I decided to make it a more substance based over spoiler laden. I was inspired by many of the discussion we had here so feel free to give me both barrels on this if you disagree.
In 2002 a peculiar thing happened James Bond 007 had seeming hit then end of the line…Cinematically and literal!
We are all familiar with the history, EON bereft of ideas and any direction whatsoever suddenly decided to chuck 40 years of history in the rubbish bin late 2005. What was happening around the same time was the James Bond books series was place on hiatus after the Raymond Benson last book The Man With the Red Tattoo 2002. Raymond was taking a much need break after his last novel and Glidrose now Ian Fleming Publications decide to concentrate on reissuing Ian’s tomes for the 50th anniversary in 2003, subsequently they decide not to renew Raymond’s double-oh licence with no hard feelings on either side. However Bond books sales had slipped considerably over the years do more to the publishers mismanagement than to any other issue.
To make the books successful once more Bond would have to wait and then be rolled out in spectacular fashion, making the next book release an event to capture the imagination of the world and the fans pocketbook . This happened in 2008 with the memorable roll out of Sebastian Faulks stab at the world of 007. Where it all went wrong.
I do not how well Sebastian’s book sold, good marketing and slick packaging can sell almost anything. The problem for me was at the heart of Sebastian’s book Devil May Care (having read the book the answer to the title is ‘no he will not’) is that it was essentially a pulping of all of Ian’s writings and a cleaver word processor Pentium- iCore powered Something –or-other rearranged the words to make a new albeit dull and lifeless story.
Sebastian was not writing as Sebastion Faulks author, no he was writing as Ian Fleming! As a devoted fan a chill should have gone down my spine at the spectacular brilliance of it! However I was left feeling incredulous it seemed cheeky to wrap ones self in the trappings of a dead man’s legacy unbidden to continue the man’s life work.
Devil May Care was Ian Fleming Publications first attempt at restarting the book series, I can see why they thought it was a good idea, the book series after Ian's death had become cumbersome and convoluted trying to balance previous authors work as well as certain aspects of the movies series. The plan was to re-root the book franchise firmly by disregarding every that followed The Man With the Golden Gun Ian’s last 007 novel, the end result being Devil May Care a direct continuation of Golden Gun firmly set in the 1960s cold war era.
Sebastian may be a good mimic, indeed he gathered fame for his ability to mimic other authors, a short story of his imitating Ian is what brought him to the attention of the IFP. However he didn’t have the heart to successfully write a 007 adventure so the end result was a lukewarm effort not worthy of Ian or 007. Thankfully Sebastian gracefully bowed out of writing a sequel. Good to know some people involved with 007 know their limits
Sebastian’s departure bring us to 2011 and Jeffrey Deaver’s attempt at the world of 007 Carte Blanche. However Carte Blanche does not continue Ian’s life work rather it upends it by rebooting James Bond in the 21 century. This is Jeffrey’s Casino Royale, the question is does it work as such. I was dubious it would be worth the time to read, being a fan of Ian it was hard to see anyone could try to recreate his alter ego. However being a Bond fan I of course pre-order the book at Amazon.UK, it wasn’t a thought it was routine. A routine developed over a lifetime enjoying the fictional world of 007. (being such a amenable fan it makes me wonder how things ended up like this, me here and the producers of the movies series I love on the other side diametrically opposed to me, fighting so hard against me and common sense.)
There was a majesty to Ian tomes, he had a way with words that made his writing a treat to read over and over. A rarity in the modern world of book publishing. The world Ian created for his alter ego was not a gritty realistic one as we have been told in recent years, in fact every spy agency in existence decried Ian’s spy world as too fantastic, completely missing it was escapism fiction wrapping itself around the modern realities of the cold war only as a means to an end. Adventure!
Seeing as how adventure was the goal of Ian’s books, how does Jeffrey’s book measure up. Definitely, without giving away too many spoilers it was a breakneck ride that had the right combination of action and adventure for a 007 story.
