New Release Dates For Ian Fleming's 'Quantum of Solace' and 'My Name's Bond, James Bond'

In early July, CommanderBond.net reported that October 2008 would see the book release of Ian Fleming’s Quantum of Solace in the UK.

While the title is absent of any descriptive blurb, it is a likely bet that this will be almost identical to the recently released Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories collection, considering both of these run at 304 pages (Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories collects together the nine short stories that make up the For Your Eyes Only and Octopussy & The Living Daylights collections).

Originally scheduled for a 30 October release, the title is now slated for 2 October. Quantum of Solace will be released in hardback and paperback in the UK, retailing for £20.00 and £6.99, respectively.

In addition, it has been revealed that James Bond: The Man and His World author Henry Chancellor will provide an introduction to this upcoming edition.

• Order the UK hardback edition of Quantum of Solace from Amazon.co.uk
• Order the UK paperback edition of Quantum of Solace from Amazon.co.uk

In related news, the UK release of the new edition of Simon Winder’s ‘My Name’s Bond, James Bond’ has been pulled forward to 2 October as well.

Retailing for £6.99, the book is a celebration of ‘the greatest of all postwar British fictional icons’…

‘She looked sharply up at him. ‘And who might you be?’

‘My name’s Bond, James Bond’.

This book celebrates the greatest of all post-war British fictional icons. For too long the films of the Bond novels have overshadowed their literary source–the bizarre, baroque imagination of Ian Fleming. Full rein is given in this anthology to Fleming’s wonderful creations–the magically deranged villains, their appalling sidekicks and their surreal lairs, from Dr No’s guano island to Blofeld’s Garden of Death. Fleming emerges too from this book as a remarkable writer on nature (albeit nature of a purely malevolent variety) and as an inventor of extraordinarily imagined set pieces–the source of the films’ enormous successes.

• Order the UK paperback edition of ‘My Name’s Bond, James Bond’: An Ian Fleming Anthology from Amazon.co.uk

Keep watching the CommanderBond.net main page for the most complete literary James Bond coverage on the web.

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.

Ian Fleming's 'Quantum of Solace' Coming In October 2008

Yet another upcoming literary 007 release to add to the checklist.

Coming on 30 October 2008 is Ian Fleming’s Quantum of Solace from Penguin Modern Classics in the UK.

While no official blurb has been released, it is a fairly safe bet that this will be almost identical to the recently released Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories, considering both of these run at 304 pages (Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories collects together the nine short stories that make up the For Your Eyes Only and Octopussy & The Living Daylights collections).

It’s likely that this upcoming Quantum of Solace release will feature tie-in artwork to the James Bond film of the same name considering it is being released one day before the UK theatrical release.

Quantum of Solace will be available in hardback and paperback, retailing for £20.00 and £6.99, respectively.

Pre-order online:

• Order the UK hardback edition of Quantum of Solace from Amazon.co.uk
• Order the UK paperback edition of Quantum of Solace from Amazon.co.uk

Keep watching the CommanderBond.net main page for the most complete literary James Bond coverage on the web.

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.

Win 'Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories'

CommanderBond.net is giving forum members the chance to win a a copy of the recently released literary 007 collection, Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories.

Acting as a tie-in to the forthcoming Quantum of Solace, due out later this year, this collection brings together the nine stories that make up For Your Eyes Only and Octopussy & The Living Daylights into one single volume.

This competition is open to all members of CBn. You must be a registered member of the CBn Forums and answer the following question correctly to be eligible to win. Not yet a member of CBn? Register here now–it is free and only takes a minute!

How To Enter:

To enter, fill out the following questionnaire and send a Communiqué/Private Message on the CBn Forums to ‘CBn Competition’ (Subject: CBn Quantum) by Midnight EST on 23 June 2008 (simply click on the link in this paragraph).

1. In which of the following Ian Fleming short stories does James Bond come across a villain named von Hammerstein?:

1. From A View To A Kill
2. For Your Eyes Only
3. The Hildebrand Rarity
4. The Property Of A Lady

2. What is your CBn Forum Screen Name?
3. What country/state do you live in?

Literary 007 Reviewed: Ian Fleming's 'Goldfinger'

With 2008 marking the centenary of Ian Fleming, the newest CommanderBond.net review series, Literary 007 Reviewed, now continues with the author’s seventh James Bond adventure, 1959’s Goldfinger.

As several CBn Forum members are already aware, every two months a James Bond adventure is chosen for members of the Blades Library Book Club to read. Proceeding in chronological order, the club first read Fleming’s Goldfinger back in February 2005.

What follows are selected reviews from the Book Club Forum members. For further details on the club or to post your own review of Goldfinger, simply click here.

