''Young Bond'' is a series of

young adult In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages ...

spy novels featuring

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer, best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his ...

secret agent Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ''e ...

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

as a young teenage boy attending school at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

in the 1930s. The series, written by Charlie Higson, was originally planned to include only five novels; however, after the release of the fifth novel '' By Royal Command'', Higson considered the possibility of a second series. In October 2013 it was confirmed that a second series of four novels was in development, with the first novel '' Shoot to Kill'' released in November 2014, but it was penned by Steve Cole while Higson continued work on his young adult zombie series, '' The Enemy''. Since the release of the first novel, '' SilverFin'', in 2005, the series has become very successful and has led to further works including games, a

graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

and a supplemental travel guide. English-language versions of the books are published by

Puffin Books Puffin Books is a longstanding children's imprint of the British publishers Penguin Books. Since the 1960s, it has been among the largest publishers of children's books in the UK and much of the English-speaking world. The imprint now belongs to ...

in the United Kingdom and Hyperion Books For Children in the United States.

Charlie Higson's books

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. This plan fell apart and Higson took on the role of author for further books in the series. However, following Higson's five books, subsequent books have been written by Steve Cole.

Main series

* '' SilverFin'' (2005): In 1933, thirteen-year-old

arrives at

for boys for the first time to continue his schooling. There, he meets George Hellebore, an American bully and his arms dealing father, Lord Randolph Hellebore. While on Easter break, Bond's adventure continues in

Ross and Cromarty Ross and Cromarty (), is an area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. In modern usage, it is a registration county and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. Between 1889 and 1975 it was a Shires of Scotland, county. Historical ...

and Inverness-shire. Teaming up with Red Kelly, James finally reaches a castle and a

loch ''Loch'' ( ) is a word meaning "lake" or "inlet, sea inlet" in Scottish Gaelic, Scottish and Irish Gaelic, subsequently borrowed into English. In Irish contexts, it often appears in the anglicized form "lough". A small loch is sometimes calle ...

and discovers a deadly secret. * '' 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 Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

where he stays with his much older cousin Victor Delacroix. While there, James investigates a Roman secret society known as the Millenaria that has planned throughout history to restore the Roman Empire. It seems the Millenaria are still active and are led by the sinister Count Ugo Carnifex. * '' Double or Die'' (2007): The third Young Bond novel is set entirely in England during Christmas and finds James searching for a missing schoolmaster Alexis Fairburn in the darkest corners of London. The book involves Russian spies attempting to build an early computer. The title of the book was chosen by fans via an online poll and kept secret until the day of publication. * '' Hurricane Gold'' (2007): The fourth Young Bond novel, ''Hurricane Gold'', is set in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

. The book was released on 6 September 2007 in the UK. The plot is centred on Bond trying to foil the robbery of a team of professional criminals, only to end up following them around Mexico and eventually to a mysterious Caribbean island called Lagrimas Negras. The book contains many references to

Mayan mythology Maya mythology or Mayan mythology is part of Mesoamerican mythology and comprises all of the Maya tales in which personified forces of nature, deities, and the heroes interacting with these play the main roles. The legends of the era have to be ...

and much of the end is focused on it. * '' By Royal Command'' (2008): The fifth Young Bond novel was released in the UK on 3 September 2008. In this book, James Bond falls in love with his Irish maid, Roan Power. Bond leaves Eton College due to the incident with Roan, as mentioned in Ian Fleming's novel '' You Only Live Twice''. This book is set in multiple European countries including

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, Britain, France, Germany and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. The Royal Family and the British secret service also play a part in the plot (revealing that Bond's tutor Michael Merriot is a British spy).

Supplementary books

* ''The Young Bond Rough Guide to London'',

Rough Guides Rough Guides is a travel company that offers tailor-made trips planned and arranged by local travel experts based in destinations around the world. Originally established as a guidebook publisher in 1982, Rough Guides expanded into customized t ...

(2007) : 64-page booklet featuring London locations from '' Double or Die''. * '' Danger Society: The Young Bond Dossier'', Puffin Books (2009) : Complete and definitive guide to the world and adventures of ''Young Bond''. It includes the ''Young Bond'' short story "A Hard Man to Kill" by Charlie Higson. Release date: 29 October 2009.

