James Bond After Fleming: The Continuation Novels - Mark Edlitz's new book
Golrush007
South AfricaPosts: 3,421Quartermasters
Mi6-HQ have announced a new book by Mark Edlitz devoted to the continuation novels. I must say I'm looking forward to adding this to my collection. I've always had a fascination with the continuation novels of Bond...after all, I was reading Raymond Benson and John Gardner novels before I ever got my hands on a Fleming book. I've got Mark Edlitz's first book, The Many Lives of James Bond, and although I haven't read it cover to cover, I've enjoyed dipping into the interviews in that book. I don't have his second Bond book, The Lost Adventures of James Bond but I've heard positive reviews of it.
I'm not sure what format this new book will take, whether interview based, or chapters discussing each author and the stories behind their works. Whatever form it takes, I hope it will have a lot of interesting material to dig into.
Here is the Mi6-HQ story: https://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/articles/literature-james-bond-after-fleming?id=05256
Comments
That's a pretty interesting subject, yeah.
The cover is fun; I'm trying to think which continuation novels his Bentley Blower appeared in...? Young Bond I guess?
The nitpicker in me says that's a Saab 900 Aero, which isn't what Bond drove in Licenced Renewed et al (his was the earlier Turbo), but I don't mind as the Aero looks cooler and I had one of them!
David Zaritsky is hosting an upcoming live Youtube discussion to chat about James Bond After Fleming with Joe Darlington, Calvin Dyson, David Lowbridge-Ellis and Mark Edlitz: https://www.youtube.com/live/9FX9rEyU3GM?si=9mqlVRgfLegfmNyC
I probably won't be able to watch it live due to the inconvenience of time difference, but I'll definitely be checking it out as soon as I can after the fact. I'm excited to learn what sort of information and research relating to the books is included. Hopefully I'll be able to order a copy from one of my local retailers in South Africa.
This was a great watch and launch for the book. Unfortunately I didn't see it live either as I had a family birthday function to attend last night. I've happily since caught up with it though.
Mark Edlitz - Fatherly - The Coolest James Bond Adventures Are The Ones You've Never Heard Of:
Some nice promotion for Mark Edlitz's new book. Two of my favourite Bond continuation novels (Colonel Sun and Never Send Flowers) are mentioned here which is nice to see.
emtiem; Glad that the subject is up your alley!
Silhouette Man: Thanks for posting the links and for all of your support on the book!
Golrush007: You asked about the format...
Each novel has its own chapter. Each chapter includes:
If anyone has any questions about the book, I'm happy to answer them!
Thanks Mark; don't worry- my copy arrived before Christmas!
Thanks Mark for your feedback on this discussion. I eagerly look forward to getting my hands on a copy. It sounds like the book I've been hoping would be written for many years. I'm keeping a close eye on the retailers that I usually order books from here in South Africa so that I can put my order in when they have it available.
I’m currently reading your book now….and read The Lost Adventures…last year…which I throughly enjoyed 🍸
Did you not consider hardback copies of your books? I’m not a fan of Amazon printing…😕
emtiem: I hope you get a kick out of it!
Golrush007: Hello South Africa! You might have to ask your local shop to order it for you. I don't think it's the kind of book, that anyone would think to order on their own. If you ever do find a copy, my wish is that it brings you some enjoyment.
Sir Miles: Thank you! That's so nice of you to say! This new will be available in hardcover somewhere down the road. I'm not 100% sure when. But the price will be a bit high. It's 500-page book so it gets a little pricey to put out hardcopies. But I know some people only order hard copies, so I'll make sure that happens. Some immediate good news for those seeking an Amazon alternative, the book isn't exclusive to Amazon anymore. For the first few days (maybe week?) it defineately was Amazon only. But now it's available through other retailers.
