18 replies to this topic

[zencat]

So how about the final line of Final Fling when Tanner tells Kate that she met THE James Bond in the course of her 3 book adventure. As I said in another thread, I gasped out loud, and then laughed because I realized I now had to re-read the books to discover who Bond was (a very good payoff to the whole code-name thing that was so controversial in the first book).

However, I now have a pretty good idea at who he was.

Spoiler

Randall Macallan -- no pic in Moneypenny cottage -- he likes strong black coffee...come on.

A terrific final twist, I'd say. And also it brings the Fleming continuity all the way up to modern day.

Of course, maybe someone has another idea who he could have been?

[David Schofield]

No, you're right.

Comma of GREY hair. Blue-grey eyes Deceased wife. Home of the King's Road. Accent "pure Chelsea".

[zencat]

I think I missed the mention of comma of grey hair. That's a giveaway. Glad I missed it. I take it you guessed on the spot, David?

[David Schofield]

I think I missed the mention of comma of grey hair. That's a giveaway. Glad I missed it. I take it you guessed on the spot, David?

When Kate mentioned the silver haired old man at Moneypenny's funeral in Vol I - and Tanner wouldn't commit on what had happened to Bond - I guessed then. I would have put my mortgage on the final reveal in Vol III being the man himself.

But that predictability didn't reduce the enjoyment.

[Righty007]

So this series uses the horrid Tama-whore-i code name theory?

[Double-Oh Agent]

Samantha Weinberg doesn't come out and say that James Bond was a codename in Final Fling (a thing that was strongly hinted at in Guardian Angel if I remember correctly). Rather in this book, it is just revealed that James Bond is living under a different name. Personally, I took it to be that Bond decided to spend his retirement years in relative anonymity/obscurity by living under a different name. It may be a small difference, but one I can more easily swallow than the dreaded codename theory (particularly if we are meant to believe that Bond was a real person and all these stories have been written/filmed about him).

As for when I first caught on to who Bond was came when Kate asked for tea and Bond grimaced. Every other clue that followed only further proved that my deduction was correct.

I enjoyed the book as well. It was a very good read with good suspense and one that managed to keep you guessing as to the identity of the mole for a good portion of the book. Skill-wise, it probably is the best of the three novels. Although I think I like Guardian Angel the best--no doubt because Bond plays a more prominent in that one than the others. Nevertheless, like Young Bond's, this series has turned out much better than I had anticipated/feared when it was first announced. A solid job by Samantha Weinberg.

[Righty007]

Samantha Weinberg doesn't come out and say that James Bond was a code-name in Final Fling (a thing that was strongly hinted at in Guardian Angel if I remember correctly). Rather in this book, it is just revealed that James Bond is living under a different name. Personally, I took it to be that Bond decided to spend his retirement years in relative anonymity/obscurity by living under a different name. It may be a small difference, but one I can more easily swallow than the dreaded code-name theory (particularly if we are meant to believe that Bond was a real person and all these stories have been written/filmed about him).

Thanks for clearing that up. One day, I will read this trilogy.

[killkenny kid]

I need to get out of this thread right now.

[zencat]

Samantha Weinberg doesn't come out and say that James Bond was a codename in Final Fling (a thing that was strongly hinted at in Guardian Angel if I remember correctly).

Right. James Bond being an alias is only mentioned in Guardian Angel. I keep meaning to check out the U.S. edition to see if they maybe edited this out because fan reaction to it was pretty negative and it is not mentioned again in the whole series. It doesn't bother me. It's not really the Tamahori codename theory (maybe spies named James Bond). It just says the actual spy that Fleming wrote about was not named James Bond. He selected that name as a cover. So we can accept Randall Macallan as the real name. Or we can believe that's just a new retirement cover name. As I said, doesn't bother me. It's all good fun.

[MkB]

As for when I first caught on to who Bond was came when Kate asked for tea and Bond grimaced. Every other clue that followed only further proved that my deduction was correct.

Same!

I think Sam Weinberg is very kind to Bond when she offers him a long life in a peaceful yet solitary retirement, pruning rose bushes and cooking his own bread on a beautiful island. Looks like he became more monk than hitman in his old days! My guess would have been that, after losing his beloved one once again, he would have drinked himself to death, either in a London club or on a Jamaican beach.
But I like it. He got a quantum of solace, finally

[Mr. Blofeld]

This should've been the centenary novel...

[Righty007]

This should've been the centenary novel...

No thanks.

[MkB]

For those who were kids at the beginning of the 80s, this image of a hairy old man should have ring a bell:

The Name's Bond. James Bond.

[[dark]]

I can't say I picked up the twist as early as David did (if anything, I figured Bill's reference to Bond in The Moneypenny Diaries: Guardian Angel proved Bond would remain a mystery in the present day), but everything clicked into place for me when the "crescent of white hair ... escaped over his forehead".

Then I went back and reread a bit more of Randy's scenes and the evidence mounted up: Randy "grimacing" over tea, his penchant for scrambled eggs, the death of his wife early in his marriage, the "help" (May) he had in London...

I was disappointed I figured it out as early as that, but to the non-Fleming enthusiast (who wouldn't recognise the references), it would have certainly caught them off-guard.

