THE JAMES BOND BEDSIDE COMPANION BY RAYMOND BENSON

 

The Men with the Golden Pens

The recently published Forever and a Day by Anthony Horowitz (expect a full review soon) is the latest in a long line of novels featuring Ian Fleming's masterspy James Bond. And whilst it is commonplace these days for a long running series to continue after the death of the original author, this wasn't the case back in the early 1960's.

Fleming died in 1964, and although he saw the success of the early Sean Connery movies he missed seeing the global phenomenon that his character became after the release of the third Bond movie, Goldfinger.

After the death of Ian Fleming, Glidrose Productions, later Ian Fleming Publications, began exploring the idea of having new writers create new James Bond novels using the collective pen name of Robert Markham. Geoffrey Jenkins, a friend of Flemings and  a fine thriller writer himself seemed an obvious choice. By 1964, he had four best-sellers to his credit and he already had story ideas that Ian Fleming himself had participated in shaping. However when in  1966, Jenkins submitted his manuscript for PER FINE OUNCE.  Glidrose rejected the book and it is now considered a lost Bond novel. The reasons the work was rejected have never been made clear, nor has the manuscript ever turned up.

In  1968 James Bond did finally return in Colonel Sun by Robert Markham (actually written by Kingsley Amis).  As previously noted the Robert Markham name was intended by  Glidrose,  to be a pen name that would be used by multiple authors to continue Flemings work. However this was not to be and although Colonel Sun was reasonably successful it didn't sell as well as had been hoped and the plans for a new Bond literary series seemed to be dead in the water.

The next Bond novels where actually novelisations of two of the movies - The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker, both written by Christopher Wood. The film versions were so different to Fleming's original novels that these books, which follow their respective movie's screenplay, can be considered original novels. Both build on their screenplays and we learn from the books that the Jaws character's real name is Zbigniew Krycsiwiki.

In the 1980's the Bond copyright holders decided to bring Bond back in a new series, and thriller writer John Gardner was selected as the new writer. His first book was 1981's Licence Renewed and in all he wrote 16 Bond novels. Licence Renewed / For Special Services / Icebreaker / Role Of Honour / Nobody Lives For Ever / No Deals, Mr. Bond / Scorpius / Win, Lose Or Die / Licence To Kill / Brokenclaw / The Man From Barbarossa / Death Is Forever / Never Send Flowers / SeaFire / GoldenEye / COLD.

When Gardner tired of the series, American author Raymond Benson took up the golden pen and gave us six new novels, as well as novelisations of the Pierce Brosnan movies, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is not Enough and Die Another Day. The Benson Bond's were: Zero Minus Ten / Tomorrow Never Dies / The Facts Of Death / High Time To Kill / The World Is Not Enough / DoubleShot / Never Dream Of Dying / The Man With The Red Tattoo / Die Another Day.

There wasn't a new Bond novel - ignoring the Young Bond novels and the Moneypenny Diaries - until 2008 when noted author Sabastian Faulks wrote Devil May Care. There was much hype around this novel, which was written as a pastiche of Fleming's style but Faulks declined to write more.

Bestselling crime writer, Jeffrey Deaver next took a stab at 007 with 2011's Carte Blanche, and although the previous Bond had been set in the early 1970's, Deaver took the route used by John Gardner and Raymond Benson and set his adventure in the present day.

William Boyd came next with Solo and this time Bond was back in the 1960's - like the two previous authors, Boyd would only write the one Bond adventure.

All of the Bond novels written since Fleming's death have their strong points, but it wasn't until 2015's Trigger Mortis written by Anthony Horowitz that the novels really captured the true feel of Fleming - perhaps because the author was able to use some unpublished Fleming material in his book. The story took up immediately after the climax of Goldfinger with Pussy Galore featuring in the story, well until she ran off with lesbian racing driver, that is.

The book was so well received that Horowitz was asked back for a second Bond novel, the aforementioned Forever and a Day. Let's hope Horowitz does a third because he seems as near as dammit as one can get to the real Ian Fleming.

Forever and a Day is available now in hardcover, audiobook and eBook.

A spy is dead. A legend is born. This is how it all began. The explosive prequel to Casino Royale, from bestselling author Anthony Horowitz.

M laid down his pipe and stared at it tetchily. 'We have no choice. We’re just going to bring forward this other chap you’ve been preparing. But you didn’t tell me his name.' 

'It’s Bond, sir,' the Chief of Staff replied. 'James Bond.' 

The sea keeps its secrets. But not this time.

One body. Three bullets. 007 floats in the waters of Marseille, killed by an unknown hand.

