I also wonder whether that may have been the reason behind the sudden end of the ‘rebooted’ Bond of Carte Blanche. The sole reason for a reboot must surely be the intention to spin it on into a fresh series. Fresh after a fashion. But for a simple one-off none of Deaver’s changes and reimagined elements would have been necessary. Like the recent comics he could simply have set his Bond in modern day like most other continuation authors did.
From the copyright angle however this could be tricky. Eon’s films call it ‘Ian Fleming’s James Bond 007 in…’ The literary reboot however would create a Jeffery Deaver’s James Bond (with Ian Fleming’s in mind). Maybe the solicitors saw a possible hole appearing in the copyright if that was allowed to go on.
Deaver seemed like he wanted to do more in his series, so copyright worries seems as good a reason as any they didn’t continue. I always assumed it just didn’t sell as well as it’s predecessors.
Some fans quite liked it and also bought the general idea. I haven’t seen actual figures but I would think it hasn’t sold so much worse than the Sebastian Faulks one. Deaver is probably a bigger name in the thriller market and his fans will have added to the sales. Carte Blanche could have been just as well an ‘ordinary’ continuation, it would fit easily into Gardner’s MicroWhatever habitat and you likely wouldn’t spot there’s been a number of other books in between.
So I think there would probably have been some reason outside sales figures that stopped the reboot dead in its tracks.
I was under the impression that with Carte Blanche IFP tried to repeat the Casino Royale success by rebooting the literary series. The plan failed simply because it was (sorry, I know many of you like Deaver’s effort) a terrible, terrible novel. So they shifted to 60s Bond, which apparently worked.
Personally I never felt the need neither to reboot the novels nor set them in original timeline. The biggest problem is that we’re only getting one in three years, which is not enough to keep readers’ interest.
Although I enjoyed carte blanche, I kept on thinking, "the apps on James bonds smart phone are amazing but how will he survive if the battery runs out, or it was ten years earlier, and smart phones had not existed?
I had already forgotten about the apps.
What I found irritating about this version of Bond was that he - very sensibly - drives around with his empty gun tucked away in the boot. Fine.
But what is the use of letting Bond strolling around armed - when he’s not actually armed? He’s not supposed to be active on his home turf anyway; so if he is he’s already with one foot outside his brief. Does it matter if he’s also not keeping to gun handling protocols?
The whole idea - dating back to Fleming - that Bond puts on a chamois leather holster like he puts on his watch was a bit illogical: either he’s constantly expecting to be the target of a SMERSH retaliation op - nothing in his behaviour points to this: Bond often drives to work hungover and with little regard for his own security.
Or he doesn’t have a reason to expect trouble and could just as well leave the gun at home. Or in his car, where he actually hides a non-registered - illegal - one. It would be there if he decides to shoot a billionaire while racing him to his private rocket base. So Bond needn’t bother with the holster and the shooting iron while he nurses the nicks in his face (from shaving with a trembling hand).
But what makes positively 100 percent zero sense is Bond having his gun empty and secure in his boot while the opposition starts giving him trouble.
As always Dustin brings up very valid points. But Carte Blanche was an enjoyable good read. Excluding Colonel Sun it was my favorite continuation novel until Anthony Horwitz came along.
Add my vote for “James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me” as the best of the novelizations. I remember coming across a paperback version in the early 1980s on a second hand book sale table at a local village fete and devouring it, ignoring all pleading to drop that book and come to the dinner table. I am fairly certain I had yet to read any Fleming 007 (the first of which was an old Pan version of “Goldfinger”) ,which might explain why I think Woods 1977 effort is right up there as the best of not only the novelizations but of the continuation novels as a whole.
It just strikes me that the absence of novelisations is particularly sad with Craig’s run. The tie-in to CASINO ROYALE could beef up on M’s doubts about promoting Bond (Is a transfer to a post with a good chance to save the Chancellor of the Exchequer the pension expenses even considered a promotion?).
The SKYFALL one could make good use of M’s career at the China desk and her star pupil Silva. And SPECTRE’s novelisation should definitely tell us how 009 came to his particular preferences in music…
Seriously, I would like to see this tackled some time in the future. Not even as traditional novelisations but as one longer novel.
So I’m two chapters in to Christopher Wood’s TSWLM and wow…I was not expecting anything like this. For years I’ve seen everyone touting how good it is but man, so far it absolutely lives up to the hype. This is some really high quality writing.
I think that now Daniel Craig is done, and since all his movies connect, they should write them into one big novel. They could write it Moonraker style, with each movie being the day of week, in style to MR. An author that could write it would be Bruce Feirstein. He’s had success with writing Bond movies and video games, why not give him a big book to try? He could even put in Bloodstone, as that’s his work as well. Maybe title it: Once Upon a Spy, as a homage to Skyfall’s original title.
Also, Everything or Nothing should have been adapted in a novelization by Raymond Benson.
I’m not sure IFP would seriously consider returning to the novelisation business. It would mean sharing part of the profits with the authors of the original scripts and that’s already a hurdle. The market is also a problem; who would even be interested to read the retelling of a film (that’s already x years old)? We’re likely looking at a fraction of the hardcore fanbase here. Difficult.
The only chance to give such an idea momentum was a massively promoted ‘event’ book by a hugely popular household name with x bestsellers under their belt. Such writers don’t come cheap and are rarely interested in tasks where their own creativity isn’t in demand.
Overall not much chance such a concept would take off.
I remember watching SKYFALL at the cinema on the day of its release and thinking " how did he get back from Turkey to London? Who was the girl he was with in Turkey? How much time had passed etc. The novel would have explained all that …
The only thing Christopher Wood’s JBAM ‘explained’ was why NASA was sending a space shuttle to England. No explanation for how a 200m space station could be built in orbit without anyone noticing. All it would have taken was one IRS accountant to notice vast expenditures on Drax’s dark projects, one TDRSS technician to notice multiple launches occurring constantly all over the world - and a kid with a ‘Juniour Astronomer’ telescope - to make someone suspicious.
I’ve noticed each author’s first effort is their best. When they realize nobody really cares about the book beyond its value as a film tie-in, less work goes into them. Compare Benson’s TND with his DAD and you’ll see what I mean.
I read the novel of DAD on the flight from London to Sydney Via Bangkok In April 2003. I liked how he explained how Bond travelled from Hong Kong to Cuba and how he got through Heathrow airport, which was of course cut from the movie. I must admit the “extra scenes” of bond escaping from the medical centre and traveling to Hong Kong ,lack the impact of him arriving in his pyjamas!