308 replies to this topic

[MHazard]

Anybody wanna bet this will be better than DMC?

Having gotten past page 100 of Devil May Plod, I am confident that this will be far better. I am waiting to share my extensive thoughts on DMC until I finish it. I wouldn't be surprised if I finish FYWR sooner.

[Mister Asterix]

Forever Yours, With Regret

Nine fan stories by nine authors celebrating the Centenary of Ian Fleming

[Hitch]

What a treat! Thank you to all the writers and CBn staff for their enthusiasm, imagination and diligence in producing such a heartfelt centenary commemoration.

Now, if you'll excuse me, Loelia Ponsonby's just slapped a hundred-weight of dossiers in my in-tray. I've got some reading to do. Let's see. FYWR? Wonder what that could be?

*lights tenth cigarette of the day, dreams of a quick 18 at Rye, and opens buff folder with a sigh*

[K1Bond007]

Haven't read anything yet, but that's a really awesome cover. Proof that Asterix is the man.

[MkB]

What a treat! I finished Final Fling today, now I know that Devil May Care will have to wait substantially longer!
Congrats too for the front page article, very heartfelt!

[Scrambled Eggs]

I flicked straight to Mr Kriter's contribution and it's excellent. Superb use of a plate of scrambled eggs and a lovely bittersweet ending.

[AMVanish13]

This is awesome. Brilliant cover... I'd thank everyone involved in creating this project infinite times, but I need to start reading.

[MattofSteel]

Folks, this is absolutely beyond. I wish I wasn't so damn busy with school today and tomorrow. I'm going to sink my teeth into this thing ASAP. Might even put DMC on hold.

Thanks for the compliment, Eggs:).

[Jim]

Thanks to Mr Twilight for the idea.

Thanks to all those with suggestions as the nine pages of this thread developed - reading it back, an interesting creative process!

Thanks to Evan for... too much. Particularly for producing the finished product under unfair pressure, no thanks to me, which I regret, forever.

Thanks to those who voted for the titles.

Thanks to the writers.

Thanks to the writer.

Enjoy the stories!

[Skudor]

I am hugely impressed by the quality of the presentation. I will no doubt work rather late tonight so that I can print the whole thing on the colour printer and lock myself away somewhere to read it. As to DMC... I've managed to chapter four of that yarn (pronounced yawn).

[Mr Twilight]

Big applause to you all. I have printed it out and at the moment its in the glue-press. Gonna take it with me home and read it...and enjoy it tonight. Very excited. It really looks like the real thing and I will gladly place it in my Bond bookshelf. Thanks to everyone who made this idea come true. I raise my glass and bow for you all above mentioned.

[freemo]

Saving it for the weekend so that I can devote my full attention to it.

Aw hell, might just take a quick peek at the first story now...

[Qwerty]

Tip of the hat to all involved. I'm definitely going to give these a read after I finish up Devil May Care.

[MHazard]

I would like to thank Jim and Mister Asterix for their hard work (a Beautiful Bond like cover Mr. A); Mr. Twilight for the concept and my fellow authors for their efforts. I'm very proud to have been included and even more so after having read one of the stories and glanced at the beginnings of some of the others. I'm looking forward to sitting down and enjoying all of this Bond.

[Trident]

An absolutely phantastic work! My compliments to all those who made this truly tremendous idea from Mr Twilight come true! Really, really stunning artwork! Phantastic titles and I'm already in the mid of 'Between The Shadow And The Soul'. I will devour this great collection!

[MHazard]

I've just finished Between the Shadow and the Soul and Forever Yours With Regret and I hope that the lack of comment so far represents folks trying to get through (and at times it seems like an effort) DMC before tackling this or that folks are waiting to finshis the entire collection before commenting as Bond fans are clearly missing out on some well written adventures of a recognizable Fleming Bond in exotic, yet appropriate locales, and with plots that are not simplistic on either an adventure or emotional level. Well done Mr. Dixon and Mr. Kriter (you get kudos for the title alone, wish I'd thought of that, as well as the rest of the story).

[Single-O-Seven]

I've begun reading, and have just two stories to go. I'll comment fully after I finish reading, but so far I'm extremely pleased with the stuff I've read. IFP needs to look here for their next continuation author.

[dsomerset]

Congratulations to CBn for being able to put together such a fantastic tribute to Fleming, and I'm very proud that my short story can be a part of this fine collection of works. These stories are definitely among the finest examples of fan-fiction to be found anywhere on the Net.
The final product looks great, and many thanks for giving me the opportunity to contribute to it.

[tdalton]

Tip of the hat to all involved. I'm definitely going to give these a read after I finish up Devil May Care

Same for me. As soon as I finish up Devil May Care (which is, hopefully, soon), I'll be moving on to this collection.

[Jim]

Whilst it wouldn't be right to single any of these out as they are all splendid, I did enjoy All's Hell That Ends Well hugely, and I heartily recommend it. This one struck a particular chord with me.

[Single-O-Seven]

Whilst it wouldn't be right to single any of these out as they are all splendid, I did enjoy All's Hell That Ends Well hugely, and I heartily recommend it. This one struck a particular chord with me.

Thanks for the plug, Jim, much appreciated. Your "laundry" will be waiting for you in the agreed location. I trust you still want it delivered in the usual canvas bag with the dollar sign on it?

As for my reading, I just have "Repellent Affair" left. I would like to get around to it today. As for the others, absolutely fantastic. Amazing job, guys. If you haven't read any of these, or if you're afraid to give any fanfic a try, I suggest you take the plunge with this collection. Just pick out a few stories to try; before long you'll have read the whole collection.

