89 replies to this topic

[Qwerty]

Fantastic review, zen. My copy just arrived in the mail today - can't wait to get into it!

[[dark]]

You order from Amazon.co.uk, Qwertz? Hopefully mine will be waiting for me when I get home, then!

[Qwerty]

You order from Amazon.co.uk, Qwertz? Hopefully mine will be waiting for me when I get home, then!

Yep. They were really on the ball with quick shipping this time around, so hopefully it'll be the same case for you.

[[dark]]

You order from Amazon.co.uk, Qwertz? Hopefully mine will be waiting for me when I get home, then!

Yep. They were really on the ball with quick shipping this time around, so hopefully it'll be the same case for you.

Nothing. Still, gives me a chance to finish Scorpius before moving onto By Royal Command.

[Qwerty]

Bummer. Hopefully Saturday will be the lucky day.

[Jack Spang]

Looks like Tesco is offering some new Young Bond cards along with the book. This appears to be a Tesco exclusive. First I've head of this. Pic over at AJB.
http://www.ajb007.co...php?topic=31207

How much are Tesco selling it for? I wish they had adult Bond card illustrations aswell.

Does BRC have less action in it overall than DOD and HG?

[Double-0-7]

Very sharp cover, I can hardly wait for the book to be available on this side of the pond.

[zencat]

So what did we think of the idea to hold back the cover art until the day of release? I think it was a very simple and effective way to make the release of the book all the more exciting. There is something to be said for seeing a cover for the first time when the book is there in front of you (like the old days when your first sight of a cover was in the store). However, it was also torture!

[Jeff007]

You order from Amazon.co.uk, Qwertz? Hopefully mine will be waiting for me when I get home, then!

Yep. They were really on the ball with quick shipping this time around, so hopefully it'll be the same case for you.

Wow. I hope mine arrives on Monday than.

[[dark]]

So what did we think of the idea to hold back the cover art until the day of release? I think it was a very simple and effective way to make the release of the book all the more exciting. There is something to be said for seeing a cover for the first time when the book is there in front of you (like the old days when your first sight of a cover was in the store). However, it was also torture!

If I was in the UK (and could, thus, pick up the book on the day of publication) or could simply avoid the web until it arrived (ha!), it's a great idea. Now that the web is around, opportunities like that never come up; even the 300 copies sold in Edinburgh pre-publication could have stayed under wraps.

[double o ego]

Bought mine from tesco yesterday for about £6.50....very cheap. I hope this book is on the same level as BF at the ery least.

[zencat]

Did you get YB trading cards with it, double o ego? I believe the cards are a Tesco exclusive (I'm trying to nail down details on these).

[double o ego]

Unfortunately all I got was the book.

[zencat]

!

Well that's odd. From what I see on eBay (and from someone at AJB), an uncut sheet of four cards should be attached in the back.

[Trempo]

My review(s) are up.

Full review with spoilers

Abridged review without spoilers

Great review zen,

I like the book very much. Read it within two days.
It is a good end of the series.
But I hope there will be more. Pleeeeeaaaase Mr Higson!

There is only one think I didn´t understand.
In the last book »Hurricane Gold« James Bond learnt ju-jitsu from Sakata.
But in BRC he never used it in a fight.
Otherwise it is a great book. The story is fantastic. And we get even a little history lesson.
And for me as a German I like the German sentences in the book. Because they are all (except one word in one sentence) correct.

So once again. I hope we will see also the »Fettes years« of James Bond.

[zencat]

One thing I neglected to mention in my review is the scene where...

Spoiler

Bond loses control as he beats up Bentinck.

Really powerful, effective scene that shows just how far Bond has come from the boy he was in SilverFin.

[Jeff007]

Still waiting for my copy.

[sharpshooter]

Still waiting for my copy.

As with me. This wait is terrible. At least I have the QoS trailer to console myself.

[[dark]]

Yep, I'm still By Royal Command-less. Hopefully tomorrow.

[zencat]

Did you get YB trading cards with it, double o ego? I believe the cards are a Tesco exclusive (I'm trying to nail down details on these).

