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Midas Gold - Discussion


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#181 Harry Fawkes

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Posted 05 January 2010 - 12:24 AM

Surprise surprise. Epilogue was posted earlier than I thought I would in fact post it. Wow. That was damn good.

Again, I do believe what I wrote was befitting an ending for such a tale. You, gentle readers, of course, will be the judge of that one though.


As for me...I'M FREE! I'M FREE! YEEHAA!

A very special thank you to all of you out there who encouraged me on to get this beast of a story done.

Your comments and patience meant a lot to me and I do hope I have paid you all back kindly with the end result.

Remember, it is Fan Fiction. A game writers like me play in the world of CBn. And as I've said before, what a lovely game it is!

I will now get down to some reading though. BOMBSHELL, THE HUMMING BIRD and JUST ANOTHER KILL here I bloody come.

Hopefully, I'll see you all tomorrow.

Will HARRY FAWKES be back with another Bond story you might be asking?

Never again, I swear!

Roger Mulvaney 2010


H A R R Y F A W K E S
M I D A S G O L D



#182 Double-0-7

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Posted 05 January 2010 - 03:05 AM

Chapter 16 consumed, very explosive, Harry! B)

#183 Qwerty

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Posted 05 January 2010 - 04:23 AM

Epilogue up now.

#184 chrisno1

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Posted 05 January 2010 - 10:27 AM

Good to see you reached the end of Midas Gold, Harry.
I will look forward to consuming this action packed opus soon. Got a bit on at the moment, so can't promise to rush.
Incidentally, I read LIAL recently and I'll give you brief feedback soon.
Suffice to say, I scanned a few sections of MG and it reads well, so fingers crossed you have a winner!
Chris

#185 Harry Fawkes

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Posted 05 January 2010 - 10:16 PM

There's an old Irish saying: Touch the devil and you can't let go. Well, it's happened to bloody me!

Just when I thought I was free of all the killing, the betrayals, the plot twists, the endless sleepless nights, I just remembered I still have some rather unfinished business to conclude.

So please, allow me to bother you with this announcement:

Spoiler


Therefore, like winter's fire,
I will have to return one last time to catch myself a fox.
A black one, I might add!




B)



#186 Harry Fawkes

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Posted 07 January 2010 - 11:08 AM

Spoiler


#187 volante

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Posted 07 January 2010 - 01:21 PM

Hi Harry

Very intreguing, just as I was about to sit down and finish Midas Gold, up pops Royal Gambit.

...and I thought I could take it easy this year.

As with Bond 23, my next project is on an undefined schedule.

It only has a working title, and a few brief life experience notes.
I certainly won't start it until March 2010.

I had toyed with the idea of calling it
"A Duty of Fools", but I worked that prose into Bombshell.

But before we get carried away, I must finish Midas Gold (I'll probably have to re-visit the climax of Bombshell to "up" the excitement)

I'll do a review afterward, and try not to let the fact that you stood me up for Martini's over Christmas, prejudice my view.

cheers
Paul

#188 Harry Fawkes

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Posted 10 January 2010 - 07:54 AM

HARRY FAWKES
WILL
RETURN
FOR HIS ULTIMATE
JAMES BOND
007
FAN FIC ACTION ADVENTURE


Enter Harry Fawkes’ world of espionage, terrorism and high adventure!

From the author who brought you

NOBODY CHEATS DEATH
TROUBLESHOOTER
SPEARHEAD
THE MOMENT BEFORE YOU DIE
&
MIDASGOLD


comes the ultimate game plan for Ian Fleming’s Masterspy

The final dance with the devil

For most of his life, James Bond has dared all and more, much more, for Queen and Country

And now he is being left out to dry over what the Ministry of Defence has publicly described as:

‘‘a debacle that blatantly cost the lives of two other MI6 agents’’

Found guilty by the Joint Intelligence Community’s Internal Investigation’s Board of gross negligence during Operation: ‘BLACK FOX’
James Bond is given a choice:
Retire or ‘be’ retired!

