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Comments
A real strength which I found in this was that Higson can write dialogue, where other writers of this sort of thing just can’t do it and overwrite everything.
It’s never going to be the most satisfying and deep Bond story because it’s so short: but as a condensed bit of Bond fun I’d say it tickles every 007 nerve you need tickling.
I really enjoyed the Horowitz books and I had huge fun with this too. They’re doing slightly different things but I think both are great quality.
As for Charlie Higson coming back, let's make sure that it's a true passion, not just for the sake of doing it.
Necros approves of this comment!
I'll say one thing for Necros. He has a good way of disposing of out of date milk.
Yes, they were ready to blow the foil tops off.
That bothers me. Anyone else?
Don't worry, it's explained.
A good 90% of my posts on here are praising Higson’s Bond work…. And today will be no different 😁 So hope you enjoy my overly long, non-spoilery write up
I loved it, I loved that it was so timely, referencing real life current events only a few weeks old. It’s something that I enjoyed about Whatever Gets You Through the Night which similarly hits upon seemingly every current trend but it refreshing after Horowitz’s period trilogy and even Double or Nothing doesn’t political in the way this does. For Higson to put all of his cards on the table, directly referencing far-right extremism, ultra nationalism, culture wars. I want the Bond series to feel this modern.
I didn’t get Craig from this Bond at all. Higson was keen to emphasise in interviews him being modern 35 year old man and reading it felt that he was a young Bond (sorry couldn’t resist), but that he was fresh and cosmopolitan with a hint of a hard edge.
This book is funny, Higson’s showing his comedic roots. I got a proper chuckle out of the M scene in particular, but it’s nice to have a Bond story that is a lark and that doesn't take itself too seriously.
Being so hastily produced I think the story holds up really well considering. There are only a few minor typos and a couple bits I had to reread just to get where the story had jumped to. It’s all fairly standard action beats but Higson writes them well.
Æthelstan feels a lot like a English Ugo Carnifex from Blood Fever. He was a decent villain though. Similarly with Ragnheiður, she was good, I really liked her but I wish we had more time to get to know both of them. And it feels a little unfair to compare her to little girls but I don’t think she’s quite up to the standard of a Precious Stone or a Roan Power.
I loved the little nods to OHMSS. Also something only maybe me and @Bounine will have caught is the character of Caiboche. I was wondering whether any of his Young Bond characters would get a cameo and he’s pretty much taken wholesale from the short story A Hard Man to Kill.
Would I recommend this to people who are not diehard Higson fans like myself? Maybe not. It is in many ways a disposable novel, more so than thrillers already are, the gold lettering is already coming off just in the time it took me to read the book.
But if this is Higson on autopilot then imagine the adult Bond novel he could write if given more than a month to do it. Higson says he’s got loads more Bond stories in his head and I would kill to read every single one of them.
Yeah, it's pure fun- it really tickled my Bank Holiday Bond nerve. It's not a spoof at all, but it's just a fun adventure that almost feels like watching a Roger movie on a bank holiday Monday afternoon.
And as I said: he has a moment where Bond turns the tables on the baddies which does feel like something from the films and you can practically hear the theme start playing, and that's no bad thing at all by my book.
I loved the name 'Caiboche'- it's a real Bondy pun name. The henchman Canner is well-painted too: a touch of Andrew Tate in there?
I agree: there's not much to it- it's a Bond story and does what it says on the tin and not much more. I wasn't expecting any sort of big revelation so that's fine, but I can imagine some might be disappointed in it. I'm likewise very keen for Higson to do more though.
Charlie Higson, Kim Sherwood and Corinne Turner (Managing Director (aka ‘M’) at Ian Fleming Publications Ltd) will be there as well. More announcements on the way? Let’s hope so!
Well we have the first two title for higsons other James bond contemporary novels
Ghost of Honor 2024
The Dead Hand 2025
I like it
Same. Could do a lot worse.
I like those as well. I think they could work for Blofeld stories as well. I wonder what Kim Sherwood's 2nd Double 0 book will be.
