"King Zero" Is Here

The latest James Bond continuation novel "King Zero" was released in the UK on September 24.  It was written by the well known Bond author Charlie Higson, creator of the OG Young Bond series and his previous adult 007 novella "On His Majesty's Secret Service", and published by Penguin Random House.

Today I received my first copy, a lovely limited numbered hardback edition from Goldsboro Books signed by the author.

As you can see the book looks fantastic.  The dust jacket is really well designed, and this edition also includes sprayed page edges featuring golden sharks.

Here's the front book boards, also featuring a golden shark.

Finally, I have to show you how Golsboro Books pack their precious cargo before sending them around the world.  Nothing's going to harm these books during their travels.

On another note, I visited a bookshop last night and discovered that the trade size paperback edition of the aforementioned novel is now available on shelves here in Australia.  I haven't purchased a copy for PizGloria.com yet, but I plan to soon.

"By Royal Command" Puffin Books Postcard

Back in 2008 Puffin Books released a series of free postcards promoting many of their recent releases aimed at children and yound adults.  One of those postcards was for Charlie Higson's Young Bond novel "By Royal Command".  It featured a photo of the cover from the hardback edition, as can be seen on the example below that I recently acquired.

I'm not sure which book stores had these postcards available at the time.  Perhaps one of my readers might know?  Regardless I never saw them here in Australia.

Coincidentally, Charlie Higson's name has again hit the James Bond socials recently.  Just a few days ago, on April 1, Ian Fleming Publications announced that the next James Bond novel "King Zero" will be published later this year, authored by Mr Higson.  Here's an image of the cover...

A mysterious sounding title, and an interesting synopsis, make this novel's release a highly anticipated event.

Young Bond Promo Book

Back in 2007 a London newspaper included a promotional “book” for free with every copy sold.  The title was "The Young Bond Rough Guide To London".  Small in size at just 15cm x 11cm, and comprising only 64 pages, this promo item published by Puffin Books has become highly sought by collectors.

The promo book was given away as a tie-in between the publication of the Young Bond novels "Double Or Die" (January 2007) and "Hurricane Gold" (September 2007), both written by Charlie Higson.

Since I first became aware of this promo item in the early 2010's I've searched for it.  Here in Australia I'm not aware of any Young Bond promo items ever being available, so my searches have been limited to the internet and book hunts when I've been lucky enough to visit the UK.

It's taken several years but today I finally managed to acquire a copy of this elusive promo item.  Being so thin, thankfully the item was extremely well packed.

And here's some photos sans packaging...

This promo item arrived in great condition after it's journey by international mail from the other side of the world. Unortunately though it does have one fault, someone has written a previous sale price on the inside front cover. Sure the writing is in grey lead and can easily be erased, but the price itself is the problem... just GBP 20p.  I definitely paid a little bit more than that; postage alone was GBP £12.50!  Oh well, the book is safely in my collection now.

I'll be creating a new page on PizGloria.com to display all the Young Bond promo items in my collection.  More details soon...

Another 20th Anniversary Edition From Puffin Books

Charlie Higson's first Young Bond novel "SilverFin" was released 20 years ago this year.  To celebrate this event, Puffin Books have released not one but two anniversary editions almost simultaneously.

As previously mentioned the first edition was limited to just 300 copies, signed by the author and available exclusively through Ian Fleming Publications.

Then on February 3rd a general release anniversary edition was released.  I ordered my copy through the independent book store Benn's Books in East Brighton and it arrived in great condition last week.

Here's some photos of the later edition featuring a cover design based on a previous design by Kevin Walker.

And here's the two editions side by side for comparison.

It's amazing that Puffin Books have published two different 20th anniversary editions.   I'm not aware of this happening before in the Bond literary world.  I've even created a new page on PizGloria.com to display the three anniversary editions now in my collection.  Let's hope this pattern continues for other Young Bond titles.

"SilverFin" 20th Anniversary Edition Arrives

Back in December 2025 I posted that Ian Fleming Publications were releasing a new paperback edition of Charlie Higson's "SilverFin" to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its publication.  Today I received a copy of this edition in the mail, one of only 300 available.  

Published by Puffin Books, this edition has also been signed by Mr. Higson.  And the new cover design is, in my opinion, very mature looking for a "Young Bond" novel.  But you can be the judge from the photos below.  Personally I like it.

