96 replies to this topic

[zencat]

Now on the CBn main page...

Raymond Benson's James Bond Returns In 2008

New omnibus edition collecting the Union Trilogy; plus the complete version of 'Blast from the Past'

Cover Art For Raymond Benson's Union Trilogy Revealed

'High Time To Kill', 'Doubleshot' and 'Never Dream of Dying' plus the complete version of 'Blast from the Past'

Raymond Benson's 'James Bond: The Union Trilogy' Available To Pre-order

Collects 'High Time To Kill', 'Doubleshot' and 'Never Dream of Dying' plus the complete version of 'Blast from the Past'

Release Dates Reshuffled For Raymond Benson's 'James Bond: The Union Trilogy'

New collection now due 7 October in UK; 6 November in US

Raymond Benson's 'James Bond: The Union Trilogy' Shipping Early

007 omnibus available to order from Amazon.com

Raymond Benson's 'Union Trilogy' Book Tour Details

Plus, first print run of the 007 omnibus sells out

Raymond Benson's The Union Trilogy gets exclusive hardback printing

Limited edition of 2008 James Bond novel omnibus available at Barnes & Noble

Pegasus Books will release a Raymond Benson Bond omnibus in October 2008. The collection will contain the "Union Trilogy"-- High Time To Kill, Doubleshot, and Never Dream of Dying...plus the complete uncut version of Blast From The Past (never before published in English). LINK

[ACE]

Fantastic news.
Can't wait to read the full version of Blast From The Past.
Anyone out there who likes the continuation novels and has not tried Benson, now has their chance. He always wrote well-plotted, carefully crafted James Bond 007 novels.
Well done, Pegasus!

[Mr Twilight]

...plus the complete uncut version of Blast From The Past...

Excellent news - Christmas comes early this year

[Qwerty]

This is just fantastic news!

[zencat]

...plus the complete uncut version of Blast From The Past...

Excellent news - Christmas comes early this year

Seems like everything Bond fans have wished for is coming true in 2008.

[deth]

cool! I'll finally be able to read Blast From the Past....

... the news title made me think that Benson was returning to Bond... you got my hopes up there!

[iexpectu2die]

ooh good times - I did enjoy his 'Union Trilogy' novels!

[Glenn]

Woohoo.....

Devil May Care and Blast From the Past in the same year. Xmas has come early!

And then in 2009 maybe the short story Live at Five. One can only hope.

But do Pegasus publish in Briatain as well? Not being picky or anything but I always prefer the British covers to the American ones.

[Professor Dent]

Very nice! I enjoyed The Union trilogy.

[Qwerty]

Very nice! I enjoyed The Union trilogy.

Me too.

What makes this omnibus really stand out for me is that we'll finally be getting that uncut “Blast from the Past”. I've wished for years on here that we'd get some sort of Benson collection with it--looks like this is finally it.

[Wade]

Any possibility they'll issue hardback reprints of the individual Benson novels? Or Christopher Wood's two? So I don't have to mortgage my house to buy them on Alibris?

[K1Bond007]

Any possibility they'll issue hardback reprints of the individual Benson novels? Or Christopher Wood's two? So I don't have to mortgage my house to buy them on Alibris?

Unlikely for the foreseeable future. This omnibus is pretty much your only option for "new". If it does well there will be a volume 2 so. You can get his books "used" on Amazon for decent prices. I bought all my hardcover US first editions in pristine condition from there for less than 5 bucks a piece. Gardner too.

[DLibrasnow]

Did you have this up first, K1? I honestly didn't see it. I went right from RB's email newsletter to my site and posted, then here.

I noticed that Raymond posted a blog on his MySpace page about it. It's great news and (even though I own all those books already) I am curious to see how the unedited version of "Blast From the Past" differs from the one published in Playboy.

Any possibility they'll issue hardback reprints of the individual Benson novels? Or Christopher Wood's two? So I don't have to mortgage my house to buy them on Alibris?

I managed to pick up perfect, pristine hardcover copies of all of Benson's James Bond novels for just a little under $20 total. It's one of the reasons why I love Amazon Marketplace

[MicroGlobeOne]

Do you suppose there's any chance that we'll ever see Raymond Benson's short story "The Heart of Erzulie"? I'd snatch up any future volume offering even a peek at this supposed "Fleming pastiche."

[Wade]

Any possibility they'll issue hardback reprints of the individual Benson novels? Or Christopher Wood's two? So I don't have to mortgage my house to buy them on Alibris?

Unlikely for the foreseeable future. This omnibus is pretty much your only option for "new". If it does well there will be a volume 2 so. You can get his books "used" on Amazon for decent prices. I bought all my hardcover US first editions in pristine condition from there for less than 5 bucks a piece. Gardner too.

Except the hardback of the novelization of TND. Or the novelization of Wood's TSWLM. They are in the stratosphere. And I'm not even looking for mint. Just hardbacks.

[Double-Oh Agent]

This is good news as I have always wanted to read the full edition of Blast From The Past and now I'll finally have the chance. That said, however, I would prefer to have a Benson book with solely containing all of his short stories. Still, it will be nice having his short stories in book form. And I agree with MicroGlobeOne that it would be great if the second omnibus includes Benson's unused The Heart Of Erzulie. One can only hope.

