Raymond Benson's 'Union Trilogy' Book Tour Details

Back in September, CommanderBond.net first reported the news that James Bond novelist Raymond Benson would be embarking on a US book tour to promote the brand new omnibus James Bond: The Union Trilogy – Three 007 Novels. We are now proud to bring you full details of the Bond author’s signings.

November 15, 2008

Saturday, 11:00 am – 1:00 pm

Barnes & Noble Bookstore

920 N. Milwaukee Ave.

Lincolnshire, IL 60069

847-793-8740

Book signing

November 16, 2008

Sunday, 1:00 – 3:00pm

Barnes & Noble Bookstore

1550 W. 75th St.

Downers Grove, IL 60069

630-663-0181

Book signing

November 19, 2008

Wednesday, 7:00 pm

Mt. Prospect Public Library

10 South Emerson Street

Mount Prospect, Illinois 60056

847-253-5675

Slideshow “The James Bond Phenomenon” and book-signing

November 29, 2008

Saturday, 1:00 pm

Murder by the Book

2342 Bissonnet St.

Houston, TX 77005

713-524-8597

Discussion/book signing

With Alan J. Porter (The Illustrated History Of 007)

December 11, 2008

Thursday, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Barnes & Noble

The Shoppes at Cross Keys

13995 New Halls Ferry Rd.

Florissant, MO 63033 (St. Louis area)

314-830-3550

Book signing

The Union Trilogy

In related news, The Union Trilogy‘s first print run has sold out. Pegasus Books will be publishing a second edition shortly, but if you would like to snap up a first edition, check your bookstores now!

The Union Trilogy collects High Time To Kill, Doubleshot and Never Dream Of Dying, along with the previously-unpublished (in English) full version of short story “Blast From The Past”.

Pegasus books are tentatively planning to publish a second omnibus of Benson’s James Bond books sometime in 2009.

Stay tuned to the CommanderBond.net main page for all the latest literary James Bond coverage.

Ian Fleming's James Bond Novels Available As Dateman Miniatures

Has 2008’s plethora of literary James Bond releases left you with only a sliver of spare shelf space? Well, now’s your chance to fill it!

Dateman Miniature edition of For Your Eyes Only

Dateman Books, in partnership with Ian Fleming Publications, have released Ian Fleming’s 14 James Bond novels as Dateman Miniatures.

These miniatures contain the first chapter of each book and measure just 2.9 cm in height. Each book is 100 percent handmade, bound in black linen and finished with dustjackets featuring the stunning Michael Gillette artwork that adorned the 2008 centenary edition hardback reprints.

The miniatures are available to order online at the Dateman Books website. Each miniature sells for £7.00. The complete set of 14 books can be purchased at the discount price of £90.00.

Keep watching CommanderBond.net for the most up-to-date James Bond news on the web.

'Sean Connery: Neither Shaken Nor Stirred' Released In UK

A newly reprinted edition of the biography Sean Connery: Neither Shaken Nor Stirred by Andrew Yule is released today in the UK.

Published by Sphere, this 416-page paperback retails for £7.99, but fans can currently purchase it at a discounted price at Amazon.co.uk.

This is a biography of the actor, Sean Connery, who was born and brought up in an Edinburgh tenement, the son of a van driver and a charlady. Having left school at 13 and had a variety of jobs, including brickie and milkman, he spent three years in the Navy until invalided out with ulcers, and took up body-building and won a bronze medal in a Mr Universe contest. Deciding on an acting career, he made his film debut in 1956 and the major break came with his appearance in the first James Bond film, Dr No. The book traces Connery’s career and also examines the contradictions of the man himself – one who is renowned for watching the pennies but gives generously to charities; a dedicated Scottish Nationalist who lives as an unrepentant tax exile; a star who sues film companies whilst being admired throughout the industry for professionalism, hard work and commitment; a sex symbol barely touched by scandal.

• Order the UK paperback edition of Sean Connery: Neither Shaken Nor Stirred from Amazon.co.uk

Keep your eyes on the CommanderBond.net main page for all the latest literary James Bond news.

Young Bond Signing With Charlie Higson At Wessex Book Festival

The Young Bond Dossier informs us that Charlie Higson is scheduled to make an appearance at the 12th annual Wessex Children’s Book Festival at the end of the month.

The Young James Bond author will be taking part in a talk and book signing on both Friday, 28 November and the following Saturday (29th).

The Friday event will take place from 6:30 to 9:00pm at Winchester Guildhall. Tickets will cost £3 per person and can be purchased by phoning 01962 826660 or emailing [email protected].

The Saturday event will take place from 10:45 to 11.30am with a book signing scheduled from 11:30am to 12:30pm. There is no cost to attend this Saturday event.

For further details about Wessex Children’s Book Festival, visit their official website.

