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Comments
I hope a fair bit of it is set in London. Loved Moonraker for that (the book) and Skyfall.
It certainly was great to be living in Chelsea in 1969 - I can vouch for that - but not if you were 45! 'Granny Takes A Trip' wouldn't really have been Bond's thing!
Sounds just like that James Bond novel I've always wanted Bond of Bond street versus The Beatles of Carnaby Street. I know who I'm backing come the autumn!
How well you put it!
IFP are really in the last chance saloon with this one.
DMC sold like hot cakes on the back of Fleming's centenary, the strength of the franchise and the involvement of the literati. Critically it fell well short. Bond aficionados found it lacklustre and it languishes on Amazon with 3 stars. Nonetheless, IFP and Penguin trousered a fortune.
Flush with mediocrity, two years later IFP abused us completely with CB. A complete dog of an effort from the pen of an American pulp writer who thought mentioning Boots, WHS and, God help us, Jeremy Clarkson would give sufficient Englishness to his morbid tale.
Unfortunately he forgot to inject a coherent, exciting story line or any sex and glamour.
I never thought I'd find a Bond book so boring.
Now we have Boyd, I share your high hopes but like you, I'm scared of being disappointed and the lack of marketing programme either means that Jonathan Cape are supremely confident or alternatively, they know that the damage done by CB means that SOLO will have to stand or fall on its own merits.
Producing decent cover art is one test they may have already failed as I have a sneaky feeling that they image displayed on Amazon may be the one we are going to get. If any marketeer thinks it appropriate for a retro Bond novel set in '69, he or she deserves a good thrashing with an elephant's foreskin!
Let's hope that what lies between the covers is great.
IFP are in dire need of a good Bond novel. The last good Bond novel hit the stores around 1986/87!
How right you are @ Bounine.
Some weeks ago, I wrote to IFP to urge them to influence Jonathan Cape to exercise a level of creativity with SOLO's cover art.
I had a mail back from somebody's assistant assuring me that the cover on their web site and Amazon's is only a place holder and that I needn't worry. They had the world's finest artistic minds on the project and that the real cover would be launched in due course.
Since then there has been minor titivation and I have a sinking feeling that what we see today is the finished project.
If so, I will use my attendance at Boyd's launch conference to ask him how he thinks SOLO's cover compares to the work of the late, great Richard Chopping and how he thinks it appropriate for a retro Bond novel?
Ironically, Boyd's work to date have had quite good covers; 'Waiting For Sunrise' being a case in point.
Hopefully I'll be proved wrong and they'll give us something to be proud of !
You are the go-to guy for Bond covers on MI6 Community, @Villiers53, that's for sure! Keep up your great work, sir!
No, I do think Boyd will deliver this time, where others have failed.
The main issue obviously is that the book is good but it's always a lot nicer to have a good cover too.
@GodenShadow - great work!
Yeah, if it's a bad cover it'll be interesting to see what Boyd says. If he isn't enthusiastic about it this might prompt IFP to up their game in this area.
I find it encouraging that Boyd said that he went into some detail about Chelsea. Hopefully this will mean that he hasn't skimped on the detail in regard to describing other countries Bond goes to like other continuation authors have. Benson made the effort but this section of his Bond books read like travel guides. The rest of his books read like fan fiction. It's a pity because he had some good ideas but he couldn't transcribe them into a narrative with finesse.
Oh, Cotillard. I like her. She's cute and beautiful, and she's a good actress. The first time I saw her was in La Vie En Rose at the film festival. It would be good to see her in a Bond film. When Bond heard the song LVER in Casino Royale (the novel) it struck up a chord with him.
On balance, providing Boyd amps up his normal approach to action, I think we have a very good chance of getting something that we will all consider very positively.He is a class writer.
The big deal for me is with IFP and JC . Here we really have the gang that can't shoot straight.
I'm currently reading 'The Cuckoo's Calling' by Robert Galbraith who by now, we all know is J.K.Rowling (good book by the way) and the hardback cover is everything it should be - eye catching, atmospheric and indicative of what lies between the covers. Doubtless Rowling will have insisted on this and would have personally given her seal of approval. What I don't know is who, if anybody, bats for Bond?
With IFP and JC, I have the impression that nobody gives a toss. Here we are in the 60th anniversary year of Casino Royale and have we got a beautiful celebration edition - not a chance. And with just two months to go, they are sleep walking into the SOLO launch.
When IFP first said that SOLO would be a JC imprint, I thought at last they have the message and we are going to have a launch as strong as 'Licence Renewed'. Right now, I think IFP thought giving it to JC was enough in itself and that the whole thing would just happen. Personally, for the biggest literary franchise of the last century to be handled in this way is just an insult to fans.
The story and the cover art are more important than some big opening probably. This would be excellent promotion though even though I think some of these Bond openings are a bit on the cheesy side. Anyway, they might still do something.
In terms of general promotion, shouldn't they have posters or something around the tube stations etc. now? To me, this seems more important than the opening.
Very nice job - I hope IFP & JC are watching - Bond has literary fans with high standards who really care!
Indeed. I love the flower and gun motif there. Very Richard Chopping.
Nice job!
Yours is great, too, @007InVT.
My pleasure. How's the NSF cover coming along?
Will prob have something this week for you.
Oh, great! No rush or anything.
Oh, great. I'm always here.