2121 replies to this topic

[zencat]

Looks like maybe they are not going with the "Project X" cover name in the U.S. Here it's just "Untitled James Bond Novel." At least they won't have to deal with any confusion about the book actually being called "Project X."

[Righty007]

Looks like maybe they are not going with the "Project X" cover name in the U.S. Here it's just "Untitled James Bond Novel." At least they won't have to deal with any confusion about the book actually being called "Project X."

I also noticed the U.S. release date is listed as June 14, 2011. If accurate, us Yanks will have to wait a few weeks...

[Jeff007]

What's the little character in between strictly and confidential?

[zencat]

Simon and Schuster (publisher) logo. Just like the Hodder logo is on the UK art.

[Jeff007]

Thank you.

[Righty007]

Simon and Schuster (publisher) logo. Just like the Hodder logo is on the UK art.

I've kind of missed the Project X discussion for the past few months. I assumed that that was a working title. Is Project X the actual title for this novel, or is that still up in the air?

I've also missed the Project X discussion but unfortunately there hasn't been much to discuss.

Project X is simply the working title à la Bond 23. According to The X-File: Your Field Guide to ‘Project X’, "there are currently 45 possible titles for the final product and it will be the person, place and/or thing that Bond is investigating. All of Deaver’s titles are his own; none of them have ever been written by someone else although he doesn’t always get his first choice."

[Santa]

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......

But the modern setting, the alleged breakneck pace and Bond's age are precisely the things that interest me about PROJECT X. I think that all the continuation novelists have actually stuck far too closely to Fleming's Bond, leading mostly to dull and unoriginal books that read like very pale imitations of Fleming.

Well, if I want "Fleming" I've already got my Fleming books, so instead of a poor xerox of the real thing I'd sooner a continuation novelist really took Bond by the scruff of the neck, rebooted and reinvented him in all manner of insane but interesting directions, and truly made him his own, for better or for worse. Extreme? Not really. Nothing that anyone does with Bond can affect the Fleming canon.

A while back, Jim suggested that Deaver ought to make Leiter a Muslim. Now, he may have been joking, but personally I'd say that that's precisely the sort of outside-the-box thinking that Deaver would do well to employ.

Listen, do we really need yet another standard-issue Bond novel? Honestly? Do we really crave nothing more than some stories featuring a chap called James Bond and written by someone halfheartedly ticking all the Flemingian boxes? Are we truly just satisfied with this sort of professional fan fiction? I'd like Deaver to give me a reason to read him, to give me something new. I've got Fleming's Bond already - let's see his.

I understand what you are saying Loomy. You are perfectly right in pining for something new and fresh!

However i consider myself a "traditionalist" and hark for Bond adventures set in the Fleming era.

It's a damn pity that no post continuation author (except for Amis) has been able to deliver on that front.

Like David, i am also concerned as to whether Deaver has what it takes as an American to capture the subtleties of the Britishness of Bond without making it look hackneyed. The Indian maideservant angle has already set alarm bells ringing.

Yes Project X may read fine if you are a blissfully ignorant Yank but not if you are British or from the Commonwealth.

I kind of agree with both of you. All I really want is more Fleming but, as it seems we can't have that (death is so inconvenient), then I'm happy to have something a bit different but on the same theme - the way all ice-cream is ice-cream but has different flavours. Problem is, I've read plenty of Deaver now and I can't stand it. It's all awful, cheap, derivative airport doorstopper stuff, IMVVVHO. I'm sure the things we all want are do-able, I just don't think Deaver's the man for the job. He's Lidl Neapolitan, if you like, next to Fleming's Haagen Dazs Strawberry Cheesecake.

[Matt_13]

Haagen Dazs is a bit cruel Santa. I think he's more of a Klondike bar really.


No topic in the Jeffrey Deaver section of the forum is showing up on the constantly updating forum topics on the CBn main page for me for some odd reason. Does anyone know why?

[David Schofield]

I'm sure the things we all want are do-able, I just don't think Deaver's the man for the job. He's Lidl Neapolitan, if you like, next to Fleming's Haagen Dazs Strawberry Cheesecake.