Keep up with all the latest literary 007 and Young Bond news on the CommanderBond.net main page.

Sir Roger Moore's 'My Word Is My Bond' Released In US

Sir Roger Moore’s autobiography, My Word Is My Bond, is released today in the US.

Following up the UK release of the book at the end of September, the US edition of My Word Is My Bond is published in hardback by Collins and is currently shipping from Amazon.com at a discounted price.

The quintessential suave hero, Roger Moore has had an extraordinary career that has spanned seven decades, from early television to the golden age of Hollywood and on to international superstardom.

Dashing, handsome and every inch the archetypal English gentleman, he is unforgettable as The Saint, as Lord Brett Sinclair in The Persuaders! and, of course, as James Bond, making seven blockbusting films as arguably the most debonair of the 007s.

For the first time, Roger shares his recollections of playing some of the world’s most famous roles alongside a host of legendary stars. With myriad stories from his personal life–from his childhood in London and experiences during the Second World War, to the happy and turbulent times in his later life. Along with anecdotes about his encounters with the stars and his wonderful memories from the heyday of Hollywood, My Word is My Bond is as frank, funny and disarmingly charming as the legend himself.

Order My Word is My Bond online:

• Order the UK hardback edition of My Word is My Bond from Amazon.co.uk
• Order the UK signed hardback edition of My Word is My Bond from Amazon.co.uk
• Order the UK audiobook edition of My Word is My Bond from Amazon.co.uk
• Order the US hardback edition of My Word is My Bond from Amazon.com

Andrew Lycett Uncovers The Real 'Quantum of Solace'

Ian Fleming’s For Your Eyes Only collection

Ian Fleming biographer Andrew Lycett has written an article for this weekend’s Guardian, in which he reveals the incident that inspired the James Bond author to write “Quantum of Solace”, the 007 short story that lends its name to the current record-breaking film.

“Quantum of Solace”, which was ultimately published in the 1960 short story collection For Your Eyes Only, is a decidedly un-Bondian tale, in which 007, after making a passing remark at a dinner party about his desire to marry an air hostess, is told the story of a disintegrating marriage.

The fascinating tale that inspired the short story began in 1959, as Fleming, suffering burnout from Bond, set about writing a short story collection as a way to avoid penning a fully-fledged novel. Lycett writes…

So [Fleming] turned to his girlfriend in Jamaica, Blanche Blackwell, for the real-life tale that became his story “Quantum of Solace”. Blackwell revealed how, in 1938, she had visited her then husband, Joe Blackwell, in Mandeville, where he had been seconded to the local constabulary at the time of a rebellion that threatened to bring the colony to its knees. She had been appalled to witness one of his fellow officers being humiliated by his wife’s very public extramarital affair.

She had been reminded of these events when her friend, Sylvia Foot, the wife of a recent governor general, asked her to help an unfortunate woman who had been abandoned by her husband, a former deputy police commissioner on the island. This was Elspeth Smith, the brazen adulteress of Mandeville. According to Foot, the police officer, Clive Smith, had become deputy commissioner in Jamaica. But his wife’s infidelities rankled. After a trip abroad, he told her he would no longer communicate, except in writing. When, a year later, she asked for a divorce and alimony, he informed her she would be financially secure since she had the house, the car and all the furnishings. Soon afterwards, he moved to Barbados as commissioner of police. When Elspeth Smith came to sell up, she found nothing paid for. Thus Foot’s appeal for charity. But Blackwell, recalling Elspeth’s behaviour in 1938, felt no inclination to help.

Fleming changed the Smiths’ home to Bermuda and made the policeman a diplomat, but kept the gist of the story, which in his version was told to Bond in an after-dinner conversation in Nassau about the nature of marriage. He had the narrator, the governor of the Bahamas, defining the Quantum of Solace as a precise equation of the amount of comfort necessary between two people if love is to flourish. If this figure is zero, there can be no love. Bond clearly understood, for he added that “when the other person not only makes you feel insecure but actually seems to want to destroy you … you’ve got to get away to save yourself”.

Blackwell at least received recompense for her authorial help. Fleming acknowledged her role by giving her what he called “a fat present” – in reality a slim wristwatch from Cartier. At last, a true Bond touch.

To read the whole article, visit guardian.co.uk.

“Quantum of Solace” is the title story in the newly-released Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories, available in hardcover, paperback and as a Penguin Modern Classic.

Keep watching CommanderBond.net for the most up-to-date literary 007 news on the web.

BBC Radio 7 Broadcasts 1990 Adaptation Of Ian Fleming's 'You Only Live Twice'

Following last week’s broadcast of Alex Jennings reading Ian Fleming’s debut James Bond novel, Casino Royale, BBC Radio 7 are this weekend broadcasting the 1990 radio adaptation of Fleming’s 1964 Bond novel, You Only Live Twice.

