Charlie Higson To Attend The Word Festival

Young Bond author Charlie Higson will be making an appearance at the Word Festival on 17 June 2006 – reports the Young Bond Dossier.

Higson will be speaking all about his popular Young Bond series, including both the SilverFin and Blood Fever novels. The event will take place at the Word Festival at the Polka Theatre in Wimbledon at 2 PM on Saturday, 17 June 2006.

Tickets cost £4.50 and can be ordered by phoning 020 8543 4888 or visiting www.polkatheatre.com.

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The Blades Library Book Club: Colonel Sun

Welcome back to The Blades Library Book Club – the place for quality discussions of the books of James Bond!

Every two months a James Bond 007 novel is chosen for the club members to read. A thread is posted in the club forums listing locations on where you can find the novel. Discussions about the book will go on as the book is read and when it is finished. Another thread will be created so that club members can post their review and give a rating on the current book.

All fans of the Literary Bond are eligible for membership. All you need to do to sign up is register for the CBn Forums and then post your name in the sign up thread.

The Book Club’s Fifteenth Book

Currently we are progressing though the James Bond 007 novels in chronological order, since quite a number of members are using the club as an opportunity to read the books for the very first time. The club has just finished the fourteenth and final Ian Fleming James Bond novel. Therefore, Colonel Sun by Kingsley Amis will be the book in the hands of readers for June 2006. Colonel Sun, published in 1968, is Kingsley Amis’ first (and only) James Bond adventure.

Obtaining The Book

Ordering online should be fairly easy. Colonel Sun can be ordered online (although in used condition) from the following sources:

• Amazon.co.uk
• Amazon.com

Online sources for other versions of Colonel Sun:

• Bookfinder.com
• eBay

Discuss other places to buy Colonel Sun or where you got your copy in this thread.

Discuss The Book While Reading

Want to talk about the book while reading it? Post a new thread in The Blades Library. Be sure to title the thread with Colonel Sun and the chapter number you have read through.

Review And Rate The Book

After you have finished reading Colonel Sun, you can dicuss it with other club members in The Blades Library, and give the book your personal rating out of five in this thread.

If you have any questions or suggestions just post them in a new thread. Happy reading.

Previous Books Read

• Octopussy & The Living Daylights: April 2006 – May 2006
• The Man With The Golden Gun: February 2006 – March 2006
• You Only Live Twice: December 2005 – January 2006
• On Her Majesty’s Secret Service: October 2005 – November 2005
• The Spy Who Loved Me: August 2005 – September 2005
• Thunderball: June 2005 – July 2005
• For Your Eyes Only: April 2005 – May 2005
• Goldfinger: February 2005 – March 2005
• Doctor No: December 2004 – January 2005
• From Russia, With Love: September 2004 – November 2004
• Diamonds Are Forever: July 2004 – August 2004
• Moonraker: May 2004 – June 2004
• Live and Let Die: May 2003 – June 2003
• Casino Royale: March 2003 – April 2003

James Bond Exposed!

In April we noticed a new James Bond book on Amazon.com and people wondered what it was all about. We now have a very detailed official press release for this exciting 007 book full of anthologies, one of which is written by CBn’s own John Cox. Keep your eyes open this September as James Bond in the 21st Century hits the shelves.

JAMES BOND IN THE 21ST CENTURY
WHY WE STILL NEED 007

James Bond in the 21st Century: Why We Still Need 007

The man needs no introduction. He’s Bond. James Bond. Women want him, and men want to be him. Living life in the fast lane, he’s licensed to kill and ready to thrill. James Bond is a ruthless agent who has convinced the world that not only is he the ultimate spy, but he always gets the girl, too. But has Bond outlived his usefulness? Is he still relevant today?

Today, James Bond is more important than ever.

James Bond in the 21st Century provides an entertaining and smart look at secret agent 007. Leading writers look at the evolution of Fleming’s secret agent, the classic Bond debates, and the films’ deeper subtext, offering advice for Mr. Bond, would-be villains, and discarded Bond girls alike, discovering why we still need 007.

Funny and insightful, James Bond in the 21st Century is a different look into the work and lifestyle of 007. It is perfect for fans, young and old, of the world’s most famous secret agent.

Topics Include:

J A Konrath surveys Bond’s Q section gadgets. Which are worth buying and which ones are wastes of money?

Who’s the sexiest Bond girl? Erin Dailey and Harry Elliott discuss their picks.

Bond–bland? Bond expert Lee Pfeiffer thinks so–and he’s got some compelling reasons why.

John Cox unearths the sexual subtext in the Bond films. Could his relationship with his father be to blame?

