Raymond Benson short stories
In the late 1990s, Raymond Benson, who at the time was the official novelist of the James Bond literary franchise, became the first author since Bond's creator, Ian Fleming, to write officially sanctioned short stories featuring the superspy.
Just before his sudden departure from writing Bond novels at the start of 2003, Benson had indicated his intention to write more short pieces and publish a short story collection along the lines of Fleming's For Your Eyes Only and Octopussy and The Living Daylights. This, however, has yet to occur as of 2008.
To date these three stories remain the only pieces of James Bond literature that have never officially been published in Great Britain. Additionally, between 2001 and 2002, Benson wrote a fourth short story he planned to title "The Heart of Erzulie", however, it was never published.
"Blast from the Past"
First publication: Playboy , January 1997 issue. In publication order, this follows COLD and precedes Zero Minus Ten . Benson has stated that Playboy cut a third of the story for space reasons.
The first Bond story published by Benson, "Blast from the Past" is a direct sequel to Fleming's You Only Live Twice and appears to exist outside the timeline of either Benson's or John Gardner's other Bond stories.
Bond receives a message, apparently from his son James Suzuki (Suzuki's mother is Kissy Suzuki from You Only Live Twice, now dead from ovarian cancer) asking him to come to New York City on an urgent matter. When Bond arrives, he finds his son murdered. With the aid of an SIS agent, he learns that James was killed in revenge by Irma Bunt for the murder of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, and a woman whom Bond assumed had died alongside Blofeld (again in You Only Live Twice). James Suzuki's death was by way of being force fed fugu syrup, akin to a murder in You Only Live Twice. Bond's victory over Bunt is hollow, due to him having to come to grips with his absentee fathering and not spending time with his only remaining blood relative.
The name of Bond's son, James Suzuki, is taken from the John Pearson faux biography, James Bond: The Authorised Biography of 007 .
In On Her Majesty's Secret Service , Blofeld started this chain of revenge by killing James Bond's wife, Tracy.
"Blast from the Past" is included in the 2008 omnibus release, The Union Trilogy, which includes three additional Benson Bond novels. This makes "Blast from the Past" the first non-Fleming short story to be published in book form. [1]
"Midsummer Night's Doom"
First publication: Playboy , January 1999 issue. In publication order, this follows The Facts of Death and precedes High Time to Kill .
"Midsummer Night's Doom" is a special story commissioned to help celebrate Playboy's 45th anniversary. By Benson's own admission, the short story is a joke piece. [2]
In the story, Bond is assigned to attend a party at Playboy founder Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills, California where Ministry of Defence secrets are expected to be sold to a representative of the Russian Mafia.
While there, Bond meets Hefner, who is aware of his mission and who actually provides Bond with several gadgets a la Q. Bond also has time to enjoy a quick romance with real-life Playmate Lisa Dergan, flirt with other Playmates including Victoria Zdrok, and rub elbows with the likes of actor Robert Culp and singer Mel Tormé.
Dergan has the distinction of being the first real person ever to be awarded the status of Bond Girl. (Several other Playmates are referenced by name in this story, but Dergan is clearly Bond's girl of choice on this adventure.) However, Benson stated in a letter to Playboy that Zdrok was also a Bond Girl in the story. [3]
Some sources give this story the erroneous title "A Midsummer Night's Doom", since the title is a play on William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream . "Midsummer's Night's Doom" is included in the 2010 omnibus release, Choice of Weapons, which includes three additional Benson Bond novels. [4]
"Live at Five"
First publication: TV Guide (American edition), 13–19 November 1999. In publication order, this follows the novelization of The World is Not Enough and precedes Doubleshot .
Published the week The World Is Not Enough arrived in cinemas in America, "Live at Five" is the shortest of all James Bond stories, even shorter than Fleming's previous record-holder "007 in New York". Running only a couple of thousand words, if that, it is a brief episode that sees Bond, en route to a date with a female TV news reporter, recalling how he once helped a Russian figure skating champion defect in full view of TV cameras. The reporter, Janet Davies, becomes the second real person to be a Bond girl, seen daily on Chicago's local ABC station Channel 7 WLS.
"Live at Five" was finally reprinted in the 2010 omnibus release, Choice of Weapons, which includes three additional Benson Bond novels. [4]
Unauthorised works
Several stories published without sanction from Glidrose warrant mention.