If we MUST have another continuation (and let's be honest, most of them are just a case of pissing on the altar - so why bother?) the ONLY way to do it is to pay Freddie Forsyth a King's Ransom and get him to write a period piece set around the LALD-Moonraker-DAF period (no traumatised, bereaved Bond, just the early 50s version).

As IFP AREN'T trying to recreate Fleming's world by getting the most qualified writer available, the only real point I can see about "X" is to make an awful lot of money, and nothing else.

[zencat]

That U.S. cover got my PX juices flowing again. I've done a revamp of my lit Bond site, The Book Bond. "New Look. New Book. Pure BOND." (Catchy, eh?)

Also now has a new URL:
www.thebookbond.com

Ready for the onslaught of Project X coolness.

[terminus]

Awesome, Zen!

[Byron]

I'm sure the things we all want are do-able, I just don't think Deaver's the man for the job. He's Lidl Neapolitan, if you like, next to Fleming's Haagen Dazs Strawberry Cheesecake.

If we MUST have another continuation (and let's be honest, most of them are just a case of pissing on the altar - so why bother?) the ONLY way to do it is to pay Freddie Forsyth a King's Ransom and get him to write a period piece set around the LALD-Moonraker-DAF period (no traumatised, bereaved Bond, just the early 50s version).

As IFP AREN'T trying to recreate Fleming's world by getting the most qualified writer available, the only real point I can see about "X" is to make an awful lot of money, and nothing else.

David once again is spot on. Forsyth, Higgins or Jenkins (whilst alive obviously) would have been perfect - solid, traditional thriller writers without the baggage or pretense of being literary giants like a certain Mr S Faulks. Reading Dennis Wheatley lately, reminded me that i also miss the subtle racial stereotyping (call it racism if you will) in the Bond books. This really added to the persona of Bond - with the powers that be increasingly pushing the concepts of "globalisation", "free trade", "human rights" and "open borders" down people's throats, literary figures including Bond are being homogenised and stripped of all personality. It would be a refreshing change to make Bond once again the sceptical, free-thinking, dark horse that subtly undermines political correctness.

As for that teaser cover, i am amazed at how people get excited over that. It simply isn't that interesting in its execution.

Its also my sincere hope that when the final version of Project X is released it doesn't have Geoffrey Deaver in gigantic letters, on the cover. Bond should be the focus point not the author's ego.

[zencat]

Blah blah doom. Blah blah gloom.

[Dustin]

Hey! How cool is that?!? Personal message from Deaver on zencat's site!

[zencat]

Hey! How cool is that?!? Personal message from Deaver on zencat's site!

Awesome, isn't it? Here's how that came about. This is from The Admirals thread on the London crypt event:

So I had a fantastic related adventure yesterday. I came home from a full day out in Hollywood with Dunph (who's in town for the week) to find I had a big mysterious package waiting for me from Switzerland(?). After discussing what this could possibly be -- allowing for the possibility that it could be a bomb or a human head -- we opened it to find a box within a box and inside that was a nice file box marked "Project X." Oh baby!

Inside were signed copies of Garden of Beasts, From Russia With Love, and The Burning Wire (all individually wrapped in paper marked "Top Secret", "Eyes Only", etc.); a letter with a special personalized key card to exclusive Project X material to come; and a mysterious DVD that just said "Play Me." We popped the DVD in the computer and up comes a message from Jeffery Deaver in the crypt. And it wasn't some a generic message -- it started "Hi John. I'm sorry you couldn't make it. But it was good meeting you in LA..." etc.

How freakin' cool is that!? I felt like I got the full London crypt experience right here at home. So happy Paul was here to experience/witness it with me.

Thank you Hodder, IFP, and Jeffery Deaver.

[Loomis]

Blah blah doom. Blah blah gloom.

Nah, bring on PROJECT X. It's not as though we've got another Bond film to look forward to, so we may as well milk all the excitement we can out of Deaver's book. And even if it's rubbish, I'm sure it'll still knock spots off DEVIL MAY CARE.

[zencat]

That's the spirit, Loomy!

[Matt_13]

Now, does the teaser cover imply that the genuine cover will be available for viewing soon? Is another kind of announcement forthcoming? I'll admit I forgot about PX, so it's good to be excited again.

[Righty007]

I'm sure the things we all want are do-able, I just don't think Deaver's the man for the job. He's Lidl Neapolitan, if you like, next to Fleming's Haagen Dazs Strawberry Cheesecake.