The urge to set the record straight – personally and professionally - is overwhelming and Bond finds himself out on his own and on the trail of his most deadly and most sadistic adversary yet:

THE MAN CALLED APOCALYPSE

On this violent and deadly path and as events draw to a blazing and unexpected climax, James Bond will unearth one of the most shocking plans for a terrorist act ever contemplated, together with a dark secret that will force him to face the ultimate demon from his past.
One which will take him to the edge like never before


James Bond will return to once again thrill CBn readers in an all-new fan fic novel with razor-sharp thrills and suspense
And this time…

H A R R Y F A W K E S

PULLS OUT THE STOPS!



ROYAL GAMBIT



/style_images/_cbn/folder_spoiler/spoileraccess.gif
And if that don’t tickle yer fancy then I bloody don’t know what will [/spoiler]


#189 volante

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Posted 10 January 2010 - 10:18 AM

I for one is tickled

#190 Harry Fawkes

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Posted 16 January 2010 - 07:52 PM

Just thought I'd pop in and raise the devil again :tdown:

6120 views on the discussion section and 1593 views in the Fan Fic section.

Not bad, not bad at all.

Worth every bit I put into MIDASGOLD. You know I thought that with a title like that people would give it a miss. Seems my friend was right. People accepted it.

Thanks a million.

Gives me courage for my next one if those numbers are anything to go on and I think they are.

I have started Royal Gambit and I like what's coming out of me so far B) .

Having said that I won't be posting yet, obviously. I'm going to take it very easy this time.

What I have planned is going to blast you away for sure though and I will be paying much more attention to my style of writing and the plot. I want ROYAL GAMBIT to be the big one and it will be.

Harry Fawkes

#191 Harry Fawkes

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Posted 17 January 2010 - 12:22 PM

There I was, Sunday morning ready for mass, dressed up in my best Bond-looking-suit (charcoal grey with maroon tie). Raining and very cold outside so on comes the black overcoat and black leather gloves. My lads are waiting downstairs because I'm their RSM like. Anyways, cut a long story short, went to mass like a good boy (we all are) but I had to leave half way through. A very good mate of mine calls (another Sergeant Major). He's just got back from Afghanistan and he wants to meet for a couple of drinks. This is 0830 in the morning mind and I'm still recuperating from a couple too many from last night (too many ports that is). Well, I'm sure I'll be forgiven for that. My mate's a good lad. He's also a Bond fan and after explaining the situation 'abroad' we go on to discuss Bond over a couple of glasses of...Port again. Eight full glasses later and here I am, back at my PC on my favourite Bond site. Loads of things to say but not the right frame of mind to say or write it all. Ah, well, maybe later.

Just one thing though before I have a lie down.

The Bond world is a great place and this site is great. Whoever owns the bloody thing doesn't know what good comes out of it for people like me. In this world of complete and utter B), with bodies coming-in in bloody bags and :tdown: like that you can always turn to one thing: CBn.

Thanks!

And you wouldn’t know why believe me...

HF

#192 chrisno1

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Posted 17 January 2010 - 03:17 PM

Just thought I'd pop in and raise the devil again B)



What I have planned is going to blast you away for sure though and I will be paying much more attention to my style of writing and the plot. I want ROYAL GAMBIT to be the big one and it will be.


That sounds like grat news Harry. Still not got to Midas yet, but when I do, I have a feeling it will be most enjoyable. (Maybe Feb '10) Chris

#193 Major Tallon

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Posted 19 January 2010 - 03:17 AM

I've been far too slow in posting my thoughts, but I certainly wasn't slow in reading the conclusion of Midas Gold. In fact, I defy anyone to be slow in reading this thrilling finish to a fine fan fiction.