[MHazard]

I have the last three stories to go. So far, all have been well worth reading and far more enjoyable than DMC (please note that I am excluding my own effort from this praise). I found The Blunt Instrumental to be particularly haunting and I mean that as a compliment. But so far everyone has had worthwhile, intriguing and fun takes on Bond. Looking forward to the opportunity to finish the last three.

[Hitch]

Just a bump. FYWR deserves it - it's fun. And I love to type Bond literary acronyms; it's the nearest I get to the high life.

By the way, I have a legitimate complaint regarding FYWR. Why on earth was Clinkeroo's The Blunt Instrumental included in the centenary tribute? Surely it's perfect Christmas Day material?



You'll always be Bleakeroo to me.

[clinkeroo]

By the way, I have a legitimate complaint regarding FYWR. Why on earth was Clinkeroo's The Blunt Instrumental included in the centenary tribute? Surely it's perfect Christmas Day material?



You'll always be Bleakeroo to me.

I was hoping the lack of comment on the collection so far might be from those who took the little white pill after reading my little Geschichte.

[Single-O-Seven]

By the way, I have a legitimate complaint regarding FYWR. Why on earth was Clinkeroo's The Blunt Instrumental included in the centenary tribute? Surely it's perfect Christmas Day material?



You'll always be Bleakeroo to me.

I was hoping the lack of comment on the collection so far might be from those who took the little white pill after reading my little Geschichte.

It certainly was a brilliant story, Clink - your best thus far. Knocked a bit of the glamour off being a double-O agent, and provided a different angle of insight into Bond's mind and professional relationships. Keep up the good work.

[Hitch]

To be completely boring for once, just this once, I think the lack of comment re. FYWR is partly due to the publication of Devil May Care and mostly due to the time and effort it takes to read a PDF file.

Given time, comments will come like manna (or guano) from heaven.

[clinkeroo]

Guano from Heaven, that's excellent, Hitch. Sounds like a Dr. No sequel waiting to happen.

[MkB]

So, at last, I've read all the wonderful stories of the collection! The problem is that it's very difficult to comment on a short story collecion! So many things to say, and as Jim said, it would be unfair to single some stories out. Yet, I'd like to say that I particularly appreciated Best traditions and The Birth of Evil for personal reasons, but overall what is particularly striking too is that this collection, as a whole, is a real treat: there isn't even one single disappointing story in the lot! This should definitely be considered as the Centenary tribute, over Devil May Care.
Some words about the individual stories (trying to avoid spoilers):

Between the Shadow and the Soul
Confronting Bond with a natural disaster is a great idea! Yet the main confrontation is the one with a woman who might well be his alter ego, a feminine reflection of himself... But if 007 looks too deeply in the mirror, will he like what he'll see?

Best Traditions
A reflection about what makes the difference between a spy and a killer (I quite appreciated this, because my vision of Bond isn't one of a "paid assassin", but of a spy who might have to kill as part of his job). Some nice Fleming trivia make it a perfect centenary tribute!

All's Hell That Ends Well
Bond is back in his beloved Switzerland, and also back to his cases of conscience. When secret agents ask themselves "what if"...

The Blunt Instrumental
A very dark, very "Clinkery" story Nice to get a vision of Bond's relationship with his 00 colleagues!

Eyes Without A Face
Scrambled eggs

[Trident]

Thanks very, very much for your kind words, MkB. I'm currently about midway into 'Forever Yours With Regret' and I have to say that I'm really, really stunned! As soon as I'm through (not a question of lacking interest in this brilliant collection and the suspense it offers, but merely of time that seems to rush while my superiors keep pressing me with unnecessary, boring and dull tasks) I will give my detailed thoughts on every single one of these fine entries.

[MHazard]

I have finally finished reading FYWR. It took me a lot less time than DMC and was a lot more enjoyable. Each of the authors offered their own vision of a Fleming based Bond and, most importantly, each used this to tell a story they wanted to tell (I am excluding my own effort, Best Traditions from this praise. I leave that for others to judge). Now that I've finished them all, I will be providing my "Hazardous" reflections (i.e. a brief review of each). I will try not to include any spoilers and I will run one review per day (not necessarily every day as I have a job and a life that doesn't always involve Bond). I will review the stories in order. So, I will begin with my thoughts on

Between the Shadow and the Soul

Brian Dixon serves up a delightful mix of vivid characters, intense visual imagery, espionage, action, and historical travelogue. The action takes place in approximately 1962, following Thunderball and uses the backdrop of a Chilean earthquake, which is perhaps a metaphor for Bond's feelings of being surrounded by death. I found a particular strength of the story to be the character descriptions which were vivid and striking. The villain seemed a worthy addition to Ian's rogues gallery, with unique physiology, without resorting to over the top gimmicks (no need for monkey hands here!). There is a girl who is beautiful, capable and deadly, an interesting contact/ally who does not remind you of a character from a previous novel (although he fulfills the Darko Kerim, Henderson, Strangways role), and, of course, good food. It's rather shocking that all that could be fit in a short story, but he manages. Most importantly to me, the story gives us a good glimpse on Bond's inner life, which Faulks may think Bond doesn't have but all Fleming fans know that he does. The prose is well written and Fleming like without obvious copying (except perhaps on a digression on memory of pain, but that can be easily forgiven as Ian might well have repeated himself on this topic). The ending is thought provoking and reminiscent of (I don't think this is really a spoiler but if you haven't read the story yet you may want to skip this) both Casino Royale and the Hildebrand Rarity while clearly being quite a different story than either.

Thank you Mr. Dixon for bringing us new Bond for the centennary.