Charlie Higson Discusses The Evolution Of Young Bond
With Hurricane Gold now sitting comfortably on bookshelves – and bestseller lists – Charlie Higson has begun to do the press rounds to promote his new novel.
Charlie Higson with his golden entourage at the Hurricane Gold launch party
In addition to radio interviews on Jonathan Ross and Nemone, the author recently answered questions from Young Bond fans on CBBC’s Hotseat. In particular, he discussed the evolution of his interpretation of James Bond – and what the future holds for his critically-acclaimed series of books.
“At the start of SilverFin, the first book, James is just an ordinary kid, he’s just starting at a new school,” Higson said. “He’s like any other kid, and he’s not running around in a tuxedo, driving a sports car, and shooting people. But through the course of the five books, we see him growing up. We see lots of quite nasty things happen to him, and he grows a tough shell around himself – he still keeps quite a sensitive core. That was my plan, to show him changing, and certainly the events that happen in book five, we’ll really see that’s the first step towards being the adult Bond.”
“I’m halfway through [the fifth book] at the moment. There are a lot of surprises in there, a lot of things will be revealed that we didn’t know about Bond, and what’s been going on in the other books, and it will end with him leaving Eton. I’ve always known from the start that it would end like that, because one of the few things that Ian Fleming tells us is that James Bond had to leave Eton after quite a short time. And we find out in book five why that is.”
When asked about writing further books about James Bond, the author replied, “When I started it was always agreed it would be a series of five books. I worked out a story that would take place over five books and how the fifth book would end, and it does end with the closure of that part of James Bond’s life.”
“If there were to be any more books it would be a different part of his life. I’m not saying Never Say Never Again. I’d love to write some more Bond stuff, and do some more Bond related stuff in the future, but I think it would have to be about a different point in his life. So the books would be slightly different than these, and maybe aimed at a different readership. I say that now, but when all my other books on other topics flop, then I’ll probably come rushing back and write another 20 Young Bond books.”
To read the full interview, in which Higson discusses his inspiration, plans for Young Bond films and other books in the teen-spy genre, click here. And be sure to check out CBn’s own interview with the Young Bond author – which contains loads of juicy titbits about the fifth book in the series.
Order the UK hardback edition of Hurricane Gold from Amazon.co.uk.
Pre-order the UK audiobook edition of Hurricane Gold from Amazon.co.uk.
Keep watching CBn for more Hurricane Gold and literary James Bond coverage.