167 replies to this topic

[Harry Fawkes]

10

[Harry Fawkes]

9

[Jim]

Call it a wild shot in the dark, but... 8?

[Harry Fawkes]

[Harry Fawkes]

M lifted his eyes from the file he was reading and finally cleared his throat.

'Got anything particular on at the moment, Double O Seven?' he asked and looked across as Bond sat down on the chair opposite the green leather desk.

There was nothing to read in the ex-SAS Colonel's eyes, James Bond thought.

They were simply impassive.

'Nothing that important, sir.'

M nodded, lit his pipe and sat back comfortably.

'Good,' he told him. 'Ever heard of a man called Midas Gold?'

8

[Harry Fawkes]

The black Jaguar stopped outside the iron gates in the high wall. After a couple of moments a security guard appeared and came towards them. It was obvious that he had recognised Jenji Hamasatu's car. He wore a rubber poncho against the driving rain and God knows what weapon he had concealed under it.
'Act normal,' James Bond said as Hamasatu rolled down the window...[/

[color="#0000FF"]7

[Harry Fawkes]

6

COMING SOON

PRELUDE

THE POINT OF A KILL

MIDAS GOLD

[Harry Fawkes]

5

Where am I going with this? Heeeelllooo

[Harry Fawkes]

4

[Checkmate]

This might be a bit obvious, ut you are most likely countring down to the release of Midas Gold.

[Harry Fawkes]

Checkmate you are absolutely right! Countdown it is! And after 4 comes...

5

Harry


Ooops I can't believe I just did that


Sorry...After 4 comes...

3

[Harry Fawkes]

The air was stunningly cold and as he hurtled away, dropping for about 1,000 feet, he caught a glimpse of the white mountains below. It was breathtaking in its sheer magnificence. He felt the wings bite into the air and swung his body to reduce speed. He made contact with his men and in tight formation, they commenced the glide towards Mont Ciel below.

2

WHEN IT COMES TO

ACTION AND SURPRISES

LOOK FOR

H A R R Y F A W K E S

[Greene Planet]

IM SO EXCITING, I believe I just wet myself of the suspense of the coutdown

[chrisno1]

First thing’s first, Harry: GREAT TITLE. Secondly, you offered an insight into James Bond’s psyche which was at times frightening in its intensity. Other than that, if I am honest, I thought The Moment Before You Die was a bit of a mess. Sorry.

I didn’t feel you stretched your self much with the story. It had many familiar aspects from James Bond history. Elements from YOLT, TLD, NSNA, TB, characters from MR and a pseudo Quantum organisation called Dominion all appeared. You even referenced yourself. 007’s attack on Stavros’ villa matched D’Arcy’s assault on Rossi’s villa from Trouble Shooter and Bond’s death warrant was originally issued in Nobody Cheats Death.

As I expected from Trouble Shooter, we are re-introduced to Nadesh and Melhem Sabah, but this time around she seems curiously winsome but shallow, while he hardly features at all. Even the henchmen Keller and Hamid are thin characters, the latter particularly comes across as rather pathetic, begging for his life within a few seconds of seeing the whites of Bond’s eyes; he’s more a school bully than a menacing right hand man. Keller was better, as brutal killers go. Overall there were a lot of people in this story and it felt over-populated.

The novel started well, and the early scenes in Libya showed real promise (I’ll gloss over the uncomfortable sex scene) The idea of drip feeding the details of Bond’s recovery after being shot was excellent and some of his lines in those first chapters emphasised his hard boiled, devil may care attitude for life and limb. I particularly liked the line “luck had nothing to do with it. Hell was just too crowded” which gave a real sense of Bond’s destiny here.

In comparison, M’s rant at Tanner seems misplaced and his later spat with the Joint Intelligence Committee unlikely, although it serves to reinforce Colonel Jackson’s single mindedness being as heartless as Bond’s own. As before, MI6 features a lot and this becomes a problem as the action gets diluted and you intercut scenes where it isn’t necessary. Sometimes this results in the same information being relayed twice (witness Gala’s instructions) It also defuses all tension.

The most interesting section of the novel was Bond’s hallucinogenic experiences in the well. It was an excellent variant on the standard torture device and much better than the blatant horror you supplied in Nobody Cheats Death. There was a real feeling for Bond’s past and his fears of the future, yet it felt curiously out of place. However well it read, I did not believe Bond would succumb so easily to the wills of his own mind. Surely he would be searching for an escape? I have never been tortured, neither do I understand the workings of the human mind, but the scenes felt far more significant to Bond’s survival from his shooting than this mind numbing twelve hour incarceration. I didn’t get the impression Bond was in any danger mortal enough for his brain to make the connections. The fact that both Chapters 9 and 10 dissolved into a sort of Mills and Boon rose-tinted dream world was equally baffling. None the less the torture device served its narrative purpose of supplying Bond’s drive to escape.

