I always felt Raymond Benson’s plots were on the whole better than John Gardner’s. On the other hand, I always felt Gardner’s writing/prose was better than Benson’s. Regardless, I enjoyed both author’s tenures as a whole though the latter half of Gardner’s run wasn’t as good as his first while Benson’s was consistent all the way through. And Gardner’s Nobody Lives Forever and novelization of Licence To Kill and Benson’s High Time To Kill and Doubleshot are among the best Bond novels ever written.
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Help me out here but isn’t Felix Leiter a very bland character whose only purpose was to be Bond‘s ally and clean-up guy whenever Bond wreaked havoc in the US?
Sure, there is the hook incident and in the movies coupled with the murder of his bride shortly after the wedding… woah, wait a minute - didn‘t this happen to Bond, too?
So why should a Felix Leiter storyline actually be interesting, unless he turns into Bond‘s enemy, giving that limey all the blame for his misery?
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Yeah, seems a bit scrabbling around to see where there are “gaps” and filling them with undemanding / undemanded content.
One could take a purist view that if there had been anything interesting to say about Leiter, it would have been said. There to make Bond look groovy, and not much else beyond his actions and reactions being necessary for exposition even if that makes not for a consistent characterisation, but enables the author to write himself out of a hole.
How Leiter ends up on the spot to rescue Bond and Tiffany after Spectreville, at Fort Knox, at Scaramanga’s hotel - ludicrous, really.
Thin, distracting plot device to enable Fleming to be very, very rude about America whilst having a fictional American of whom he approves, to avoid too much flak. It’s not too far off having a Noble Slave figure.
Still, it’s content and we must genuflect accordingly.
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I’ve been reading Benson’s Bedside Companion (slowly) the past few months, and a thought just occurred to me: that book was published in 1984. And with a new novel coming out this year, Benson has been writing and publishing about Bond longer than anyone ever has. (Yes, Gardner’s tenure as a continuation author was longer, but I’m talking about the overall span of time, not the output or the density.) Aside from Michael G Wilson, he might be the individual whose association with the franchise spanned the longest amount of time.
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That’s a fun thing to think about.
Barbara Broccoli edges him I think as she got her first screen credit with OP in '83. I guess it depends on when you count her association ending, if it has even ended at all.
Tsai Chin comes really close as she was in YOLT and CR.
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We shouldn’t forget Desmond Llewelyn’s virtually continuous 36 years from From Russia With Love to The World Is Not Enough either. But the top dog for James Bond tenure length–films or books–has to be Michael G. Wilson.
On the literary side, if we’re going by a continuous run, the top man has be John Gardner. But if we’re going by straight length by years, then, as Tiin007 said, Raymond Benson would be the guy.
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As I’ve said before, this proves that IFP can have multiple writers working on Bond books at a single time. I wonder if IFP is going to build off the first chapter of the book, as it does release a day before Ian Fleming’s birthday. It also makes me wonder who else is working on Bond books now, as both Raymond Benson and Vaseem Kahn were already working on there books almost a year before their announcements.
To have multiple writers working on “Bond” books at a single time, IFP would have to actually have a James Bond book in the works. 
They’re proving now that they can have multiple writers wasting their time “fleshing” out paper-thin characters that don’t have any business being the main characters of a story. I certainly hope the Desmond Llewelyn estate is getting residuals for this Q book, as he’s the only reason anyone cares at all about Q.
At least we know now what the ultimate endgame of the ridiculous argument that you can’t have a James Bond film without Q, Moneypenny, and so on. That endgame being that you apparently can’t have one without those characters, but you can have a “James Bond” film/novel without James Bond. Well, I guess, as was said in TND, “Give the people what they want.”
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New interview and information with Raymond Benson. New The Hook and the Eye information starts at 13:09.
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Well, it’s May, the birth month of Ian Fleming. I think an announcement might be possible.
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Could be.
But I suspect if Amazon really wants to go into litBond - almost sure they will, why would they leave that branch dormant? - it will certainly dovetail with their cinematic version, whatever that may happen to look like. There’s a distant possibility they’ve already got a clearer view of what they want their Bond to be like. But that could surely be subject to change once the director is on board and the scrip develops.
I wouldn’t mind being wrong on this, though and getting some unexpected news.
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Since Talk of the Devil will be published this month, the only other publication I want from IFP is Ian Fleming’s Moonraker script from 1956, whose details were tantalizingly described by Ajay Chowdhury in MI6 Confidential #74. Maybe they can also throw in some of Fleming’s treatments and outlines for the aborted Bond TV series and what became Thunderball.
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I agree. Moonraker turns 70 this year, so there’s no better time to do it. I was hoping that Dynamite Comics would do their version this year, but I don’t think they are going to publish Bond comics anymore. It’s been almost a year since Gail Simone announced her run on Bond. We haven’t heard anything since. Plus, the license was for 10 years with IFP. I still think that there will be surprise announcements from IFP in the next couple of years.