If we MUST have another continuation (and let's be honest, most of them are just a case of pissing on the altar - so why bother?) the ONLY way to do it is to pay Freddie Forsyth a King's Ransom and get him to write a period piece set around the LALD-Moonraker-DAF period (no traumatised, bereaved Bond, just the early 50s version).

As IFP AREN'T trying to recreate Fleming's world by getting the most qualified writer available, the only real point I can see about "X" is to make an awful lot of money, and nothing else.

Its also my sincere hope that when the final version of Project X is released it doesn't have Geoffrey Deaver in gigantic letters, on the cover. Bond should be the focus point not the author's ego.

First of all, his name is spelled JEFFERY Deaver.

Second of all, all of his novels have his name in gigantic letters. IFP could have hired an unknown author à la Raymond Benson for Project X but they didn't because they wanted a bestselling author to use his name/reputation to sell James Bond novels hence the large JEFFERY DEAVER on the cover.

I suspect more Deaver fans will purchase a copy of Project X than hardcore Bond fans because we're a minority. I don't mind because it's an opportunity to create more James Bond fans, which is always a good thing.

[marktmurphy]

Hey! How cool is that?!? Personal message from Deaver on zencat's site!

Awesome, isn't it? Here's how that came about. This is from The Admirals thread on the London crypt event:

So I had a fantastic related adventure yesterday. I came home from a full day out in Hollywood with Dunph (who's in town for the week) to find I had a big mysterious package waiting for me from Switzerland(?). After discussing what this could possibly be -- allowing for the possibility that it could be a bomb or a human head -- we opened it to find a box within a box and inside that was a nice file box marked "Project X." Oh baby!

Inside were signed copies of Garden of Beasts, From Russia With Love, and The Burning Wire (all individually wrapped in paper marked "Top Secret", "Eyes Only", etc.); a letter with a special personalized key card to exclusive Project X material to come; and a mysterious DVD that just said "Play Me." We popped the DVD in the computer and up comes a message from Jeffery Deaver in the crypt. And it wasn't some a generic message -- it started "Hi John. I'm sorry you couldn't make it. But it was good meeting you in LA..." etc.

How freakin' cool is that!? I felt like I got the full London crypt experience right here at home. So happy Paul was here to experience/witness it with me.

Thank you Hodder, IFP, and Jeffery Deaver.

Oh that's lovely.

[zencat]

Scored a higher res version of the US teaser art from Simon and Schuster.

http://www.thebookbo...mazon-with.html

[sharpshooter]

^ Thanks.

The teaser cover is fine. It does its job.

[volante]

...and to think only 6 months away from the release.

Do we know if there will be a book signing tour?
USA & UK

What a great opportunity to meet up!!!

[zencat]

You mean 6 months to release (wish it were 3).

[volante]

You mean 6 months to release (wish it were 3).

Original post edited to make it look like I was right (only we will ever know the truth) lol

[zencat]

News!

Deaver to hold Project X event in Dubai on Jan 18th! Didn't we speculate a while back that Dubai could be a location?

http://www.thebookbo...x-event-in.html

[Matt_13]

Cool beans! I've always wanted Dubai as a proper Bond location. This is very exciting news (assuming it ties in with the plot).

[zencat]

News!

Deaver to hold Project X event in Dubai on Jan 18th! Didn't we speculate a while back that Dubai could be a location?

http://www.thebookbo...x-event-in.html

Cool beans! I've always wanted Dubai as a proper Bond location. This is very exciting news (assuming it ties in with the plot).

Well, we don't know yet whether Dubai is a location. But if it is, it would be a nice thing for him to reveal at this event.

[Righty007]

News!

Deaver to hold Project X event in Dubai on Jan 18th! Didn't we speculate a while back that Dubai could be a location?

http://www.thebookbo...x-event-in.html

[David Schofield]

News!

Deaver to hold Project X event in Dubai on Jan 18th! Didn't we speculate a while back that Dubai could be a location?

http://www.thebookbo...x-event-in.html

Dubai.

The place for people who think Vegas is just too sophistictated and intellectual for them.

Get you passports out, my American friends. Post your reviews on your return, won't you.