2121 replies to this topic

[OmarB]

I would assume a reasonably well-informed Bond fan would remember the DAD poster and the Blofeld trilogy cover.
But if even Zencat didn't remember it, I guess I stand corrected and it is an "obscure thing only a few Bond weenies would know or remember."

The DAD poster I remembered. In fact, I considered a post saying how the smoke could be from a gun like the DAD poster. The Blofeld Trilogy cover I didn't remember. Although I might have if challenged on it.
Just protecting my geek cred.

Carte Blanche is now on Wikipedia.

Whoever has been updating this page is doing a great job.

Except for it being the 37th Bond novel. Either that guy's right and I imagined reading a lot more than that ... or, well.

The Wikipedia page for Devil May Care calls that book the 36th. Based on their count of strictly Fleming, Amis, Gardner, Benson, and Faulks' original novels, Carte Blanche will be the 37th.

I count 53, including novelizations, Young Bond, and Moneypenny Diaries (excluding 003 1/2).

Me too, however, I feel obligated to follow the pattern already established on Wikipedia. I'd hate to confuse some ill informed chap by going from #36 to #54 with one book.
EDIT: The word "James Bond novels" is used, which in the context signifies adult and excludes the Young Bond novels because the pages for those books say things like "depicts Ian Fleming's superspy James Bond as a teenager in the 1930s."

I would not exclude YB, because it is in the strictest sense of the term a James Bond novel, so what if he's young, it's still the same guy. Moneypenny Diaries I could see someone not counting though I include them. For me it's all the official novels, novelizations and the spin off (Moneypenny).

[chrisno1]

I do tend to think that The World Is Not Enough is the best title Fleming never used.

As I understand it, Benson was going to call The Facts of Death "The World is Not Enough" until Eon informed IFP that was the title of the next movie. Tough call on Benson, but it wouldn't have made any sense to that novel anyway.
Still liking Carte Blanche...

[marktmurphy]

Yes, that's right. Not that it made much sense to the film, either!

[doublenoughtspy]

As I understand it, Benson was going to call The Facts of Death "The World is Not Enough" until Eon informed IFP that was the title of the next movie. Tough call on Benson, but it wouldn't have made any sense to that novel anyway.
Still liking Carte Blanche...

If you re-read Zencat's interview with Raymond Benson, you'll see that wasn't the case.

Raymond wanted the book to be called "The World is Not Enough" but Glidrose and the US and UK publishers didn't think the title was "Bondian." Eon had nothing to do with the decision not to use the title.

Raymond Benson Interview Part 2

When TWINE did come out, Benson got to use the title with the novelization.

[Marketto007]

Anyone know where we can find the CARTE BLANCHE cover in High Resolution?

Thanks.

xxx

[zencat]

Anyone know where we can find the CARTE BLANCHE cover in High Resolution?

Thanks.

xxx

Here's 150dpi. I have it in 300dpi, but it was too big to attach. If you PM me your email I can send it.

Attached Files

•  ProjectXhb150.jpg   129.39KB   24 downloads

[mcdonbb]

Can't tell you now Zorin. Y'know, it takes a long tine thinking of a good Bond title, and I won't do that in a hurry as Mr Deaver did. Nothing against him. Maybe the plot is good, and as I said before, the Dubai setting seems great.
But the title and the cover .

He chose the title in a hurry? How do you know that?

Nothing you're saying on this matter is making any sense and you're credibility here at CBn is beginning to wane.

Let me chime in...I believe the author and the publishers went through a list of about 50 possible titles. I remember Deaver saying that in some interview. They want to sell a book..the title has to be catchy and this one is and its if not Flemingish ish is at least catchy unique and fits what I believe to be a major theme of the story.

The artwork..eh looks like someone took a picture of an ashtray but oh well. It is also confusing some press thinking that it is indeed cigarette smoke...caught that mistake made in some article somewhere. I remember Deaver saying that Bond would not be smoking in this reboot. Whatever..

Lastly how in the @#$# is a 29 year old civil servant going to afford a Bentley Continental GT??!! Are they assigning him this car??? Cool car but I was thinking something far more understated like an restored 70s Aston or something like that..whatever.. Just dont want to be a sign of an reboot with no real purpose other than a new car, a change of housekeeper, a new Moneypenny etc just for the sake of change itself.

I have more faith in Mr. Deaver than that he is a Bond fan like us...he cares about the character. So he has my backing (sure he cares too lol).

Cool car though... Has anyone seen the new 2011 ones?? Bentley must be happy.

Edited by mcdonbb, 19 January 2011 - 05:53 AM.

[zencat]

Hey, I just realized something, and I can't believe it's taken me this long to notice it. This is the first hardcover 1st edition (US or UK) to use a photographic cover. They've all been illustrations of a type (Benson's U.S. Doubleshot a bit of an exception). I think that's what brings the "new" feel to this cover, while the cigarette curl communicates the old or classic. It's really a major change from what's come before.

