So…the sub-plot of Spectre.
The subplot of Spectre was replacing human agents with drones? I thought Moriarty wanted to set up a shadow government in the form of a global intelligence agency, which made MI-6 itself “obsolete,” not people per se? But I confess to not being totally fascinated by the story, so I may have missed something.
Yep, it’s what C was saying, constant surveillance and removal of the human element, all from a private benefactor- SPECTRE
Ok, so today’s gripe is that Bond is using too much of his MI6 team to help him rather than doing everything himself. Phone calls to Moneypenny and an earpiece connected to London were cited as examples.
Did Bond never have a Quartermaster providing him with tools of the trade? Did he never wire London for extra funds or dossiers of enemies? Was he never told to meetup with supporting characters such as Mathis or Leiter for assistance?
It just seems like fans have a very solid view of what a Bond story should be, and they just want that repeated over and over. Don’t you think that would get pretty damn stale after awhile?
Could, and did. Most of the series is the same story told over and over.
I agree it got ridiculous sending Bond off to some exotic locale or other, only to round a corner and find Q waiting there for him with an arsenal of gadgets. I often wondered if the other Double-Os got the same treatment (M: "Well, good luck, 007. Moneypenny, Q and I are off to Cairo now to pass along some information to 004, then it’s off to Mozambique for a chat with 002. ") The 70s and 80s may not have had e-mail, but surely there was a telegraph? Land lines? Western Union? England sure had deep pockets to buy all those plane tickets.
My gripe now is that no matter how far you send Bond, he never seems far from home, so travel loses its exoticism. Sure he’s racing through Italian streets, but he’s chatting with Moneypenny, who’s raiding her fridge for leftovers. It just feels so pedestrian.
Well see you can fix that by having a story set in 1950 when we didn’t have internet but that didn’t go over so well, either.
And that’s my point, really. We can’t box a writer like Horowitz so far in that he can’t get a little creative and keep things fresh.
I can see what people mean about the earpiece usage. I see what people mean about the agent tracking technology. I think SPECTRE balanced this type of portrayal rather well though. The technology still exists (Smart Blood) but Bond finds a way to convince Q to hide his true location from M - which is a roguish thing he would do. He finds a way to rebel against authority.
Earpiece or smart blood - both are susceptible to being tracked by the enemy, so it all only has a short span of usage.
But I prefer Bond to be on his own, only reporting in when he needs to.
I am curious how Horowitz will depict Bond´s relationship towards M, Moneypenny and Q in this prequel. Will the author be affected by the current “family modus” or will he stick to Fleming´s idea of an employee respecting but also often disliking his superior?
I suspect he’ll stick closer to the Fleming mould. And I assume we will get a flirtatious Bond meets Moneypenny for the first time sequence.
A month after this book is released, Anthony Horowitz has another book coming out where crimes are solved by “celebrated novelist Anthony Horowitz.” 
This was out over a year ago in the UK, Publishing deals are wierd. Have The Magpie Murders come out for you yet? It’s a similar, yet better executed, concept by Horrowitz. He (HUGE SPOILER) seemed to get quite obsessed with flawed narrator after Moriarty.
Yeah, I just don’t understand “Forever” being released in the U.K. in May but US in November, when we can just order the U.K. version on Amazon, which I’ve done.
And yep, “Magpie” came out last summer.
That is wierd, it’s like his publishers don’t know amazon and FedEx exist.
It’s probably a sign of the sales they expect. They know the hardcore fans will not wait and order directly. In return the US publisher will likely put more emphasis on getting copies to retail stores.
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Gardner’s For Special Services (1982) also had a several month gap. Curiously, you Yanks got to read it first before the Brits.
U.S. first hardback edition: April 1982 Coward, McCann & Geoghegan
U.K. first hardback edition: September 1982 Jonathan Cape
I wonder if that is why Dynamite hasn’t given any updates on their 007 “origins” comic series. However, the Casino Royale graphic novel hasn’t been moved thankfully.
Overall point I’m trying to make here, do you think we could be getting some of Bond’s WW2 adventures told to us in here?
It is a potential reason why. I think also with Origins they need to clear more things with IFP than the modern set Bond comics. I finally got a response from them in November on why nothing had been solicited yet. Full details over in the comics topic: Drawn to 007 - Dynamite’s new hardcovers and beyond - #69 by Double-0-Slevin
Cover art has been released.
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Clever image - I like the visual misdirection. Expecting a bullet? It’s a boat, folks.
Indicative of the book? Maybe its not what we expect for a Bond novel?