As I've noted before, you've taken the Bond characters and moved them into a setting of your own, but our man still retains his basic character. What I've noted in these concluding chapters is not just the sense of danger and the pulse-pounding excitement of the situations, but you've given Bond one of his most notable character traits. It's a refusal to give in to the inevitable. How many times over the span of the Fleming novels do we see Bond in a situation that he knows is hopeless. Nevertheless, when the chips are down, he the will to live, to keep going, to keep fighting, that sees him through. I see that in your Bond, and I like it a lot.

You've also invested your characters with a nice sense of humanity. Your Bond is no unfeeling superman, no superficial clotheshorse. He knows fear, feels pain, and cares for other people. His relationship with young James was nicely handled.

In fact, nicely handled applies to all of Midas Gold, beginning to end. Well done, Harry. Very well done.

#194 Harry Fawkes

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Posted 19 January 2010 - 10:11 PM

I've been far too slow in posting my thoughts, but I certainly wasn't slow in reading the conclusion of Midas Gold. In fact, I defy anyone to be slow in reading this thrilling finish to a fine fan fiction.

As I've noted before, you've taken the Bond characters and moved them into a setting of your own, but our man still retains his basic character. What I've noted in these concluding chapters is not just the sense of danger and the pulse-pounding excitement of the situations, but you've given Bond one of his most notable character traits. It's a refusal to give in to the inevitable. How many times over the span of the Fleming novels do we see Bond in a situation that he knows is hopeless. Nevertheless, when the chips are down, he the will to live, to keep going, to keep fighting, that sees him through. I see that in your Bond, and I like it a lot.

You've also invested your characters with a nice sense of humanity. Your Bond is no unfeeling superman, no superficial clotheshorse. He knows fear, feels pain, and cares for other people. His relationship with young James was nicely handled.

In fact, nicely handled applies to all of Midas Gold, beginning to end. Well done, Harry. Very well done.



Major Tallon I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kind words. I'm sure you know what it means to 'writers' like me recieving feed back and to read what you had to say throughout Midas Gold was indeed helpfull and encouraging to say the least. You have, sir, made my day! Again thanks for staying in there.

Roger Mulvaney


And just a sneak peak at what's on the menu for 2010! Hope it looks good B) .

Attached Files



#195 volante

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Posted 07 March 2010 - 01:33 PM

Hi Harry,
...and when can we expect Royal Gambit?

#196 chrisno1

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Posted 09 March 2010 - 12:10 PM

Just a quick note, Harry, to say I have gotten half way through Midas Gold and (having studiously avoided 7 pages of teasers and feedback!) I need to tell you this is far and away the best thing you have written so far.
I'll give you a longer critique when I've finished, but you deserve praise indeed for this well constructed and provacative piece.
Thanks !
Chris

#197 chrisno1

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Posted 11 March 2010 - 02:16 PM

MIDAS GOLD

Dear Harry,

I finished Midas Gold yesterday and want to send my congratulations; you have clearly spent some time reflecting on your past work and the comments made by your fans on Cbn. While continuing your textbook of violence coupled to horrific, almost sadomasochist, situations, you instilled a greater sense of your character’s motives and convictions. While you have hinted at this in the past, your protagonists often ended up as little more than caricatures. Not so here.

In Midas Gold you reduced the number of major players to half a dozen and this concentrated the flow of your narrative and allowed you to refine and expand their principle thoughts. James Bond, James Suzuki, Nakamuro, Ysabella and Grazianizi came across as fully rounded people, with hopes and regrets, passions and fury, foibles and strengths. Over them all resided the ubiquitous Colonel Jackson, casting his beleaguered spell over everyone before ultimately being dragged into the web of intrigue himself, revealing himself as a man as ruthless as 007.

It is a mark of a good writer to make his major character’s stand out and you did this very well. For both Bond and his son there were physically imposing descriptions and a raft of incidental, life affirming reflections, set aside from the main-stay of the action, which highlighted their carelessness, fragility and determination. You cleverly hinted at the manner in which they were both sinking the same ship, both fallen angels descending into hell: “a death watch beetle to the soul” accompanied by all those “cruel... devil’s smiles.” Chapter 8 particularly had resonance; the reasonable man sensing he has turned to evil and now begins to resemble the devil himself, not only in actions, but in thoughts and even looks. The cahpter's opening scene on board the Midnight Gold was the culmination of Bond’s own pained troubles, highlighted in a very fine Chapter 4, yet played out through his son. Wonderful.

