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Charlie Higson Ponders Young Bond 2.0

Novelist considers second series exploring Bond's post-Eton years

Apologies if this is old news, but it looks as though there may be more Higson Bond novels on the way, albeit not immediately:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7364758.stm

The article notes that this has not been officially announced, but it's still pretty encouraging stuff for Higson fans.

Oh fantastic to hear he wants to. It's hard to tell from that piece whether these will actually happen or it's just what he would like to do.

I've alwways thought we'd see at least one.

The series has sold well for Puffin and done good things for IFP. It would seem silly to drop the idea while they are still popular and Higson is willing.

The test, though, I guess, will be whether a hybrid, neither Young Bond nor Fleming Bond, story continues to work.

I think it's the latter, although he certainly sounds very enthusiastic. If I were a Higson fan, I'd be feeling very heartened right now.

I can easily picture IFP commissioning Higson (or someone else) to write a series of slightly-less-Young Bond books, while another writer or writers work on a series of followups to DEVIL MAY CARE.

However, we shouldn't hold our breath for more Higsons. "Higson says he will take a break from Bond and write some original books of his own as he has a three-book deal with Puffin."

I guess it's a bit like the situation with Craig. Will Craig just do an origin story trilogy or quadrilogy, or will he carry on once his BOND BEGINS thing is done? Time will tell.

Bond at Cambridge? In the navy (can you help singing that line...)? His 20s in general?

OMG. This is absolutely brilliant.

Hurrah.

Hopefully, we'll get some more adult Bond novels too after the delectable Devil May Care.

Holy cats!

My only surprise here is how it was announced. While I wasn't told there was going to be a series 2, I could just tell something was up. Charlie has hinted about it in interviews, and I thought it was odd BRC was not being called the "final" YB novel, just the "fifth."

This is awesome news.

Yeah- Bond's War could be rather interesting to read about.

Absolutely. Young Bond lives!

Now I'm not an expert on the literary Bond but wasn't Cambridge an invention of the EON series? Fleming had Bond attend Fettes.

Fettes is the Edinburgh public (US: private) school Bond attends during his high school years, after Eton. Cambridge is a university that one could attend after school. Agreed, Bond attending Cambridge is an Eon invention (YOLT, SWLM).

See ACE's post. Brings the interesting possibility that Bond may, in fact, not have gone to University (College) at all What did the obit in YOLT say? (NB: the use of the word College differs between the UK and the US. In the UK a college is what you might attend before University, whereas in the US it is a University. In the case of Oxford and Cambridge, Colleges make up the University).

Edit: In fact, according to the obituary Bond entered the Special Branch of the R.N.V.R. after Fettes.

Pearson had Bond attend Geneva University before and after Fettes. Could that work for his university days?