43 replies to this topic

[TheSaint]

I'd pick up a Benson short story collection if it included this "Heart of Erzulie" story. How about a combo of his autobio on writing Bond AND his short stories?

[zencat]

i've always wondered why they havent released a Benson short stroy collection... I was hoping that they might have put them at the end of his last novel, but obviusly that just wasnt to be

There was a plan at one point to do this, but it never happened. RB said there just weren't enough stories to collect. But Heart of Erzulie and maybe one original would have made for a nice volume, I think. Maybe one day.

I'd pick up a Benson short story collection if it included this "Heart of Erzulie" story. How about a combo of his autobio on writing Bond AND his short stories?

Ah, yes, now that would work.

[spynovelfan]

[quote name='zencat' post='252638' date='12 April 2004 - 15:32']
Main page story.

[box]In an exclusive interview on CommanderBond.net, former James Bond continuation author, Raymond Benson, revealed the existence of a never published James Bond short story, "The Heart of Erzulie." Says Benson, "There was another Bond short story I wrote in-between Never Dream of Dying and (The Man With The Red) Tattoo. It wasn

[Quantumofsolace007]

i'd love more Benson bond novels.

[Qwerty]

i'd love more Benson bond novels.

It'd certainly be nice to see this one included in a future Benson Bond collection.

[MicroGlobeOne]

However I may feel regarding Raymond Benson's work, I'm desperate to read "The Heart of Erzulie." The fact that this short story was rejected because it was seen as a "Fleming pastiche" leaves me all the more intrigued. I would certainly purchase any collection bringing together those 007 short stories written by Benson.

[Mr Twilight]

When we can read "...Sebastian Faulks writing as Ian Fleming" I could easily picture "The Heart of Erzulie by Raymond Benson writing as Ian Fleming". It's a pity they didn't thought of it back in 2002-3.

[Double-Oh Agent]

Well, there's still hope that if/when Benson's non-Union omnibus is released next year along with Midsummer Night's Doom and Live At Five that The Heart Of Erzulie will also be included. I know I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this does happen.

[Qwerty]

Well, there's still hope that if/when Benson's non-Union omnibus is released next year along with Midsummer Night's Doom and Live At Five that The Heart Of Erzulie will also be included. I know I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this does happen.

That's exactly what I had in mind too.

[Major Tallon]

Raymond Benson's short story "The Heart of Erzulie" has been published on Kindle, part of a larger collection titled 12+1.  Due to copyright issues, the hero's name has been changed to Brock Fuller.  I haven't read it yet, so I'm otherwise unable to comment, but those who have wished to read the story now have the opportunity.

[Double-Oh Agent]

Thanks Major

[Major Tallon]

"The Heart of Erzulie" turns out to be a straightforward adventure story, fairly obviously adapted from a previously unpublished James Bond story.  Bond himself is now known as Brock Fuller, and some of the fun of reading the story is spotting the changes that have been made in the text in order to avoid copyright issues.  The story now is set on the south coast of Haiti rather than the north coast of Jamaica, and other changes are interesting to spot.  For example, a reader familiar with James Bond, upon encountering the sentence, "He put on his sunglasses, picked up his old gunmetal cigarette case, extracted a cigarette, and lit it with his cherished S.T. Dupont lighter" immediately recognizes that the sentence should actually refer to "a cherished Ronson lighter."  Similarly, upon reading that Fuller's Haitian hideaway had been built "sometime in the nineteen-forties by an enterprising French naval officer" and served as "a perfect hideaway from Fuller's former bosses at the CIA", the words "Jamaican", "British naval officer", and "the Secret Service" come quickly to mind.

 

The text of the story is easily readable, without some of the stylistic errors seen elsewhere in Benson's work.  It isn't properly a mystery story; the villain is all too easy to spot.  The description of a voodoo ceremony lacks the exotic eroticism with which Fleming would have infused it, and the action sequence at the end is not particularly thrilling.  Were it not for the Bond connection, I would describe this as an acceptable story, readable but easily forgettable.  The Bond connection is, however, present, and for that reason I've read the story three times.  I don't regret the effort.  It's workmanlike and mildly entertaining.  For Bond fans, it's worth investing a quarter of an hour.

[Napoleon Solo]

In the original, the villain's name was Emo Tuff. Was that retained for the published version? 

[Major Tallon]

There's still an Emo Tuff, though also another villain named Jeremiah Priest.