2121 replies to this topic

[zencat]

I wonder if JD has started writing the book itself.

[terminus]

Didn't he say in an interview he was due to start it in September?

[zencat]

Hey, Righty, check this out!

Right now he is not giving much away but he promises that Project X is “a clever story, with some very good twists and surprises”. Set in 2011, it stars Bond as “a young agent of about 29 or 30”. Fans will be relieved to hear that it features exotic locations (part of the story is also set in London) and much-loved characters such as M, Miss Money penny and Bond’s friend Felix Leiter.

http://www.express.c...atest-Bond-book

[Righty007]

This is the best news I've heard in a long time! Thanks for posting that, zencat!

Felix Leiter to return in ‘Project X’
FelixLeiter.com

[zencat]

Project X audiobook now on Amazon.

[tdalton]

Deaver's Project X has me excited for a Bond novel in a way I haven't felt since....never. I haven't had a chance to read Amis' or Faulk's contributions yet, and I've missed some of Gardner and Benson's, but I finally finished all the Fleming novels and hope to have read everything else by the time Project X comes out. It's also nice to be old enough to appreciate a "reboot" of the character in what I hope will be a new series of successful novels featuring this timeline and this character's universe that Deaver has created, even if someone other than Deaver decides to continue the novels onward (though if Deaver is any good and the book is a hit, the IFF should find a way to throw more money at Deaver to get him to stay on).

As is so very often the case, Gravity, I agree with every single last word of what you've written.

By and large, I hate the continuation novels. I'm a Fleming purist and tend to view the very idea of other people writing Bond novels as a sick joke.

However....

I'm now wildly excited about PROJECT X - much more, in fact, than I am about the (admittedly distant) prospect of BOND 23.

Why my enthusiasm? Well, over to Deaver himself:

“What I’m doing is taking two templates, or formulas. One is taking the very complicated and edgy character that Fleming created. If people know Bond only from the movies, that’s just one interpretation. The character in the books is much more complicated. He’s darker. He’s a killer. The 00 classification, the license to kill, didn’t mean he was allowed to kill someone defending himself. It meant he was sent out on assignment for the express purpose of assassinating someone.

“It takes a very special kind of person to do that. Now in fact, he rarely did. In some books, he didn’t kill anybody. He took a life if he needed to, regretfully. He didn’t enjoy it. Which, I think, makes him all the more human. He’s a flawed character. So that’s template one. And that will all translate into the modern day very well. It’s a post-modern character, really.

“The other template is my kind of storytelling – very intricate plotting, very fast paced. The book will take place over only a few days. There will be exotic locations – and that’s part of the Bond formula as well, of course. It will have a lot of twists and turns and misdirections, and several big surprise endings.”

For the first time since, well, ever, I think we may well be in line for a Bond continuation novel that's a pretty decent read on its own merits. Also, the modern day reboot has me drooling. I hope that Deaver will take only that which is strictly necessary from Fleming (which ain't much, as far as I can see) and truly make Bond his own.

Very much agreed, Loomis.

There are really two things that have me excited about this reboot. The first is Deaver himself. First, I should qualify that statement by saying that I've never read a Deaver novel, and I don't plan to read any of his books until after I read PROJECT X, as I would like to go into it with the chance at being surprised by what I'm reading and not knowing what to expect from Deaver in terms of his storytelling style. That, for me, is a very similar situation to DEVIL MAY CARE, as I had never read a Faulks novel either. Both Faulks and Deaver have been talked up quite a bit on these forums, which had (and has) me excited about the projects. The difference, though, is that Deaver appears to be actually enthused about PROJECT X in a way that Faulks never seemed to be about DEVIL MAY CARE. Deaver also seems to be coming from a genre that would lend itself more towards crafting a successful Bond story than Faulks. Not to say that authors can't work in different genres, but Deaver seems to be in a better position to make the transition a bit more smoothly.

Secondly, the reboot itself has me excited. It doesn't sound like Deaver is going to chain himself to Fleming except where absolutely necessary, which is a good thing. It's going in almost the extreme opposite direction that they did with Faulks, who was supposedly writing "as Ian Fleming". It sounds like Deaver will be borrowing from Fleming where necessary, but also free to make it his own, which after DEVIL MAY CARE, is a very good thing. We could be in for not only the best Bond novel in a while (perhaps since Fleming, although that wouldn't be the most difficult feat ever accomplished), but we could also be in for the most unique Bond novel in decades as well, and that's rather exciting.

[Righty007]

It's been too quiet on the Project X front...

[zencat]

Not for Jeffery Deaver. I'd say he's deep in the world of 007 every day. Don't bother him.

[zencat]

Here's the best update I can get. Deaver now "completely focused" on writing Project X. Hey, it's something!

Attached Files

•  xfocus.jpg   93.4KB   25 downloads

[Matt_13]

Thanks for asking Zen. I can't imagine how much strain his mind must be under right now. Hopefully that outline was good.

[zencat]

Looks like he's right on schedule.

Q: What's coming up in the future?

JD: It's public knowledge now that I'm writing the James Bond novel for 2011. It's largely completed, though there'll be some more editing to do (you can never do too much rewriting).

http://www.jefferyde...ge/Q_A/q_a.html

[Righty007]

Expected but good to have some verification.

[Genrewriter]

Very cool, I look forward to reading the book.

[Quantumofsolace007]

I can't wait to read this novel

[Bryce (003)]

Deaver is a pretty cool cat.

I'm just more interested in the title.

Roll on May 2011!

[volante]

Deaver is a pretty cool cat.

I'm just more interested in the title.

Roll on May 2011!

