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Which brings up the point that toward the end of his run John Gardner was doing the same thing.
Makes me wonder if Carte Blanche was written as a modern-day novel in order to tap into the popularity of the Craig era films? Haven't read that book myself (although I do own a copy), so I don't know if there's any connections to the (recent) films.
Which brings me back to the question above: Is the fact that Horowitz's novels are set in the 50's only because he himself feels that Bond belongs in that timeline, or did IFP specifically want the books to be set in that era too?
I think it was a conscious decision on the part of IFP which is now run by the Fleming family. They probably wanted to return the literary Bond to his Fleming roots. The contemporary-set Bond continuation novels seem to be out of vogue currently with only one such novel appearing (in 2011) from the recent crop of "celebrity" Bond authors.
That seems like a likely explanation why they've gone back to period novels. Horowitz is not unfamiliar with writing period set novels either (The House of Silk, Moriarty), so he was probably a sensible choice by IFP. How was the ownership of IFP prior to being run by the Fleming family? I don't know much about IFP, unfortunately.
Yes, indeed, and when you think about it IFP seem to finally be following the tried and tested method of selection that its predecessor Glidrose used to hire John Gardner for the Bond gig in the early 1980s. Gardner and Horowitz have actually got quite a lot in common as Bond continuation authors in terms of their backgrounds. They were both pre-existing and (vitally) successful and prolific thrillers authors in their own right and they both wrote continuation novels involving Professor Moriarty (in fact one of their books even shares the same one word title!).
In 1999 the name of the Bond literary copyright holders changed from Glidrose to Ian Fleming Publications (IFP) to better reflect the fact that the Fleming family (chiefly Peter Fleming's two daughters) had taken over control of what was previously called Glidrose. Before this, the chairman of Glidrose was Peter Janson-Smith. Janson-Smith was hired by Fleming as his literary agent in 1956 to deal with foreign rights for his Bond novels and was the chairman of Glidrose until 2001 when he retired from the post. Peter Fleming was also on the Board of Glidrose until his death in August 1971. I hope this fills in a few of the blanks, @Torgeirtrap! :)
I covered that in my previous post above. I believe it is IFP that decides these matters and not the individual author, although I suppose that the author has to consent to the time period in which the Bond novel is to be set.
That's a funny coincidence re. Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty – and the Moriarty book title in particular! I was unaware Gardner did Sherlock Holmes related novels. It's very interesting though, with IFP commissioning writers that have a history writing stories involving one of the other great British literary characters. It also makes you wonder which authors are likely to get the chance to write Bond in the future.
This fills in the blanks perfectly. Thanks for the info, @Dragonpol!
It’s odd then that they have flicked between contemporary and Fleming timelines.
I hope he resists the temptation to play with the canon too much this time though. I didn't have a problem with FAAD being Bond's first mission but I hated all the forced origin story stuff. Bond was introduced fairly fully formed and that's how he always should be imo, no matter how early in his career it is. I didn't need a contrived story for how he picked up this habit and acquired this taste. Even Trigger Mortis I think had the issue of messing about with what'd come before too much by bringing back Pussy. So I hope if he does do another he feels content just sending Bond on a new mission, without any gimmicks or spins on what Fleming wrote.
I'm with him to be honest. The films should always be set in the present. That's what Fleming wanted and it's the reason they've lasted so long.
The books though I think are different. If I'm reading a Bond novel, I want to be able to read it as a new novel in the same world as Fleming's with the same Bond that Fleming wrote about. So the 60s/70s is really as far forward as literary Bond should go imo.
It is indeed a little odd but it's only occurred the once so far so perhaps Carte Blanche will be an anomaly. It could be that they hadn't fully settled on a firm way forward between period and contemporary set Bond novels at that point. It's hard of say of course as we're not privy to the creative decisions of IFP, any more than we were with Glidrose. Sales figures and reviews may also have played a part in IFP's decision making process.
As primarily an Amis/Gardner/Benson classic Bond Continuation era fan I would have to say that I wholeheartedly agree with you, @JET007. I too think that the Continuation Bond novels should be set in the present day as that is of course how Ian Fleming wrote his Bond novels and short stories.
I can of course see the merits of making the novels period pieces but I do miss the modern setting and how authors update things and also seek to keep things the same. It's an interesting balancing act. However, no matter how hard an author tries there is always the danger inherent in period pieces of looking at the past from a modern perspective that ends up showing through in the end product. They invariably always end up taking a certain amount of baggage with them when they start writing about a period long past.
I'm going on holiday soon and looking forward to some reading time. I was wondering if Trigger Mortis is worth my time or not. Any thoughts?
Thank you
In my opinion, yes definitely!
No problem! I'm a Horowitz fan too though, so my opinion of his two Bond novels might be a bit influenced by that.
I'm definately not a fan, but I found it one of the few readable continuation novels. So it's a cautious yes from me too.
Horowitz’s writing doesn’t quite have the sophisticated flair of Fleming but still, it’s very good. The main characters and location descriptions are fleshed out to an admirable extent. One can tell that Horowitz has done his homework.
In terms of Bond’s youngish age and inexperience, I felt like I was reading about 30 to 40% Young Bond and 60 to 70% adult Bond which was something fresh and interesting. I was worried at one point, what with Sixtine’s dominating personality that Bond would allow himself to be whipped not unlike in Carte Blanche where the Bond character is barely recognizable but thankfully he holds his own with her.
The love scenes feel rushed as others have said. They felt like what you would see in a censored film or well, a Bond film where they start kissing at the beginning then all of a sudden it’s over. Not that I want a penthouse forum or anything involving my favourite character but just a bit of subtle description during the session as Fleming did, would have been better.
In terms of the car chase being more boy oriented as others mentioned, it didn’t actually bother me as I thought it would. It is only brief. I expected it to go on for longer.
I would have to read Trigger Mortis again in order to decide which is the best book but both are great Bond continuation novels.
All in all, another great book by Horowitz. IFP, pretty please with a cherry on top, ask Horowitz to scribe another...then another...then another..! :)
True I like the feel and smell of books, but when I travel an e-reader is actually quite enjoyable en easy to take along instead of kilo's of books. So I enjoy the books at home and an e-reader in the train and on the plane.
I might need to consider an e-reader going forward due to lack of available space for books.
Absolutely. One of the best continuation novels and almost up there with Fleming.