What's New in Project X?

Liam

Hi all!

There are all kinds of rumours around the new Project X novel by Jeffery Deaver at the moment. What do AJBers expect to really change for Bond in the next continuation? What would you like to see? What would you hate to see (go)?

mrbond

I have read that it will be set in present day unlike Devil May Care.

Liam

Well, I've read all kinds of things now about Project X, present day, Bond about late twenties or so, new this and new that, so on. There's even an article in wiki about it. I just wonder what fans around here make of all this.

mrbond

Liam wrote:

Well, I've read all kinds of things now about Project X, present day, Bond about late twenties or so, new this and new that, so on. There's even an article in wiki about it. I just wonder what fans around here make of all this.

I read that that it would be set in present day on the Times Online website. I don't know if it's true though.

zencat

Here, this will catch you up:
http://youngbonddossier.com/Young_Bond/Danger_Society_News/Entries/2010/6/27_X_update_Deavers_007_will_be_a_Young_Bond.html

I also have a Facebook page that will stay on top of ALL the breaking Project X news: http://www.facebook.com/bookbond

Liam

THX for the info!

superdaddy

Icant wait,late 20s Bond set in modern times, am already picturing Henry Cavill when reading it.

Ricardo C.

So far the updates seem to be within reason, ages and all that. I won't hold my breath though because Kingsley Amis's continuation novel has remained unthreatened.

chrisno1

Deaver was at the Theakston's Crime Novel Festival and was very clear and specific over three things:
1. It will be set in the present day.
2. James Bond will be taken back to the start of his career. This entails all Bond fans to hold their breath. This is not a continuation novel. Deaver actually called it a "reboot" of the literary Bond; in the manner of CR, the movie. Bond's past history as we know it should become irrelevant to Deaver's writing. While I'm sure he will retain the basis of 007's character as Fleming described it, and may well include similar elements of his personal history, he won't be weighed down with baggage like Tracy, Vesper, Kissy, an irracible old M and Young James.
3. Some it will be set in London! Surprise!

Ricardo C.

chrisno1 wrote:

Deaver was at the Theakston's Crime Novel Festival and was very clear and specific over three things:
1. It will be set in the present day.
2. James Bond will be taken back to the start of his career. This entails all Bond fans to hold their breath. This is not a continuation novel. Deaver actually called it a "reboot" of the literary Bond; in the manner of CR, the movie. Bond's past history as we know it should become irrelevant to Deaver's writing. While I'm sure he will retain the basis of 007's character as Fleming described it, and may well include similar elements of his personal history, he won't be weighed down with baggage like Tracy, Vesper, Kissy, an irracible old M and Young James.
3. Some it will be set in London! Surprise!

I really hope Deaver does an honest to goodness, genuine, reboot. I don't think we got that in CR; At least not as much as most people think.

REY1324

Hi there,

This is what I have read about 'Project X', via the MI6 website:

1, Bond will be 30 years old, and does not smoke.
2, The '00' section will be a shadowy assissin branch within MI6.
3, 'M' will be a man, Moneypenny will be in her mid-30's.
4, The novels will be set in the present day.
5, May, Bond's housekeeper will not be Scottish, but either Indian or Pakistani.
6, Mary Goodnight will be Bond's secretary in the '00' section.
7, Bond will be fighting post 9/11 terrorism.
8, If compromised, '00' agents will be disavowed.

It'll be interesting to see whay other fans think of some of the changes.

hackett

I met Mr. Deaver a couple of months ago; when he explained to me most of what has been revealec about Project X in this thread.

What came over loud and clear is Mr. Deaver's passion for the subject.
Only 7 months to go...

Ricardo C.

Nothing too earth shattering but Deaver recently revealed that Bond will be a 29 or 30 year old Afghanistan War Vet.

Loeffelholz

Ricardo C. wrote:

Nothing too earth shattering but Deaver recently revealed that Bond will be a 29 or 30 year old Afghanistan War Vet.

Yeah...here's where I saw it: http://www.mi6.co.uk/news/index.php?itemid=9027&t=mi6&s=news

I've no problem with the literary reboot whatsoever...but I do hope they keep Bond's Royal Navy pedigree---even if it means following Eon's lead, and making him a special forces (SBS) type... :007)

Ricardo C.

The whole concept of "reboots" leave me pretty much neutral. I am just hoping that this will be a good book.

Loeffelholz

I'm positive about Bond reboots---both literary and cinematic. Especially in the case of the books, it lays a foundation for a long and bright future. I've not read any Deaver---but he seems to be approaching the project with the right mindset, with no overblown notions about writing "as Ian Fleming," as Foulks misguidedly proclaimed---and I'm very optimistic about a good book being at the end of this process :007)

chrisno1

Loeffelholz wrote:

I'm positive about Bond reboots---both literary and cinematic. Especially in the case of the books, it lays a foundation for a long and bright future. I've not read any Deaver---but he seems to be approaching the project with the right mindset, with no overblown notions about writing "as Ian Fleming," as Foulks misguidedly proclaimed---and I'm very optimistic about a good book being at the end of this process :007)