If the story measures up the next and most important question is does his James Bond measure up? With some qualifications yes it is James Bond, however it is not Ian Fleming’s James Bond it is Jeffrey Devers’ James Bond an important distinction. Despite the modern trappings the world of James Bond is essentially the same. ‘M’, Moneypenny, Bill Tanner, Felix Leiter, Ms Goodnight, May (Bond's Scottish housekeeper) are present, accounted for and in proper order. Darvers 007 operates in the modern world, to reflect this something have changed in an attempted to keep them the same, James Bond is still a 00 agent with the rank of commander in the Navy, M is still his boss, he still fights to save the world, however how this is accomplished is rather different. Bond works for a off the books unofficial agency, ODG (Overseas Development Group). Bond is given operational Carte Blanch (thus the name) in concert with the ODG’s goal to protect the realm by any means necessary.
Given the current political realities it would be hard to imagine a 00 section not being well off the books and away from any plausible public scrutiny.
All of this works well, not perfect but the bare bones are correct, a very good frame to flesh out. One of the fascinating aspects of Ian’s stories was his real world experience, althou written as a fantasy a certain amount of Ian’s understanding and intuition flowed through the pages, a difficult task to recreate but Jeffrey does an admirable job, I think he must have done an inordinate amount of research on the intelligence world to write about it so casually. I love to learn from people with real world experience how correct his take on some of this is.
Jeffrey got a surprising amount correct, his writing style while not imitating Ian’s is surly inspired by Ian, with rich descriptions and lavish wordplay. One aspect hard to get correct is Bond’s automotive passion he is an aficionado, in some ways Ian writings were automotive porn, if Ian were alive today he be an executive producer on a show like Top Gear. Jeffrey Dever takes great joy in his automobile outings . Almost as much relish as he has describing 007’s observations and speculations about the opposite sex. While James maintains his appetites his humanity is brought forward a tough balancing act. 007 continues to be a consummate profession as he was in Ian’s tomes, like Casino Royale Bond is a young agent however he is seasoned by his years of experience in the double-oh branch. I think the core of the character was best described by ‘M’ ;Concisely summing up what is wrong with the rebooted Bond from EON productions. They cast precisely the wrong kind of Bond, Broccoli’s Bond is a Special Air chap who knows his way around a knife but is unsuitable for subtler situations. In many ways Carte Blanche is open condemnation of rebooted Bond. In all honestly if this book had been what was offered to us as Casino Royale in 2006 I wouldn’t nearly was upset with it. This may actually pave the way forward for the movies after Daniel Craig leaves.‘There’s no shortage of Special Air or Boat Service chaps about who know their way around a knife and sniper rifle. But they don’t necessarily fit into other, shall we say subtler, situations. And then there are plenty of talented Five and Six fellows who know the difference between . . .’ he glanced at Bond’s glass ‘. . . a Côte de Beaune and a Côte de Nuits and can speak French as fluently as they can Arabic –but who’d faint at the sight of blood, theirs or anyone else’s.’ The steel eyes zeroed in. ‘You seem to be a rather rare combination of the best of both.’
Where does it leave the book series, I truly do not know. While I enjoyed this book as a standalone it may not be worth the effort to promote it. If Jeffrey can pull 4 more like it while following the Bond story arc as set up by Fleming I believe it will be extremely rewarding series. Biggest complement I can offer Dever’s effort is to say I do believe his Bond is capable of meeting Tracy Di Vicenzo falling in love, defeating Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Doctor Julius No, Auric Goldfinger, Mr. Big, Aristotle Kristatos, Francisco (Paco) "Pistols" Scaramanga, all while being true to Ian’s original vision.
The one aspect that was monumental mistake was the inclusion of ‘Steel Cartridge’, to keep from giving it completely away it dealt with how Bond was made an orphan. This should be left well alone.
Overall I was surprised to be as taken with the book, even more so that an American wrote it! At the moment I have the euphoria of enjoying a book I was quietly dreading and may revise my opinion of it as time passes and rereading it. Jeffrey Dever has the passion to make a great Bond author, Sebastian Faulks’ dislike of James Bond was palpable on every page it was a mistake to go with a author who did not love what he was writing about.
This is Jeffrey’s take on Casino Royale, while not as good as the original to my mind I would recommend it as good Bond adventure althou it might not be to everyone’s taste.