YOUNG BOND

'Young Bond' is a series of novels featuring Ian Fleming's superspy James Bond as a young teenage boy attending school at Eton College. The series, currently planned out for five novels, is being written by Charlie Higson.

Contents

Books in the series

Currently released

Future releases

Supplementary books

History and controversy

Other media

References

External links

Books in the series

According to Charlie Higson, Ian Fleming Publications initially planned for him to only write one novel and that every subsequent novel would be written by a rotating author, possibly similar to the defunct Robert Markham pseudonym of the late 1960s. This plan, however, fell apart and Higson agreed to author future books in the series, however, comments made by Higson in an interview could suggest that after Higson's five books are completed, the series may be continued by another author.^[1]

Currently released

★ ; ''SilverFin'' (2005): In 1933, thirteen-year-old James Bond arrives at Eton College for the first time to continue his schooling. There he meets an American bully and his arms dealing father, Lord Randolph Hellebore. While on Easter break, Bond's adventure continues in the Highlands of Scotland where James investigates a local boy's disappearance. Teaming up with Red Kelly, the boy's cousin, James finally reaches a castle and a loch which is home to the Hellebore's and Lord Randolph's genetics project.

★ ; ''Blood Fever'' (2006): In 1933, James Bond is back at Eton where he is now a member of a secret risk-taking club known as the Danger Society. When summer vacation arrives Bond goes on a field trip to the Italian island of Sardinia where he stays with his much older cousin Victor Delacroix. While there James investigates a Roman secret society known as the Millenaria that had plans throughout history to restore the Roman Empire. Thought to have been defunct, James learns that the Millenaria are still active and are led by the sinister Count Ugo Carnifex.

★ ; ''Double or Die'' (2007): Mainly occurring over the course of three days in December 1933, ''Double or Die'' finds James searching for a kidnapped Eton professor in the darkest corners of London. The book was released in the UK on January 4, 2007. The title was announced on January 3, 2007 at the official book launch at Waterstone's in Piccadilly, London. The alternative titles which were available for the public to vote on were "N.E.M.E.S.I.S." and "The Deadlock Cipher".^[2][3]

★ ; ''Hurricane Gold'' (2007): The fourth Young Bond novel, ''Hurricane Gold'', is set in Mexico and the Caribbean. The book was released on September 6, 2007 in the UK.^[4]

Future releases

★ ; ''Young Bond Book 5'': ''Young Bond Book 5'' will deal with Bond's expulsion from Eton College due to the incident with the maid, as mentioned in ''You Only Live Twice''.^[5] Charlie Higson is now writing this final book.

Supplementary books

★ ''The Young Bond Rough Guide to London'', Puffin Books/Rough Guides, 2007 (ISBN 0141323396). 64-page booklet featuring London locations from ''Double or Die''.

History and controversy

2005's ''SilverFin''	2006's ''Blood Fever''
2007's ''Double or Die''	2007's ''Hurricane Gold''

Prior to the release of ''SilverFin'', the idea of a ''Young Bond'' series had not gone over too well with the fans of the more traditional Bond literature and had come under heavy fire, with some fans comparing it to an unsuccessful 1960s attempt by Bond's publishers to launch a youth-oriented line of fiction that resulted in only one book: '' written under the pseudonym R. D. Mascott. There was also a moderately successful ''James Bond Jr.'' television series in the early 1990s aimed at children that dealt with Bond's supposed nephew.
John Gardner, who had written fourteen original novels and two novelisations featuring the adult Bond, was also critical of the series prior to the release of the first book. He stated:
:"It's just the last desperate attempt to draw in a new audience. The films have little to do with the Bond we used to know, and now the books are going the same way."^[6]
Higson, for his part, has been on record as stating that he intends to stay true to the backstory Ian Fleming created for Bond, though this in many ways contradicts the popular '' by John Pearson, which is considered canonical by some.
When ''SilverFin'' was published in March 2005, reviews of the novel were good. This, in addition to a large marketing campaign in the United Kingdom elevated ''SilverFin'' to the number eight spot on The Booksellers list of bestselling children's books in the UK.^[7] By November of 2005, ''SilverFin'' had already sold 500,000 copies worldwide.^[8]
A second book in the Young Bond series, ''Blood Fever'', was released on January 5, 2006 in the UK having been delayed from an initial release in October 2005. The book reached the number one spot on The Booksellers list of bestselling children's books in the UK in its second week of release and held the spot for eleven weeks.^[9]
''Double or Die'', the third book in the series, was released in the UK on January 4, 2007, having had its title announced the day before. The title was voted on in a national poll on the official Young Bond website; the other two titles to choose from were ''N.E.M.E.S.I.S.'' and ''The Deadlock Cipher''. After the first three days of ''Double or Die's release it took the number two spot on The Booksellers list of bestselling children's books in the UK and number fourteen in the overall UK Top 50 list. A week later it had climbed to number one on the children's list and the number twelve spot overall.^[10][11]
As of March 2007, the first three Young Bond novels combined have sold a half-million copies in the UK alone.^[12]

Other media

On April 23, 2005, Ian Fleming Publications released the first illustration of the thirteen-year-old James Bond. Drawn by Kev Walker, there are plans to adapt ''SilverFin'' into a graphic novel. Further illustrations by Walker have been used on the official Young Bond website as well as the cover of the U.S. hardback edition of ''Blood Fever''. The ''SilverFin'' graphic novel will be released in the UK on May 1, 2008, with further adaptations of the novels as well as possible original storylines (possibly written by Higson) on the way.^[13]
Due to the success of ''SilverFin'' and ''Blood Fever'', Hollywood has been interested in adapting these novels to film, however, Ian Fleming Publications and Charlie Higson have said they hope to release a few more books before possibly considering it.^[14] It is generally believed the film rights to James Bond on film reside exclusively with Danjaq, LLC, the parent company of EON Productions, however, according to Charlie Higson this is not exactly the case.^[15]
To coincide with the release of ''Blood Fever'' in the UK, PlayerOne published a mobile game adaptation of ''SilverFin''. The game features 3 locations, 15 levels, and a variety of enemies that the player must avoid. Also, according to Charlie Higson, Ian Fleming Publications has been in contact with various video game developers and does have plans to possibly pursue a video game, though it is unknown if this would be an adaptation of ''SilverFin'' or perhaps a wholly original Young Bond adventure.^[16]

References

1. Charlie Higson interview with CommanderBond.net
2. Double Or Die title official announcement
3. Video of Double or Die title announcement
4. Hurricane Gold official announcment
5. MI6.co.uk interview with Charlie Higson
6. John Gardner on Young Bond series
7. 'Blood Fever' sales
8. SilverFin sales
9. Young Bond sales and acclaim
10. Double or Die sales - theBookseller.com
11. Double or Die sales and acclaim
12. Half-million Young Bond novels sold in UK
13. SilverFin graphic novel information
14. Young Bond on film
15. Young Bond film rights
16. Young Bond video game

External links

★ Young Bond official website

★ The Young Bond Blog

★ The Young Bond Dossier

★ Young Bond coverage on MI6