The key for Horowitz may perhaps be found outside Bond.
In Britain he is by now a household name, contributing to such classics as Midsummer Murders and Poirot as well as creating Foyle’s War and New Blood, amongst which Midsummer Murders is perhaps the most successful export. He came to be known abroad via his Young Adult series and more recently to some extent for his two Holmes books.
But what I think was his breakthrough was in fact his own Hawthorn and Ryland books which seem to be well-received and made it to the popular display tables in bookstores around here. That would guarantee a translation of any of his other works and likely inspire fans of non-Bond series to pick up his 007 works too.
Much as I like William Boyd in general that particular prospect cannot have been overwhelmingly prevalent with Solo…
Maybe we should also take a step back and give the general idea of the ‘continuation novel’ some thought. We, the fans, regularly give them stick since the days of Amis and Gardner. They are either ‘not Fleming’ or ‘too pastiche’, too modern or not faithful to the canon. My own reviews of the various entries make no exception there; I’ve not been overly kind to Horowitz or his predecessors either.
But what does the continuation novel really want to achieve? It is - in the best sense - fan fiction. Fiction for fans written by fans. The difference to what we used to write and publish on CBn is, at best, one of professionalism and extent. Not of the general aim: to appeal to the fans. The continuation doesn’t try to invent the wheel anew. No more than an episode of Midsummer Murders would aim to thematise social rifts and inequalities in modern Western society.
The continuation tries to deliver exactly what the fan wants. Surprises are welcome only insofar as they remain within the limits the readers grant.
One might of course wait for the Great Espionage Novel that manages to reconcile the holy trinity of British spy fiction Fleming-Deighton-le Carré with contemporary literature canon, top the bestseller lists across the globe and earn itself the Nobel prize for literature. A work that at once satisfies the feuilleton and the airport newsagent customer looking for a quickie genre thriller. But that’s simply not going to happen.
If we set out to judge Horowitz’ two Bond adventures the mark should probably not be set too high. If we look at the sub-genre of other continuations - like Winslow’s Shibumi prequel or the countless Holmes entries, Philip Marlowe, the Bourne series - it’s evident enough none of them kicked off a big demand for more outside their respective niche audience. The real yardstick cannot be sales figures alone - though of course they have to sell to be produced - but simply whether they amuse their readers for a little while.
For that though we must give them the chance to. It’s of no consequence if there’s a wrong detail or three (Fleming wasn’t too precise with his own work either)…as long as there’s a bit of Bond to be found and we want to find out how he’s going to get out of the tight spot. As long as we have a little fun with an exciting tale and forget the world around us for a couple of hours.
I think that should be the benchmark to judge the affair against.