It’s time for a new agent to step up. Time for a new weapon in the war against organised crime.
It’s time for James Bond to earn his licence to kill. This is the story of the birth of a legend, in the brutal underworld of the French Riviera.





 

The Afterlife of Sheldon, Fleming and Christie

Sidney Sheldon is now an official ghost, something that every dead writer covets to be. The pop maestro of fast-paced thrillers—so addictive that his fanclub extends to the hermetic interiors of North Korea—will delight his readers from beyond the grave with a new book The Silent Widow, penned by Tilly Bagshawe. The book will be released this month.Commissioned by Sheldon's publisher, Bagshawe explores the underbelly of Los Angeles, a city in which the author resided. A successful television writer, Sheldon found fame when he shifted to fiction at 50.

Sheldon is not the only writer with a rather lucrative afterlife in the offing. There is Enid Blyton, who has shaped childhoods across the world, introducing goblins, elves and adventures to kids. Over the years, there have been several authors who have chosen to continue her series to much success. Blyton originals, however, are still a rite of passage for millions across the world. The first writer to have chosen to go down her magical path was Claude Voilier, who wrote in French. The books were later translated into English.

Then, there are the immortal writers. Agatha Christie continues to be the queen of crime, courtesy of crime writer and poet Sophie Hannah. James Bond, created by Ian Fleming, continues to romance and spy uninterrupted. From Kingsley Amis, who wrote under pseudonym Robert Markham, to Sebastian Faulks, and now Antony Horowitz. Bond has had a number of literary handlers including John Gardner and Raymond Benson. Then there is Sherlock, who refuses to retire. Written by Antony Horowitz, The House of Silk and Moriarty did very well.

And then there's James Patterson who hasn't even waited to die before getting other writers to write his books for him, but that's another topic for another day.

 It seems that being dead is no great handicap to bestselling authors.

The question is, do they work? What do readers think?

Life after Bond - Raymond Benson

Former James Bond scribe and Archive friend, Raymond Benson will see a new novel published later this year based on the Hitman video game franchise -  Benson, who writes under the pseudonym David Michaels, is no stranger to the video game world. His novels Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell and its sequel Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell—Operation Barracuda were both New York Times best-selling books. He also worked with John Milius on the Homefront: The Voice of Freedom game tie-in novel.

Benson’s new book will be called Hitman: Damnation. It will be published by Del Rey, a division of Random House. The story is set between the events in Hitman: Blood Money and the upcoming Hitman: Absolution.
Del Rey has yet to release details on global distribution, but states that the Hitman: Damnation will be in several more countries around the world.

Raymond's six original James Bond novels are now available in two collected editions - choice of weapons and the Union Trilogy

The Archive interview Raymond way back in 2009 - find it HERE

Who was the Black Stiletto

Soon from James Bond continuation author, Raymond Benson

THE COMPLETE RAYMOND BENSON ONCE MORE AVAILABLE

Amazon today delivered my copy of , Choice of Weapons which collects the three Raymond Benson Bond novels, Zero Minus Ten, The Facts of Death and the Man with the Red Tattoo as well as the short stories, Live at Five and Midsummer Night's Doom. Together with the previous volume, The Union Trilogy which also contained three novels (well it is a trology) and the short story, Blast from the Past, the two books represent the full Bond canon of Raymond Benson, well excluding the film novelisations he did but these were always considered to be outside canon.

The books from Pegasus Books are handsome trade paperbacks and fill a need in the market, as Bond fans have been clamouring for re-prints of these long out of print books. Now if only the publishers would do the same for the John Gardner Bond novels.

George adds Benson to his TBR pile

EXPECT a review of all Benson's original Bond novels as part of the Archive's complete literary 007 series - mind you we've only just tackled Dr No so it'll be some time.

A message, Mr Bond

Raymond Benson, the third author to officially take over Ian Fleming's pen took the time to write to me, saying he thought the Archive's complete literary Bond series looked promising - I quote while beaming with pride: "This looks like an excellent series of coverages on the novels, and I look forward to reading them."

Check out the first in the series Here

And Raymond's website is Here

Bread and Butter work- Raymond Benson interview

In 1997 writer, Raymond Benson, a life long Bond fan and author of The James Bond Bedside Companion was given the keys to 007's Aston Martin or was it the Bentley or the Saab? Selected by Glidrose Publications, now know as Ian Fleming Publications selected him to continue the James Bond series after John Gardner retired from the series after fourteen novels.

The Archive, bound by the official secrets act, sat down for a Q%A session with the writer.


TA - How did you initially get the gig for the Bond books?

