"Hurricane Room" Advanced Proof Copy Arrives

Like his big screen counterpart the lterary James Bond has also evolved to remain relevant more than 70 years after Ian Fleming first struck a key on his golden typewriter for 'Casino Royale".  Kim Sherwood's interpretation of James Bond is no exception.  When the first installment of her "Double O" trilogy debuted in 2022, her Bond and his world of fellow agents became contemporary, inclusive and refreshingly current.

In her first act, "Double Or Nothing" (2022), Ms. Sherwood moulded (some may say redefined) the modern Bond universe by introducing a new generation of "00"s along with a revamped M16, and the mystery of a missing 007.

Act two, "A Spy Like Me" (2024), was a fast paced action adventure with a six day countdown to stop a terrorist group while simultaneously searching for Bond.

The final act, "Hurricane Room" (2026), was released in late May and promises an epic conclusion to the whole trilogy saga (the cover reads "James Bond is alive"... phew... after "No Time To Die" at the cinema !!!).

I was fortunate to acquire an advanced proof copy of Ms. Sherwood's "Hurricane Room" in the mail last week.  The cover looks great and matches the hardback edition from Harper Collins in the UK.

I've already added cover scans of  "Hurricane Room" to my Proof Copies page.  (Remember to click on the cover image if you go to this link to see the entire book image).  And here's some photos of the complete UK "Double O" trilogy proofs together from Harper Collins imprint Hemlock Press which I'm fortunate to own.

I know a lot of James Bond literary fans concern themselves with the modern version of James Bond.  Personally I think it's great.  Bond remaining current and in today's world will result in new readers and more new adventures.  

There are many literary characters that were once hugely popular, now only alive in old hardbacks on dusty book shelves.  That fate should never befall 007.  May the modern literary James Bond thrill readers for many years to come.  And who knows, maybe the "Double O" trilogy from Kim Sherwood will become "A trilogy in four parts" as Douglas Adams' "Hitchhikers" once was.  We can only hope.

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.

"A Spy Like Me" Paperback Released

Hot on the heels of the release in Australia of the latest edition of Ian Fleming's "From Russia With Love" comes the trade size paperback of Kim Sherwood's "A Spy Like Me".  Apart from advanced reading copies this is the first time "A Spy Like Me" has appeared in paperback.

I found this copy at QBD Books at Southland Shopping Centre.  The spine looks great next to the trade paperback of "Double Or Nothing" which was the first in this "Double O" series.   I didn't purchase this copy as I'm sure other books stores will have this title in stock now too.

"What's In The Box ?"

The James Bond collector John F., a frequent visitor to PizGloria.com, has decided to sell his extensive collection of quality books.  It feels like every day there's a new batch of books posted on the Facebook group James Bond Collectable Books Worldwide by John to excite us collectors.  I was fortunate to purchase the items in the box that arrived today.

And here's two of the books I snapped up...

These are English Second Language (ESL) abridged novels created for students learning English.  I already have similar copies of both books however these copies have slight variations.

The first book to compare are these covers of Ian Fleming's "Diamonds Are Forever" adapted by Patrick Nobes with a cover illustration by Francis Phillipps.  Both were printed in the UK however the Bulls-Eye logos in the bottom left corner of the covers differ.  

The copy on the left with the yellow, black and red logo was printed in 1989 by Hutchinson and has an ISBN of 0091299411.  The copy on the right with the white logo was printed in 1991 by Thornes and has an ISBN of 0748710183.  These are only minor differences but still interesting as a collector.

The other book is "For Your Eyes Only" which is one of Ian Fleming's short stories collection.  These editions were published by Longman Structural Readers and simplified by Norman Wymer with a cover illustration by John Holder.  Both were printed in Hong Kong.  

The copy on the right was printed in 1975 and has further text in black on the cover compared to the one on the left which was printed in 1977.   Both copies share the same ISBN of 0582537924.  Again not much of a difference between covers but probably more obvious than the "Diamonds Are Forever" above.

As for the remaining items in the box, here's a sneak preview.  These are probably more interesting... and harder to find in the wild.

Lego Speed Champions Aston Martin DB5 Completed

Just prior to Christmas I purchased the Lego Speed Champions 007 Aston Martin DB5 set.  I suspect many other James Bond collectors may have also received it as a gift for Christmas in 2022.

So during the Christmas and New Year break I started building the set.  I completed Stage 1 around NYE and then stopped as the weather here in Melbourne, Victoria was superb.

