3 replies to this topic

[Qwerty]

Now on the CBn main page...

Looking Back: 'Colonel Sun'

The 1968 James Bond continuation novel by Kingsley Amis

[danielcraigisjamesbond007]

Sad to say, but I've not read the actual novel.
I got the Colonel Sun graphic novel for X-mas one year, and I really liked it. Anyone know if there's any difference (plot-wise) between the two?

[Messervy]

I just began reading Colonel Sun.
For now, I find it highly enjoyable. It's quite true to the character we know, the pace is really good and the plot is breathtaking (much more so, I'd even dare say, than some Fleming's...).

[Messervy]

So I finished it (a while ago, but couldn't report earlier). I really enjoyed it. Especially the overall pace (there's really no dead spot), and the fact that you feel like fighting alongside Bond or moving through shadows with him. The writting is very efficient.

I have only one issue, though: it lacks a bit of that special "Fleming touch" where something somewhere is always out of place. Either fancy oponents, or extra-ordinary locations or unbelievable weapons. Here, everything is very cleverly done, very efficient, yet it lacks that little spark. Granted, Colonel Sun himself is quite special (as most notably revealed towards the end of the novel), but there's nothing really "Bond extra-ordinary" about it.
It's a very solid spy/aventure novel, but it could pretty much have been a non-Bond novel if the main character didn't happen to be James Bond.

But in the end a highly enjoyable read.
I guess I'll now read all the other non Fleming Bonds... I do have work ahead!