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Yeah. Complete radio silence from Dynamite and IO Interactive with a pause button hit on the character of James Bond. It feels like the main man won’t be reactivated until Amazon’s movie hits the big screen.
Off topic, but I kind of like the idea Project 007 gets reworked into Bond 7’s origin story and is released alongside the film. Once the new actor is announced they could scan his likeness into the game.
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Memorandum sent 8/5/2025
Classification: Gold level (For Your Eyes Only)
To our agents in the field,
Today, May 8th, is Victory in Europe Day – also known as VE Day – which marks Germany’s official surrender in 1945 at the close of the Second World War. Indeed, 2025 marks 80 years since the end of the war. It is a chance to reflect, and to celebrate the freedoms we continue to enjoy today. After all, our service knows a thing or two about the sacrifices required to ensure the safety of a nation.
As we look to the past, Ian Fleming Publications have just shared word of a new book that they’ll be publishing this autumn, inspired by a true story. Are you familiar with the tale of the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree? You should be: the Chief of Staff does so enjoy telling it at our annual Christmas party. For those not in the know, Ian Fleming was one of the key figures in a military operation that resulted in a Christmas tree being placed in Trafalgar Square, commencing the annual tradition that endures to this day.
The Soldier and the Christmas Tree, publishing on September 25th, takes this story as its seed and from there weaves a heartwarming tale of family, war, and the magic of Christmas. A perfect seasonal read, this gorgeous hardback novella will also include an essay on the real-life historical incident, and will be sized to fit perfectly within a stocking.
In other news, if the walls of your living quarters are looking a little bare, then do take a look at the new limited edition art print available from artist Michael Gillette, featuring the cover design for his 2024 hardback edition of Casino Royale– it’s as beautiful as Vesper herself.
Agents are reminded that The Hook and the Eye, the new Felix Leiter adventure by Raymond Benson, will begin releasing as a digital serial later this month. You can catch up with the briefing about it here.
And finally for those of you who are UK-based and looking to expand your digital library, be aware that during the month of May you can pick up Agent Kim Sherwood’s thrilling A Spy Like Me for just 99p on Kindle here.
Merry Christmas,
Miss Moneypenny
https://mailchi.mp/ianfleming/tsatct_announcement?e=96674ae08a
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Merry Christmas?
Pfft.
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So hoping they will also make a Bond Christmas Calendar again.
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Seems Christmas isn’t currently a priority with whatever powers decide such things. 
Memorandum sent 19/5/2025
Classification: Gold level (For Your Eyes Only)
Dear colleagues,
I was recently required to attend a special oversight committee where the subject under discussion was the ongoing ‘licence to kill’ enjoyed by MI6’s Double O section. Given that we here at Q Branch serve as chief armourers to the Double Os, my presence was considered expedient. It seems that some are querying the right of our field agents to prosecute their orders with extreme prejudice. Never mind that our foes may be out to destroy the world or that the Double Os themselves are often sent in to face almost certain death in pursuit of their objectives.
The fact is that assassination has long been a vital component of any self-respecting intelligence agency’s toolkit. Indeed, Section 7 of the 1994 Intelligence Services Act explicitly offers protection to field agents involved in actions that might otherwise be considered criminal: bribery, kidnap, torture and murder. And, in 007’s case, blowing things up wholesale. It goes without saying that MI6 employ this licence with great care. The Double Os are surgical operatives, and each kill is properly vetted and authorised.
Nor are we alone in our philosophy. The Americans have long believed in the negotiating power of the gun. During Fidel Castro’s long reign numerous attempts were made by the CIA to bring a full stop to the Cuban leader’s activities. The many colourful assassination methods have gained notoriety in the intelligence community – some of you may recall the Channel 4 documentary 638 Ways to Kill Castro - from exploding cigars to poisonous fountain pens to hired mobsters. My personal favourite: an attempt to destroy Castro’s image by arranging for his shoes to be dusted with thallium salts, the hope being that this would lead to his beard falling out. Not exactly murder, but perhaps even more grievously wounding.
Finally, congratulations to WILL D. for correctly ascertaining the answer to the puzzle in my previous memo, and for being fortunate enough to be picked at random from all the correct entries. The answer, of course, was HAL 9000 (or just HAL), the name of the computer from 2001: A Space Odyssey, the film that inspired David Bowie’s Space Oddity. Below you will find this edition’s puzzle. Good luck!
Sincerely,
Major Boothroyd
Head of Q Branch
P.S. Here is this edition’s puzzle. One ‘winner’ shall be picked at random from all correct entries and will be mentioned in my following memo. MI6 Archives shall rustle up a book to send to you* Pot luck, I’m afraid! Fill in this formto enter… This month’s puzzle is as follows:
What is the name of the deadly handgun that Bond was given (by Major Boothroyd!) in the novel Dr. No*?*
*UK entrants only, alas
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Am I the only one who finds the cheerful manner in which these things are being described a bit disturbing?
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I read it twice because on first inspection it seemed like a pretty cheery endorsement of assassination in a way that weirdly blurred the lines between fiction and reality. This one probably should have been vetted a bit better.
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