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For those of you who have read Colonel Sun, can u tell me what u thought of it?


22 replies to this topic

#1 Righty007

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Posted 05 March 2003 - 11:59 PM

I recently baught Colonel Sun from Ebay and it is coming in the mail. I would like to know what you guys thought of the book. Was Kingsley Amis a good Bond author?

#2 SirMiles83

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Posted 06 March 2003 - 12:07 AM

I really liked Colonel Sun, it got a little slow in the middle for me though. Not quite the prose of Fleming, but it is still a good read anyway. I think the villain's plot was really good as well.

#3 zencat

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Posted 06 March 2003 - 12:20 AM

I really liked Colonel Sun. Very well written and Amis gets Bond right.

#4 Mister Asterix

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Posted 06 March 2003 - 01:22 AM

Colonel Sun was a great read. I’ve read it more times than any of the other post-Fleming novels. Amis has a great feel for the character and is a splendid writer. The book lacks Fleming’s special brilliance with the language and what another forum user coined ‘the element of the bizarre’, but it does have a character all to its own. And the torture sequence still makes me cringe just to think about it.

#5 rafterman

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Posted 06 March 2003 - 01:25 AM

It's a good book, but I think it does lack the Fleming sweep.

#6 Johnson Galore

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Posted 06 March 2003 - 02:21 AM

Originally posted by rafterman
It's a good book, but I think it does lack the Fleming sweep.


But certainly has it more than Gardner or Benson. Colonel Sun is a great read with well developed characters. Excellent. I highly recommend it and I wish that Kingsley Amis had written more than one Bond novel.

#7 Righty007

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Posted 06 March 2003 - 02:28 AM

Originally posted by Johnson Galore


But certainly has it more than Gardner or Benson.  Colonel Sun is a great read with well developed characters.  Excellent.  I highly recommend it and I wish that Kingsley Amis had written more than one Bond novel.

Do you know why Kingsley Amis didn't write anymore Bond novels?

#8 1q2w3e4r

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Posted 06 March 2003 - 09:23 AM

DEFINANTLY a great read. The introduction is superb, while it lacks pace in the middle the torture scene and climax are on par with Fleming, lacks his sweep. But easily the best post Fleming novel with Benson's HTTK taking the runner up title.

#9 kevrichardson

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Posted 06 March 2003 - 02:11 PM

Colonel Sun is a excellent bond continuation novel. It continues with Bond right after Fleming's "TMWTGG" . No gadgets to speak of . Nicely draw characters . And a good Bond villian. It was the most political of the Bond novels. To bad it's hard to find .

#10 Righty007

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Posted 06 March 2003 - 09:48 PM

Does anyone know why Amis didn't write anymore Bond novels?

#11 Roebuck

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Posted 06 March 2003 - 10:35 PM

Originally posted by Righty007
Does anyone know why Amis didn't write anymore Bond novels?


Well Fleming's widow apparently loathed the book. She even wrote a review of it for the 'Sunday Telegraph' that was so vitriolic the paper decide not to publish it in case Amis brought a legal action against them. Ann Fleming had never been keen on Bond and was even less enamoured by the more modern, brutal style of Colonel Sun. Her negative reaction to what she described as 'counterfeit Bond' may have been what put the final nail in the coffin for the Robert Markham continuation novels.

Shame. Wonder what the sequel would have been? :)

#12 Blue Eyes

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Posted 06 March 2003 - 10:59 PM

Anne Fleming even trashed Fleming's work on Bond from what I understand. Which is completely pathetic.

#13 Truman-Lodge

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Posted 06 March 2003 - 11:03 PM

Wasn't Fleming always cheating on her though?

I may be wrong on this.

#14 Roebuck

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Posted 06 March 2003 - 11:35 PM

Originally posted by Truman-Lodge
Wasn't Fleming always cheating on her though?


Yup, he did. And she had her share of extra marital affairs also.
The hypocritical thing about Ann Fleming is that she was a literary snob, always ready to rubbish Ian's work to her society chums, but equally ready to enjoy the lifestyle Bond brought her.

#15 Righty007

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Posted 06 March 2003 - 11:48 PM

Ann Fleming sounds like a *****.

#16 DanMan

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Posted 15 March 2003 - 05:04 PM

"Ann Fleming sounds like a *****."

She was beyond *****.

#17 kevrichardson

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Posted 15 March 2003 - 06:10 PM

Originally posted by Roebuck

The hypocritical thing about Ann Fleming is that she was a literary snob, always ready to rubbish Ian's work to her society chums, but equally ready to enjoy the lifestyle Bond brought her.

Wel, the Martial Affairs jazz is not in the point of things here . Yes Anne Fleming was a Elitist . With a snobby group of friend .Noel Coward include ! Still regardless of much she and they look down on James Bond. She enjoyed the money that came with it . And the Fleming family is very "guarded " on Bond . Just look at the Benson fiasco . "Colonel Sun" was not held in high esteem by her . That does not mean she did not enjoy the revenue from her husbands literary creation .

#18 Agent 0011

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Posted 24 March 2003 - 05:21 PM

I highly enjoyed Colonel Sun...I think that Amis really got Bond right, staying on the Fleming ideal. The enemies were formidable and the kidnapping of M brought a different level of suspense to the story...something esplored in TWINE, but i thought could've been even better used. The torture scene ranks right up there next Casino Royale...i really liked the book and it seems didn't get enough of a spotlight as it deserved.

#19 jwheels

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Posted 24 March 2003 - 07:28 PM

I liked Colonel Sun. The most Fleming like of all the continuity books. Not to give anything away, but I especially enjoyed how Amis included M more in this book then in others.

#20 sausagebrigade

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Posted 24 March 2003 - 07:31 PM

Didn't enjoy it. I felt it moved to slowly. Good villain though.

#21 Kernal Son

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Posted 08 April 2003 - 04:58 AM

Naturally, I liked it! It seems the most "Flemingesque" of all the continuation novels to me. I agree with those who say it lacked some of Fleming's glamour/glitz, but it did have a superb and very sinister villain, a well-detailed setting and an engaging plot. What more could you ask for?

Like Raymond Benson, Amis was a fan of Bond. Check out his "James Bond Dossier." It's an excellent read.

#22 kevrichardson

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Posted 08 April 2003 - 01:12 PM

"Colonel Sun" is a great , yet underrated James Bond continuation novel . Also one of the hardest to locate . Glad you enjoyed reading it.

#23 Cesari

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Posted 27 April 2003 - 01:50 PM

The first time I read Colonel Sun, John Gardner was not yet writing Bond novels, nor Raymond Benson.
There was only one sequel: Colonel Sun. I was deceived, because I didn't find Fleming Sweep.
But many years later, when John Gradner and Raymond Benson have written so many Bond books I consider Colonel Sun better than i did.
The book is really good in fact. The plot is cool, the characters are great and the torture scene is terrible.
The beginning and the end are really well made!! The middle is a bit slow, but it is after all one of the best non Fleming novel.