2110 replies to this topic

[glidrose]

CB is awful. At least what I read of it. I stopped one quarter of the way in. I read a detailed plot synopsis for the rest. I know. Not very sporting of me. The pages were made of cement. I struggled not to skim the pages. The book is padded and overwritten. Deaver writes anaemic prose. A computer could have churned it out. I enjoyed an early Deaver book called "Garden of Beasts" and had high hopes for CB. The protagonist in that other book was far more like Bond than this hollow contraption. A 30 year old Bond does not work for me at all. I will say that despite its many flaws and failings, Faulks' attempt was far better. Unlike the film Bond, I'm not sure the book Bond works in our age. Better to write period tales up to and including the 1970's. Count me among those who say no American should write the book Bond. Brits only. And only Brits who write like Brits. None of this modern trans-Atlantic prose.

Jeffery Deaver is the Lawrence Sanders of our age. When Deaver passes on, his books will go out of print and he will be forgotten. There, I said it.

Edited by glidrose, 26 October 2011 - 06:28 PM.

[Mharkin]

Loving it, personally.

Although the amount of short chapters in this book is unnecessary.

[sharpshooter]

glidrose, on 26 October 2011 - 06:28 PM, said:

CB is awful. At least what I read of it. I stopped one quarter of the way in. I read a detailed plot synopsis for the rest. I know. Not very sporting of me. The pages were made of cement. I struggled not to skim the pages. The book is padded and overwritten. Deaver writes anaemic prose. A computer could have churned it out. I enjoyed an early Deaver book called "Garden of Beasts" and had high hopes for CB. The protagonist in that other book was far more like Bond than this hollow contraption.

Same case for me, pretty much. I thought the train sequence started the book off promisingly. But like you, I hit a brick wall and soon gave up. I honestly have no desire to keep going. At all. It’s carte bland and would make for a dull film. It's not memorable and there's no real panache to set it alight. I think the surveillance emphasis was fine for Bond, although he was too nice for my liking. The villain was one note. It’s a shame, because the concept of a younger Bond in a reboot appealed to me. The book just didn’t hit the mark.

[dlb007]

"Carte Blanche" was a massive disappointment, but I wasn't surprised. I've found all of Deaver's work that I've read (only 2 novels, thankfully) to be sub-par at best. I've read countless fan fiction pieces on this site that are leagues above "Carte Blanche." As much as it pains me to say it, I think we need to kill the idea on the Bond continuation novel. We will face the same problem each time; either the author is in over his head (Benson and Deaver), doesn't take the character or genre seriously (Faulks) or loses interest due to IFP's demands (Gardner).

Having a different author write a new novel sounded like a good idea to me, at first. Now, I'm worried we'll have one Deaver after another churning out drivel.

I like the idea of one author writing a new Bond novel every 2-3 years. This way they'll have the break to work on their own stuff and won't get completely sick of Bond. We need a fantastic author. IFP made the mistake of hiring an author who sells well but who writes poorly and "Carte Blanche" is the end result. Fans of Bond and of the genre want something worth reading. If they want a good investment on their product they need to hire a writer who can bring in his fans, Bond fans, and those that just want to read a damn good story. They had the right idea with Deaver, just the wrong man.

The main thing is that we as fans can not go in expecting something as good as Fleming, because we'll never get it.

The next question is what author is capable of writing a good Bond novel? We can all bounce names around, but is there really anyone out there up to the task? I've bounced names like Ken Follet and Frederick Forsyth around, but would either really be able to write a good Bond novel? Others have mentioned names like Daniel Silva and Lee Child. I've read only one book by Silva and enjoyed it, but I wasn't blown away. I haven't read anything by Child and don't intend to.

Honestly, I'd love to see Dennis Lehane write a Bond novel, but that will never happen. So, it comes back to this: Should the Bond novel live on or should it be laid to rest like its creator?

[007jamesbond]

deleted

Edited by 007jamesbond, 28 October 2011 - 08:02 PM.

[zencat]

Got my U.S. paperback today. Really weird size. It's not a trade, but it's about a half inch taller than a normal mass market paperback. Oddness.

http://www.thebookbo...ased-today.html

[Brisco]

zencat, on 26 January 2012 - 01:31 AM, said:

Got my U.S. paperback today. Really weird size. It's not a trade, but it's about a half inch taller than a normal mass market paperback. Oddness.

http://www.thebookbo...ased-today.html

They do that a lot nowadays. Go to an airport, and all the paperbacks will be that size. As far as I can tell, the only real reason is to justify charging an extra two bucks without spending THAT much more on paper...

[OmarB]

Dustin, on 25 October 2011 - 06:37 PM, said:

I envy everybody who got any much enjoyment out of CARTE BLANCHE. To me it felt like a tv series episode that's mainly 'filler' to complete the season. To me it has a somewhat foamy quality, more volume than the actual substance would call for. After consumption I felt a slight urge to burp.