Movie critic Michael Marano can beat up James Bond–so why does 007, particularly Timothy Dalton’s version, still present such a threat?

007 continuation novelist Raymond Benson compares the literary bond to the cinematic Bond. Will they ever be the same?

It takes more than a martini: Italian writer and translator Andrea Carlo Cappi tells you everything you need to know to drink, eat and dress like Bond.

David Morefield shows how to be an evil genius and beat 007 once and for all.

Contributors Include:

• Raymond Benson
• Bruce Bethke
• Andrea Carlo Cappi
• John Cox
• Erin Dailey
• Ray Dempsey
• Harry Elliott
• Natasha Giardini
• Raelynn Hillhouse
• JA Konrath
• Michael Marano
• Louis Markos
• David Morefield
• Lee Pfeiffer
• Adam Roberts
• Steven Rubio
• Mark W. Tiedemann
• Lawrence Watt-Evans
• Sarah Zettel

Publication Details: James Bond in the 21st Century

Editor: Glenn Yeffeth
ISBN: 1-933771-02-x
Pub. Month: September 2006
Retail: $17.95 (US)/$24.95 (CAN)
Publisher: BenBella Books
Cover: Trade Paperback

Order: James Bond in the 21st Century

From: Amazon.com
From: Amazon.co.uk
From: Amazon.ca

'Blood Fever' To Be Published In Sweden In 2007

After a recent flood of international editions of Charlie Higson’s Young Bond novels, SilverFin and Blood Fever, here comes the announcement of yet another.

The Young Bond Dossier reports that the second Young Bond novel, Blood Fever, will be published in Sweden in March 2007. Published by Tiden, it will follow the Swedish edition of SilverFin, (Silverfena) which was released in March of 2006.

Keep watching CBn for all the latest James Bond 007 news.

Discuss this Young James Bond news in this thread on the CBn Forums, the largest James Bond 007 forum on the internet.

'The Ultimate James Bond Fan Book' Pushed To September

While 2005 was an excellent year for books about the Bond novels, movies, and more, 2006 certainly has new releases lined up as well. One of which is The Ultimate James Bond Fan Book, by Deborah Lipp. Previously scheduled for release on 30 May 2006, the book is now due for release on 30 September 2006.

The book, covering many of the aspects of the James Bond film series, will run at an impressive 526 pages and will be published in the UK and US by Sterling & Ross. An excerpt about the new book from the official website (http://www.jamesbondfanbook.com) follows:

The Ultimate James Bond Fan Book is a never-before compiled compendium of lists, facts, anecdotes, trivia, commentary, photos and much, much more, about the most valuable movie franchise in movie history. Filled with minutiae culled from the far-reaches of the planet, The Ultimate James Bond Fan Book is your one-stop shop for all things Bond, including a detailed listing of every Bond movie ever made, the actors, the guns, the gadgets, the girls, the cars and everything in-between. A must for even the casual Bond fan.

• Best Girls.
• Worst Songs.
• Best Actors.
• Number of Explosions.
• Quantity of Vodka Martinis.
• Favorite One-Liners.
• Most evil villains.
• and so much more…

www.jamesbondfanbook.com

Pre-order now for discounted prices at Amazon: £9.74 in the UK and $13.57 in the US.

Pre-order ‘The Ultimate James Bond Fan Book’

Pre-order The Ultimate James Bond Fan Book from Amazon.co.uk

Pre-order The Ultimate James Bond Fan Book from Amazon.com

Discuss this new James Bond book release in this thread on the CBn Forums, the largest James Bond forum on the internet.

'SilverFin' Graphic Novel Set For Summer 2008

Click to open CBn’s Young Bond character portrait gallery

Details were first unveiled on CBn way back April of 2005 for a Young Bond graphic novel series based on the characters from Charlie Higson’s successful novels.

SilverFin will be the first Young Bond graphic novel. Initially set for a late 2006 release, the Young Bond Dossier reports that fans will have wait until summer 2008 for the SilverFin graphic novel. Artwork illustrations will be provided by Kev Walker.

Keep watching CBn for all the latest news on the Young Bond series and all things James Bond 007.

Discuss this Young James Bond news in this thread on the CBn Forums, the largest James Bond 007 forum on the internet.

'Blood Fever' Officially Released in US

Charlie Higson’s Blood Fever

Charlie Higson’s second Young Bond novel, Blood Fever, was officially released in the US – reports The Young Bond Dossier.

