First James Bond Novel In 6 Years For The Adult Market....

To be released later today...

Devil May Care By Sebastian Faulks.


British Book Cover

American Edition.

I for one am looking forward to this and will probably pick it up tomorrow but 3 small excerpts have been released through various newspapers and None too surprisingly the anticipation has turned to agony on James Bond fan sites. Also The New York Times as given the book a mixed review. ( considering the reviews they gave Fleming this is a good thing.) Unfortunately for many literary James Bond Fans Ian Fleming himself is not going to write another James Bond book again so we are going to have to settle for continuation novelist who are never going to write James Bond books as well as their creator which is of course a completely ridiculous expectation anyway (If this were reversed Fleming could not write books using Faulks characters as well as Faulks could) Faulks' pedigree is one of the best of any of the continuation novelist and Penguin is doing something they never did for Raymond Benson, or John Gardner for that matter, hyping the book. Despite the predictable handwringing I suspect this will be a highly entertaining book.

The Flemings say there will be further books after this but Faulks says this is the only one he will contribute. Both are wise moves. As good as Higson's Young Bond books are it's good to have another book aimed at the adult market and Faulks knows that anymore than one continuation novel is really a no win situation. He ignores his own work while writing books for a group of people who largely won't appreciate it anyway. One wonders if faulks hasn't been in contact with Gardner (before Gardner passed away last August) and Raymond Benson both of whom know all to well the market Faulks is writing for.

Late Edit. One wonders why the drawing of Bond is a dead wringer for George Lazenby. The one guy who played Bond that nobody remembers. Of course if the book is as good as Lazenby's movie then everything will be fine.