Interestingly you also suggested the villain Nakamuro was from the same stock, his “golden eyes... like a hawk,” his history covered in chaos and destruction, a remorseless bringer of death. It was disappointing you felt the need to give him a peculiar sadistic bent; it was an unnecessary intrusion into his make up and while it served as a narrative ‘kink,’ his wickedness hardly needed reinforcing.

This trio of damaged devils were nicely counter balanced by the affable Grazianizi and the delicious Ysabella. The former was one of those minor but important characters who lend an old fashioned air of sophistication, reassurance and knowing; I was reminded of Gordienko in ‘Colonel Sun,’ another one chapter wonder. Ysabella meanwhile was a tactful, albeit sensual, foil for Bond; the lack of a central love story in Midas Gold was one of its achievements, that the sexual undercurrent was retained without needing to actually include the romance. Ysabella is falling in love with Bond; during her torture, her emotive silent pleading is doubly effective as the reader isn’t entirely sure which “James” she is thinking about; an air of confusion surrounds her. Her demise is untidy and wretched, wholly fitting for such an unfortunate ingénue.

By this point in the story, Harry, you have resorted to your more traditional goings-on. We have stake outs by villas, wince inducing torture, homosexuality - including the re-introduction of anal rape -, flash cuts to MI6 headquarters, unobtainable women and a host of vicious action scenes, which were not as fine as some earlier sequences. So, you again feature a very public fist fight, the thugs reading like a posse of Bruce Lee impersonators, and the battle with Suliman wasn’t entirely successful – it brought to mind images of the wrestling scene from ‘Borat.’ The finale was a very standard, ‘Die Hard’ inspired fare, and although you described it well, I had difficulty believing it.

On the plus side, the prelude was a marvellous piece of work. And while I too had reservations about Bond meeting Gabriella, (perhaps I should be M?) it highlighted his lack of forethought, a recurring theme in your work. The attack on Les Larmes de L’ange was a brilliant concoction. I loved it. The set up was brisk, there was a beautiful location and a fantastical cinematic premise – the glider attack. I was a little dismayed therefore, when you concentrated on the gun battle, which could have been much shorter, and failed to exploit the potential of the airborne journey. With your descriptive talents, that could have been a vertigo inducing ride, but you reduced it to little more than a paragraph or two. Having said that, the climax to the prelude was scintillating and I wanted (I still want!) to learn more about Simon Carter and Dominion.

The prelude also reinforced from the start the sense of dread and disaster which hung over the story. Everybody, with the exception of Ysabella, seemed to be possessed by a foreboding, a fear of and an acceptance of their death and descent into hell. This runs from M’s “tense and claustrophobic office” through to Bond considering a future “drinking with the devil.” While I am not over enamoured with your scenes of graphic sex and appalling violence, it better suited the horrific circus of life your characters inhabit here.

To portray this malevolent underbelly of society, you instilled much style and content into your prose and I rarely felt your words were wasted. While you still have a tendency towards colloquialism, it didn’t affect the nuance of your work and was often effective during dialogue. Occasionally your turn of phrase is almost too familiar, and I think you need to try a few more similes; those “hounds of hell” are getting tired running after so many heels! You also tend to double emphasise: you don’t need to be “a dangerous menace,” if you are a menace you are already dangerous; equally when swords collide, that’s quite hard and intense enough, you don’t need to tell us, readers can interpret what you mean.

But these are minor quibbles, points of metaphorical order, if you like. I want to congratulate you, Harry, on a splendid piece of work. Midas Gold really shows you are fulfilling your potential. I am pleased to see you want to continue writing and Royal Gambit should be another winner. You deserve the praise, Harry.

