22 replies to this topic

[Scrambled Eggs]

I

[MHazard]

Good work my friend!

[MkB]

Kudos Scrambled Eggs!
I didn't know about this author, and had hard time searching for the "Buster Morgan" and "Lita Amethyst" series... They are definitely not easy to find! But now that I've found what I was looking for, I'm sure we're in for a treat!
I can't wait for this Count Diable being unveiled!

[MattofSteel]

This sounds quite intriguing.

[Single-O-Seven]

Great work!! I've never heard of this author, but this is very exciting news! This is on par with "Per Fine Ounce" being released. It'll be interesting to read an author contemporary with Fleming. When can we expect to see this?

Edited by Single-O-Seven, 02 April 2008 - 08:47 PM.

[Trident]

Awesomely astounding. Asolutely never heard of Donald Twain, Buster Morgan or Lita Amethyst series. It sounds like a terrific treasure that another never-before-published continuation has been found! Splendid!

[Scrambled Eggs]

When can we expect to see this?

Very soon. A couple of technical things need to be sorted out. Then it'll be up.

Here's the cover IcePhoenix has prepared:

[MkB]

Great cover artwork!
Are the capital "i" in "BandIts" and "StunnIng" some king of code?

[Hitch]

...

[Scrambled Eggs]

It's up. Finally.

For whatever reason, the forum won't allow me to upload the pdf so I've posted the first chapter and a link to the pdf.

If the link's broken, please let me know.

Thanks to IcePhoenix for his work on the PDF. I edited the text slightly and the flaws with the PDF are my fault not his!

[Single-O-Seven]

Just downloaded it. Thanks for the hard work! Looks great, can't wait to read it.

[Trident]

Many, many thanks! Looks fantastic! This feat must have been a lot of hard work for you. I will read it asap. Thanks again!

[Scrambled Eggs]

Thanks both but the hard work was done by IcePhoenix who I know is a very busy chap and did a great job. I think it looks terrific apart from the couple of pages I screwed up a tad!

[terminus]

Excellent - look forward to reading this one when I get round to it.

[Scrambled Eggs]

For those who prefer, here it is in LIT format. I'm told you use this with the free Microsoft ebook LIT reader. Ta very much to MkB for this.

http://www.mediamax....ount_Diable.lit

[Mr. Blofeld]

That classroom scene in the first chapter reminds me very much of Gardner...

[MkB]

I finished the book at last!
Quite an enjoyable read I particularly enjoyed the last chapters. Nice take at a Bond Villain, and at the relationship of Bond with women.
Thanks for sharing this work here, Scrambled Eggs!

[Scrambled Eggs]

I've had an email telling me theres a problem with the link to the pdf.

It does work. But you need to right click on the link, not left.

Probably should have mentioned that next to the link really!

[Qwerty]

New addition up now.

[MkB]

I'm not good at reviews, but this discussion thread coming up reminded me that I had some spare comments I should have shared here...

I rather liked the Villain, and this idea of

Spoiler

stuffed "alive" animals

... Hiiiirk! The Casino diable scenes between Bond and Xantha were nice, with a growing tension between the characters, that is understood only

Spoiler

when Diable reveals she worked for him

.

I quite liked the idea of the nomad tribe: this was a quite Flemingesque idea for allies (with a touch of Kerim Bey, I'd say )
This is only my take on the character, but I'm interested in the relationship of Bond with natural, "wild" people (even if idealized), like Honeychile Ryder. He seems to be quite fascinated by this sort of life, and I'd love to read a full-length novel where he'd have to carry on a mission in a natural, "wild" environment, far from ridiculously expensive cars, fussy waiters and Saville Row tailors that can't see farther than the end of their needle Yes, Bond alone in a desert / jungle / ocean (delete as appropriate), finding allies in an oasis / a village / an island far from civilisation, to thwart the plans of the Evil villain... It'd give plenty of room to explore some aspects of the character!

Finally, I liked very much the very last chapter,

Spoiler

about the end of Bond's affair with Xantha. I agree with this view of Bond being unable to keep a woman.

[terminus]

I'm going to read this, at most, at two or three chapters a day - so I'll review it by chapter:

Part 1, Chapter 1

A great impression of a world weary James Bond feeling his age, perfect for where he would be in the aftermath of TMWTGG, closing on retirement age. The section describing Bonds adventure in India is interesting (if this had been a Fleming novel and EON adapted it, the India sequence would have been an amazing PTS) and M's anger at Bond's actions (or lack of them) is understandable and very much Fleming's M. And the cliffhanger? Well, that was a good one.

Part 1, Chapter 2

Now we're into the main story. I had my suspicions that the girl with the gun was Charteris' daughter before she was acknowledged as such, given the stray line about her in the first chapter. Enter Xantha Charteris, perfectly Flemingesque name but not one of pastiche, a boyish female whom Fleming himself would have been proud of.

Part 1, Chapter 3

Bond and Xantha dine. Xantha has the traditional almost imperceptible flaw. The frankness of her storytelling makes Xantha a more exciting creation than Vivien Michel. I'm not seeing a good future for Vivienne Highsmith within the service and this St. John Crabbe must be involved in the overall plot somehow.



I'm thoroughly enjoying this so far!

[terminus]

Only one chapter read today, though it was a very good chapter:


Part 1, Chapter 4

Xantha steals a wallet which reveals a card mentioning the mythic Casino Diable in the Western Sahara. She's been there before and knows it's the centre for sending a new drug, Cyclone, out into the world. Casino Diable, though we only hear of it, already sounds a very Flemingesque creation and I'm looking forward to eventually getting there.

[terminus]

Well - that one chapter per day plan went a bit to pot, didn't it! Anyway, back with a few more chapters read!

Part 1, Chapter 5

Eventually the plot moves onwards with Xantha and Bond heading to France to steal a skull for the currently unseen villain Count Diable, our interests are thus piqued even more as readers. Mathis appears, and the skull is revealed to be that of a man called Etienne Guiborg, a priest from the seventeenth century who tried to raise the devil - the reader grows curioser and curioser. The skull is stolen, leading to a brief but tasteful car chase.

Part 1, Chapter 6

With the robbery conducted, the story moves on to the meeting with the man who will get Bond and Xantha to Casino Diable, Ripol. Xantha is revealed as a 'depraved' bisexual - as I said earlier, she's a Bond girl that Fleming would have been proud of. Thugs arrive and we get a very Casino Royale close quarters fight between Bond and the two thugs - but Bond and Xantha escape to safety with the skull.