"Some Are Born Great"
"Some Are Born Great" was first published in the 3 September 1959 issue of Nursery World , later reprinted in the spring 1960 issue of Jonathan Cape's in-house magazine Now & Then, and then reprinted again in 2012 by Cinema Retro's Movie Classics. The credited author—J.M. Harwood—is the screenwriter Johanna Harwood, who subsequently co-wrote the first two James Bond films. The story (which is less than a page in length) details an intense card game with Bond facing off against an unseen opponent, only to reveal in the end that it's a game of "Snap" and this is a prepubescent James Bond playing against a nanny. [13]
"Bond Strikes Camp"
Cyril Connolly's short story "Bond Strikes Camp" first appeared in the April 1963 issue of The London Magazine . Although a parody, the story clearly mentions Bond by name and code number. An expensive, privately printed edition of only fifty copies was done for the Shenval Press in 1963. Soon after, the story appeared in Connolly's miscellany collection Previous Convictions. Author, critic and Bond author Kingsley Amis compared the story unfavourably to The Harvard Lampoon spoof Bond novel Alligator by claiming that "Parodies have their laughter-value, but the laughter is partly affectionate, and the successful parodist is moved partly by wanting to write like his original by wishing he'd thought of doing so first. Mr Cyril Connolly no doubt doesn't wish this in regard to Mr Fleming; his 'Bond Strikes Camp', in which M orders Bond to dress up as a woman, ostensibly for purposes of espionage, and then tries to get him into bed, is much too far from the original, never catches the note, gets elementary details wrong. E.g. M is made to call Bond 'Bond'. This happened last in 1954 (Live and Let Die, ch. 2). Every Fleming fan knows it's either 'James' or '007'." [14]
"Holmes Meets 007"
Then I noticed the crestfallen figure standing near the window." What should we do with Bond?" I asked. "Bond? Oh, send him back to his little bureaucratic niche, I expect. Really, I couldn't be less concerned."
Donald Stanley wrote this short story - under two-thousand words - first published in The San Francisco Examiner on 29 November 1964. The Beaune Press (San Francisco) subsequently published 247 copies of this seven page story in December 1967. There is no copy 222: this is instead numbered 221B. Copies 223 through to 247 are numbered I to XXV and were printed especially for the author's friends. [15]
Dr. John Watson, Sherlock Holmes's amanuensis, narrates the story. M and Bond visit Holmes and Watson at Holmes's Baker Street address. Holmes's deductive abilities impress M who wishes Bond had the same ability. Bond questions if such intuitive talents could hold up against a Smersh assassin. Bond confronts Holmes about the latter's drug addiction and accuses Watson of being the source of Holmes's narcotics supplier. Once Holmes admits it, Bond aims his Walther PPF [sic] at Watson and announces that Watson is an imposter and none other than Bond's arch-enemy Ernst Stavro Blofeld - the man who killed Bond's bride. Holmes throughout the meeting has been fiddling his Stradivarius - much to everyone's annoyance - and brings it crashing down, knocking Bond's gun away. Holmes plunges a needle containing morphine into M's arm, quickly rendering him unconscious. Holmes reveals that M is none other than Professor Moriarty; Bond is nothing more than a "fairly ignorant tool" who had been unaware of his boss's treachery all this time.
The Harvard Lampoon , responsible for the Bond spoof Alligator, published another "J*mes B*nd" story. Toadstool appeared in PL*YB*Y, the 1966 Harvard Lampoon parody of Playboy magazine.