Chris.

P.S. Roger, wishing you good luck with Royal Gambit and beyond.....


#198 MkB

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Posted 27 March 2010 - 08:00 PM

Dear Harry, I have been much delayed in my reading of the 2nd part of MIDAS GOLD, but... you know how is life sometimes!

This might very well be the better built of your 4 (so far!) Bond fanfic novels. Fantastic pace, and a good interaction of the characters! The Ysabelle character and the "other James" add a great deal to the story (and believe me, usually I am not at all a fan of the very idea of the existence of the "other James").
It's interesting to see how you have drawn similar yet different life lines for Bond and "James":
- in Bond 1st adventure, he was sorely betrayed by Vesper, who took her own life before he could "balance the accounts" with her, and he was left to regret that for the rest of his life;
- in James's 1st mission,
Spoiler


I would actually be interested in reading more about James's "rehab" after this mission. You have planted some seeds about his drug addiction, acquired in the course of his duty, and the toll it was taking on him. That's a kind of grim torture Bond himself has never had to survive to, if I'm not mistaken, and it would add to the "realistic" vein of this drug related story.

Good luck with your writing! Hope to see more of Royal Gambit soon B)

#199 chrisno1

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Posted 28 April 2010 - 09:06 PM

Harry,
Congratulations on Midas Gold passing the magic 2000 views.

Midas Gold is a great read, my favorite of your FanFic.

Well done again.
Chris

#200 Harry Fawkes

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Posted 25 May 2010 - 04:52 PM

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY

AS/3001/000/04
No 485

Madasta Chrysaalis XXX

To: Mandarin

Subject: ‘BLACKFOX’

Signal reads:- Gambit launched as predetermined and established by head-sheds S T O P Bond inward bound undamaged with iron tiger S T O P 2R/3003/000/04 Ref above dated 25 May, 2010 ETA TBC S T O P Contact conventional with old friend from Red Square S T O P Nach Deutschlander Victor luzstcovf S T O P Caution be advised Head of Station presides overtly S T O P Message by target as follows and produced herein:THROUGH ME THE WAY INTO THE SUFFERING CITY THROUGH ME ... THE WAY TO THE ETERNAL PAIN THROUGH ME THE WAY THAT RUNS AMONG THE LOST JUSTICE URGED ON MY HIGH ARTIFICER MY MAKER WAS DIVINE AUTHORITY THE HIGHEST WISDOM, AND THE PRIMAL LOVE BEFORE ME NOTHING BUT ETERNAL THINGS ABANDON EVERY HOPE, WHO ENTER HERE S T O P

Decipher Decipher Decipher Decipher Decipher Decipher Decipher Decipher

E N D I T


NEXT SIGNAL FOLLOWING SOONEST

R E D E M P T I O N



#201 volante

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Posted 14 June 2010 - 09:59 PM

I know you've been busy;
so I thought I'd offer this cover for the brilliant Midas Gold

Posted Image

all the best

Paul

#202 Harry Fawkes

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Posted 17 June 2010 - 04:24 PM

Paul when I set my eyes on the above cover, I went through the roof with joy! A special thanks for the trouble and believe me it is spot on!

Thanks a million!!!!

Roger

#203 volante

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Posted 18 June 2010 - 02:37 PM

Paul when I set my eyes on the above cover, I went through the roof with joy! A special thanks for the trouble and believe me it is spot on!

Thanks a million!!!!

Roger


Thanks Roger;

It was a pleasure.
I was trying to get the look of the old "Deliverence" poster, A Secret to the Grave; but the colour and metalic sheen made me think you were more deserving.

All the best

Paul

#204 Harry Fawkes

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Posted 29 June 2010 - 08:35 AM

Paul you have inspired.

#205 MkB

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Posted 10 April 2011 - 01:29 PM

Hi Harry!
I've been reading more Trevanian recently, and I realised there might well be a nod to The Loo Sanction in Midas Gold. Am I extrapolating? :)
Take care!