasn´t bothered at all.
    I also find differences between the various Bond novels. I can´t remember being bothered by anything described in GF, or OHMSS. But in YOLT, Bond getting to know the Japanese girl kind of bores me. In TB, I find the introduction of Domino distracting, but I generally don´t like how that novel is assembled. TM gave me the feeling that Horowitz writing as Fleming was a little bit forced in places, and that disturbed mostly in the quieter bits, IMO.
  • BounineBounine
    Posts: 2,599
    So, Horowitz hasn't been asked to write another...unless it's a "smokescreen", which is probably wishful thinking on my part. Disappointing. Unless, they've landed Higson or Weinberg, then I don't get it.
  • Risico007Risico007
    Posts: 9,858
    My guess is a new author my hope is that it's set in the modern era.
  • BounineBounine
    Posts: 2,599
    After three crappy books we finally get a good Bond book in 'Trigger Mortis' and what might IFP do? Go out and find yet another celebrity author. Sure, he/she could be great but after three lacklustre books you'd think they wouldn't want to take the risk again. I'm not happy with this approach at all. Adult Bond deserves some consistency, quality and respect. What they are doing is sloppy.

    Can anyone remember when Boyd, Horowitz and the American guy were announced? If they stick to the same schedule when should the next announcement be?
  • IGUANNAIGUANNA
    Posts: 1,296
    So I read this a while back, If the Fleming Foundtain knew what's good they would def re-hire Horowitz
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