"License to Hug"
Will Self's story License to Hug appeared in the November 1995 issue of Esquire . Bond goes to Holland to kill an IRA hitman involved in drug smuggling. This story, part thriller, part satire on modern life, also mentions Bond by name and code number. Sorrell Kerbel notes that "Self proves just as adept at skewering by mimicry the stiff upper lip style and macho substance of Ian Fleming's James Bond books as he is at pillorying the brave new world of political correctness (with its very own thought police) in which the 'Therapeutic Hug and Stroke' is the weapon of choice." [16]
"Your Deal, Mr. Bond"
In 1997 Phillip and Robert King published a collection of bridge-related short stories entitled Your Deal, Mr. Bond was published by B. T. Batsford ( ISBN 0-7134-8247-8). The title piece is a short story featuring James Bond, who is assigned by M to defeat a villain named Saladin who is threatening to explode nuclear bombs in several major cities. Bond impersonates real-life bridge expert Zia Mahmood in order to combat Saladin at the bridge table. The short story includes bridge game charts in a similar fashion to that used by Ian Fleming in Moonraker , in which Bond similarly plays a high-stakes game of bridge against that novel's villain. The book, despite being issued by a major publisher and containing undisguised references to the Bond characters, contains no reference to Ian Fleming Publications, suggesting the use of Bond, M and Miss Moneypenny is unofficial, and rendering this story likely apocryphal. Its placement in the Bond canon, therefore, is unknown. The story contains a cultural reference to Star Trek , however, which sets it outside of Fleming's timeline. It should not be confused with the 1987 John Gardner Bond novel, No Deals, Mr. Bond .
The authors also wrote the 1996 pastiche compilation Farewell, My Dummy, which featured bridge novellas, each one parodies a different author in turn: Jeffrey Archer, Jane Austen, Raymond Chandler, Arthur Conan Doyle and Victor Mollo.
Licence Expired: The Unauthorized James Bond
On 1 January 2015, the original Ian Fleming novels and short stories entered the public domain in Canada and other countries in which the length of copyright remains at the Berne Convention minimum of the life of the author plus 50 years. As a result, it is now legal in those countries for the original writings of Ian Fleming to be republished, or adapted into other media, without permission of the Fleming estate or its agent, Ian Fleming Publications (formerly known as Gildrose Publications). It is also now legal in those countries for original material based on Bond and other characters and concepts introduced in Fleming's written works (though not those elements that are unique to Eon Production's Bond movies) to be published. [17]
In late 2015, independent Canadian publishing house ChiZine Publications released Licence Expired: The Unauthorized James Bond, an anthology of 19 Bond short stories written by various Canadian and non-Canadian authors including Jeffrey Ford, Charles Stross, A.M. Dellamonica, James Alan Gardner, Corey Redekop, Jacqueline Baker, Richard Lee Byers, Laird Barron, Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer, Karl Schroeder, Claude Lalumiere, Robert Wiersema, and Ian Rogers. [18] [19] The stories examine different stages of the character's life from childhood to old age. [20] The book's introduction states explicitly that due to copyright issues, it is not authorized for sale outside Canada. [21]
The James Bond series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have written authorised Bond novels or novelisations: Kingsley Amis, Christopher Wood, John Gardner, Raymond Benson, Sebastian Faulks, Jeffery Deaver, William Boyd and Anthony Horowitz. The latest novel is Forever and a Day by Anthony Horowitz, published in May 2018. Additionally Charlie Higson wrote a series on a young James Bond, and Kate Westbrook wrote three novels based on the diaries of a recurring series character, Moneypenny.
Thunderball is the ninth book in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, and the eighth full-length Bond novel. It was first published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on 27 March 1961, where the initial print run of 50,938 copies quickly sold out. The first novelization of an unfilmed James Bond screenplay, it was born from a collaboration by five people: Ian Fleming, Kevin McClory, Jack Whittingham, Ivar Bryce and Ernest Cuneo, although the controversial shared credit of Fleming, McClory and Whittingham was the result of a courtroom decision.
You Only Live Twice is the eleventh novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series of stories. It was first published by Jonathan Cape in the United Kingdom on 26 March 1964 and sold out quickly. It was the last Fleming novel published in his lifetime. It is the concluding chapter in what is known as the "Blofeld Trilogy" after Thunderball and On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
The Man with the Golden Gun is the twelfth and final novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series and thirteenth Bond book overall. It was first published by Jonathan Cape in the UK on 1 April 1965, eight months after the author's death. The novel was not as detailed or polished as the others in the series, leading to poor but polite reviews. Despite that, the book was a best-seller.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the tenth novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, first published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on 1 April 1963. The initial and secondary print runs sold out, with over 60,000 books sold in the first month. Fleming wrote the book in Jamaica whilst the first film in the Eon Productions series of films, Dr. No, was being filmed nearby.
