by Charlie Higson

Ian Fleming Publications, out now

James Bond has to ensure King Charles III survives to his coronation…

Ian Fleming’s secret agent has been working OHMSS consistently for the last 70 years with his debut appearance arriving a few weeks before the late Queen’s coronation; and now we get a new adventure courtesy of Young Bond author Charlie Higson, to coincide with her son’s special day. It tells of 007’s mission against Ǣthelstan, who maintains that he has the right to the English throne and intends to disrupt the coronation on May 6.

The book was rushed from commissioning through to release, but those who read it in years to come as part of the extended Bond canon won’t care about that – in the same way that no-one really cares now about the problems faced by creators during the Covid lockdown; they simply want a decent product. Setting aside the rather large number of editorial errors, which can be corrected for a second edition – my favourite is James Bong being on the case – does it hold up?

Honestly, the answer is, “just about” – Higson’s Young Bond books were more tightly plotted than this, tied to the tiny amounts of continuity from Fleming that were established. This is a Bond for the present day – but it doesn’t hang together. It’s not the Dynamite comics set-up, nor is it the world established in Kim Sherwood’s new 00 novels (let alone Deaver’s Carte Blanche). We’re told Bond is in his 30s, but there’s a comment implying that M’s attitude has changed since the abolition of smoking in offices and that Bond was a witness – when he’d have been a teenager. There’s a reference to heraldry and a previous mission (which has to be the original OHMSS) but then the point is made, twice, that Bond isn’t the marrying type… and what was the key plot point of the 1963 book? This is Bond extracted physically from the original books and plonked down in 2023 with contemporary attitudes rather than those that make him Bond – something that has been avoided in previous updatings.

Higson doesn’t try to emulate Fleming’s style, but throws in the requisite torture scene, a seduction that isn’t, and a couple of well-told action sequences. There’s some very heavy-handed satire of a certain breed of politician and the lead villain’s motivation seems unclear – almost as if partway someone realised that this was evoking memories of a certain Johnny English movie.

Verdict: A disposable Bond adventure. 5/10

Paul Simpson