A Review of Colonel Sun

AlphaOmegaSin

I was going to leave this until I had covered all the Gardner Installments, but thought that I would Review this now.


The Man With The Golden Gun was the final Ian Fleming Novel before his Death in 1964. Released several Months later in April 1965, it received mixed Responses with the common Complaint being that it felt less Detailed then previous Works. Now there is some Debate as to whether or not Fleming in fact finished the Novel, or if it the Manuscript was handed over to Kingsley Amis to finish and Edit. Whatever the Result, the Novel was a fitting End to Fleming's Tenure as Bond Author.

A few Years later in 1968, Kingsley Amis (Writing under the different Name of Robert Markham) released Colonel Sun and was the very first Bond Continuation Novel. It was sadly his only one and he never got to write anymore after this. Which is a Shame because his Writing Style was very similar to Fleming's and he did a rather good Job of replicating his Touch. Reviews of Colonel Sun were very positive, with it gaining Praise in just about every British Newspaper at the Time.

The Story takes place one Year after the Events of The Man With The Golden Gun, Amis references this in the Line 'When Scaramanga's Golden Derringer tore through his Abdomen the previous Summer' We read about Bond playing Golf with his old Service Friend, Bill Tanner. Bond's Life has become 'One of Routine' and he feels like that things have become stale. Amis then describes London as changing for the worst and is not the City that bond once knew and loved. The Story takes us from Britain to Greece in the Hunt for M, who has been kidnapped under violent Circumstances along with his Personal Staff brutally gunned down in graphic Detail. In fact, Amis does not hold back when describing Violence in this Novel. Fleming would give you the general Idea of it, but Continuation Authors like Amis and Gardner really put it in the front of most Scenes that involved Death.

The main Villain of this Outing is a Man called Colonel Sun Liang-tan, who is with the Peoples Liberation Army of China. He wants to frame the British for an Attack on a Soviet Conference on a Greek Island and place the Corpses of both M and Bond near the offending Weapon. Bond manages to escape the initial Attack on M's Home called Quarterdeck by overpowering Sun's Men and escaping into the Woods. A good Part of the Novel involves Bond and and two Greeks called Ariadne Alexandrou and Niko Litsas. During there Journey to the Island, they are attacked by a Patrol Boat carrying some of Suns Bodyguards who are intent on killing the two Greeks and bringing Bond to the Island. This Scene is described in much Detail and is a Highlight of the entire Novel.

You cant Review this Novel without talking about the Torture Scene. It's rather Brutal with Sun attacking certain Parts of Bond upper Anatomy using sharp Objects. Bond is helped by one of the Female Residents of the Villa and he stabs the good Colonel twice before escaping to rescue M and stop the whole Scheme once and for all. Sun's true End is rather satisfying, with Bond avoiding a Grenade and stabbing him through the Heart whilst the Colonel apologizes for torturing Bond. It's a brilliant Scene that needs to Filmed.

Colonel Sun is a well crafted Novel in Fleming's Memory. The Greek Setting would later be used in 1981 for For Your Eyes Only. Amis was supposed to write a second Bond Novel, entitled Per Fine Ounce but this ended up being vetoed by Gildrose sadly. It was also the last Official Bond Novel Readers would get for over a Decade until John Gardner's Masterpiece License Renewed (Also in 1981) Any fan of 007 needs to have this in there Collection, as it is an interesting foray into the Post Fleming World of Bond.

9/10

Barbel

Nice review, AOS.
Amis wasn't ever involved with Per Fine Ounce though, that was by a writer called Geoffrey Jenkins, and specifically denied writing any of TMWTGG... which has never stopped speculation and rumours of course!

AlphaOmegaSin

Ah, always thought that PFO was also going to be an Amis Novel. Cheers for the Correction -{