I'm also rather positive about a total reboot of 007.
I write FanFiction on another site (well, the FF section is closed on AJB now, so I have to switch allegiance every so often) and my Bond is equally unsaddled by the Fleming/Gardner/Benson legacy. It's simply a pointless route to try and follow. My take on it (even when I watch the movies, esp Brosnan and Craig) is that JAMES BOND and 007 are ciphers, used again and again by the chroniclers of the S.I.S., as different agents - with different real names - come and go. I think Deaver sees it in a similar manner.
I met Deaver about 10 years ago at a work's social function and he was a very nice guy, very clear about the reasons for his success and the method he uses to create a good story.
I read somewhere he's written a draft of approx 500 pages. This is more likely to be his preparatory work. I think it's important to mention that Deaver makes copious notes and conducts lots of research before he starts to write a novel. He estimates he only uses approximately 10-25 % of everything he compiles, but this provides him with ample ideas and theories.
I have quite high hopes for Project X. I was also very excited about Devil My Care, but Faulks didn't take the task very seriously. Someone really ought to have had a word in his shelllike after the first draft and got him to review it in detail. It wouldn't have taken much to turn it into a very good novel.
I don't think Deaver will struggle in that regard. I think he'll follow his own writing style, create a clever narrative and provide the prerequisite thrills. I'm planning on picking up a few of his novels from the library to attune myself to his work prior to Projext X.
With a possible Bond 23 in 2012, it looks like I'm not going to be staved of fresh Bondage for too long!

j.blades

Lookling forward to this project personally the only thing I don;'t really like is May being pakistani

Nicholas Meadows

This isn’t anything news-wise on the Project X front but might be worth sharing. I attended a Jeffery Deaver event in Dorchester on Friday 30th July at the Corn Exchange. It was pretty much full with Deaver fans who were so hardcore that the questionnaires asking which Deaver book have they read was awash with ticks. Whilst I waited outside Jeffery Deaver came from a side street flanked by Men in suits. If there had of been a puddle one of them would have put their jacket over it for him. What followed was a very enjoyable talk and he held court very well. He touched on Project X a little, you would think after talking about it so much he might have lost some of the excitement, but no, the enthusiasm was still there. He said he was “Chuffed to bits”. He said he had been writing the book on the way to Dorchester in the car from Southampton. I also attended the Southampton event, and the traffic between the two events was awful. It took over two hours so he might have got a good few pages down. During the talk he joked about being driven about in a pink stretch Hummer. When we came out of the event we were amazed to see a pink stretch Hummer waiting to transport Jeffery Deaver back to London. 
 
Ian Fleming wrote the Bond novels at Goldeneye on a typewriter. Jeffery Deaver wrote some of Project X in a pink stretch Hummer on the A31.

Napoleon Plural

Personally I will be giving this book a miss and am surprised by the lack of reaction by so-called fans. That Bond should be an Afghan vet is frankly disgraceful and shows that Deaver has no respect for the character's background.

Bond is British and should always be.

Ricardo C.

Napoleon Plural wrote:

Personally I will be giving this book a miss and am surprised by the lack of reaction by so-called fans. That Bond should be an Afghan vet is frankly disgraceful and shows that Deaver has no respect for the character's background.

Bond is British and should always be.

Good one NP.

Number24

Napoleon Plural wrote:

Personally I will be giving this book a miss and am surprised by the lack of reaction by so-called fans. That Bond should be an Afghan vet is frankly disgraceful and shows that Deaver has no respect for the character's background.

Bond is British and should always be.

So where did you read that Bond isn't british in Deaver's novel?

Peppermill

Number24 wrote:

Napoleon Plural wrote:

Personally I will be giving this book a miss and am surprised by the lack of reaction by so-called fans. That Bond should be an Afghan vet is frankly disgraceful and shows that Deaver has no respect for the character's background.

Bond is British and should always be.

So where did you read that Bond isn't british in Deaver's novel?

I was about to ask the same thing... did he turn him into a US commando?

chrisno1

Peppermill wrote:

Number24 wrote:

Napoleon Plural wrote:

Personally I will be giving this book a miss and am surprised by the lack of reaction by so-called fans. That Bond should be an Afghan vet is frankly disgraceful and shows that Deaver has no respect for the character's background.

Bond is British and should always be.

So where did you read that Bond isn't british in Deaver's novel?

I was about to ask the same thing... did he turn him into a US commando?

As far as I'm aware he hasn't. If he has that's criminal.

Ricardo C.

People seem not to get the joke here. )

chrisno1

Ricardo C. wrote:

People seem not to get the joke here. )

There's a joke? Where?

Ricardo C.

chrisno1 wrote:

Ricardo C. wrote:

People seem not to get the joke here. )

There's a joke? Where?

superdaddy

Ricardo C. wrote:

People seem not to get the joke here. )

Apparently he saves many a sick goat.

Nicholas Meadows

Project X could be set in Dubai, maybe?


Dear Bond fan,

We’re now just six months away from the eagerly-awaited arrival of the new Bond novel. The book remains referred to only as PROJECT X, while the plot continues to be a highly guarded secret, known to literally just a handful of people. All the author has revealed to date is that it is set in the present day and takes place in a number of exotic locations around the world.

However, it looks as if we might be about to find out a little bit more early next year as it’s just been announced that Jeffery Deaver will be giving his first public appearance as a James Bond author in January at an Emirates Lit Fest event in Dubai, where he will be discussing his love of all things Bond. And even more excitingly the audience will apparently be among the first to hear a little bit about the new book.

And there’s more. Following the event, Deaver fans will also have the opportunity to meet the author at a signing session and for those really eager to secure their piece of Bond history, he will also be signing a special book plate to be inserted into the new novel when it is released on 26th May next year.

Jeffery Deaver’s Bond evening will take place at the stunning theatre at Al Mamzar in Dubai on January 18th. Be sure to secure your place at what promises to be an extraordinary evening on 3rd January when tickets go on sale at www.emirateslitfest.com

Don't worry if you can't make it to Dubai, we will make sure we keep you up to date on any news here on the PROJECT X website as soon as it comes out.

Until next time.

The PROJECT X team

JLord

And the title?
Macho Ado About Nothing

IanT

I too am not adverse to the idea of a rebooted literary Bond. In fact, it is quite logical given that the amount of baggage being hefted around after all his adventures, I think its pretty okay to draw a line under all that and start again.

I will be heading up the queue when the book hits the shelves.