William Boyd to write new James Bond novel

© Michael Fennell/Creative Commons

William Boyd, the award-winning and bestselling author of Restless, Any Human Heart and the latest Waiting for Sunrise, is to write the next James Bond novel, HarperCollins Publishers announced in a press release.

The novel, which is yet to be titled, will be published in autumn 2013 by HarperCollins Publishers in the US and Canada and simultaneously in the UK and Commonwealth by Jonathan Cape — Ian Fleming’s original publisher and an imprint of Vintage Publishing.

According to the release, William Boyd is the third author in recent years to be invited by the Ian Fleming estate to write an official Bond novel, following in the footsteps of the American thriller writer Jeffery Deaver, who wrote Carte Blanche in 2011, and Sebastian Faulks, whose Devil May Care was published to mark Ian Fleming’s centenary in 2008.

The first James Bond novel

Boyd is a writer of international acclaim whose 11 novels and short-story collections have been translated into over 30 languages with many of them adapted for film and television. While the details and title of the next 007 adventure naturally remain secret, the author has revealed that next year’s publication will mark a return to "classic Bond" and will be set in the late 1960s, the statement said.

"When the Ian Fleming estate invited me to write the new James Bond novel I accepted at once. For me the prospect appeared incredibly exciting and stimulating — a once-in-a-lifetime challenge. In fact, my father introduced me to the James Bond novels in the 1960s and I read them all then — From Russia with Love being my favourite," Boyd commented.

Corinne Turner, Managing Director, Ian Fleming Publications Ltd, confirmed the development: "William Boyd is a contemporary English writer whose classic novels combine literary elements with a broad appeal. His thrillers occupy the niche that Ian Fleming would fill were he writing today and with similar style and flair. This alongside his fascination with Fleming himself makes him the perfect choice to take Bond back to his 1960s world."

Boyd's favourite 007 novel

In addition to the publication of the new novel, 2013 is a significant year for Bond, marking 60 years since Ian Fleming’s first James Bond novel, Casino Royale, was published by Jonathan Cape in 1953. Cape was also the publisher of the first ever official Bond novel following Fleming’s death in 1964, when Kingsley Amis took up the mantle writing Colonel Sun as Robert Markham in 1968, the release stated.

Iris Tupholme, Vice President, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, HarperCollins Canada, remarked: "William Boyd, whose mastery of plot and character has won him readers all over the world, is the right person to take the beloved James Bond in a new, fresh direction. We are delighted to be publishing the new Bond novel in Canada."

William Boyd said further, "The fascination (for Ian Fleming) went so far that I placed him as a character in my novel Any Human Heart where he’s responsible for recruiting the novel’s protagonist, Logan Mountstuart, into the Naval Intelligence Division in World War II.

"One other coincidence should be mentioned. It turns out that I’ve worked with three of the actors who have played James Bond over the years. They’ve all starred in films that I’ve written: Sean Connery in A Good Man in Africa, Pierce Brosnan in Mr Johnson, and Daniel Craig in The Trench. The idea that these somewhat random connections with Fleming and Bond should culminate in my writing a new James Bond novel is irresistibly appealing. The only thing I’m prepared to say at this stage about the novel that I will write is that it will be set in 1969." 

Boyd's Bibliography

01. A Good Man in Africa, 1981
02. On the Yankee Station and Other Stories, 1981
03. An Ice-Cream War, 1982
04. Stars and Bars, 1984
05. School Ties, 1985
06. The New Confessions, 1987
07. Brazzaville Beach, 1990
08. The Blue Afternoon, 1993
09. The Destiny of Natalie 'X' and Other Stories, 1995
10. Armadillo, 1998
11. Nat Tate: An American Artist 1928-1960, 1998
12. Any Human Heart, 2002
13. Fascination (collection of short stories) 2004
14. Bamboo, 2005 (non-fiction)
15. Restless, 2006
16. The Dreams of Bethany Mellmoth (short story) Notes from the Underground, 2007
17. Ordinary Thunderstorms, 2009
18. Waiting for Sunrise, 2012

Mack Bolan: The Executioner

It’s always nice once in a while to go back to fiction you read in your teenage years—a devil-may-care period when you read all kinds of stuff.

A few days ago, I picked up three first-edition mint copies of Don Pendleton’s The Executioner from a roadside vendor for Rs 20 a piece (44 cents each), and stepped back in time. As a collegian, I read nearly all the 37 novels written by Pendleton whose legendary fictional character Mack Bolan fought against evil, from mafia to terrorism, all over the world. In 1980, Pendleton sold his rights to The Executioner to Gold Eagle Worldwide, a division of Harlequin Books.

One of the titles I bought was #150 Death Load, one of over 600 novels written by ghostwriters but credited to Pendleton (though the work is attributed to the actual authors on the copyright page). In this novel Mack Bolan, the super-soldier who is working on his own, is hired by the intelligence division of the US Department of State to rescue a former spy-turned-activist, Katherine May, from the clutches of the dreaded Khmer Rouge in the jungles of Cambodia. Her father is a rich and influential businessman with deep ties in the American government. In the end Bolan, a veteran of the Vietnam War, brings her back but not without experiencing the political intrigues and chilling encounters in the region where the Vietnamese, the Thai and the Chinese are fighting for dominance.

Bolan rarely flinches when he shoots, and he shoots to kill, in cold blood. Like that other fictional spy Nick Carter, the Killmaster, who is Agent N3 of AXE, a US intelligence agency; it doesn’t exist, of course. Big man Bolan’s lethal intent and action are evident from his numerous kills, many of which are executed as an expert sniper. For all his cold-bloodedness, Bolan has a heart and often goes out of his way to help innocent civilians. He is also called the Warrior, perhaps, an allusion to his just and principled approach.

Don Pendleton’s Mack Bolan is to America, what Ian Fleming’s James Bond is to Britain, minus much of the glitz, gadgets and glamour associated with the man with a license to kill. As long as one-man armies like Bolan and Bond are around, our world is safe.