I’m really hoping the next era of the cinematic brand doesn’t resemble this book’s ideas. I’m okay with doing something new, but some things just won’t click with me, such as reducing Q to a computer, among other things. It remains to be seen if Bond really did die, both as a character and a brand, at the conclusion of NTTD. Fingers crossed they get what happens next right, considering the legacy we’re dealing with. They’ve done so successfully before, so I’m sure they can do it again.
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Wow, my enthusiasm for this has really disappeared ever since that Telegraph review. Pretty much everything that’s coming out about it sounds like ideas from very poor fan fiction and is really not something that appeals to me - Bond “universe” (ugh) or not.
I’ll probably give it a go (and hope to be proved wrong), but I’ve actually cancelled my signed hardcover pre-order and will just get the cheaper kindle version.
Wasn’t one of the points about the film, SPECTRE, that, admittedly, the evil-doer wanted was to replace the 00 section with drones? And Q himself says in Skyfall that he could do more …etc.etc.
Let’s see how both this and the volcanic career trajectory of Miss Moneypenny are played out.
Currently the biggest problem I have is making one of the characters’ names, Joanna Harwood. Bearing in mind these books will likely be read entirely by the truly dedicated, this name will already be well known. While Fleming put his buddies’ names into the books, no one knew them except him. This exercise is like Fleming making one his agents’ names, John Buchan! Unfortunately this is how I now see this gimmick being perpetuated. Restraint is needed.
Anyway, Kim is engaged, enthusuastic and I wish both her and the exercise well.
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Judging from all those bits, I just get the feeling that she was much too keen on those “wink-wink” names and defying expectations by very “outside the box”-ideas, thinking that this would generate interest.
It diminished mine.
And I realize that I constantly justify the films for adapting Fleming to our times.
But again, Moneypenny becoming M is just a too cute idea, having 00´s who criticize Bond for his use of his license to kill seems unbelievable (they don’t just get that license themselves for nothing, they killed twice in the line of duty), and Q as a supercomputer reminds me of some 80´s high concept action fantasy.
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It’s very Saturday morning kids cartoons.
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Yes! I’m immediately reminded of the old James Bond, Jr cartoon. It’s a silly spy-fi conceit that feels very juvenile to me personally.
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Starring The Hoff and his talking Pontiac?
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One way of looking at it is that computer Q allows Sherwood to reference the character while maintaining the tradition of excluding him from the novels, much as Gardner did with Q’ute.
From that perspective, I actually like the decision. It would perhaps be more an affront to literary Bond to write a living, breathing Q.
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I would just suggest that maintaining traditions and not providing affronts to the literary character is maybe not a priority with this series 
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Sounds like she watched 2001 while she was writing.
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I see that now: maybe Q will be a villain in the future! Remember, Stanley Kubrick was a Bond alumni himself. Helping lighting on TSWLM.
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David Leigh at the James Bond Dossier has an interesting take on ‘Double or Nothing’ in his review - that with IFP losing their rights to Fleming’s work and Bond in 2035 that maybe they are trying to branch out into things beyond the James Bond character…
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A well-written review which underlines problems I already speculated on.
As for the public domain - it is a horribly strange way to deal with artistic ownership. Everybody will be able to publish a Bond novel soon. That is not right.
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Have to say I like the general idea of setting this a bit into the future. Though from the review I get the feeling this might have profited from editing and reworking the kinks out of the tale. Many books these days do.
Anyway, we shall see.
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I may well be wrong about this, and am content to be proven so of course, but regardless of the copyright thing, “James Bond” and “007” are registered trademarks licensed to IFP Ltd so whilst the copyright in the original Fleming stories is finite, good luck on not being sued for passing off if using “James Bond” and/or “007” to profit from. At least in the UK, or what’s left of it in a few years’ time.
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@Jim is right. Flemings books run out because that’s how copyright works, but Danjaq own James Bond 007 as trademarks.
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So - unlicensed “new” James Bond 007 stories will be caught by that.
Use of the original Fleming stories after 1 Jan 2035 might be free of copyright restrictions but probably damn all one could do with them given the trademark thing.
I suspect Danjaq has “some” lawyers and they are very well future-proofed.
One conspiracy theory which I shall now irresponsibly start is that given that copyright over a film expires 70 years after the death of a limited number of people involved in its creation, including the author of dialogue, giving Bond a young child and if any of the actress’ dialogue (the mysterious stuff about mosquitos does chime oddly) was improvised by her… perhaps that’s a bit thin.
The existence of the film series and all those continuation novels weren’t about art; it is all an exercise in protecting and elongating intellectual property rights to exploit to micron-thin ends.
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Yep, Is the nature of a trademark. As long as the owner is definitely using it, no-one else can touch it.
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Accordingly, this is why JAMES BOND WILL RETURN albeit it’s not the sunshiniest of reasons. That statement appearing at the end of No Time to Die is as much a warning to those otherwise tempted to infringe, thinking that as they’ve killed him that 's all come to an end, as it is a cheery expression that there will be anything new to say about James Bond, which there probably hasn’t been since about 1969.
No, Timmy, they do it for the art.
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What happens when you aren’t careful with copyright…
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