RB: That's a long and complicated story, but in brief... when I was researching THE JAMES BOND BEDSIDE COMPANION in the early 80s, I went to England and met members of Ian Fleming's family, the people who ran Glidrose Publications (now called Ian Fleming Publications), and many of Fleming's friends and colleagues. We got along well, and when the book was published in 1984, they were pleased. We stayed in touch and I did a few oddjobs (no pun intended) for them in the late 80s and early 90s. When Gardner announced his retirement from the gig in late 1995, Glidrose asked me if I'd be interested. I had to come up with a plot outline on spec. Once that was approved, I had to write the first four chapters on spec. When all that was approved, I got the contract. How did I feel about it? Thrilled, scared, incredulous...!

TA: What was your original introduction to 007?


RB: It was the films-- my father took me to see GOLDFINGER when I was nine. A few months later came the double bill of DR. NO and FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, and six months later THUNDERBALL was released. So within about 14 months, I had seen the first four films on the big screen at a very impressionable age. During that same period, I began reading the books, even though they were considered "adult"... by the time I was 11 or 12, I had read all the Fleming books. I re-read them again when I was older...and have re-read them a couple of times since. So I guess you could say the films were the catalyst, but I discovered the books at roughly the same time.


TA: You wrote six successful original Bond books as well as three novelizations based on the then current films. Why did you end it all? Was it your choice or the publishers?

RB: The publishers (US and UK) had nothing to do with it, they would have liked to have had more. At the turn of the millennium, the board of directors at Ian Fleming Publications changed hands (they are not the publishers, they are the rights holders). The new regime wanted to go in a different direction from churning out a Bond novel every year that was, for the most part, ignored by the general population and sold only to a niche audience. At the same time, after seven years of "Bondage" I was feeling the fatigue and had a desire to do some other things. So it was mutual, more or less, although I perhaps would have come back after a break if they'd wanted. But the new board stopped the adult novels altogether They spent a couple of years re-launching the original Fleming books (for the 50th anniversary of CASINO ROYALE) with Penguin. Then they began the "Young Bond" series by Charlie Higson, and then the "Moneypenny Diaries" series by Kate Westbrook/Samantha Weinberg. They waited eight years before commissioning a new adult Bond novel and it was only the one by Sebastian Faulks for the 100th anniversary of Fleming's birth, so there was a massive amount of promotion behind it.


TA: You were also responsible for the novel tie-ins of the last three Pierce Brosnan films. Did you do a set visit to write these?

RB: did on the first two; the third wasn't necessary. I didn't get see any filming; on both occasions the first unit was abroad on location. I simply went to Pinewood Studios in England to look at the sets, some of the costumes and props, and talk with some of the designers to clear up some aspects in the screenplays. You read a screenplay and you're often not sure what something *looks* like, so you have to see it in person. (An example of this was the stealth sub in TND that shot a torpedo with a chain attached so that they could be pulled out of the targeted ship.)

TA: How stringent were the guidelines you were given for writing the Bonds?

RB: I was told NOT to attempt to mimic his style of writing. I was to write "British" with the UK spellings, and make sure Brits talked like Brits and used proper terminology (and IFP and the British publisher helped edit the books to that extent). My directive at the time was also to attempt to blend elements from the books with elements of the current films, so my books were more cinematic with more action and gadgetry than what had come before. But I did try to keep Fleming's character intact, with all his vices. I guess you could say I was capturing the spirit of the early books, but certainly not the style. In a modern setting (also a directive) that would have been impossible.

TA: What was the initial appeal of Bond for you?

RB: The initial appeal was due to time and place-- the swinging 60s. Everything coming out of England then was considered "cool"-- you had the Beatles, you had Bond, you had Swinging London, the British Invasion.... it was all part of the package. At the same time there was the Kennedy mystique that played on America (and the world) at the same time that Bond was coming in. Add to that the Cold War, and you had a formula for success. Bond was the first anti-hero in cinema--he was a guy who was obviously on the "good" side but he could be "bad" as well. The films had a major impact on pop culture--I would go so far to say that "Goldfinger" was the most influential film of the 60s on pop culture. The films kept a quality control going, producing pictures audiences wanted to see, and now EON is the most successful long-running production company making one series in history. The books began as mainly a British phenomenon, bringing to the UK a hero in the post-war depression of the 50s, when the UK had all but lost its empire. Bond was someone on top again. And yes, he was a guy every man wanted to be, and the man every woman wanted to be with. And I forget who said it, too.

TA: How much say did you have on the titles of your Bond books?