In so many ways, The Moneypenny Diaries: Final Fling is the most important entry ever into the continuation series. While Sebastian Faulks' Devil May Care failed to bring anything new to the table (perhaps that was the intention), The Moneypenny Diaries: Final Fling delivers revelation after revelation; who would have thought in one book that we'd learn about the deaths of Moneypenny and M, as well as the fates of Tanner and Bond - all in the present day within Fleming's timeline?

It's a gutsy move, which may go some way toward explaining why these books haven't received the marketing push that Devil May Care or the Young Bond novels have. Disappointing, given the series is undoubtedly superior to the former and certainly on par with the latter (in fact, it parallels Higson's series quite nicely in that its conceit is rather naff, but it's executed with such conviction that you believe it).

Incidentally, well done to Samantha Weinberg for not feeling the need to spell out precisely who Bond is. These novels are among the most intelligent in the whole 007 canon.

James Bond being an alias is only mentioned in Guardian Angel. I keep meaning to check out the U.S. edition to see if they maybe edited this out because fan reaction to it was pretty negative and it is not mentioned again in the whole series.

This would be interesting, actually, zen. Let us know what you find.

This should've been the centenary novel...

No thanks.

Yes, it should have been.

[MkB]

I entirely agree with your views, [Dark]!

Come to think of it, my guess is the only reason Samatha Weiberg chose to make Bond a hairy, beardy old man was to hide the famous thin, pale scar down his right cheek, which would have given him immediately.

I see the picture I posted above disappeared, here's a second try: for those who remember these Once Upon a Time cartoon series in the early 80s, old Bond reminded me of Maestro:

[Dr. Noah]

Quiet retirement in the country? Code name? Never done before?

http://www.emanuelle...5u7vn7o865d.jpg

[Dr. Noah]

KW appeared in the Devil May Care thread and wrote:

http://debrief.comma...p...st&p=891375

Hi there, fanboys, fanwanks and other lovely people. Meandering through CBN of a Sunday evening, I happened upon this thread and wanted to put my side across:

1. I don't write purely for money. That being said, I got paid a decent amount for writing TMD - from my publishers - who will probably not be seeing much in the way of profit. But that's their concern (fault).

2. Much as you are undoubtedly great people, I did not write the diaries purely for you. Indeed, I have to confess that I had no inkling there was such a dedicated Fleming fan base. I only discovered CBN and the like after finishing Guardian Angel. It was my hope - and that of IFP and John Murray - that Moneypenny would appeal to a wide readership, and we were optimistic about how it would be received. However, partly due to a massive - with hindsight - marketing misjudgement on the first volume, they never really got out of the starting gate.

3. I've loved writing Moneypenny, and while I'm rather relieved it's over - I've been working pretty much flat out for nearly 4 years, with two small children nipping at my heels - 'glad' is not the word I'd choose. I'd never tried fiction before, and I probably still wouldn't have had the guts to do so had this not come along. (And, incidentally, my book about an obscure fish sold more than 100,000 copies worldwide, is still in print, and under option to a movie company).

4. I love the fact that the fans have enjoyed Moneypenny. Thank you all of you. If you really like it, please spread the word - and outside the community too. Amazing as it may seem, a large proportion of its readers (not in themself very numerous) have not read a Bond book before, as far as I can tell - certainly those that write to me haven't. I think she'll always be a part of me, and even when I've moved onto pastures new, I'll still visit you guys from time to time (so don't be rude!).

5. Contrary to what has been surmised in another thread, I didn't have the idea of the final twist until I was halfway through writing Final Fling. I went back then, and 'reverse engineered' the ending, but anyone who saw its roots in book one was ahead of me!

Thanks again. Over and out.

The Diarist.

[Santa]

Zencat, I can't believe you didn't see this one coming! To be honest, I thought she laid it on a bit thick. I'd rather it had been a surprise. I tend to think

Spoiler

Randy Macallan

was the alias - surely we've been given too much detailed information about his past (parents' names and occupations, e.g.) for Bond to be an alias. If it were, his parents' identities and lives would have been given less treatment, IMO.
Anyway, I think he took an assumed name to preserve his obscurity in retirement. I enjoyed FF because I love the style in which the MPDs have been written, but I do take issue with many of the plot points in FF. In fact, the plot didn't work for me at all. I mean, can anyone really see James Bond

Spoiler

becoming a flower gardening and cookie baking hippy? And I also can't work out

why our villain would have got in the boat with MP in the first place - she

wrote accusing him of being a baddie, he comes up to have it out with her

(probably with the idea of offing her unpleasantly), and they go out on a little

sailing trip? It doesn't really work for me. That said, my preferred twist

ending would have been for Tanner to have been The Sieve - now that really would

have been a shocker but I was rooting for it from about halfway through .

I realise, however, that that would have gone down like a bag of cold sick with, ooooh, every single other Bond fan in history.

[[dark]]

Spoiler

That said, my preferred twist ending would have been for Tanner to have been The Sieve - now that really would have been a shocker but I was rooting for it from about halfway through .

I realise, however, that that would have gone down like a bag of cold sick with, ooooh, every single other Bond fan in history.

Spoiler

It's interesting, though, because the way The Moneypenny Diaries: Final Fling was shaping up, I actually bought Tanner as the mole. Most would have considered it sacrilege on the utmost level, but Mrs Weinberg so convincingly understood the essence of Fleming's characters - and in doing so painted a very faithful portrait of the inner workings of Fleming's MI6 - that I would have accepted such a twist.