@ManyLivesofJamesBond, The Lost Adventures…was excellent - just when you think you know practically everything on Bond - your book popped up 🍸🤣
I’m enjoying After Fleming…too, I’ve read all the ‘official’ continuation novels & a couple of ‘non-official’ ones…it’s always fun to read other people’s opinions 🙂
Hardback editions would be excellent…but cost wouldn’t have to be that bad - although I do appreciate there is a bit of a gamble from yourself on the initial outlay. Cost all comes down to paper, binding, typesetting, proofreading, etc. Can’t you tell I’m married to a book coach 🤣 she has a particular loathing of Amazon print 🫣
Sir Miles: I really appreciate the kind words and support. These books take years to write. They require a lot of research and reading! I'm always trying to turn over rocks and investigate less well-known corners. With Bond, that's particularly hard. I wasn't intending to write another Bond book. But I was quasi-compelled to write it, even though the amount of reading was daunting.
That's fascinating about your wife. Seems like her knowledge/expertise has rubbed off on you!
Did you start this right after Lost Adventures? As you say, reading all of that material must've been a big ol' task.
emtiem: I can't remember exactly when I started writing this. I do know that it wasn't immediately after LOST ADVENTURES. I wrote another book between LOST ADVENTURES and JAMES BOND AFTER FLEMING called MOVIES GO FOURTH: 4TH FILMS IN FANTASTIC FRANCHISES. That was --- as you can gather -- the fourth movies in popular series, like Jaws 4, Batman 4, Superman 4, Rocky 4, Highlander 4, Star Trek 4, etc. But I sometimes work on more than one project at once. Or one project becomes two.
Oh cool: that sounds like a fun one! I hadn’t heard of that 😄
Convinced by the above, I've just ordered "Many Lives" and am looking forward to it.
emtiem: As for MOVIES GO FOURTH....very few people have heard of it. Despite my best efforts. :)
Barbel I hope you like MANY LIVES. That book skews more to the films and to the actors who have played 007 in different media. The publisher put out a very nice book.
Thanks, @ManyLivesofJamesBond. I hope the new Bond book does very well for you. It deserves to as you put a lot of work into the research and writing of it. It really fills a lacuna in the Bond literature on the previously largely ignored literary James Bond continuation novels from 1967 to the present day.
I always used to enjoy The Bond Files by Andy Lane, which compiled all of the 007 stories in books, comics, TV etc. but it's outdated now of course.
Yes, it was great and pretty much the only book that covered all of the continuation Bond novels up to that point. I remember buying the 2nd edition back in 2000 and it was a revelation. I think Mark's new book is partially inspired by The Bond Files.
emtiem Agreed about The Bond Files, an ambitious and still-useful guide. I was a little late in discovering the book, until the well-read Silhouette Man put it on my radar a few years ago.
Glad to have brought it to your attention, @ManyLivesofJamesBond. It's a great book that covers a lot of ground, just like your own work.
I read my copy of The Bond Files a bit too much...the binding split a few years back, but I agree it was a terrific guide to books up until mid-Benson era.
The fun of the Bond Files, and this new book too, is discovering all of these new Bond stories without having to actually read the things! Or rather, as in the case of some of the comic strips especially because they were enormously variable, find out which ones sound naff or good and maybe take a look at the good ones.
This will be a book worth getting, if nothing else to allow me to have an instant reference to what the hell happens in all those novels.
This book is a great resource. It's always useful to have a reference book like this to hand as an aide-mémoire regarding the numerous novels and short stories that make up the literary Bond continuation.
@ManyLivesofJamesBond Hmm, a bit surprised by the delivery times. End of February to mid July ? What's that about, Mark ?
emtiem -- That's one of my goals with JAMES BOND AFTER FLEMING. Give you a taste of the story and hope you find one to read.
chrisno1 -- That was the other goal. So many stories and hard to keep straight. Was hoping people would pull it off the shelf and use it as a refresher for what happens in what book. (Sorry didn't understand the question about delivery times)
I have a copy already, but Amazon says it will deliver tomorrow.
Well, I am not saying you are not, but this was on my Amazon page.
That’s weird. And you’re in London?
I still get a ‘delivered tomorrow’ on the page.
James Bond After Fleming: The... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CQ17R3XL?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share