So it looks like these Tesco editions are kinda special. The cards are affixed in the back, not just laid in, and the books have a special sticker on the front. I'm getting a sense from dealers that finding a copy with the Jame Bond card isn't easy. I'm now considering these "exclusives" and a must have for the obsessive collector.

For a good look at the card sheet and more details click here.

Borders also have copies with stickers promoting their helicopter ride competition. But I don't consider one of these a must have...yet.

[Qwerty]

Did you get YB trading cards with it, double o ego? I believe the cards are a Tesco exclusive (I'm trying to nail down details on these).

So it looks like these Tesco editions are kinda special. The cards are affixed in the back, not just laid in, and the books have a special sticker on the front. I'm getting a sense from dealers that finding a copy with the Jame Bond card isn't easy. I'm now considering these "exclusives" and a must have for the obsessive collector.

Bummer. I've been scouring eBay trying to just find auctions for the cards alone, but I only see them attached with the book.

[Jack Spang]

My local Tesco doesn't have the book at all. It is a big supermarket too. I checked a week ago. Which Tesco's in London have it and/or the cards?

Yes, we need to see Bond in Fettes now boxing and doing well in athletics then moving in to wartime.

Edited by Jack Spang, 15 September 2008 - 11:46 AM.

[marktmurphy]

Finally finished it; excellently gruesome and exciting in many places. Was never totally convinced by Roan, and I'm finding it hard to believe that James is still only 14 by the end, but the rest of the book more than made up for it. A nicely complex and very dangerous plot that brings spying into James' world very well. Loved the skiing scenes too; made me want to get back on the slopes.

Brilliant stuff. More please.

Spoiler

And why else would he let Sedova survive unless he was going to write more?

Special mention for the little touch of rewriting history at the end to make M's obituary appear to be true. Not really sure why they would have done that, but it's a good touch nonetheless.

[sharpshooter]

Would you say that it is the best of the series?

Better than Blood Fever?

[marktmurphy]

I find it really hard to say which is best: I've genuinely enjoyed them all very much. I'd probably agree that Blood Fever is the best up until now, but then I've enjoyed all the others just as much. Proper fun page-turners, all of 'em.
It's a real cracker, but then I do find the characterization of James as a world-weary adult at 14 a bit of a stumbling block, to be honest. I find it hard to emphasize with him much as he's so different to any child I've ever known.

[David Schofield]

Special mention for the little touch of rewriting history at the end to make M's obituary appear to be true. Not really sure why they would have done that, but it's a good touch nonetheless.

Indeed, that's a total fan fob contrivance by Charlie.

And he misses his own achievement anyway - Young Bond, like Fleming's Bond, has only actually completed TWO halves at Eton in any case - he arrives late for the "Silverfin" term so did not complete that, misses entirely the "Hurriacn Gold" term and, of course, doesn't finish the "By Royal Command" term; he only completes two halves, those desribed in "Blood Fever" and "Double or Die".

case of trying TOO hard, Charlie.

[Simon]

empathise, mark?

[marktmurphy]

Sorry, yes- no idea what I was thinkerizing.

[Pete]

I finished this on Monday and I have to admit I enjoyed all five books. I really didn't know what to expect of them but if they were aimed at the younger reader they were well written for adults as well. BRC seems to have more Fleming elements and is clearly based on Fleming's yong to mid life. I would say that BRC is every bit as good as DoD. It was a bit dificult to believe all this was happening to 13/14 year old but the world of Bond has always been a bit OTT.

I hope there are more from Charlie Higson, I certainly feel he could carry on writing the Bond series up until Casino Royale.

[Daddy Bond]

I love it.

Too bad the US is going to get stuck with another Kev Walker cover. He's a great artist but I'm not a big fan of his covers.

Well, just do what I do, American's should order from Amazon.uk in cases like these. I've found the price is generally comparable (sometimes better) and I usually get my items from England within a week.

That's where to get The Saint's full B&W episodes too (as the full set of B&W episodes are not availabe in the U.S.).

Sometimes, I save a TON of money by ordering from the UK.