The Schwartzneggarish gun battle which followed read well and was probably the highlight of a less violent than normal novel.(Excepting the ripping out of a man's throat, familiar from James Mayo, I think.) There was clearly a lot of research done with some very good geographical, technical, political and scientific background; but it was let down by some curious dialogue, much of it surrounding poetry and philosophy. It shows you are well read, but people just don’t talk to each other like that, unless they are the intellectual classes. Conversely, you occasionally use colloquialisms when describing people’s feelings or the unfolding action (witness "came up for air")and the constant use of “...” makes me curl.

Best thing about The Moment Before You Die? Chapter headings! Never before have I read such a splendid list of teasers, any one of which could be a novel title in their own right. And the worst thing? Well, it hasn’t finished yet, has it...

[MkB]

You even referenced yourself. 007’s attack on Stavros’ villa matched D’Arcy’s assault on Rossi’s villa from Trouble Shooter and Bond’s death warrant was originally issued in Nobody Cheats Death.

From another reader: actually, the self-reference was something I rather enjoyed, I found it made sense in a series of novels, and added to "continuity" in a way. Well, to each his own I suppose

[Harry Fawkes]

Nice review chrisno1.

Thank you for your comments and the time you spent to read my work.

Very much appreciated as always.

Naturally I fully understand that to please everyone who reads ones' work is quite imposible - I'm sure every wannabe writer like myself realises that.

I have always believed that a successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him and I will, if ever I try my hand at a Bond Fan Fic again, after Midas Gold that is, take into consideration what you have written.

The fact is though, as every writer surely knows, the key to ultimate failure in writing is to try to please everyone.

Anyway, we'll see. That you have succeeded in reading three of my Fan Fic novels so far is fantastic news in itself.

Well done. For that alone you have my respect.

I'd be careful with 'Gold' though, if you do decided to give it a try. There is a lot more wanton sex and violence within those pages than NCD, TS and TMBYD put together.

But then, you see, from the majority of emails and post responses I've recieved throughout all my other 'novels' that is just what most readers out there are looking for in a Harry Fawkes's story - Gratuitous sex and bloody violence, mixed nicely with a dash of Le Monsieur Bond, which is what I've tried giving them this time around

Give the crowd what they want, and all that rubbish!

Ah well - a player to the crowd, that's me...

As promised, as soon as I'm done with Gold I'll be reading The Humming Bird and I will review it as well.

As for you MKb, thanks for being there mon ami! xxx

Roger

[chrisno1]

H.F. / Roger,
just a quick reply,
I fully understand the league of bread and circuses!
My opinions over TMBYD and TS are that within them there are excellent, highly literate sections of work, but these are almost buried underneath the gratuitous sex and violence. I don't begrudge the latter, but wish to see more of the former; the question is how you apply it.
I can see massive potential in what I read, honestly, and you have a great insight into the mind of the fighting man and the authority figure that myself and others cannot hope to emmulate, I just believe you are not considering the overall effect of your work; how each scene effects the next, how each character relates to another, how the reader is drawn into the mind of the hero.
You may be disappointed with The Humming Bird; I am not convinced it elicts what I aspire to either, but I don't (I will not!) believe action is everything. Each of Fleming's novels contained little more than half a dozen action sequences (some had less) it is the way he shapes those scenes that lends power, not their mere appearance. That's what I strive to aim for.
I may be wrong... unfortunately, it is how I interpret most FanFic. You will see my reviews of Volante's work offer similar sentiments.
But I hope you appreciate I am not trying to undermine you; my review is not a criticism; I want to encourage you! There is good quality writing here!
I will read Midas Gold! probably in the new year.
Thanks for the warning!
Chris

[Harry Fawkes]

Yes, Chris, I know exactly what you mean.

It is absolutely true what you relate in your review and I know that what you said was genuine and indeed I feel that it is going to help me in my writing.

As for James Bond, maybe one day I’ll try my hand at really emulating Fleming's style instead of the ‘action movie’ approach I adopted throughout my own series.

I've always said that compared to the works of other Fan Fic writers like yourself, Joyce Carrington, Hitch, Clinkeroo, Scrambled Eggs, Trident, and my favorite Fan Fic writer in particular Jim, and many, many others out there whose writing truly shines, my writing leaves much to be desired. But as you said, with a bit more focus and attention I just might get there.


Yet again, thanks a million for your reviews. Tell you the truth I actually agree with most of what you have pointed out and it means an awful lot to me after all the hard work one goes through.

PS

From what I've read so far, The Humming Bird is a fine piece of work!


More of that later though...