Sporting a very striking cover, the US hardback retails for $16.95. It was released a few weeks early online. In Blood Fever, Young James Bond will travel to Sardinia, where he becomes engaged in a plot of art theft, bandits, pirates, a powerful villain and more.

Keep watching CBn for all the latest James Bond 007 news.

Discuss this Young James Bond news in this thread on the CBn Forums, the largest James Bond 007 forum on the internet.

Young Bond Book 3 Location Previews

As Young Bond fans wait for the for the title of Charlie Higson’s third novel to be announced, the news keeps coming in on many of the other aspects of the book–in this case, the locations.

As Higson has previously revealed that Young Bond Book 3 will be set in the ‘darkest corners of London,’ The Young Bond Dossier has reported on two such places. The first is Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons, which is ‘based on the collection of John Hunter (1728-1793), a surgeon and scientist who collected and preserved thousands of biological specimens, mostly in jars of alcohol.’ Rooms filled with such bottles and ‘cross-sections of bones showing healthy and diseased bone formation; the skeleton of a giant [and] cases containing hideous-looking 18th-century medical instruments…’ are just a few things found at the museum.

Another ‘dark’ location is the Highgate Cemetery. Consecrated in 1839, the cemetary is the perfect location ‘for a Gothic thriller… dark visions were created from the crumbling stone angels, lost graves and the tombs ravaged by both time and the elements. As the cemetery continued to fall, trees grew slowly through the graves, uprooting the headstones. Dense foliage and growth gave the place the look of a lost city.’

Fans will just have to wait to see how such locations turn out in the novel, which is due for release in January 2007.

Keep watching CBn for all the latest James Bond 007 news.

Discuss this Young James Bond news in this thread on the CBn Forums, the largest James Bond 007 forum on the internet.

'The Man Who Saved Britain' Shipping Early

Fans of the literary James Bond take notice. The Man Who Saved Britain (which was set to be released on 2 June 2006), written by Simon Winder is shipping early from amazon.co.uk. Published by Picador, and 300 pages in length, it can now be ordered for £9.89.

The book was initially described as ‘”a funny, serious history of post-Colonial Britain as seen through the eyes of James Bond, part memoir, part history.’ A more complete blurb of the book found on both amazon sites (they differ slightly) describes it as:

Bond. James Bond. The ultimate British hero — suave, stoic, gadget-driven — he was more than anything the necessary invention of a traumatized country whose self-image as a great power had just been shattered by the Second World War. Bond’s creator, Ian Fleming, was an upper-class wastrel who had found purpose and excitement in the war, and to whom, like so many others, its end was a terrible disappointment?the elation of survival stifled by the reality of the new British impotence. In 1952 Fleming set out to repair this damage. By inventing the magical, parallel world of secret British greatness and glamour, he fabricated an icon that has endured long past its maker’s death.

To grow up in England in the 1970s was to grow up with James Bond, and The Man Who Saved Britain is first of all the story of the author’ relationship with the “national religion.” Simon Winder lovingly and ruefully re-creates the nadirs and humiliations of fandom while illuminating what Bond’s evolution — from books to film, from his roots in the 1940s to his “managed decline” today — says about the conservative movement, sex, the monarchy, food, attitudes toward America, class, and everything in between. The Man Who Saved Britain is an insightful and, above all, entertaining exploration of postwar Britain through the palliative influence of one of its most legendary icons, the larger-than-life Agent 007.

What is also somewhat interesting to note is that amazon.com cites the complete title as The Man Who Saved Britain : A Personal Journey into the Disturbing World of James Bond. It will be released on 17 October 2006 in the US; published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. The current pre-order price is $15.60.

Be sure to stay tuned to CBn for further news on Simon Winder’s The Man Who Saved Britain.

Order the UK hardback edition of ‘The Man Who Saved Britain’ from Amazon.co.uk

Pre-order the U.S. hardback edition of ‘The Man Who Saved Britain’ from Amazon.com (17 October 2006)

Discuss this James Bond book in this thread on the CBn Forums, the largest James Bond forum on the internet.

French 'Blood Fever' Announced

The French edition of Charlie Higson’s second Young Bond novel, Blood Fever, has been announced – reports the Young Bond Dossier.

Published as La mort est contagieuse, it will be released on 15 October 2006. It can be pre-ordered from amazon.fr. It will be published by Gallimard. Cover art has not yet been revealed.

In the meantime, the French edition of SilverFin (under the title of Opération silverfin ) can be ordered from amazon.ca. It is currently discounted to CDN $14.73.

Keep watching CBn for all the latest James Bond 007 news.

Discuss this Young James Bond news in this thread on the CBn Forums, the largest James Bond 007 forum on the internet.