For sure; I've just added Garden of Beasts to my collection.
I now have enough Books; parties; holidays, and Wine to see me through till MAY 2011

[zencat]

Nothing all that new, but a good quote:

"I get him into a lot of trouble in the book," Deaver says. "The poor guy. I almost feel bad for him. He doesn't get a lot of rest."

http://www.facebook....V_N.htm&h=49247

[Loomis]

I can't imagine how much strain his mind must be under right now.

Very little, I imagine. He's a seasoned pro with bags of novels under his belt. I doubt that knocking out a bit of Bond entertainment is much of a challenge for him.

[Righty007]

I can't imagine how much strain his mind must be under right now.

Very little, I imagine. He's a seasoned pro with bags of novels under his belt. I doubt that knocking out a bit of Bond entertainment is much of a challenge for him.

It's probably not a challenge for him but we do know he's approaching this project with a lot more passion and care than his predecessor Faulks.

[terminus]

I can imagine Deaver will actually write a Bond novel - as opposed to Faulks' Connery-Lite, Gardner's Moore-Lite and Benson's Brosnan-Lite. Not that any of them are bad writers or have particularly bad novels to their name, I just imagine Deaver won't be reliant on the movies as much as his predecessors.

[David Schofield]

I can't imagine how much strain his mind must be under right now.

Very little, I imagine. He's a seasoned pro with bags of novels under his belt. I doubt that knocking out a bit of Bond entertainment is much of a challenge for him.

It's probably not a challenge for him but we do know he's approaching this project with a lot more passion and care than his predecessor Faulks.

I don't think we know any of this.

At the same stage of DMC, we all had similar faith in Faulks. He had the pedigree and made all the right "I admire Fleming's work and have been a GENUINE Bond fan since I was a schoolboy" noises. It was only when we had the bloody book in our hands it became obvious he had just tossed it off.

X has all the potential to be similarly dreadful. My view at this stage is that the concept won't work and that Bond and Deaver's doorstop airport pulp won't mesh well together.

But I will reserve final judgement until next May.

[Loomis]

To be fair, Deaver (well, as far as we know) seems to have taken more time over PROJECT X than Sebastian "I tossed it off in a couple of weeks as a spot of light relief after spending five years researching HUMAN TRACES and, unlike Fleming, I did my snorkelling on the sofa ha ha!" Faulks did over DEVIL MAY CARE.

Not that it may mean all that much, but I do detect a little more commitment on Deaver's part.

X has all the potential to be similarly dreadful. My view at this stage is that the concept won't work and that Bond and Deaver's doorstop airport pulp won't mesh well together.

I think the concept can work only if IFP has the guts to let Deaver follow through with it and reinvent James Bond from the ground up. I suspect, though, that the final result will be a bit of a play-it-safe fudge, with Leiter and all manner of Obligatory Fleming Elements™ shoehorned in, as well as extravagant action scenes to pander to those readers whose only knowledge of the world of Bond comes from the Eon films.

I may be wrong, though, and certainly hope I am. At the very least, it would appear that Deaver knows how to write a twisty, turny thriller, and so there ought to be a fairly decent pageturner underneath it all.

[Zorin Industries]

...as well as extravagant action scenes to pander to those readers whose only knowledge of the world of Bond comes from the Eon films.

I did hear this the other day... are there some books as well as the films?

[Jim]

James Bond sells on the films.

[David Schofield]

James Bond sells on the films.

You mean those old things they stopped making two years ago?

[Loomis]

...as well as extravagant action scenes to pander to those readers whose only knowledge of the world of Bond comes from the Eon films.

I did hear this the other day... are there some books as well as the films?

Yes. There are fourteen James Bond books by Ian Fleming, and also a novel by Kingsley Amis writing under the pseudonym Robert Markham.

[Double-Oh Agent]

Nothing all that new, but a good quote:

"I get him into a lot of trouble in the book," Deaver says. "The poor guy. I almost feel bad for him. He doesn't get a lot of rest."

http://www.facebook....V_N.htm&h=49247

Great quote. Sounds like it will be fun reading. I can't wait.

[Byron]

To be fair, Deaver (well, as far as we know) seems to have taken more time over PROJECT X than Sebastian "I tossed it off in a couple of weeks as a spot of light relief after spending five years researching HUMAN TRACES and, unlike Fleming, I did my snorkelling on the sofa ha ha!" Faulks did over DEVIL MAY CARE.

Not that it may mean all that much, but I do detect a little more commitment on Deaver's part.

X has all the potential to be similarly dreadful. My view at this stage is that the concept won't work and that Bond and Deaver's doorstop airport pulp won't mesh well together.

I think the concept can work only if IFP has the guts to let Deaver follow through with it and reinvent James Bond from the ground up. I suspect, though, that the final result will be a bit of a play-it-safe fudge, with Leiter and all manner of Obligatory Fleming Elements™ shoehorned in, as well as extravagant action scenes to pander to those readers whose only knowledge of the world of Bond comes from the Eon films.

I may be wrong, though, and certainly hope I am. At the very least, it would appear that Deaver knows how to write a twisty, turny thriller, and so there ought to be a fairly decent pageturner underneath it all.

After getting badly burnt by that Faulks travesty, i can't get excited about this Deaver project. I'm not sure but it might be the modern setting, the alleged breakneck pace, Bond's age - its contrary to all i love about Fleming's Bond. I'm not liking what i hear so far......

[Automan]

Nothing all that new, but a good quote:

"I get him into a lot of trouble in the book," Deaver says. "The poor guy. I almost feel bad for him. He doesn't get a lot of rest."

http://www.facebook....V_N.htm&h=49247

Great quote. Sounds like it will be fun reading. I can't wait.

You're talking my language!

[David Schofield]

I suspect the enthusiasm for Project X divides on lines of nationality, the Yanks wetting themselves with excitement and we Brits ting ourselves with trepidation.