This was a Bond I recognised from Fleming, smoothly brought up to date and still believable (his clothes owed a little to Daniel Craig's portrayal, I thought), with some nice nods to canonical events as well as topical ones. There were times when Higson went off on a bit of a hobbyhorse, but a) so does Fleming and b) it was funny and I agreed with his views, so I didn't care.
The style was spot on and stayed just on the right side of the line where homage becomes pastiche.
Happy to accept this as part of Literary Bond canon. How do I explain the gap of 60 years in his life? Oh hush.
Haha! Same here!
Right down to
Got my Goldsboro signed edition yesterday: in a huge box and nestled in about three metres of bubble wrap!
So why did Higson give his Bond girl the same name as an Icelandic celebrity?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnheiður_Ragnarsdóttir
+ The M briefing scene was good but a bit wordy in terms of M’ conversation with Bond.
+ Poor 009. He always has the worst luck.
+ I liked the Moneypenny relationship to 009, tragic, but a nice detail. And M’s thoughts on it.
+ Knowitall Bond is back.
+ The car sequence with Marina and “The Englishman” is fun. I am betting its all a put on.
Liking it a lot so far but the modern references are a little odd, Bond films dont typically go in for that.
Now i need to put pedal to the metal and finish win lose or die
May you read it in a day!
That's great you were able to buy one over there too. I forgot that there are some British shops in continental Europe as well.
May Day will see to it personally.
I'm looking forward to it. I will buy it as soon as I find in a book store. I'm not in a hurry...so many Bond books unfinished on my shelves (including Double or Nothing)
I enjoyed it, and I think the shortness somehow made it better, as MTM said. I can't really explain what I mean, other than if the story were fleshed out another hundred or so pages, I don't think it would have worked so well. It was punchy and fun. Not as great a literary event as the last Horowitz, but I don't think it was planned that way.
Here's some VEREY spoilery thoughts, just off the top of my head. Don't read these if you haven't read the book.
For me, reading OHisMSS was a little jarring having Bond in the modern world. With words like 'blog', 'woke', LGBT issues and all that stuff, it somehow felt at odds with the literary Bond I'm used to. Yet I enjoyed Carte Blanche without feeling at all like like that. I think perhaps the world is changing so quick now. And that's not a criticism of the book, just something I felt. In fact, when I read Benson or Gardner, the world Bond operates in (in the eighties and nineties) is very different world to 2023. The Bond of the 90's is still reliant on his wits, but here we have Bond using apps.
I didn't feel any threat at all from the villain, and I felt his lines while he was doing his speech didn't ring true at all. There was no menace, but the idea of him thinking himself the true king, and the castle base, was all good fun.
I didn't like the unspoken 'politicising' of Bond. In other words, I felt like his dismissiveness of Aethelson's speech was the author's way of showing how the modern Bond is sensitive to modern issues. Did anyone else feel like Bond's attitude to Aethelston's speech put him on the trendy political left? Sorry, I don't want that in Bond, (even though I'm left wing myself).
There was much to like though. Did anyone catch the "all the time in the world" reference? And the bit about Bond studying heraldry in a past case. That's good fan-service.
The paprika bit I really liked, and that goes back to Bond using his wits. That's the stuff we all love. And I thought the Icelandic girl was very well thought out, (I don't have the book with me now so I can't find her name, sorry). I didn't like the bit where she was pretending to have sex with Bond to fool the people listening, and kissing the pillow. I just though that was ludicrous.
But I was glad they got it together at the end.
I think the basic character of Bond was pretty well realised, (despite my reservations earlier). Him not being the 'marrying kind', hating Disneyland, being bored when not on a mission.
M's dialogue didn't ring true in places. Would he really have told Bond he "loved that girl" when talking about Moneypenny?
But I did enjoy it a lot, and I'm sorry if these thoughts come across negative, as it's only me thinking out loud. I think the book was a success, and although I'd rather the future Bond novels be period pieces and stay in the hands of master-storytellers like Horowitz, (who I think is fantastic), if they announced Higson was doing a book of short stories featuring his modern Bond, I'd be well up for that too.
I think this was a bit of a rush job. The gold lettering on the front of my book is coming off, and I noticed two typos, (any advance on two?), so I think we have to judge this book on what it is; a quickly put together novelette done for charity, and again I'll say I was thoroughly entertained by it.