Short story

An original ''Young Bond'' short story by Charlie Higson titled "A Hard Man to Kill" was published in the companion book ''Danger Society: The Young Bond Dossier'' on 29 October 2009. The story is set between the books ''Hurricane Gold'' and ''By Royal Command'' and involves Young Bond travelling back to London aboard the French ocean liner SS Colombie. An extract from the story appeared in some later paperback editions of ''By Royal Command''. It is the longest James Bond short story yet written.

Steve Cole's books

On 9 October 2013 Ian Fleming Publications announced that a new series of four ''Young Bond'' books were in development, written by Astrosaurs creator, Steve Cole. Cole's novels follow on from Higson's last entry, ''By Royal Command'' and the aftermath of Bond's expulsion from Eton. The first novel was published in the UK by

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

in the autumn of 2014. A lifelong fan of the original Bond novels, Cole described the task as "a thrilling privilege and an exciting challenge". In an interview with the '' Bucks Herald'', Cole stated that Bond was 14–15 years old in his novels and that the books would show how the adult Bond was formed. As part of the process for securing the position, Cole was tasked with creating a pitch for a story arc that would stretch across all four books. In May 2014, it was announced that Cole's book, titled '' Shoot to Kill'' was to be released on 6 November 2014. In October 2015 at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, Cole revealed the cover art for his second novel in the series, entitled ''Heads You Die'', which was published by an imprint of

called Red Fox and the book was to be released on 5 May 2016. In May 2016, Cole's third book in the series was revealed to be titled ''Strike Lightning'', scheduled to come out sometime during the autumn later in the year. In September 2016, the title of Cole's fourth and final ''Young Bond'' novel was revealed to be ''Red Nemesis''.

Main series

* '' Shoot to Kill'' (2014): The sixth Young Bond novel explores the aftermath of Bond's expulsion from Eton, taking him to Hollywood,

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

where he investigates the mystery behind some disturbing film footage discovered by a friend and a fellow adventurer named Daniel. It is the first book in the series not to be published by Puffin Books but instead by Random House in the UK, and was released on 6 November 2014. * '' Heads You Die'' (2016): The seventh Young Bond novel sees Bond travelling to Cuba on holiday which turns into a nightmare mission to save Gerald Hardiman, an old friend from Scolopendra, a villain who has perfected 1,000 ways to kill. With corrupt police and hired assassins hot on his heels, Bond must travel through Havana and cross Caribbean waters to stop a countdown to mass murder. * ''Strike Lightning'' (2016): Set at the end of 1934, while Bond is at Fettes College in Edinburgh, his father Andrew Bond's alma mater. When James stumbles upon a horrific sight, he knows things are not what they seem. His school is determined to make him believe what happened was an accident, but James believes what he saw was murder. The significance of the events at the school only come to light in the course of an adventure that takes James across Europe and puts him within range of Konstantin Grünner, a warmongering villain. * ''Red Nemesis'' (2017): James is on home soil when he receives a package with a message from beyond the grave. The package's mysterious contents put James at the heart of a long-running plot that, if it runs its course, will paint London's streets red with blood. Not only will James have to fight to stay alive and save the country he loves, but to clear the Bond family name, which he holds so dear.

History

Pre-release criticism

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: '' The Adventures of James Bond Junior 003½'' written by the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

ous 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.''

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 '' James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007'' by John Pearson.

Post-release reaction

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 best-selling children's books in the UK. By November 2005, ''SilverFin'' had already sold 500,000 copies worldwide. A second book in the Young Bond series, ''Blood Fever'', was released on 5 January 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 best-selling children's books in the UK in its second week of release and held the spot for eleven weeks. ''Double or Die'', the third book in the series, was released in the UK on 4 January 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 Dies release it took the number two spot on the Booksellers list of best-selling 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. As of March 2009 the ''Young Bond'' novels have sold over 5 million copies and have been translated into 25 languages. In December 2010 all five ''Young Bond'' books were released as eBooks by Ian Fleming Publications. On 5 May 2011 Puffin Books released two special editions of ''SilverFin'' The five book ''Young Bond'' series were re-released in the UK on 5 April 2012 with all new cover art by Hyperion Books.