"SilverFin" Graphic Novel Promo Item

Ian Fleming Publications has announced the release of a special 20th anniversary paperback edition of Charlie Higson's "SilverFin".  Published by Puffin Books, this "Young Bond" novel will be limited to just 300 copies, each signed by the author.  It also has this fresh new cover as seen below.  I've already ordered my copy, so if you're interested I suggest you reserve yours ASAP as they look like they're disappearing from the shelves fast.

Coincidentally, I received these promotional items yesterday after purchasing them online recently.  They were printed in 2008 when "SilverFin" was first published as a graphic novel (shown in the centre).  

This copy has been signed by the author Charlie Higson and artist Kevin Walker.  

I have a few "Young Bond" promo items now and plan to create a new page on PizGloria.com displaying all these items soon.

Latest Arrivals From Ian Fleming Publications

Three more recent arrivals to add to my collection.  The first is the standard paperback edition of Charlie Higson's "On His Majesty's Secret Service" with this terrific cover:

Next is the most recent reprint of Ian Fleming's "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" with new illustrations by Thomas Gilbert who has also signed this copy:

Last is another paperback copy of Charlie Higson's "On His Majesty's Secret Service", however this edition was limited by Ian Fleming Publications to just 200 copies.  It has sprayed red edges featuring a repeated 007 motif, and is signed by the author:

This copy was also accompanied by these great promotional items:

Certainly some nice additions to my James Bond/Ian Fleming paperback collection.  I will be adding this Charlie Higson front cover image to my PizGloria.com website shortly.

The Last Parcel

Today is a sad day after the news late last night of the passing of a fellow James Bond book and memorabilia collector.

Back in 2012, the same year I launched PizGloria.com, I received an email from a fellow book collector, John F., who lived in New Zealand.  He sent an image of an edition of Ian Fleming's "From Russia With Love" that he owned as part of his extensive James Bond collection that was missing from my site.  From that point on the two of us frequently kept in contact, and traded / purchased books from each other.  And when I finally managed to acquire that missing edition I was quick to remind him of his first email to me.

A few months ago I received a parcel from John containing some items I'd purchased from him.  I delayed opening this parcel simply because I wanted to include photos of it's contents on this blog and I'd gotten a little behind in my posts.  Last night I learnt that John had passed away on New Years Eve, just 6 days ago.  This morning I opened the parcel knowing it would be the last contact I would ever have with him.

The items I purchased from John included 7 collectors cards released to accompany the Charlie Higson - Young Bond novel "Blood Fever" in 2006.  Also a small "bookmark" released as part of the "Choose a Title" promotion for the 2007 Young Bond novel which ultimately became Charlie Higson's "Double Or Die".

Finally, I received a copy of John Gardner's movie tie-in "Goldeneye" published in 1995 by Coronet.  This is the rarer paperback cover that features three script writers on the front cover instead of two.  I already had this edition but it was a lovely copy and very scarce.

These items may now reside in my collection, but they will forever be John's.   I shall miss our message chats and collection updates, as well as his interesting and informative contributions to the book collectors world in general.

Vale John.

Goldsboro Books "On His Majesty's Secret Service"

To celebrate the coronation of King Charles III on May 6, 2023 a new James Bond novel was released in the UK.  The novel was titled "On His Majesty's Secret Service" and written by Charlie Higson who has previously written several Young Bond novels.   

I received my hardcover copy from the UK last week; a signed by the author and numbered (335) edition provided by Goldsboro Books.

All the royalties of sales of this book are being donated to the UK National Literacy Trust.

Just one last thing... Goldsboro Books pack their books amazingly well.  Here's a photo of the packaging my book came in which meant there was definitely no chance of the book being damaged during its journey to Australia.  And if anyone needs some bubble wrap I now have a couple of spare rolls... but who's complaining.

Annual Mornington Lions Book Fair

A year ago my wife and I attended the annual Lions Book Fair in Mornington.  And we really enjoyed the event; the books were well organised, they were great quality... and reasonably priced.  So a fortnight ago we attended the fair again along with my wife's brother.

I found several James Bond books, a couple of which I recognised from last year.

I also found this omnibus of spy novels including Ian Fleming's "The Man With The Golden Gun".  It included this still from the film featuring Christopher Lee as Scaramanga.

While looking through the "S" boxes I found this book club hardback copy of John Gardner's "Seafire".  Smaller in size than a normal hardback I wasn't even aware this copy existed and couldn't go past if for just $2.  This was my only Bond purchase for the day, however my wife and brother-in-law did find a few books for themselves.

All three of us left with some great purchases and are looking forward to attending again next year.