Devil may care by Sebastian Faulks,for me hands down best continuation novel,almost more Fleming than Fleming.
Wished since it came out,that would be a film
Nice to read somebody being positive about the book, while it is not my favorite of the celebrity trilogy it is a fairly decent book and it reminded me of The David Niven spy movie about his Doctor Lovejoy. And as always it is easier to criticize somebody or something than looking for the good bits.
Ian Fleming is dead and we get at least new books and some are better than others. This one was enjoyable.
There was a rumor for a while that Devil May Care and/or Carte Blanche was going to be originally what Skyfall became. I would like to see more of the books get adapted instead of original screenplays as they have been more miss than hit right now. As I’ve said before and I’ll keep fighting for it, Bond does not have to always be solo. Other characters could work well in the spotlight (M in Skyfall). Bond always has allies, we should see their support and side of things. This can give the series new life in different ways. These two books could be a great place to start.
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Having re-read this book for the first time since 2008 upon its release I find that this particular books does go through the notions of the 007 book formula but never really finds it footing and feeling like 007 book like other writers certainly did. It is easily the weakest of the continuation series, Faulks is a decent writer but this book is certainly more of miss than a hit.
I do hope he did earn some decent money with the job, re-reading the book it failed to entertain me as most 007 books from other authors really do.
I found the setting in Iran really interesting but the baddie was so poor and the execution of his plans so dreadful bad. Fleming might have gotten away with this in the sixties but for a modern writer Faulks should have known better.
Saintmark.
Thought the complete opposite to you.IMO Faulks had Fleming off to a tee,his writing seemed effortless,with all the usual Bond features,have read it at least three times,easily the best continuation book.
Really hoped Barbara B would pick it up for EON.
Just goes to show.
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One of the great wasted opportunities in DMC:
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Agreed. The climax should have been aboard the ekranoplan, as we’d already seen an airborne climax of that ilk in Goldfinger. Storming around this craft as it skims out of control across the Caspian - with an atomic bomb aboard- would have really been something.
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Exactly. The other great missed opportunity is the fact that he has Bond crash land a plane in the middle of the Soviet Union of 1967 (!) and has him make his almost effortless way through the country and escape within some two dozen pages. A situation that would have been good for a whole new book…
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…like the one that could have come between YOLT and TMWTGG?
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Just finished a Devil May Care reread for the first time in God knows how long. I remembered very little from it so I was able to attack it with fresh eyes. Overall thoughts? It flies but it’s a mess. Ideas are introduced and barely explored, characters are echoes of either their Fleming counterparts or other existing Fleming characters, and every single time something interesting is introduced, it’s almost self-consciously dropped in short order and swept aside, seemingly for the sake of momentum.
One of the more curious concepts that gets more or less abandoned is Faulks’ use of the Caspian Sea Monster, a terrifying piece of technology from the middle of the 20th century. I was expecting some kind of showdown on the vessel and was stunned with how it ultimately comes into play, or more accurately, how it totally doesn’t come into play at all.
Meanwhile, Bond himself is a curious figure throughout. As he looks in a mirror at one point early on and asks himself if he’s past his prime, I was immediately reminded of Skyfall, which I have to say handles this beat a whole lot better. Bond is amusingly quick to revert back to his old ways once the mission begins. In theory this makes sense, but the way it’s described results in less of a picture of a man who needs danger to stay vital, and more of a middle aged guy who should probably take it easy with the booze saying screw it and picking up the bottle again. His characterization, on the whole, is confusing, almost dimmed in some way. One moment in particular blew my mind, where he says to a certain character, essentially, “the path ahead is too easy, therefore, it’s probably a trap,” and then strolls right into the room anyway, leading to his immediate capture. This was just one of many moments peppered throughout that similarly elicited a silent “Huh?” from me.
On the plus side, as I said, this book reads easily and it flies. I hammered through it in half a day. I like the locations he describes (bold move planting the bulk of this in the Middle East in 2008 and predominately having the locals serve as allies) and there is an escapist flair to the enterprise that I find hard not to like. Still, compared to some of what we’ve gotten since (and slim though current pickings may be) this is not on the strong side of the continuation novel spectrum.
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Life. Is. Too short.
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Here’s my old review on Devil May Care.
This list is wrong. Sebastian Faulks should be at the bottom of the list. I just finished Devil May Care. Faulks pulled a Superman Returns/Star Wars The Force Awakens with this book. It just feels like a greatest hits book. I’ll give him points in two areas: him breaking out of his comfort zone and writing a thriller. Even though he didn’t really succeed on a action level. Second, his characterization of Dr. Julius Gorner. When Barbara Broccoli said Safin would the villain to get under Bond’s skin, she lied. Of recent Bond villains across all media, Julius Gorner and Kobus Breed are by far worse human beings. At least their authors didn’t try to make them sympathetic. Overall, I liked Scarlett as a Bond girl. I wish she was in the story more. I also wish that Bond could have shared some scenes with Felix Leiter and Rene Mathis. Just for the sake of showing their friendships. Final thoughts, I’m happy with the book, but I’m even more happy that Sebastian Faulks didn’t comeback. He doesn’t seem fond of his time with Bond, he never answers Tweets about it and heavily criticized Skyfall. At least Jeffery Deaver tried something different with Carte Blanche. And respects the fans of his time with James Bond. The number one thing I hope IFP learned from the experience is that NO ONE can write as Ian Fleming.
He comes off as a bit full of himself. As you said, DMC is an easy read. It feels like a stereotype of a James Bond story of any media. Dr Julius Gorner is a decent villain, with Bond villain stereotypes, and rehashes of what we’ve seen and read before. Scarlett Papava is a great Bond woman and her plot twist did work for me. Skyfall did a better job of “Bond getting old and going through tough life experiences.” All in all, at least it is a Bond adventure, in the simplest way. And sometimes, the easiest way is the best way, in the long run.
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