RB: That was the one aspect that everyone has a hand in--me, Ian Fleming Publications, the US publisher, the UK publisher, and their respective marketing people! It was always a nightmare! I would usually start out with a "working title". Only after the book was finished would the haggling begin. The same thing happened with John Gardner. Once a title was in the hat, *everyone* had to agree on it. Sometimes every faction but one liked a title, but because that one didn't like it, we had to start over. Of my six original Bond books, only one retained my title, and that was NEVER DREAM OF DYING. The others were coined by either the UK or US publisher, or maybe IFP.

TA: Really? Then I wonder who was responsible for the truly awful Bond title, No Deals, Mr Bond?

RB: Not sure about that one! I know John ( John Gardner the author of No Deals, Mr Bond) hated it.

TA: You've also wrote several novels based on the computer games, Metal Gear Solid. Tell us about these?

RB: Prior to that, I wrote two novels based on the computer game TOM CLANCY'S SPLINTER CELL, using the pseudonym "David Michaels" (the publisher's in-house pseudonym for all Tom Clancy spin-offs based on the Ubisoft videogames). I got that gig because it was the same American publisher that did my Bond novels. These were to be entirely original stories, using the characters from the games. I was contracted to write the first two, which I did, and then moved on. Since then, other "David Michaels" have written more books in the series. Sometime after that, I was approached by a different publisher to do METAL GEAR SOLID. Apparently Hideo Kojima (the designer of the game) in Japan liked my books and I was on the short list of authors he wanted. After an initial proposal/negotiation, I got the job to do two books, strictly based on the first two videogames. I suppose one of my specialties now is what we in the business call "tie-in work". In fact, I am a founding member of writers' organization called The International Association of Media Tie-In Writers. It consists of authors who have done novelizations, tie-ins, and the like.


TA: And you're also responsible for the next GabriEl Hunt from Hard-Case.

RB: This was Charles Ardai's brainchild (he is founder and editor of Hard Case Crime). The conception was for a series featuring the character Gabriel Hunt, but each book would be written by him. In actuality, a different author would write each book, so on the title page it's "by Gabriel Hunt as told to ________". I've done the sixth and final one, HUNT THROUGH NAPOLEON'S WEB, which should come out in August 2010. I suppose if they're a success then there will be more, but at the moment there are only six.


TA: Back to your Bond novels. You created the organisation, The Union. Was this because you were unable to use SPECTRE?

RB: I could have used SPECTRE in the books (as Gardner did) but I knew that EON Productions (the filmmakers) would never touch them if SPECTRE was in them. I wanted a villainous organization, so I created a more blue-collar group organized more like a mafia.

TA: Finally thank you for your time in answering these questions. And please tell us about any future projects.

RB:Besides the Gabriel Hunt book coming out in 2010, I'll also have my second Bond anthology the same summer, entitled CHOICE OF WEAPONS, which will contain the other three novels and two short stories. (THE UNION TRILOGY came out a year ago, with three novels and one short story). I still work on original novels, such as SWEETIE'S DIAMONDS, EVIL HOURS, FACE BLIND, A HARD DAY'S DEATH, and DARK SIDE OF THE MORGUE, which have all come out since I stopped doing Bond. I've been keeping busy with a couple of ghostwriting projects (always good bread and butter work for a writer!) and I have a new novel on submission to publishers.



FIND RAYMOND ON THE WEB HERE
TOGETHER WITH DETAILS OF ALL OF HIS WORK INCLUDING THE BOND SERIES.

On a mission

Coming up this weekend on THE ARCHIVE - We're going all secret service for an interview with...check out the video below

NEVER DREAM OF DYING

Never Dream of Dying
Raymond Benson
Hodder
Originally published 2001


This was Raymond Benson's fifth Bond continuation novel, his seventh Bond if you count the two film novelisations - Tomorrow Never Dies and The World is Not Enough. And the book is the final part of what has become known as, the Union Trilogy.

A war has broken out between SPECTRE and The Union. The book opens with Bond and old friend Mathis botching a raid on a film studios which is suspected of being a front for international arms dealing. Innocent people are killed in the raid and Bond, now an embarrassment to his people, is sent on another assignment. Mathis on the other hand is suspended but both men continue to try and track down Le Gerant, the man they know has outfoxed them and is responsible for the film studio fiasco.

Benson was the third writer to try his hand at continuing Ian Fleming's world, after Kingsley Amis and John Gardner and although readers knew pretty much what to expect by this point, the author does do some tweaking and delivers an enjoyable enough Bond adventure. The extended climax is truly thrilling and although it's not Fleming it's a damn good mixture of both the film and literary character.