Yesterday I completed Stage 2:

I think the set is brilliant, especially for the price.  I note that James Bond's choice of weapon in the Lego instructions is a wrench however there was an "accidental" inclusion of a second exhaust piece in the set that also doubles as a firearm.  

And here's the vehicle next to the much larger Lego Creator 007 Aston Martin set:

I have to say if you're looking at spending less than AU$30 on a James Bond gift for yourself you couldn't go wrong with this set.

Bond Presents For Christmas

Yesterday was Christmas Day and I was lucky to receive the two items below as presents from my wife. 

Both items were purchased from sellers in the U.S. and fortunately were well packed for their journey to Australia.

The first was a poster from Penguin promoting the Richie Fahey series from 2008 celebrating the centenary of Ian Fleming's birth.  It's linked to this series of books.

The second poster was created in 1982 by Putnam/Berkley to promote the simultaneous release of John Gardner's - James Bond continuation novels "For Special Services" in hardback and "Licence Renewed" in paperback.

I haven't seen the poster above before, nor could I find another copy anywhere else on the web, however I did find the following image below from the fantastic website/blog The Book Bond by John Cox which looks very similar.  All credit to John for this image.

Promotional material for Bond novels is difficult to find, especially in Australia.  I'm lucky to have these two items in my collection now thanks to my wife.  Well, to be perfectly honest, I did purchase them and then asked if she wanted to give them to me as a present for Christmas... but I'm sure I'm not alone here as a collector.

Lego Speed Champions 007 Aston Martin DB5

A couple of weeks ago my brother messaged me with a link to a new Lego set he thought I might like.  So while out shopping with my wife last weekend I visited a toy store and spotted the same set.  The "Speed Champions" range features vehicles from cinema as well as modern racing cars.  And to my surprise it includes the Aston Martin DB5.  The box even features the 007 logo and scenes on the front and back are reminiscent of "No Time To Die".  Here's a photo I took in the toy store:

I left the store without purchasing it however when I got home I decided why not and ordered the Lego set as an early Christmas present to myself.  It arrived today:

And here's the box:

The Lego vehicle is obviously going to be much smaller and less detailed than the Lego set I received for my birthday a couple of years ago  (there's definitely no ejector seat in this one) but I'm sure the vehicle will still look great.  I plan to open the box over the Christmas break and once I've built it I'll post some photos.

Faberge Egg Exhibition

If there is one piece of art that has become synonymous with James Bond it's the Faberge Egg.  Prior to the 1983 James Bond - Roger Moore film "Octopussy" I'd never heard of a Faberge Egg.  Now for me, and I suspect many other Bond and cinema fans, the two will forever be associated.

So when a friend of mine recently visited an art exhibition in Europe and sent back the following photos of Faberge Eggs I knew I had to include them on this blog.

He also sent back this piece of art; a banana gaffer taped to the wall.  I'm not sure we'll be seeing this in a Bond film any time soon... unless it's provided by Q-branch.

Thanks for the photos J.

Coronet Sniper Series Replacement

The first paperback printing of John Gardner's fifth James Bond adventure "Nobody Lives For Ever" was published by Coronet in 1986.  The cover features an image of a sniper sight aiming at a boat and a silhouette of Bond in front of "007" text.  

As the years have passed I've realised this printing is not very common.  It may have even had a limited release only in the UK as I never saw this edition for sale in new bookstores here in Australia back in the 1980's.  I only discovered this cover existed in the late 1990's.  

There were few websites displaying James Bond book covers back then, especially continuation novels.  And online websites selling books wasn't anywhere as big as it is today.  Finding this cover in a second-hand book store was a real surprise, especially as there were already four other titles with matching covers in my collection.  Those titles were reprints of the first four of Gardner's Bond adventures; "Licence Renewed" (white), ""For Special Services" (red), "Icebreaker" (black) and "Role Of Honour" (dark blue).   For want of a name I called these covers the Coronet Sniper Series.

Now I'm pretty picky.  The original copy I found wasn't in great condition compared to the other four I had in my series and it's always been a bugbear of mine.  It's taken a long time but recently I found and purchased a replacement copy.  Here's the two of them together.  The copy on the right is the new one.  It has a couple of texta marks on the back cover hiding the printed price but the spine is lovely and overall the copy appears unread.

And here's the new copy with the other four in the series.  The last copy, with the red cover, is the same title published by Coronet-General in Canada.  I still have no idea why they changed the colour from light blue/teal to red in Canada, especially as "For Special Services" was already printed in red, but it's an added bonus of this series.

Finally, this is the card that accompanied the book from the overseas seller.  I like these extra details from sellers.