Robert Markham is a pseudonym used by author Kingsley Amis to publish Colonel Sun in March 1968. The book was the first continuation James Bond novel following the death of Bond's creator, Ian Fleming.
Raymond Benson is an American author best known for being the author of the James Bond novels from 1997 to 2003. Benson was born in Midland, Texas and graduated from Permian High School in Odessa in 1973. In primary school Benson took an interest in the piano which would later in his life develop into an interest in composing music, mostly for theatrical productions. Benson also took part in drama at school and became the vice president of his high school's drama department, an interest that he would later pursue by directing stage productions in New York City after attending and receiving a degree in Drama Production—Directing from the University of Texas at Austin. Other hobbies include film history and criticism, writing, and designing computer games.
Octopussy and The Living Daylights is the 14th and final James Bond book written by Ian Fleming in the Bond series. The book is a collection of short stories published posthumously in the United Kingdom by Jonathan Cape on 23 June 1966.
Ian Fleming Publications is the production company formerly known as both Glidrose Productions Limited and Glidrose Publications Limited, named after its founders John Gliddon and Norman Rose. In 1952, author Ian Fleming bought it after completing his first James Bond novel, Casino Royale; he assigned most of his rights in Casino Royale, and the works which followed it to Glidrose.
Nobody Lives for Ever, first published in 1986, was the fifth novel by John Gardner featuring Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond. Carrying the Glidrose Publications copyright, it was first published in the United Kingdom by Jonathan Cape and in the United States by Putnam.
The Man with the Red Tattoo, first published in 2002, was the sixth and final original novel by Raymond Benson featuring Ian Fleming's character James Bond. Carrying the Ian Fleming Publications copyright, it was first published in the United Kingdom by Hodder & Stoughton and in the United States by Putnam. It was later published in Japan in 2003. The novel's working title was Red Widow Dawn.
The James Bond Bedside Companion is a non-fiction book written by the official James Bond author, Raymond Benson, first published in 1984. It was later updated in 1988. The book was nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Biographical/Critical Work in 1984.
Lisa Dergan is an American model, actress, media personality, and sportscaster. She was Playboy's Playmate of the Month for July 1998.
The Moneypenny Diaries: Guardian Angel is the first in a trilogy of novels chronicling the life of Miss Moneypenny, M's personal secretary in Ian Fleming's James Bond series. The diaries were authored by Samantha Weinberg under the pseudonym Kate Westbrook, who is depicted as the book's editor. The first instalment, subtitled Guardian Angel was released in the United Kingdom on October 10, 2005 by John Murray publishers. A United States edition was published by Thomas Dunne Books on May 13, 2008, although this edition has no subtitle.
Kissy Suzuki is a fictional character introduced in Ian Fleming's 1964 James Bond novel, You Only Live Twice. Despite Bond's womanizing, Kissy Suzuki remains the only character known to the reader who bears a child by him. The treatment of Kissy varies greatly between the novel and the film, where she is never identified by her name, no family name appears in the closing credits and the film ends in the usual Bond-style happy ending.
The Moneypenny Diaries is a series of novels and short stories chronicling the life of Miss Moneypenny, M's personal secretary in Ian Fleming's James Bond series; it is considered an official spin-off of the Bond books. The diaries are penned by Samantha Weinberg under the pseudonym Kate Westbrook, who is depicted as the book's "editor." The series is a trilogy of novels, although in 2006, Weinberg also published two short stories: "For Your Eyes Only, James" and "Moneypenny's First Date With Bond", both of which appeared in UK magazines and were republished in September 2020 as a free ebook.
Samantha Fletcher is a British Green Party politician, and under her maiden name of Samantha Weinberg, a novelist, journalist and travel writer. Educated at St Paul's Girls' School and Trinity College, Cambridge, she is the author of books such as A Fish Caught in Time: The Search for the Coelacanth and the James Bond inspired trilogy The Moneypenny Diaries under the alias Kate Westbrook. She is assistant editor of Intelligent Life, the features and cultural magazine from The Economist.
Commander James Bond is a fictional character created by the British journalist and novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. He is the protagonist of the James Bond series of novels, films, comics and video games. Fleming wrote twelve Bond novels and two short story collections. His final two books—The Man with the Golden Gun (1965) and Octopussy and The Living Daylights (1966)—were published posthumously.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to James Bond: