Last September The James Bond Omnibus Vol.001 was published in the UK and in the US in December. This year The James Bond Omnibus Vol.002 will be published in the US and the UK simultaneously on September 28. Again this is just an omnibus of the yearly Titan Book releases with the old (yet cool) Daily Express comics. Included is The Man with the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, You Only Live Twice, and “Octopussy” – among many more. Not sure what is included in the ‘many more’, but likely On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, “The Living Daylights” and “The Hildebrand Rarity”. Just a guess though.

Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Catching up on some old news, I’d like to highlight the new By Royal Command cover art for the US hardcover. The most interesting thing about it is that it wasn’t done by Kev Walker who recently redid all the covers in the US in this same style. This cover was done by Owen Richardson. You can find out more about him here.

By Royal Command will be released in the US on May 18.
Pre-order on Amazon.com

Through Twitter our good friend Charlie Higson has begun relaying some news to his fans such as the title for his follow up novel to The Enemy. It’s called The Dead. He’s also got a new television series starting on Thursday called Bellamy’s People. If you’re in the UK be sure to check that out.

If you want to follow Charlie at Twitter: @monstroso

The Enemy is due out in the US on May 18.

It’s called “From Russia with Love Penguin Decades edition” and it’s being released on 1 April 2010 in the UK. Artwork for it was unveiled at CommanderBond.net not long ago. I personally think it’s a pretty ugly cover and the Walther P99 makes absolutely no sense in the context of Ian Fleming’s James Bond especially since in the very next novel, Dr. No, James Bond hands over his trusty Beretta 418 for the infamous Walther PPK. That said, the original From Russia with Love hardcover as designed by Fleming and illustrated by Richard Chopping included a .38 Smith & Wesson snubnosed revolver which to my recollection wasn’t in the book either. As far as the cover goes, I’d rather buy the recent Centenary edition from 2008 as seen here.

Here’s what Penguin has to say about it.

Penguin Decades bring you the novels that helped shape modern Britain. When they were published, some were bestsellers, some were considered scandalous, and others were simply misunderstood. All represent their time and helped define their generation, while today each is considered a landmark work of storytelling. Ian Fleming’s From Russia with Love was published in 1957 and made suave, steely secret agent James Bond an icon. Here 007 encounters the deadly machinations of Russian organisation SMERSH, the fiendish Colonel Rosa Klebb – and the irresistible beauty Tatiana Romanova – in one of the most thrilling classic novels of the Cold War.

That said, From Russia with Love is my favorite Fleming novel and can’t recommend it enough.
Amazon.co.uk

Sebastian Faulks ranked #40 in a list of bestsellers of the decade (2000 – 2009) according to Nielsen BookScan. Not sure how much James Bond did to propel him to that rank because Faulks has actually been quite successful over this decade without him. For instance, in 2008 it was reported by Nielsen that Faulks’ most critically acclaimed book, Birdsong, was the #1 must-have in-stock book at a bookseller. Of course this list is UK only, but that’s 3,782,665 books sold or £27.5 million. Not bad at all. So how much of an impact did Bond have? Back in March I dug up information about Pearson PLC (Penguin’s owner, publisher of Devil May Care): it was Penguin UK’s fastest selling fiction hardback for their almost 75-year history and it ranked #3 overall for the year (2008) according to BookScan. As a side note, keep in mind that Devil May Care had a first print run of only 100,000 and the majority of that was sold within a month.

Still curious how Devil May Care did in the United States.

Raymond Benson’s latest book Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty has been released in bookstores all over the United States. The novelization is based on Hideo Kojima’s highly acclaimed video game of the same name that was released in 2001 for the PlayStation 2. It was later released as Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance for the Xbox in 2003.

Next up for Raymond could be Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater which released for the PlayStation 2 in 2004.

Here’s the publisher’s pitch for this book:

In a torrential downpour, former FOXHOUND agent Solid Snake stands on the George Washington Bridge–ready to launch himself onto the deck of the U.S.S. Discovery as it passes below. Inside Discovery is a new generation of Metal Gear. But in the next hour, Snake’s world explodes.

Two years later, a young, unproven agent code-named Raiden must penetrate the mystery of what went so insanely wrong that night.

In a labyrinthine superstructure in New York Harbor known as the Big Shell, enemies, allies, secret agents, and double-dealers converge: Russian commandos, a cyber Vamp, a long-legged, leather-clad, rifle-bearing beauty named Fortune, a deformed, finely manicured bomber called Fatman, and a mysterious Mister X. Somewhere in the maze, as well, is the president himself–his biometrics coded to a bomb that can take out Manhattan, his loyalties unknown. Now the rookie Raiden is fighting his way to one discovery after another, including the rebirth of Solid Snake himself and a nightmare organization with a history, a plan, and a terrifying superweapon hidden in plain sight.

Link to buy: Amazon.com

Danger Society: The Young Bond Dossier by Charlie Higson has been published in the UK. The book is a definitive guide to the Young Bond series from the first novel, SilverFin (2005) to By Royal Command (2008), the supposed final novel. It comes with the all new short story by Higson “A Hard Man to Kill”.

The companion also includes in-depth profiles of  the cars, the locations, the weapons, and the characters etc. The companion also has statistics, maps, photographs, and more illustrations by Kev Walker.

Make sure you get yours. If you consider the US is going to get By Royal Command in 2010 then this companion likely won’t hit these shores till 2011. But who can say for sure.

Amazon.co.uk

CommanderBond.net reports that Craig Cabell’s book The History of 30 Assault Unit: Ian Fleming’s Red Indians was published on October 15th and is available for purchase via Amazon.co.uk. Looks to be a pretty cool book that tells the full history of 30AU that Fleming commanded during World War II. Also known as “Ian Fleming’s Red Indians”, the unit was a highly successful and specially trained commando group that worked behind enemy lines while Fleming planned and coordinated their missions to the ‘T’ in London. Bond fans may recognize the usage of “Red Indians” in a couple of Fleming’s books, specifically Casino Royale where Bond essentially scolds himself for gallivanting around the world playing “Red Indians” while the real threat was right under his nose.

For more on 30 AU there’s always Wikipedia, but this website is even better.

 SIX: The Real James Bonds: The Complete History of the Secret Intelligence Service is an upcoming book from Michael Smith, a former intelligence officer and journalist. It will be published by Dialogue on 7 May 2010 in the UK. Little if anything to do with James Bond, the book will tell the tale of the real agents of MI6 that inspired such fictional characters as James Bond and George Smiley.

Publisher’s pitch:

From the Kaiser to the Taliban Britain s real spooks are revealed in this intriguing biography of the country s most secretive of secret services. Six is the full story of 100 years of espionage by MI6, the organisation still seen as the model for the world s spies. This book tells the truth about the men and women who inspired fictional characters such as James Bond and George Smiley. It begins with the creation of the British Secret Service in 1909 as the First World War loomed, and comes right up to date, detailing the work of MI6 officers in Afghanistan. Six focuses on the human factor, recounting hitherto untold tales of derring-do and exposing villainous traitors whose identities have until now been closely guarded secrets. Using hundreds of previously unreleased files and interviews with key players, it exposes the truth behind the failures and successes, including the real story of the Iraq scandal, naming the heroes and villains alike.

Amazon.co.uk

John Hart has won the yearly Crime Writer’s Association Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award according to a new report at CommanderBond.net. The event was hosted last night. Hart received £2000 and a steel dagger, which is based on the weapon used by Special Forces during World War II.

Judges for this year’s panel consisted of Corinne B Turner (Chair and Managing Director of Ian Fleming Publications), Sarah Fairbairn (Editorial Manager at Ian Fleming Publications), Philip Gooden, Samantha Weinberg (author of The Moneypenny Diaries), Rob Williams, and David Wilson (Head of Creative and Business Affairs at Eon Workshop; Michael G. Wilson’s son). About Hart’s winning novel, The Last Child, the judges said [it] “Accomplished and ambitious piece of southern gothic. It is beautifully rendered, with a cast of memorable characters – full of pathos, atmosphere and mystery. A cracking and original story.”


About The Last Child:

Thirteen-year-old Johnny Merrimon has to face things no boy his age should face. In the year since his twin sister’s abduction his world has fallen apart: his father has disappeared and his fragile mother is spiralling into ever deeper despair. Johnny keeps strong.

Armed with a map, a bike and a flashlight, he stalks the bad men of Raven County. The police might have given up on Alyssa; he never will. Someone, somewhere, knows something they’re not telling. Only one person looks out for Johnny. Detective Clyde Hunt shares his obsession with the case.

But when Johnny witnesses a hit-and-run and insists the victim was killed because he’d found Alyssa, even Hunt thinks he’s lost it. And then another young girl goes missing …

Other nominees for this award included:

• Michael Connelly: The Brass Verdict (Orion)
• Gillian Flynn: Dark Places (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
• Charlie Newton: Calumet City (Bantam Press)
• Daniel Silva: Moscow Rules (Michael Joseph)
• Olen Steinhauer: The Tourist (HarperCollins)
• Andrew Williams: The Interrogator (John Murray)