Sebastian Faulks Talks James Bond With The Observer

Sebastian Faulks

Ian Fleming centenary author Sebastian Faulks sat down for an interview with The Observer to discuss his two newest novels: the introspective Engelby and the forthcoming James Bond adventure, Devil May Care.

Initially published in May 2007, the character study Engelby, Faulks’ only first-person novel, is due to be published in paperback at the end of the month.

With his 007 novel debuting in May, the interview notes that there will likely be a crossover in sales between the author’s two newest works.

Discussing his surprise at landing the job as the new Bond author, Faulks said: ”I’d just finished Human Traces and it seemed ridiculous. You’ve just spent five years in a Victorian lunatic asylum and then you go on to James Bond. But I think their hope is they’ll get two markets. The more I think about it, the more I think it was clever of them, because the mismatch is intriguing.’

Devil May Care

As earlier reported on CommanderBond.net, Faulks completed Devil May Care in six weeks (12 total if counting earlier Fleming research and some ‘tidying up’)–the same amount of time Fleming often devoted to his Bond adventures.

Emphasizing on the narrative’s pace rather than reflection, he said: ‘Bond doesn’t have an inner life. There would be moments when I’d think, we need to gather our thoughts here and have a breather, where in another novel you’d slow the pace, have some description and see what Bond feels about this. But Bond doesn’t reflect. All you can do is move on to the next bomb or shark or car.’

Click here for The Observer’s complete interview with Sebastian Faulks, including much more on Engelby.

Devil May Care is set in 1967 when ‘Bond is damaged, aging and in a sense it is the return of the gunfighter for one last heroic mission.’

CBn will keep you updated with all the latest news and details on Devil May Care. To keep track of all the upcoming 007 releases, events, television shows, and more–just keep your eyes on the CBn Calendar, located on the right panel of our main page.