Literary 007 Reviewed:
Goldfinger

‘Goldfinger’ reviewed by… MystikTK

This is most certainly a very under-rated Fleming outing. It’s a fairly light read compared to some of his other work, but very enjoyable and a real page-turner. I remember reading it for the time when I was about 13 and not being able to put it down. Like all Fleming books that I read around that time (which, actually was all Fleming books), I remember getting in trouble many times for reading during class.

‘Goldfinger’ reviewed by… Thunderbird

My first Bond book was Goldfinger when I was about 14, and I re-read it about 3 times before I read my next one, From Russia with Love. In fact those two never quite made it back to the school library as I recall. *Blush*

I think then I read Thunderball, followed by John Pearson’s ‘authorised biography’ of 007, which read, to me, very much like Fleming.

By then I’d seen quite a few Bond films (the Roger Moore films were still being made then, shows how old I am!) and in fact Casino Royale I read quite late on.

I didn’t know then how much of a fan I would become, and if I could do it again I would probably read them in order. Imagine that! All the Flemings stretching out in front of you, unread… drool.

They’re all pretty easy reading, and you can finish most in a day or so. The ‘Fleming Sweep,’ at work, you see…

‘Goldfinger’ reviewed by… Double-O Eleven

It has always been a point of irony for me that my favorite James Bond film, Goldfinger, is adapted from one of my least favorite of the Fleming novels. The irony increases because Goldfinger was the first James Bond novel I read. I might have read no further had a friend not recommended Doctor No and addicted me to Fleming for good–for which I will always thank him.

I returned to Goldfinger to re-read it less than a year after the first time. I liked it much more because I had a better understanding of Fleming’s strengths after having read all the other books. The nuances of characterization and the internalized stream-of-consciousness for Bond were much more apparent and effective. However, I still placed the book near the bottom of my list of the Fleming novels, beaten out only by Diamonds are Forever and The Man with the Golden Gun.

Time hasn’t improved the novel significantly for me. Reading over it again for the Blades Book Club brought back into focus many of the book’s problems. Now Goldfinger has to stand the light of my cultish admiration for the film and my own development as a writer, which makes the flaws in it all the more glaring apparent.

In its pace, I find Goldfinger the slowest moving of all Fleming’s novels. Moonraker has a similar tripartite construction, but is far more engaging. Until its last third, Goldfinger moves so casually it feels like a country stroll, or a leisurely golf game. Most of the action consists of Bond thinking about problems and courses of action, pondering possibilities, and going off on tangents. Getting to know Bond in this way is one of the books better aspects, which I’ll talk about below, but it has a lethal effect on pacing.

Compounding the pacing is the way the book keeps drawing the reader’s attention to it illogical story. The plot problems are immense. The coincidence that Bond randomly encounters Goldfinger while in Miami, and then immediately afterwards receives an assignment from M to investigate him, is a tough one to accept. Twice is indeed coincidence: a bit too much or one! Even more outrageous is that after M learns that 007 has crossed swords with Goldfinger, he still sends the agent on the assignment to investigate the man. Why in the world would M think to send an agent whom Goldfinger already knows and has good reason to hate? It’s ludicrous. And why does Bond let Jill Masterson go back to working for Goldfinger after she helped Bond wreck his cheating ploy? He should have taken her back with him to England and as far away from her psychotic employer as possible.

Of course, the largest logic lacuna (or L.L.L.) in the novel–one that everyone points out–is Goldfinger’s amazingly stupid idea to keep Bond alive right at the last minute before a buzzsaw dissects him. If the villain had bothered to make a single phone call to his masters at SMERSH he would have discovered who Bond was and summarily iced him. Goldfinger does eventually make that call to Moscow, but only after operation Grand Slam has fallen apart! (I’m trying to imagine this phone conversation: “Auric, you really should bring up possible security breeches with us as they happen, okay? Just an FYI. So, when’s that gold coming in?”) Goldfinger’s excuse for keeping alive both Bond (who just tried to strangle him to death) and Tilly (who brought a rifle to shoot him) is limp: he needs two people to take notes for him. So, we are supposed to believe that this mad genius, who has planned rigorously for five years to execute this “crime de la crime,” somehow overlooked the need for some clerical work? Couldn’t he have at least gone to a temp agency? They cost less and killing them won’t draw immediate attention. Keeping tabs on Bond and Tilly causes a serious waste of manpower. There are certainly better things Oddjob could do with him time than keeping Bond in line. I would prefer that my killer bodyguard keep a watchful eye on the not-too-bright gangsters with interpersonal grudges whom I’ve hired, frankly.