US publication

In June 2004 it was announced that the ''Young Bond'' series would be published by

Miramax Books Miramax Books was an American publishing company started by Bob and Harvey Weinstein of Miramax Films to publish movie tie-ins. Between 2000 and 2005, while Jonathan Burnham was its president and editor-in-chief, the imprint published the memoir ...

, then still a part of

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

. The acquisition was announced by

Miramax Miramax, LLC, formerly known as Miramax Films, is an American independent film and television production and distribution company owned by beIN Media Group and Paramount Global. Based in Los Angeles, California, it was founded on December 19, ...

co-chair

Harvey Weinstein Harvey Weinstein (, ; born March 19, 1952) is an American film producer and convicted sex offender. In 1979, Weinstein and his brother, Bob Weinstein, co-founded the entertainment company Miramax, which produced several successful independent ...

and Miramax Books president & editor in chief Jonathan Burnham. The deal's price tag was not disclosed, but was understood to be in the six-figure range. Miramax, in conjunction with Disney's Hyperion Books for Children label, published ''SilverFin'' in 2005 and ''Blood Fever'' in 2006. Following Miramax's split from Disney, Ian Fleming Publications struck a new deal for the remaining books with Hyperion Books for Children. This created a gap between publication of the books in the UK and US, with the third book, ''Double or Die'' not appearing in the US until April 2008. Book four, ''Hurricane Gold'', was published by Disney-Hyperion in April 2009. Also in 2009, Disney-Hyperion re-released ''SilverFin'' and ''Blood Fever'' with new cover art by artist Kev Walker. ''By Royal Command'' and ''SilverFin: The Graphic Novel'' were released in the US on 18 May 2010.

Other media

Games

With the release of the ''Hurricane Gold'' book, TAMBA and Fleming Media released the ''Avenue of Death'' game which is based on one of the chapters in the book. On 11 August 2008 Puffin Books announced the first ''Young Bond'' alternate reality game (ARG), ''The Shadow War''. The online game started on 23 August, when Charlie Higson set the first mission during his appearance at the

Edinburgh International Book Festival The Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF) is a book festival that takes place during two weeks in August every year in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. Described as ''The largest festival of its kind in the world'', the festival hosts ...

. In the game, players around the world use a range of media, including the ''Young Bond'' books themselves and the

World Wide Web The World Wide Web (WWW or simply the Web) is an information system that enables Content (media), content sharing over the Internet through user-friendly ways meant to appeal to users beyond Information technology, IT specialists and hobbyis ...

, to complete the missions and influence the outcome of the game. Charlie Higson took part in a live online event that concluded the game on 8 October 2008.

Illustrations

On 23 April 2005, Ian Fleming Publications released the first illustration of the thirteen-year-old James Bond drawn by Kev Walker. Walker illustrations have also been used on the covers of the U.S. hardback editions of ''Blood Fever'' and ''Double or Die''. Walker also illustrated the ''SilverFin'' graphic novel released in the UK on 2 October 2008.

Graphic novels

In 2008, ''SilverFin: The Graphic Novel'', was released as a graphic novel on 2 October 2008 by Puffin Books. The book was written by Charlie Higson and illustrated by renowned comic book artist Kev Walker. It was released by Disney Publishing in the US as both a hardcover and paperback in 2010 and was awarded the 2011 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award for Best Adaptation from Another Medium the following year.

Movie

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. Today, it is believed the film rights to James Bond on film reside exclusively with Danjaq, LLC, the parent company of

Eon Productions Eon Productions Limited is a British film production company that primarily produces the ''James Bond'' film series. The company is based in London's Piccadilly and also operates from Pinewood Studios in the UK. ''James Bond'' films Eon wa ...

, however, according to Charlie Higson this is not exactly the case.

References

External links

Young Bond official website

The Young Bond Dossier
– Official Young Bond news source
Young Bond coverage on MI6

Young Bond coverage at CommanderBond.net
{{James Bond books Book series introduced in 2005

Charlie Higson's books

Main series

Supplementary books

Short story

Steve Cole's books

Main series

History

Pre-release criticism

Post-release reaction

US publication

Other media

Games

Illustrations

Graphic novels

Movie

See also

References

External links