Horowitz and Higson always speak well in regards to their work, and certainly Sherwood has been good at giving informed views and insight into her work since she was announced, so I’m sure this was quite entertaining.
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Does anybody know how many copies this book has sold so far?
I don’t know of any way to check that but if it means anything… it’s currently about the 1,600th best belling book on Amazon UK
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Two of the sold copies on my shelf; I’ve done my duty.
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So, it’s been about a month and a half since you lucky lot in the U.K. were able to get a copy, and I’m wondering if any of y’all has had a chance to read it yet? Still on the fence about ordering a hard copy from across the pond or waiting until April for the U.S. release, and I was hoping someone would have posted a review and/or shared their thoughts on the book.
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On the other Bond blog site, mi6community.com people have been reading it. It seems to be more positive than negative. There some flaws definitely. I was shared spoilers, but I don’t mind. Lots of Easter Eggs, both to past books and movies. Some unexpected classic characters return. There is one thing that will truly upset some Bond fans. A lot of them are looking forward to Book 2. Kim Sherwood is generally considered a worthy James Bond Universe author.
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Thanks, Max!!! Trying to avoid spoilers, so I’ll skip the MI6 community reviews.
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For those of us in the U.S. it’s $27.30 shipped from Amazon UK or $28.99 on Amazon US next April so there’s not much reason to wait. You might even still get that limited edition gold cover… 
I finished it about a week or two ago and I liked it for the most part. Interestingly, the books that it reminded me the most of were the Moneypenny Diaries. As with those you had Bond looming like a shadow over the book, but really the focus is on the other members of the MI6 office team. I know folks here were a little up in arms about Q being a quantum computer, but it’s actually handled quite well.
Spoiler-Filled Review
Similar to the Moneypenny Diaries, there intrigue involving a mole in MI6, and while the tension is well done, I really didn’t like how they treated poor Bill Tanner. I mean it was gutsy of Sherwood to actually have the mole be one of Fleming’s creations, as opposed to Samantha Weinberg creating a character to be the mole.
I actually liked how they did the timeline, where you had Miles Messervy, Major Boothroyd and this new M representing one generation, Bond, Moneypenny, and Tanner as another generation, and then the new 00s and Q branch as the next generation. It was also interesting to see how Sherwood separated the Double O section out from Vauxhall Cross so that you could still have the old offices at Regent’s Park co-existing with Vauxhall.
In terms of characters, I liked 003 and 004, but my favorite by far was 009, and I think most of my adverse reaction to the book is his death. It served to propel the story forward and it definitely wasn’t a throwaway death, but as he was the character I most related to, it definitely disappointed me that I wouldn’t see more of him going forward in the trilogy.
In regards to Q, I actually liked how it was done. Q Branch still exists beyond the quantum computer. Q is not sentient, so it acts more as an information gathering tool than a quartermaster itself.
Honestly, I think what I’m looking forward to most with the next two books is seeing how Sherwood actually handles writing Bond, beyond a few short flashbacks here. The focus clearly will be split between 003 and 004 going forward, but I do hope Bond himself will be brought back into the forefront in the next book.
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Summary
I have the feeling that fans are going see Bill Tanner’s betrayal as a reference to John Logan’s script for Spectre. I personally think it will be looked at as similar to Jim Phelps in Mission Impossible 1. A backlash will probably be coming, as if there is one against this series already. I think that Bond will appear, in a style similar to Luke at the end of The Force Awakens. It could be in the next book or at the end of the trilogy. There are more Star Wars predictions/connections. I wonder if Blofeld and Spectre are the real masterminds behind it. Like Palpatine in The Rise of Skywalker. Rattenfänger and Sir Bertram Paradise are part of Spectre as a whole. I hope Felix Leiter and Tiger Tanaka get more action in the next stories. One last thing: could Dynamite Comics’ Felix Leiter comic book story be canon with the trilogy? I feel it could be a great prequel for this series!
Better than nothing. They do care about their fans. We should start a 70th anniversary thread and see what happens starting on January 1st, 2023. For IFP’s new CR 70th anniversary edition (which seems like a given at this point), they should release all the forewords of previous people: Jeffery Deaver, Anthony Horowitz and even Sir Roger Moore!
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https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj5OVZZD5VB/
US Cover. I like it better than the other one.
https://twitter.com/kimtsherwood/status/1583064517617278976
https://twitter.com/kimtsherwood/status/1587132902508199938
I think we’ll get a title when DON releases in the US. At least we’ll have one new adventure of Bond related material. Not including Dynamite Comics stories. 2023 should be a good year for Bond fans, in many unique ways.
I’ve actually read the first few chapters!
I’m currently in hospital, waiting on surgery on my foot tomorrow,so brought it with me…
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Good luck with everything!
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Thanks! The joy of being “silvertoe”
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Shades of the girl from u.n.c.le
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Safe surgery Silvertoe!
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Thanks very much! Came around from surgery earlier but still feel like I’ve got a very bad hangover or been hit by a truck! Not really able to concentrate on reading tonight as I keep dozing on and off
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Going off topic, surgery was performed yesterday, and they removed some metal from the previous operation,from my toe and debrided and cleaned up the infected other areas of my foot, they are going to follow up with some more surgery tomorrow,to clean up and patch up what they did yesterday…
The name SILVERTOE may no longer be appropriate
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