With the releases of The Moneypenny Diaries: Final Fling, Devil May Care, The Shadow War, and the American release of Double Or Die, as well as Bond 22, 2008 is proving to be a Bond lover's paradise.

[sharpshooter]

Ok...so in 2008 we have Bond 22, Devil May Care, Fleming's books in hardcover, Young Bond 5 and this Benson omnibus. A nice year!

[Jim]

...plus the complete uncut version of Blast From The Past (never before published in English).

Sore tempted to query whether any of them were in English, but that would be churlish and in the season of goodwill, extremely petty.

Good news for collectors!

[David Schofield]

...plus the complete uncut version of Blast From The Past (never before published in English).

Sore tempted to query whether any of them were in English, but that would be churlish and in the season of goodwill, extremely petty.

But, of course, Jim, they weren't written in English. They were written in American.

Which possibly explains Benson's greater popularity among his fellow Colonials on their side of the Pond than among us Brits?

[Jim]

...plus the complete uncut version of Blast From The Past (never before published in English).

Sore tempted to query whether any of them were in English, but that would be churlish and in the season of goodwill, extremely petty.

But, of course, Jim, they weren't written in English. They were written in American.

Which possibly explains Benson's greater popularity among his fellow Colonials on their side of the Pond than among us Brits?

Well, perhaps, but I am sure that it will be a nice treat for those who like that sort of thing.

[OmarB]

This news is beatiful man, I choked up a bit reading it.

About the short story. Above someone mentioned that they wish they would do a book of just Benson's short stories. At this point my opinion is that they are gonna do his books as volumes and throw a few shorts stories in each. If one has not come out yet and two is already in the pipe I'm almost certain that eventually they'll all be out and with the short stories.

[Qwerty]

Ok...so in 2008 we have Bond 22, Devil May Care, Fleming's books in hardcover, Young Bond 5 and this Benson omnibus. A nice year!

And the SilverFin graphic novel and more Titan Bond collections and the usual "about Bond" books and more...

It's going to be a great (and expensive!) year.

[zencat]

Ok...so in 2008 we have Bond 22, Devil May Care, Fleming's books in hardcover, Young Bond 5 and this Benson omnibus. A nice year!

And the SilverFin graphic novel and more Titan Bond collections and the usual "about Bond" books and more...

It's going to be a great (and expensive!) year.

And don't forget Final Fling in the UK and The Moneypenny Diaries in the US.

[Qwerty]

Ok...so in 2008 we have Bond 22, Devil May Care, Fleming's books in hardcover, Young Bond 5 and this Benson omnibus. A nice year!

And the SilverFin graphic novel and more Titan Bond collections and the usual "about Bond" books and more...

It's going to be a great (and expensive!) year.

And don't forget Final Fling in the UK and The Moneypenny Diaries in the US.

Indeed! The CBn Calendar is a must for me lately. Too many books to keep track of in one's head.

[[dark]]

Great stuff! Any idea whether this'll be published in the UK?

Also, interesting to note on his website, Benson says Volume 2 would contain "short stories" - plural. Given “Midsummer Night's Doom” is a self-confessed joke piece (would it be included?) and the only other remaining story is “Live at Five”, could “The Heart of Erzulie” also be included?

[zencat]

...could “The Heart of Erzulie” also be included?

That would be great, but I wouldn't count on it.

[[dark]]

...could “The Heart of Erzulie” also be included?

That would be great, but I wouldn't count on it.

I'd have guessed as much.

[TheSaint]

My problem is that I have all of Benson's Bond novels so, do I really want to buy an omnibus for a longer version of "Blast From the Past"? I guess I could wait until cheap copies turn up on Amazon Marketplace.

[Napoleon Solo]

...could “The Heart of Erzulie” also be included?

That would be great, but I wouldn't count on it.

I'd have guessed as much.

Remember also that "The Heart of Erzulie" is the property of Ian Fleming Publications (or whatever Glidrose is now called). If IFP doesn't want it published, it never will be pubished.

[Napoleon Solo]

Great stuff! Any idea whether this'll be published in the UK?

Also, interesting to note on his website, Benson says Volume 2 would contain "short stories" - plural. Given “Midsummer Night's Doom” is a self-confessed joke piece (would it be included?) and the only other remaining story is “Live at Five”, could “The Heart of Erzulie” also be included?

The problem with calling "Midsummer Night's Doom" a joke piece is the humor isn't funny. I nearly quit reading Bond continuation stories after it was published. I thought "High Time to Kill" was a big comeback. But, and this is just a personal preference, I don't care for the short stories. Admittedly, I've never read "Blast From the Past" at its full length. But in "Midsummer Night's Doom," where Hefner says he knew Bond was a secret agent and had known for a long time......it's painful just to remember it.

From what I remember at the time (and it has been a decade now, so take this with the proper size grain of salt), Playboy commissioned the story and set a number of conditions (including Hefner making an appearance in the story). Now, if I had a chance to write a short story for Playboy, it'd be hard to say no (because I think the magazine pays pretty well). Still, it is your name on the story and if things don't turn out well, you're going to be the one left holding the bag.