You also have to hand it to the CIA for arranging for a whole town to lie around playing dead for a few hours. It’s a good thing Goldfinger didn’t think to do a check on one of the bodies, or the ambush never would have happened. And the CIA still lets him slip out from their fingers and then set up an operation inside a major U.S. aiport! D’oh! And why does Tilly hang around when she doesn’t serve any purpose once she fails in her assassination technique? Why does Pussy Galore, famed criminal, just abruptly switch sides?

Goldfinger turns into a litany of “whys?” Amazingly, the film solved almost all these problems in easy ways, and it’s astonishing that Fleming didn’t come up with some better fixes for a the obvious ones himself. Bond doesn’t meet Goldfinger accidentally in Miami; M sent him there a’ purpose. Goldfinger knows whom Bond is, but keeps him alive so to allay his superiors’ suspicions. Tilly gets killed at the factory and thus doesn’t hang around after she no longer serves any story function. Bond’s interaction with Pussy Galore is increased to not only make her a better character, but give her betrayal of Goldfinger a stronger basis. The robbery actually gets down inside Fort Knox instead of merely getting near it. Goldfinger gets Oddjob’s death and Oddjob gets an ‘electrifying’ new one at the vault, which gives him more to do than he ever receives in the book. (Admittedly, the film comes up with a completely new plot hole with the gangsters, since Goldfinger has no reason to explain his plan to them and then kill him after he obtains his shipments of the nerve gas. But it does show us that Delta Nine is lethal.)

This could stylistically be called Ian Fleming’s attempt to write his own version of a Raymond Chandler novel. Chandler’s Philip Marlowe books emphasis characterization, in particular the stream-of-consciousness of its first-person detective, over plot. Chandler’s plots are sometimes near incomprehensible and riddled with problems. Goldfinger isn’t written in first-person, but it sometimes seems as if it were meant to be. The reader has a direct link to James Bond’s mind and gets quite an earful from the agent’s thoughts. One excellent example is Bond musing about the girl (Tillly, we later find out) driving the Triumph who passes him on the road during his tailing of Goldfinger. In the middle of an important assignment, he can’t help letting his mind drift to a pretty girl behind the wheel. Much of what we know about Bond’s personality comes from this book’s look into his head, and Goldfinger is real “quality” time spent with the agent.

And then there’s Auric Goldfinger himself. He makes some weird decisions, but he’s nonetheless one of Fleming’s best villains. He gets a huge amount of time “on stage,” much more than any other adversary in the series, and he’s a delightful grotesque. When Bond at last “goes berserk” on the plane and throttles the man to death, you definitely understand how he’s feels. This pompous, murderous, greedy psycho deserves any kind of punishment you might want to heap on him. To Goldfinger’s mind made of money and numbers, human lives are nothing more than annoying statistics, and death is another way of doing business. His plan may be an outrageous fantasy (and the movie Bond politely explained why it is impossible), but there is a realistic personality deep within the caricature: a corporate avarice we’ve all encountered before.

Oddjob: Another wonderful Fleming flight of fancy, and the quintessential killer henchman of adventure literature. The buzzsaw-bladed bowler-hatted baddie anticipated the western fascination with martial arts more than a decade before the first kung-fu film frenzy (if you’ll pardon my skaldic obsession with alliteration). The only flaw in the character–aside from some unpleasant racism in Bond’s attitude toward him–is that he doesn’t have nearly enough to do. The movie skews perspective on this, however, since Oddjob vs. 007 in Fort Knox remains one of cinema’s great fights, and the book has no equivalent.

Goldfinger will always be one of Fleming’s most important books, since it inspired the film that sent the James Bond phenomenon into the stratosphere. The author’s characteristic style remains strong, something I can’t say for The Man with the Golden Gun. But I still count it as one of Fleming’s few failures, a poorly paced and plotted Chandler-esque exercise that always leaves me feeling a bit underwhelmed when I read it.

‘Goldfinger’ reviewed by… DLibrasnow

I’ve always really liked the book Goldfinger. I read the book many, many years before I saw the movie so I came to it with a completely open mind. I seem to be against the majority in considering one of the best Flemings, I particularly enjoy all the golf in it.

Always a fun read.

5 stars.

‘Goldfinger’ reviewed by… Qwerty

I just never really got into Ian Fleming’s seventh, Goldfinger. As I had seen the film first many, many times, I expected the novel to be one of the best as well. Truth be told, it’s a bit of a letdown really. The best part of the book is probably the opening. We are treated to an interesting introduction of our lead villain. The ‘Mr. Bomb’ touch is nice when meeting James Bond is also a nice touch. Similar highlights include the card cheating sequence as well as the golf match. After Bond later meets Oddjob though, the story just seems to run out of steam.

Fleming seems to be jumpy and sketchy in his plotting and further descriptions compared with past Bond novels. I wish Pussy Galore would have had much more time in the storyline. Never found Tilly to be an entirely convincing character.

Still, we get that great line: “Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time is enemy action.”

Definitely required reading for 007 fans, but Fleming has written much better. A case of the film actually improving upon the original plot of the novel.

‘Goldfinger’ reviewed by… B007GLE

4 stars but I may be overly generous.

When you get down to it it is no where near as good as Live and Let Die, Moonraker, From Russia with Love or Doctor No. It is however, in my honest opinion, better than Casino Royale or Diamonds are Forever.

The main problem is that the film version is so far superior that the book feels “sickly” compared to it.

Keep your eyes on the CBn main page for further reviews of Ian Fleming’s James Bond 007 adventures in the upcoming months.

Literary 007 Reviewed: Ian Fleming's 'Doctor No'

With 2008 marking the centenary of Ian Fleming, the newest CommanderBond.net review series, Literary 007 Reviewed, now continues with the author’s sixth James Bond adventure, 1958’s Doctor No.

As several CBn Forum members are already aware, every two months a James Bond adventure is chosen for members of the Blades Library Book Club to read. Proceeding in chronological order, the club first read Fleming’s Doctor No back in December 2004.

What follows are selected reviews from the Book Club Forum members. For further details on the club or to post your own review of Doctor No, simply click here.

Literary 007 Reviewed:
Doctor No

‘Doctor No’ reviewed by… Double-O Eleven

Hot damn, this is a great novel. I first read it in 1986 when I was thirteen, and it was the second Fleming novel I read–and it’s the one that hooked me. I had previously read Goldfinger, which a friend lent to me when I was on a long vacation with him in junior high school. I am ashamed to admit that I didn’t much care for it (it’s still not one of my favorites, although I do have a greater appreciation for it now), but he encouraged me to then read Doctor No, which he had just finished. I still vividly remember putting down the book after reading the first chapter and looking at my friend beside me on the bus and remarking: “That was a great opening!” It was a rapid-fire read after that, and by the end of the year I had read every single Ian Fleming James Bond novel. I had a new obsession that hasn’t abandoned me since.

So Doctor No holds a special place with me. But its power is much more than nostalgia; it really is Fleming at the height of his powers, and it’s the most imaginative and outrageous of his books. This most recent re-read (probably the fourth time) was just as exciting as the first time I read it, when I had no idea what would happen (I had not seen the movie at the time). It has the speed and action of Live and Let Die but also benefits from Fleming’s greater literary maturity and handling of characters. It succeeds better than almost any of the other Bond novels of removing the reader from the everyday world and throwing them into a fantasy of sun, sex, violence, exoticism, and mad villainry.

And the centipede sequence…that’s brilliant, just absolutely damn brilliant. Only Cornell Woolrich ever wrote sequences as tense as this. It’s a prose masterpiece.

The famous obstacle course is another piece of writing genius. Fleming manages to pour every ounce of bodily torture that Bond goes through into the reader. Nowhere else does Bond’s sheer power of endurance, his need to defeat the evil of the villain, come through so strongly. The “pulping” of the spiders is just repulsive, and the final fight with the giant squid is one of the heights of sheer mania in any 007 book. Fleming show a huge debt to the American pulp magazine tradition in these sequences; you could almost be reading a story starring Doc Savage: a mysterious tropical island, a madman with diabolical devices and hooks for hands, a mechanical “dragon,” an obstacle course of death, a flood of crabs (harmless, but we don’t know that), and a giant squid to top it all off!

Even after the course is over, the delirious of action doesn’t let up. The thrill of Doctor No’s death and Bond’s exhilaration as the bad doctor dies under that choking yellow mass electrifies me every time. Then Bond shoots and bashes his way to freedom with Honey… hell, there’s almost nothing as exciting in any book I’ve read. Fleming must have pounded these parts out in a fever–they have that kind of intensity.

Doctor No himself is a masterful villain, and in the films he turned into the prototype of all who followed. Cast in the Fu-Manchu mode, but given a modern twist, he projects such cool unflappable evil and haughty confidence that you just can’t wait for Bond to do him in. His speeches are the best of their kind: “You persist in underestimating me, Mr. Bond.”

Honeychile Rider is also an inspired fantasy figure, both childish and accomplished, needing Bond but also resourceful in a way completely new to the reader. No other Bond girl understands Bond’s role as a secret service agent better, understands why some people must die… nay, deserve it. After all, she murdered the man who raped her. (“I wouldn’t make a habit of it,” Bond quips.)

Bond’s reaction to Quarrel’s death is a fine example of the emotional power that Fleming could pack into his work. Quarrel is such a firm friend and companion that his fiery death really hits hard. Fleming reminds readers that in the world of James Bond, nobody is safe: the comic buddy can be roasted in the blink of an eye. (And a few novels later, we find out that the hero’s wife isn’t safe either.)

Doctor No is one of the masterpieces of adventure literature. The movie adaptation is very good as well, but it doesn’t achieve the same level of excitement. And where’s the damn giant squid? I want my giant squid! Yeah, I know they didn’t have the budget or the effects technology, but still… I want my damn giant squid!

‘Doctor No’ reviewed by… Max Zorin

This has always been my favorite Bond novel, just for the sheer hell it puts Bond through. I love the centipede attack. I love death race Dr. No puts Bond through. I love the “Killing Ground”. I love the characters–the loyal, lovable Quarrel, the sprited Honey, the devious Dr. No (one of my favorite Fleming villains–too bad he was underused in the book.) I even liked
Pleydell-Smith. It’s just a fun, fast paced adventure that was brough outstandingly to film. Five stars, easy.

‘Doctor No’ reviewed by… Commander James Bond

I just finished reading it a few days ago, and what can I say, it was sheer brilliance. Ian Fleming is truly a master of writing.

The sequence with the centipede was just so tense and well-written. The locations are great, and Fleming’s love and knowledge of Jamaica really shines through. Dr. No is an excellent villain. I love his little speech on “maniacs”. Honey is a very nice character. She possesses a child-like innocence which I guess must be a quality Bond liked about her. The scenes involving Dr. No’s course were just marvelous. You could just feel the searing pain Bond felt. Very well written.

Now, Dr. No’s death. To be honest, I didn’t like it. Getting crushed by bird dung just didn’t seem very fitting for such an excellent character. It would’ve been nice if Bond showed some real ruthlessness and killed him with his bare hands.

I thought the plot was very good. I did kind of miss the down-to-earth thriller feel of Casino Royale and From Russia with Love, but I guess a bit of variety keeps the series interesting.

Overall, a brilliant, exciting novel, and I can’t wait to start reading Goldfinger.

‘Doctor No’ reviewed by… B007GLE

I think that in the past I have not given the books that served as the inspiration for the early movies their due. (Except From Russia with Love which I have always loved.)

The movie Dr. No is so good and even adds great things not in the book–Ms. Taro, Professor Dent, the Three Blind Mice’s end–that I originally felt that the book was “just okay”.

Having re-read it now I realize just how terrific the book is. I have a quibble with M not thinking something bad happened to Strangways but beyond this it is a terrific read.

‘Doctor No’ reviewed by… MHazard

1. It seems to me that Doctor No and Goldfinger are the two most over the top (least plausible) in terms of their plots and the villains’ evil plans.

2. I think I read somewhere a long time ago that one criticism of Bond the character is that he’s not that swift at figuring things out and that the person who wrote this essay used the fact that it seemed Bond should have figured out Dr. No was up to no good and had killed Strangways long before he did, that it was pretty obvious.

3. I like the movie version, but here’s some things I think the book did better (I usually judge movie quality by how much of the book they incorporate): Dr. No’s death by guano-more fun than being flung in an atomic reactor; Dr. No himself-hooks for hands and his overall physical appearance and story. I thought Joseph Wiseman did a good job, but he didn’t really bring the book version to life (as I feel Gert Frobe pretty much did in Goldfinger); the octopus fight-just aint there; and finally, in the novel, there is a good explanation and reason for Bond being subjected to Dr. No’s obstacle course. It’s the climax of the book but in the movie all you get is he escaped out a ventilator shaft and why is it hot in there and why is there water?.

4. Overall, a darn good read. I consider it, along with From Russia with Love and Goldfinger to be mid-period Bond, the Bond most people think of when they think of Bond. I think of the previous books Casino Royale through Diamonds are Forever as early Bond and post Goldfinger as late Bond leading to the trilogy of the final three novels.

‘Doctor No’ reviewed by… Bond Maniac

What a surprise this novel was for me. After picking it up I couldn’t stop reading it. Took me two days to read the whole thing and the final pages kept me on the edge of my seat. I was honestly shaking for fear of Bond’s life (even tought in the back of my mind I knew he would not die) but the thing is so well written that I actually believed he could die and that’s how great it is.

I love everything in this one and is one of my top five favorites.

My special regards on this one goes to Bond’s fight with the octopus and the maze. Thumbs up for Mr. Fleming.

‘Doctor No’ reviewed by… North Scorpion

I don’t know how Bond could stay awake while Dr. No prattled on. If brevity is the soul of wit than Dr. No has none of it. The man kept talking and talking…of course it was an interesting read, but poor Mr. Bond.

I must say I did like Dr. No’s death. Quite fitting and lasting legacy he left behind. To be buried under a ton of bird dung…one of the best death scenes in fiction!

‘Doctor No’ reviewed by… dajman_007

I was told that this would be one of the best Fleming novels. I’m not saying it was bad, because it definately wasn’t. But up until the dinner, I was going through the book just to get it over with. When I was reading Live and Let Die I had to turn the pages because I was so enthrawled. I read Casino Royale in two afternoons since I was so into it. It took me two weeks to punch through Doctor No. Again I think it would have been a much better read in the mid 50s but having watched Dr. No 50+ times, I knew exactly what was coming, without a hint of foreshadowing. Predictable? Hardly. After Bond Meets Dr. No the movie veered from the novel, therefore the novel took on a life of its own. Now I read the last quarter of the book in one night. Bond’s Death Trap was non-stop action and I didn’t know what was coming. I think this is another one of Fleming’s brilliant works. And it’s no one’s fault that the movie followed so closely to the book. If anything its a due compliment to Fleming’s work that the films rarely give the author anymore.

‘Doctor No’ reviewed by… d0uble0_7

Doctor No was indeed a fine Fleming novel. Great storyline, action-packed, awesome characters, it was a wonderful read. I loved the images of Honeychile the novel subjected my mind to. The sheer torture Bond endured toward the end was amazing. Just to think what I would’ve done in that same situation.

I must admit that having watched the film twice during my read of Doctor No, really hurt my take on the film. Not to discredit the film by any means, but as one can come to expect things are much different in the literary versions.

‘Doctor No’ reviewed by… Agent76

Oh man, what a ride!

These were the first words that came to my mind, when I finished reading Doctor No today. Once again Ian Fleming does a fantastic job with this story, where he combines class and adventure in an inteligent way.

One thing that I liked the most in the story, was Bond’s loyalty to his gun, of many years, the .25 Beretta. We see his sadness for having to quit using it, and the doubts he has about the new piece, Walter PPK. I was hoping to read some lines with the character Felix Leiter included, but no luck there. Dr Julius No is one of the most lunatic villains, where during the dinner chapter, we get the sense that he’s a maniac saddist. The sensuality and innocence of Honey Rider, adds more to the story and makes her one of the most interesting “Bond girls” in the series.

Keep your eyes on the CBn main page for further reviews of Ian Fleming’s James Bond 007 adventures in the upcoming months.

Ian Fleming's 'For Your Eyes Only' Audio CD Coming In October '08

Literary 007 fans can pre-order the For Your Eyes Only Audio CD or CD-ROM collection by Ian Fleming (and read by Robert Whitfield) on Amazon.com.

The Fleming short story collection is being released as an obvious tie-in to the 22nd James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, which hits theatres in October/November.

The For Your Eyes Only collection will be released on Audio CD or CD-ROM on 1 October and will retail for $19.95 and $29.95, respectively. They will be published by Blackstone Audiobooks.

Pre-order online:

• Order For Your Eyes Only by Ian Fleming (read by Robert Whitfield) from Amazon.com (Audio CD)
• Order For Your Eyes Only by Ian Fleming (read by Robert Whitfield) from Amazon.com (CD-ROM)

Stay tuned to CommanderBond.net for the most complete literary James Bond coverage on the web. 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.

Literary 007 Reviewed: Ian Fleming's 'From Russia With Love'

With 2008 marking the centenary of Ian Fleming, the newest CommanderBond.net review series, Literary 007 Reviewed, now continues with the author’s fifth James Bond adventure, 1957’s From Russia with Love.

As several CBn Forum members are already aware, every two months a James Bond adventure is chosen for members of the Blades Library Book Club to read. Proceeding in chronological order, the club first read Fleming’s From Russia with Love back in September 2004.

What follows are selected reviews from the Book Club Forum members. For further details on the club or to post your own review of From Russia with Love, simply click here.

Literary 007 Reviewed:
From Russia With Love

‘From Russia with Love’ reviewed by… B007GLE

I love this book.

I think that Live and Let Die and Moonraker may be more exciting but this is abetter novel. (Which probably the reason that Kennedy chose this out of all the Fleming titles to list as one of his 10 favorite books.)

I think I prefer Live and Let Die and Moonraker a little more because they are such good books and the books are much better than the films. From Russia with Love is a great book but an even better movie. The things that were added: Grant as Bond’s “guardian angel”; the way bond gets Tania out of the embassy rather than just waiting ofr her at the station; the helicopter chase; the way Kelbb makes her apperance at the end.

What is truly amazing aboutthe book is how much it plays with the formula that Fleming set up in the first four books. There is a lot of talk on CBn about Gardner’s The Man From Barbarosa being “experimental”, but From Russia with Love is far more experimental than that and yet that is rarely discussed.

This was the first Bond novel I read over 25 years ago. I had not gone back to it since and it is just as good as I remembered.

One last thing regarding General G. is that he’s not mentioned often which is a shame. I wish Bond had a chance to “take him out” and bring closure to the SMERSH books. Reading about him, one can see he really is a precursor to Blofeld, except he’s not a capitalist.

‘From Russia with Love’ reviewed by… Max Zorin

For the longest time this was my favorite Bond novel, and after re-reading it, I can understand why. It has some of Fleming’s best characters, and the movie gets it down almost perfectly. Grant continues to be my favorite Fleming villain, and the fight between him and Bond is almost as thrilling in text as it was on screen.

‘From Russia with Love’ reviewed by… North Scorpion

I have just completed reading the book this afternoon.

Like many who read the Fleming novels nowadays, it is difficult to see the work as standing alone and separate from the film that followed. As much as I tried, I kept having Mr. Connery’s voice coming into my head while reading some of the dialogue.

Notwithstanding, this work stands on its own legs and shows why this was chosen as the second (why not the first?) feature. It offers everything one would expect from a Bond novel. It also offers a very risque novel in terms of the sexual mores present at the time of writing. I can see why this is viewed by some as the first truly great James Bond novel. One note does ring sour, however. Kerim Bey’s treatment of women seems to be less of a reflection of Turkish men’s attitude than Mr. Fleming’s state of mind at the time. Interesting.

I find the ending most interesting. Not because of what it means to the novel (as we all could imagine the literary equivalent of ‘James Bond will return in…’ on the page), but what Mr. Fleming was thinking at the time. Was he confident that everyone knew Bond was returning so he could take chances? Was the publisher quaking after reading the ending, fearing readers reactions? Interesting.

A thoroughly enjoyable read.

‘From Russia with Love’ reviewed by… manfromjapan

Just finished the book and I rate it as the best one I have read so far. I am reading them in chronological order. It is a compelling, captivating, vividly described thriller. I liked the villains and Bond’s relationship with Tania, the action is good, the sex erotic and Kerim is a wonderful character. I thought Casino Royale couldn’t be bettered! It is better than the film, which I love, but in the novel the Bond/Grant fight is arguably not as exciting as the film version is.

‘From Russia with Love’ reviewed by… Blonde Bond

Yesterday I finished reading Ian Fleming’s From Russia with Love and I did it rather quickly. Took about week or less to read it through. It was simply because this book was so intriguing. The book closely followed the same story that followed in the movie adaption, years later. There were, of course, some differences that weren’t included in the film.

I liked the start and how the better part of the first half of the book was dedicated to the villains, building up characters like Red Grant. Let me just say it for the record; that man was a cold blooded sob. Much easier to be hated than his movie counterpart.

Now, I want to be honest; because of the first half only dedicated to the villains and their plotting, I felt hasty, and I wanted the story to move forward, so I could again meet my favorite British spy. But thinking afterwards, it was a good decision from Fleming to build the backbone of the story, and only when it was the time, did he move forward in the story and reintroduced us with the character we already knew from the previous novels.

Even though the novel was like a Tourist’s Guide for Spy Guys, it finally got to the point when Bond arrives in Istanbul. The few chapters taking place in the gypsy camp and the aftermath of the massacre were very familiar to me since I had seen the movie before I had the pleasure of reading this fine book. However, the fight between those two gypsy girls was told in more brutal way than it was in the movie and after Kerim had shot his long time enemy, Krilencu, Bond’s thoughts of disgust came as a surprise, since Bond himself was a cold blooded killer himself, if needed. Here he was, judging Kerim’s way of delivering vengeance.

The ending that took place on the train was a far more thrilling version compared to Bond’s and Grant’s fight in the movie and I found myself thinking how will Bond handle this situation and escape from death?

The ending of the book came as a surprise, being different than the ending in the movie. It left me wanting more, left me wanting to know what 007’s health, both physical and mental, would be in the following book, Dr. No.

All in all, although containing a very familiar story, and not from my favorite Bond movie either, this was the best book in the series so far.

The first half alone made this my favourite 007 book.