What's the story with cover art these days? Feels like they are the last bastion of illustration and design. Movie posters are now all photographs. So are most advertisements and CD covers. Are books headed that way as well? Might we have seen the last of the illustrated Bond cover?

There's the new thought. I'm sure you guys will find some way to turn it into a terrible argument before I wake up tomorrow.

[Jim]

Although I can't quite recall in full - and will no doubt be hunted down for not recalling in full and having this rubbish at the forefront of my mind - don't the UK hardbacks of The Man with the Red Tattoo and Devil May Care have manipulated photos as covers?

I expect I'm probably wrong.

[Captain Tightpants]

I watched THE BONE OCLLECTOR today, largely because I didn't have a Deaver novel close to hand and I wanted to get a feel for some of his work. He didn't write the screenplay; it's simply based on the novel of the same name. And it shows - THE BONE COLLECTOR is not a very good film. It's a stereotypical story of a serial killer who dares Denzel Washington and Angeina Jolie to find him before his next victim dies. Most of the characters are mere charactertures; like the Girl Who Became A Cop Because Her Dad Died and the Suspicious Police Captain Who Is Always Angry And Wrong About Everything. In fact, the film contains no foreshadowing of the killer at all aside from him appearing in the background in the odd scene. There's nothing for the audience to use to work out who it is in advance, which is half the fun of this kind of film. The only explanations given for his motives are a lengthy bit of exposition at the end of the film and a brief newpaper article shown in the opening montage. Likewise, Denzel Washington's variety of policework is to start listing various synonyms for something until he hits upon one that everyone agrees is right, and they go from there. Overall, it feels like the screenwriter simply ripped most of the substance out of the book to compress it down to a studio-friendly runtime, and it's strange to see the likes of Washington and Jolie give their all, because the material doesn't really deserve it.

So some small part of me is concerned for CARTE BLANCHE. Like I said, it feels like the guts were ripped out to make it come in under two hours, but at the same time, I'm wondering just how much was there in the first place to be removed. That said, the source material was written in 1997, so in the thirteen years that have passed between THE BONE COLLECTOR and CARTE BLANCHE, he's had plenty of time to refine his craft, with some twenty books published between the two.

[Marketto007]

Here's 150dpi. I have it in 300dpi, but it was too big to attach. If you PM me your email I can send it.

Thanks zencat, just sent you a PM.

xxx

[marktmurphy]

Hey, I just realized something, and I can't believe it's taken me this long to notice it. This is the first hardcover 1st edition (US or UK) to use a photographic cover. They've all been illustrations of a type (Benson's U.S. Doubleshot a bit of an exception). I think that's what brings the "new" feel to this cover, while the cigarette curl communicates the old or classic. It's really a major change from what's come before.

What's the story with cover art these days? Feels like they are the last bastion of illustration and design. Movie posters are now all photographs. So are most advertisements and CD covers. Are books headed that way as well? Might we have seen the last of the illustrated Bond cover?

There's the new thought. I'm sure you guys will find some way to turn it into a terrible argument before I wake up tomorrow.

As Jim said, the Devil May Care cover was quite famously a photographic one. Used some famous model and everything.
I know you said hardcover, but most of the recent UK Fleming paperbacks have used classy photography, up until those lovely girl-based illustrations we got a year or two back.

[MarcAngeDraco]

Hey, I just realized something, and I can't believe it's taken me this long to notice it. This is the first hardcover 1st edition (US or UK) to use a photographic cover. They've all been illustrations of a type (Benson's U.S. Doubleshot a bit of an exception). I think that's what brings the "new" feel to this cover, while the cigarette curl communicates the old or classic. It's really a major change from what's come before.

What's the story with cover art these days? Feels like they are the last bastion of illustration and design. Movie posters are now all photographs. So are most advertisements and CD covers. Are books headed that way as well? Might we have seen the last of the illustrated Bond cover?

There's the new thought. I'm sure you guys will find some way to turn it into a terrible argument before I wake up tomorrow.

Zen, Do you know if the US and UK versions will have the same cover art?

[zencat]

Hey, I just realized something, and I can't believe it's taken me this long to notice it. This is the first hardcover 1st edition (US or UK) to use a photographic cover. They've all been illustrations of a type (Benson's U.S. Doubleshot a bit of an exception). I think that's what brings the "new" feel to this cover, while the cigarette curl communicates the old or classic. It's really a major change from what's come before.

What's the story with cover art these days? Feels like they are the last bastion of illustration and design. Movie posters are now all photographs. So are most advertisements and CD covers. Are books headed that way as well? Might we have seen the last of the illustrated Bond cover?

There's the new thought. I'm sure you guys will find some way to turn it into a terrible argument before I wake up tomorrow.