The point? Well, at first I was convinced there must be one, especially so since a reboot was announced with great furore. I suspected some greater idea, a broader concept that justified such bold decisions and really called for a different take on Bond, one step (or two) removed from the source. But what we got instead could just as well have worked within the traditional series; even as a direct continuation from Gardner, with whose concept for the last two books Deaver's own shares more than with the original in my view. The one thing that's truly 'new' to Bond in CARTE BLANCHE is the subplot about his parents, a somewhat forced idea that unfortunately cannot even claim originality. The only thing more awful would have been M saying 'Luke, I am your father!' (I know that's the wrong quote). That could at least have been funny, the spy parents killed by the KGB are not.

All in all I feel I could have read something more worthwhile in the time I spent reading CARTE BLANCHE. I just started SATORI, Don Winsolw's prequel/midquel to SHIBUMI. I'm only 120 pages in so far, but have already gotten several times the entertainment value I got out of Deaver's book. I've read a lot of Bond in my time, all Flemings and most of the continuations several times. But at the moment I don't really feel a need to read more of this rebooted series. If future books - should there really be further entries, which the present silence doesn't exactly suggest (amazon ratings are two-and-a-half to three stars, not exactly raving) - aren't substantially different, no, if future books aren't vastly superior to this, well, then I don't think I will go to the trouble of reading them. I am a fan of Bond, especially the literary variant. But I won't waste my time with average or below thrillers, when there are countless better ones out there that just don't have a character called Bond in them. Life is much shorter than we usually think, we should use our time.

I said it before, Project X is dead. If it were to continue we should have gotten the announcement of the new author around the time CB went to paperback. I like JD and discovered him because of Garden Of Beasts so I would support him in another book, but not the second one. For the second book we need a guy who can write a rip roaring adventure with a tricky plot and lots of action, a Lee Child type.

[Dustin]

Indeed, it seems odd that there is up to now not a slice of information to be had about further books - as far as I'm aware, that is. The silence in this case is especially remarkable for the free promotion a new release in 2012 would mean. I wonder how much this is a result of the recent developments regarding the James Bond 007 now being trademark of Danjaq and only used under licence by IFP?

[[dark]]

The silence is deafening, but at least IFP's website tells us that there's something in the works in 2012. Here's hoping we'll get some news when Carte Blanche hits paperback in the UK in May.

[zencat]

Dustin, on 26 January 2012 - 05:54 PM, said:

Indeed, it seems odd that there is up to now not a slice of information to be had about further books - as far as I'm aware, that is. The silence in this case is especially remarkable for the free promotion a new release in 2012 would mean. I wonder how much this is a result of the recent developments regarding the James Bond 007 now being trademark of Danjaq and only used under licence by IFP?

[dark], on 28 January 2012 - 04:48 AM, said:

The silence is deafening, but at least IFP's website tells us that there's something in the works in 2012. Here's hoping we'll get some news when Carte Blanche hits paperback in the UK in May.

I'm hoping what they have planned for 2012 is a high quality Skyfall novelization, something like the Chris Wood novelizations. It could even work as the next "Project X" installment, except they'll have to fudge M a bit. It could be cool. A nice hardcover with original art, and a paperback with movie art. Make this happen, someone. :)

[Simon]

If it were a further novel, would I be right in assuming that the world would have been privy to some sort of year long count down by now? That said, how much notice did we get about the Moneypenny Diaries?

Anyway, as you say zen, it probably means a movie tie-in novel.

[David Schofield]

zencat, on 28 January 2012 - 09:05 PM, said:

It could even work as the next "Project X" installment, except they'll have to fudge M a bit. It could be cool. A nice hardcover with original art, and a paperback with movie art. Make this happen, someone. :)

And they'd have to contort Bond unbelievably from Deaver's metrosexual sap to Craig's uber hardcase.

Or would it be vice-versa?

(Now how the hell do I get emoticons to work?)

[Captain Tightpants]

David Schofield, on 28 January 2012 - 10:59 PM, said:

And they'd have to contort Bond unbelievably from Deaver's metrosexual sap to Craig's uber hardcase.

It was observed that Deaver's description of Bond felt very forced when the book was released, with people believing that the description may have been written by someone else and that Deaver had to include it. If whatever gets released in 2012 is a continuation of Project X, then it is likely that the Bond featured would be the Bond that appeared in CARTE BLANCHE - or at least some interpretation thereof - and not Craig's Bond. After all, Project X was conceived as a continuation of the literary Bond, and not the filmic version in a novel.

[glidrose]

David Schofield, on 28 January 2012 - 10:59 PM, said:

(Now how the hell do I get emoticons to work?)

So it's not just me.

