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The Q Mysteries: A Literary Spinoff Series (2025).
MaxCasino
United States
https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/zaffre-clinches-three-way-auction-for-vaseem-khans-expansion-of-james-bond-universe?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Morning Briefing
I’m actually excited about this! I just hope it’s present day!
I’m actually excited about this! I just hope it’s present day!
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Comments
Quantum of Menace eh? Quite fun. Sounds like it's a murder mystery rather than anything; is Q the new Marple for the 007 universe? I guess rural mysteries are all the rage so why not. They seem to be subtitling the series 'The Q Mysteries'.
And yes Max, it's set in the present day.
I would have thought the only slight problem is that 'Q' is an invention of Eon's movies rather than Fleming's books so not quite sure how the licence works there, but obviously they feel there's wiggle room.
I also don't quite understand why it's being published by Zaffre; I thought IFP had become their own publisher? Has there been a problem with that?
Sounds interesting, author is a gadget guy too so looking forward to seeing what toys Q uses to solve his crimes.
So who takes over at MI6? R? Q'ute? Miss Nagai? Sharon?
I guess you could say it's perhaps a little cynical of IFP to turn 007 into a cosy rural murder mystery series as those are so popular, but hey: they need to make money like everyone else! Even Pierce Brosnan himself is doing it :D
I'm not sure how you mean? Do you mean that's something we'll see in these books?
I was thinking, as IFP have to licence James Bond from Eon/MGM, is it at all possible that Eon have decided there should be a gap in 007 himself appearing in the public eye for a while, to create a bit of hunger for him while they prepare the next film? Hence they may have not licensed the character to IFP for the time being (with OHiMSS being a one-off for the coronation), and so why we're seeing Bond-free spinoffs. The comics have a small audience comparatively, and the video game is still a way off.
Probably a conspiracy theory(!) but you never know.
Here's the IFP story:
https://www.ianfleming.com/announcing-the-q-mysteries/
Don't forget Z and her capable hands from Agent Under Fire ;)
I just meant, as a proposal and not me knowing anything, that it would be cool to see how Q sleuths ahead of a mission assignment for an agent like Bond. The intel collection, Q following digital threads etc. to build up an story and assignment for agents. I don't know, just riffing.
;)
That's how I feel too but then I'm very much a traditionalist when it comes to the Bond continuation novels.
Hopefully it's more like TSWLM novel, where Bond shows up at the end to save the day, maybe just after Q does most of the research. We'll see.
I don't want to rain on your parade... No, wait, I do. But Q and Q Branch are Fleming's creation, being mentioned in Casino Royale :
(Casino Royale, Chapter 3 : "Number 007".
As for the book itself, I don't know. I liked The Moneypenny Diaries, but mostly because it gave us another point of view about Bond's "dark times". Here, I'll have to wait and see.
Pros:
A least we’re getting a new book! And one that for sure has Bond in it!
Modern day setting. Just like Fleming did in his time.
An interesting choice for a character to follow. I wouldn’t have thought of it.
It seems like IFP might be taking that survey more importantly than we thought. Even if this was planned far before that.
While Bond is the main character, and one that want to see most, I love the idea of expanding his universe. Samantha Weinberg, Kim Sherwood, and Dynamite Comics have proven this. There’s a lot of characters that could probably drive a full book, on their own.
Cons:
As I said before, I’d rather have a villain spinoff book. Another MI6 regular gets a heavy spotlight. The last 2 movies really overdid their screen time.
Now Q is on the run? EON probably has a say in this.
Hopefully it’s a physical copy eventually.
Classic character cameos that are written as fan fiction.
Only one writer can apparently write Bond at a time. I hope that doesn’t include spinoff characters.
So, I’m excited but cautious. Hopefully Blofeld isn’t behind it all! IFP, don’t forget about James Bond. He is your main money maker.
Ah excellent; of course I knew about Q Branch coming from Fleming but hadn't spotted that little line before, thank you. Brief and slightly inconclusive though it is (it's just about possible M was referring to Q Branch rather than a person), it's certainly enough to say that a character called Q comes from Fleming, yes.
I guess whether Q and Boothroyd are the same person is something Fleming doesn't confirm, but there's still enough there for them to say it comes from the books and not the films.
Do you think the author might consider portraying 'Q' as gay?
Maybe, but I was thinking of the trademark woman.
I'm sure we'll find out. Ah well, I've got so much reading still to do, I doubt I'll ever find the time for this book. I haven't read any of the novels outside of Fleming (with Colonel Sun included) and two novelizations (GE and TWINE). Especially things like Young Bond or MP Diaries can hardly keep my interest, so...
We're very much on the same page on this matter. That's exactly how I feel about these spin-offs too. I'd highly recommend you read Colonel Sun though. It's a classic and the best Bond continuation novel of the lot that can proudly sit alongside the Fleming originals.
@Dragonpol
I must have been unclear. I apologize. I have read Colonel Sun. When I mention Fleming's books, I automatically include that one in the list.
And yes, spin-offs have a way of "diluting" my enthusiasm for the original stuff, like adding water to good wine. Eventually, some things start to feel like homework. One has to read these books because they are "part of the world of James Bond", but I'm not sure the perspective of Moneypenny, for example, adds anything useful to it. Now, if these books are good fun, and reading them is entertaining to people, who am I to say there's anything wrong with that? I've ploughed through tons of EU Star Wars novels myself. But when life happens, and your spare time is suddenly in shorter supply, you start making more focused choices. And then it's easy for me to dismiss spin-off books to the world of James Bond as simply not worth my time. The comics are a different thing because reading a few issues of a comic hardly consumes as much time as diving into an entire book.
Tried Double or Nothing by Sherwood a couple times, will eventually read that.
I read and enjoyed The Moneypenny Diaries, Westbrook. And the (free Kindle) stories in Secret Chapters ("First Date" and "For Your Eyes Only, James"). When I have the time I expect to like the other two books.
Q as a sleuth has potential, given his abilities and alongside weakness for that role. I'm of the mind Fleming's mentions of "Q" were not to a person and that was "Q Branch" for mission support. So I do wonder what (film) Q will be represented, surely it can't be that so much time passed for Desmond Llewelyn's character to be forgotten.
Anyway I'll buy the Q spinoff novel, looking forward to it.
+1. Plus, the title sounds like a parody, rather than a spin-off set in the main canon.
I get that sense too. Intentional or not, a spin-off like this feels not that far removed from mocking Bond. I'm not even sure Q, however likeable, qualified as a full character for me, before Wishaw that is. He's always been more a rest stop in the films, useful for supplying Bond with his gadgets, and for giving us a few funny moments. He was never given an 'arc', though, no evolution as a 'character'. So again, the appeal of this novel is somewhat lost on me.