Just noticed this is only £3.99 on amazon.co.uk. Bargain!
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Wow! That’s a great deal. Too bad it’s only through the UK Amazon and unavailable through the US store.
I wasn’t sure this was worth another thread so have popped it here.
Apparently Licence Renewed is being brushed off for a reprint and has another author, M J Arlidge, writing a foreword. He is asked;
“How did you feel being approached to pen the introduction to John Gardner’s first 007 novel? How long did it take?”
“Obviously I was incredibly honoured. I have to confess I hadn’t read Licence Renewed so it was a great thrill to dive into a new and exciting Bond adventure. It didn’t take me long to write the introduction - I’ve been longing to write about Bond for years.”
Call me rotten, but how can one be honoured to do something about which one knows nothing? I must admit to never having heard of Mr Arlidge but I wonder if a foreword might have been made more meaningful by A Someone who has long advertised a deep love for Gardner’s work.
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They didnt ask me.
Wisely.
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Yesterday I found a stack of Gardner’s Bond novels at a resale store. Only $1.99 each!
I already have Licensed Renewed, Role of Honor, and Brokenclaw in hardback and Icebreaker, Death Is Forever, Licence To Kill, GoldenEye and Cold/Coldfall in paperback. I only need The Man From Barbarossa, Never Send Flowers, and SeaFire to have them all.
Now that I have so many of them in hardback I’m going to try and find hardback copies of my paperbacks as well.
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I’m really surprised that CrossCult is still going on with the continuation novels (actually, I’m still surprised that they started doing them in the first place). They never sold well in Germany, so investing in new translations and new cover designs is a bold move.
And also, hats of to them for the fact that they continued with the Michael Gilette covers for Amis and Gardner (which IFP did not) - they even had him paint new ones for some of the Flemings, when the German titles wouldn’t have worked with the original designs. And while we never had a consistent looking of Bond novels in Germany (not even the Flemings, as the rights were held by different publishers), we now have one that goes from Fleming to Gardner. Haven’t heard of plans for the Bensons or others, yet. Hope they continue.
In related news, the German reissue of COLD has been pushed to January…
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I remember talking to them back in the day when the Fleming edition started. Cross Cult really seem dedicated to the fanbase - but that’s probably the only way you can run a publishing house specialised on the niche and beyond-mainstream of comics/mangas and novels, often game-related too.
Still, these things have to sell, ideally for a profit. Huge kudos for putting all that effort and labour into this edition!
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Agreed. If anyone hasn’t read the Gardner novels and is disappointed at the current Bond drought, I’d advise giving these a read.
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