Ian Fleming’s You Only Live Twice

The adaptation is faithful to Fleming’s original novel, unlike the 1967 movie starring Sean Connery.

The 90-minute broadcast is also available to download for the next seven days from the BBC Radio 7 website.

British actor Michael Jayston, who appeared in mini-series Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and currently stars in ITV soap “Emmerdale”, plays James Bond.

Alex Jennings’ reading of Casino Royale is also still available from the BBC Radio 7 website, but hurry – there’s only one day remaining to hear episode one.

Keep watching CommanderBond.net for the most up-to-date literary 007 news on the web.

'By Royal Command' Paperback Artwork Revealed

Charlie Higson’s By Royal Command

The Young Bond Dossier, the official source for Young Bond news, has scored the paperback artwork to Charlie Higson’s fifth entry into the literary James Bond canon.

The cover artwork reprises the Union Jack motif that appeared on the hardcover edition. Portions of the cover will be finished in silver foil.

By Royal Command will be released in paperback on 28 May, 2008, on the 101st anniversary of Ian Fleming’s birth. But if you can’t wait, you can order the gorgeous hardcover release from the Amazon link below.

Keep watching CommanderBond.net for the most up-to-date literary James Bond news.

Titan's James Bond Returns In 'Polestar'

Even though Amazon is pegging the release date in November, Polestar, the latest addition to Titan’s James Bond collection, is now available in both the UK and US.

This brand new Titan collection brings together five 007 adventures in total. In addition to the title story, included are: Flittermouse, The Scent Of Danger, Snake Goddess and Double Eagle.

Bond girl Valerie Leon, who had appearances in both The Spy Who Loved Me and Never Say Never Again, provides the introduction. As a result of the numerous stories to be featured this time around, the Polestar collection showcases the work of writer Jim Lawrence and artists Yaroslav Horak and John McLusky.

Flittermouse was first published immediately before Polestar and the two stories together represent the final section of Series Five that was first serialised in the Daily Star.

The next three stories, The Scent Of Danger, Snake Goddess and Double Eagle, complete Series Five and represent the final entries of Titan’s James Bond checklist. These strips were syndicated in non-UK newspapers. Mclusky worked with Lawrence on The Scent Of Danger, while Horak returned for the final two stories, Snake Goddess and Double Eagle.

The legend continues! Stand by for more adventures with the world’s greatest and most famous secret agent, James Bond, as some of his most thrilling missions are collected for the first time ever in a deluxe collectors’ library edition! This bumper action-packed volume collects ultra rare Bond stories that have not been seen since their original syndication: Flittermouse, The Scent of Danger, Snake Goddess, Double Eagle and Polestar! Plus a new introduction by Bond girl Valerie Leon (The Spy Who Loved Me), features on Ian Fleming’s home “GoldenEye” and a look at the rarely seen Bond Zig Zag comics series, this latest explosive volume is not to be missed!

To order the Polestar collection, scroll down to the links provided in the CBn checklist below.

Stay tuned to the CommanderBond.net main page for complete coverage of all the latest Titan James Bond releases.

'The Moneypenny Diaries: Final Fling' Out Now In Paperback

The Moneypenny Diaries: Final Fling, the novel that concludes Samantha Weinberg’s brilliant but sadly overlooked James Bond spin-off trilogy, is out now in paperback.

The Moneypenny Diaries: Final Fling

The book concludes the famous secretary’s adventures, which began in 2005’s The Moneypenny Diaries: Guardian Angel and 2006’s The Moneypenny Diaries: Secret Servant.

The paperback edition features the same stunning Stina Persson artwork that adorned the hardcover release.

The synopsis of Final Fling (which contains spoilers, for those who have not read the first two novels) follows.

Final Fling combines the excitement of a cold war spy thriller with the mystery of a contemporary detective story. In the 1964/65 volume of her private diaries, Jane Moneypenny reports her demotion from the position of M’s secretary as the British Secret Intelligence Service is hit by a series of defection scandals. Facing considerable personal danger, she combines forces with 007 in a resolve to smoke out the mole she is convinced is buried deep in the heart of the Office. But, when Bond is sacked and M is forced into retirement, Moneypenny finds herself on her own…

Forty-two years later, Miss Moneypenny’s niece and heir, Kate Westbrook, starts to suspect that her aunt’s death was no accident. She is sure the clues to what happened lie in the search for the mole. As she pieces them together, however, she realizes that there are significant forces who are determined to prevent her finding the truth.

From the glamour of 1960s Jamaica to the treacherous beaches of the Outer Hebrides, Final Fling reveals just how far people are prepared to go to defend – or betray – their beliefs, and relates the life and death, and surprising final love, of the world’s most famous fictional secretary.

Keep watching CommanderBond.net for the latest literary James Bond news.