‘From Russia with Love’ reviewed by… Agent76

I finished the book today, and I have to say I’m very pleased with it. It was for certain, a great read, full of fantastic descriptions that only Mr Fleming can give, the details, the actions of James Bond are well written.

I was a little surprised with the relation between Bond and Kerim Bey, just because it seems to me that Bond admires Kerim a lot, almost like a father figure, or someone he admired as spy working in the name of the Queen.

Keep your eyes on the CBn main page for further reviews of Ian Fleming’s James Bond 007 adventures in the upcoming months.

Unseen 'The Living Daylights' Artwork To Feature At Fleming Exhibition

A previously unseen painting created by British artist Graham Sutherland more than 40 years ago for the James Bond short story The Living Daylights will be shown to the public for the first time beginning tomorrow.

The painting will be shown along with an extensive collection of other James Bond-related material at the ‘Bond Bound: Ian Fleming & The Art of Cover Design’ exhibition, which opens tomorrow at the Fleming Collection art gallery in central London.

The Times reports that Fleming commissioned Sutherland to create the work in the early 1960s so that it could accompany the debut of his 007 short story The Living Daylights in February 1962.

The pink, green and blue work, depicting an arrow piercing a heart, has not been seen since it was completed 46 years ago to accompany the story in the first edition of The Sunday Times Magazine.

As many fans are well aware, the story was later included into the 1966 Octopussy and The Living Daylights collection.

Fleming, who had been foreign manager of The Sunday Times during the 1950s, was asked to write the 007 story for the new colour magazine.

‘He still was the paper’s most bankable asset although he had by then left the staff,’ said Fleming biographer Andrew Lycett.

Fleming commissioned Sutherland to create the piece in September 1961 after striking a friendship with the artist earlier that year during a summer holiday in Provence.

Sutherland was offered 100 guineas (£105) for his work, well below his usual rate. The resulting Bond artwork did not strike a chord with The Sunday Times founding editor Mark Boxer.

Boxer ultimately rejected the artwork, stating that it lacked the necessary sophistication to accompany the article. Fleming was also upset and tried to persuade Sutherland to have another try–unsucessfully.

Click here for more information on the ‘Bond Bound: Ian Fleming & The Art of Cover Design’ exhibition.

Stay tuned to CBn for all the latest details and coverage on all the Ian Fleming centenary events and James Bond-related releases.

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.

US Cover Artwork For Ian Fleming's 'Quantum of Solace' Collection Revealed

The US cover artwork for the forthcoming Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories collection has been revealed online.

The cover should be familiar to literary 007 fans on both sides of the pond as it is designed in the same style of the Richie Fahey/Roseanne Serra covers that adorned the 2002-2004 Penguin trade paperbacks in the US and the 2006 paperbacks in the UK.

As previously noted on CommanderBond.net, this collection, with a title that wisely acknowledges the 007 film of the same name coming out later this year, will collect the nine short stories that are featured in Ian Fleming’s For Your Eyes Only and Octopussy & The Living Daylights into one book.

The UK edition of Ian Fleming’s Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories is set for 29 April (to be released alongside the hardback reprints of Fleming’s original 14 Bond adventures). The US edition will hit bookshelves on 26 August.

The full line-up of Fleming short stories include:

• From a View to a Kill
• For Your Eyes Only
• Quantum of Solace
• Risico
• The Hildebrand Rarity
• Octopussy
• The Living Daylights
• The Property of a Lady
• 007 in New York

Pre-order online:

• Order Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories from Amazon.co.uk
• Order Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories from Amazon.com

Keep watching CBn for the most complete literary James Bond coverage on the web. 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.

Win 'The Bond Files' – An Ian Fleming Omnibus

CommanderBond.net is giving forum members the chance to win a a copy of the recently released Ian Fleming hardback omnibus The Bond Files.

First released in December 2007 and especially created for the Bertelsmann Direct North America Book-of-the-Month Club, this collection brings together Fleming’s first three 007 adventures: Casino Royale, Live and Let Die and Moonraker.

This competition is open to all members of CBn. You must be a registered member of the CBn Forums and answer the following question correctly to be eligible to win. Not yet a member of CBn? Register here now–it is free and only takes a minute!

To enter, fill out the following questionnaire and send a Communiqué/Private Message on the CBn Forums to ‘CBn Competition’ (Subject: CBn Bond Files) by Midnight EST on 2 May 2008 (simply click on the link in this paragraph).

1.TRUE or FALSE: Two of Ian Fleming’s non-Bond books, The Diamond Smugglers and Thrilling Cities are due to be republished in 2008.

2.What is your CBn Forum Screen Name?

3.What country/state do you live in?