[Loomis]

I don't see anything that necessarily implies a new novel or a SKYFALL novelization. Might it be that IFP's "2012 plans" involve reissues (of the Wood, Gardner and Benson novelizations, perhaps, to tie in with the fiftieth anniversary for the cinematic 007), or maybe a non-fiction book about Bond?

Of course, there are already plenty of books about the Bond films and novels, but as far as I'm aware there's never been an official IFP book on the world of 007.

Heck, perhaps they're simply planning to reissue the Fleming novels yet again (with original movie poster artwork on the covers, maybe).

[Dustin]

I'd be very surprised if 2012 saw the return of the film tie-in for Bond. That seems to be a market that simply disappeared with the access to the films themselves. What is left mostly are film cover jobs of source novels to coincide with their adaptions. Tie-ins today for the most part concern themselves with TV series such as 24 or Buffy. And straight retellings have become scarce, the emphasis today being on original tales in the respective franchises to deepen the respective universe. I'd even say such an off-beat book would be the more likely possibility, if anything.

I could be wrong though.

[OmarB]

I don't forsee a novelization as the next big move for PX2 or IFP. It's just too late in the game for that. Usually media tie in writers get the script around the time they start filming and usually does a final edit, fix closer to the filom's release. So far we have not even heard a name mentioned. http://www.iamtw.org/

It would be nice if they were simply circling the wagons and trying to figure out what the next move is for the literary series. Does PX continue as established, or could PX be something different in every book? Some set back during Ian's time or Gardner's, or what have you.

[David Schofield]

OmarB, on 30 January 2012 - 03:29 PM, said:

It would be nice if they were simply circling the wagons and trying to figure out what the next move is for the literary series. Does PX continue as established, or could PX be something different in every book? Some set back during Ian's time or Gardner's, or what have you.

I have ventured this before, the idea the "X" could be various authors' takes on Bond in various timelines.

Deaver chose to reboot in 2011; why shouldn't the next author chose a 50s period piece, perhaps another author chose an early 70s novel?

You could even consider Faulks' take as part of "X" - a straight sequel to the Fleming canon.

Give each author their own free hand. Might make it more desireable for the author and therefore easier for IFP to attract. And, dare I say it, with no pre-planned agenda, might it make it easier for us Fleming die-hards to appreciate????

[Dustin]

David Schofield, on 30 January 2012 - 03:36 PM, said:

OmarB, on 30 January 2012 - 03:29 PM, said:

It would be nice if they were simply circling the wagons and trying to figure out what the next move is for the literary series. Does PX continue as established, or could PX be something different in every book? Some set back during Ian's time or Gardner's, or what have you.

I have ventured this before, the idea the "X" could be various authors' takes on Bond in various timelines.

Deaver chose to reboot in 2011; why shouldn't the next author chose a 50s period piece, perhaps another author chose an early 70s novel?

You could even consider Faulks' take as part of "X" - a straight sequel to the Fleming canon.

Give each author their own free hand. Might make it more desireable for the author and therefore easier for IFP to attract. And, dare I say it, with no pre-planned agenda, might it make it easier for us Fleming die-hards to appreciate????

Well, that way everything since the days of CS could be regarded part of X. Don't know, perhaps too loose a definition?

[OmarB]

Nah, I think PX should be it's own thing. Gardner had his own continuity, as did Benson. I think the only thing resembling coontinuity in PX should be if the same author picks up his old plot threads. If another guy does the next book it's his own thing, as reverent to Ian or Gardner or whatever. I think Deaver should be the one to play around with his own creeation.

[Captain Tightpants]

Dustin, on 30 January 2012 - 03:16 PM, said:

I'd be very surprised if 2012 saw the return of the film tie-in for Bond.

I think it's unlikely because it would mean that EON would have to give someone else access to the script, and the more people who have access, the more likely it is that details will start to leak out. You would have the author, the editor, the publishers and so on and so forth, when EON has gone to great lengths to keep as much as possible under wraps for as long as possible. Just look at Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - there was a lot of secrecy surrounding it, and the intention was to keep as much detail about the book quiet up until the launch, particularly given the ending - but one person working on the printing presses managed to get a copy of the final pages and posted them online a few days before the launch, which led to trolls driving past the queues for the midnight launches calling out "SNAPE KILLS DUMBLEDORE!" because they enjoy ruining childrens' fun.

Anyway, the point is that if there was going to be a novelisation of SKYFALL, then EON would need to bring more and more people into production. And if the book launch was to coincide with the film premiere, then there is a real chance that spoilers will be leaked well in advance.

[SecretAgentFan]

Aren´t spoilers leaked on a regular basis these days? There is no secrecy anymore in the internet age.

Also, even if they deny it, the studios leak stuff on purpose. It makes information even more exciting for us nerds if it is "ooooh, a leak"!