As Jim said, the Devil May Care cover was quite famously a photographic one. Used some famous model and everything.
I know you said hardcover, but most of the recent UK Fleming paperbacks have used classy photography, up until those lovely girl-based illustrations we got a year or two back.

It's hard to call this a photograph. Maybe it used a real photo, but this has been turned into an illustration. Jim's right about TMWTRTT. That used photo elements (like the US Doubleshot). But my point is this one is clearly a straight-ahead photographic cover. It's doesn't go for an illustrated or graphic "feel" as these other "photo" cover do. This is is more like those UK ones.

[Arbogast777]

What's the story with cover art these days? Feels like they are the last bastion of illustration and design. Movie posters are now all photographs. So are most advertisements and CD covers.

That is so very true, and honestly it depresses me. Like a growing number of people I now read my books on a Kindle (but any other e-reading device would still make my argument). You literally never see the book cover at all. You click on the text of the book name then read the book. I guess that's why my Fleming's will forever be strategically placed on side tables throughout the house

[zencat]

Stand by everyone...

BOOK BOND EXCLUSIVE: CARTE BLANCHE U.S. COVER ART

[Arbogast777]

Oh crap. I like the U.K. better. I DO like how it's emphasises 007 more, though.

[Nicolas Suszczyk]

Mmmm... just a little more inspired. At least it looks like a James Bond novel.

[zencat]

Stand by everyone...

BOOK BOND EXCLUSIVE: CARTE BLANCHE U.S. COVER ART

So people have the link on this page.

[sharpshooter]

I prefer the UK cover. To me, that’s the real deal. This one is too loud and the title against the 007 doesn’t stick out that well. Sticking 007 on the front doesn’t make it better. The UK cover isn’t trying to be “Bondian”. It is. Some say that the smoke is generic. But I’d argue this one is more so.

[zencat]

I prefer the UK cover. To me, that’s the real deal. This one is too loud and the title against the 007 doesn’t stick out that well. Sticking 007 on the front doesn’t make it better. The UK cover isn’t trying to be “Bondian”. It is.

Yeah, think you echo my thoughts on that. But Simon & Schuster are smart publishers. They may know what works in the U.S. I mean, DMC had a stunning U.S. cover. Better than the UK, IMO. But I'm not sure how well DMC in the U.S. Maybe you need to really scream out from the bookstore shelf exactly what this is, be direct. And this is direct, that's for sure.

[Matt_13]

Excellent job Zen, that was really awesome of them to send that you. As for the cover itself, it's also vintage, but lacks the elegant simplicity of the UK edition. Either way, outstanding work Zen.

[zencat]

Excellent job Zen, that was really awesome of them to that you. As for the cover itself, it's also vintage, but lacks the elegant simplicity of the UK edition. Either way, outstanding work Zen.

Thanks. I was thrilled myself. Both the US and UK publishers have been great. Very fan friendly.

[Nicolas Suszczyk]

BTW Zen, good work at finding the cover. My toughts have nothing to do with the great conections you have bud!

[zencat]

BTW Zen, good work at finding the cover. My toughts have nothing to do with the great conections you have bud!

Thanks! I really didn't think they'd have it yet. I just sent an email asking if I could get it when ready, and I got one right back saying, "We'll have it to you by the end of the day."

Oh if only Eon was like this.

[Nicolas Suszczyk]

BTW Zen, good work at finding the cover. My toughts have nothing to do with the great conections you have bud!

Thanks! I really didn't think they'd have it yet. I just sent an email asking if I could get it when ready, and I got one right back saying, "We'll have it to you by the end of the day."

Oh if only Eon was like this.

You said it!

[Jim]

Hmm.

[Matt_13]

This cover is clearly trying to sell the brand rather than book. Unfortunately, that is absolutely necessary here in the US if they want sales. Noone is going to flock to a kiosk with a white book labeled Carte Blanche, but more may be inclined if they see a black one with a massive 007. If I can I'm probably going to order the UK edition (assuming there are no major differences between that text and the US edition). Still, these publishers are really decent to us fans. They keep their secrets but they aren't afraid to show us some of what they've got.

[Loomis]

I can barely believe what I'm looking at. Talk about dumbing it down.

This U.S. cover is hands down the most inept and least imaginative book cover I've ever seen, Bond or otherwise. It's just appalling. It's not even on the level of bad fan art.

I trust that those people who were complaining about the British cover being unimaginative are now eating their words.

I feel sorry for American Bond fans, getting shafted with this boring, patronising and on-the-nose-"Bondian" cover, while the Brits and Europeans get a classy, sophisticated cover. It would seem, though, that some U.S. fans are getting precisely the sort of dull, unadventurous garbage they want.

[zencat]

One thing that really surprises me is that they didn't do a Deaver/Bond hybrid cover. All their Deaver covers have a certain look. Same font for Deaver's name, placement, etc. They did this on their teaser art, and it looked pretty good, so I was fully expecting this.