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In part three of an MI6 exclusive interview,
author Charlie Higson discusses the future of the
Young Bond series, including graphic novels and videogames...
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Double Or Die: In Conversation With Charlie
Higson (3)
22nd January 2007
Exclusive: MI6 caught up with
Young James Bond author Charlie Higson to talk about his third
Young Bond novel "Double Or Die".
Speaking for the first time to a 007 website about the new book,
Charlie Higson talks about the future of the Young Bond series
in
part three of this serialized MI6 interview.
Fleming's fourth novel, "Diamonds
Are Forever", isn't one of the most loved outings.
Based on the pattern you've established with the first
three Young Bond novels echoing Fleming's series somewhat,
are there any elements of the "Diamonds Are Forever" novel
we should expect to see in Young Bond 4?
Yes, I’ve deliberately made it not as good as the
others [laughs]… but there are some similarities,
it is set in the Americas, there are gangsters in it but
there
is no cowboy train! After book three being set in London
I wanted very much to send Bond somewhere exotic and hot.
It is largely set in Mexico and the Caribbean and the plot
does involve gangsters.
How far into writing Young Bond 4 are you?
I’ve finished that and I’m just about to start
on book five, we have to work along way in advice.
How firm are the plans for Young Bond 5?
I’ve got the shape of it and I know what I want
to happen in it, but the actual details I’m still
working on. It’s going to be probably a more complex
book compared to the others.
In the beginning you told us that you had the story arc
for the five novels worked out before you started SilverFin.
Do you still feel that you will stop after Young Bond 5,
or are you starting to form ideas for possible future novels
that would take you beyond that? |
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Above: First edition Penguin UK paperback
UK
Publisher: Puffin
Format: Paperback
Pages: 389
Released: 4th January 2006
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Now |
I have a story that finishes at book five, which is the story
that started at the beginning of SilverFin. It will tie up all
the various threads, characters and themes that run through all
the five books. It will end with Bond leaving Eton, which is
part of the Bond mythology, which we had from Ian Fleming. But
that will be it for me on these specific Young Bond books.
I very much want to keep involved in the world of Bond, it has
been enormous fun writing these books and I get on very well
with the people at Ian Fleming Publications.
I would hope to write or at least be involved in the future
with some James Bond stuff, whether we can work out a way of
doing some more Young Bond books or look at a different period
of Bond’s life or even a adult book, I don’t know.
Largely that decision will have to come from the people at IFP
and how they want to move forward, the style of these books,
Bond being at this point in his life will definitely come to
a end with the conclusion of book five, they will work as a satisfying
set of five books.
Above: Artist Kev Walker's sketch of Young Bond in SilverFin
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How is the SilverFin graphic novel coming
along? Did you work on the adaptation?
I’ve been involved with it as with anything to do
with Young Bond, but Kev Walker who is doing it was keen
to do a lot of the adaptation himself. A lot of the time
he has found he does know better than the writers as to
how to make it work as a piece.
He is a huge fan of the
thing and it was great to give him a lot of input, and
we know that we are going to get a fantastic product. So
he has been doing layouts and designs which come through
to me and I come back with my comments… I will be
involved but it will be Kev’s adaptation rather than
mine Other than the mobile phone games, are there plans for
a Young Bond videogame?
We’ve been talking to various games developers about
that and there are plans, and making a game takes almost
as long as if not longer then making a movie and it’s
a very expensive process. There is a certain amount of
juggling and waiting, but we’ve definitely been talking
to people but nothing is set in stone yet.
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Are there any elements of the literary series
left that you'd like to see used in the next Bond film?
That’s interesting, I think first time around they well
covered all the best books and the best story and most usable
bits. I know there are a lot of people thinking wouldn’t
it be great if they went on to do them in the order that Fleming
wrote them and move on to do remakes of the earlier films. I
don’t think they will do that, but they will show Bond
still developing, and there are key scenes in Bond that they
will come back to. I think they have done such a good job with
Casino Royale. I’m looking forward to the next one to see
what they come up with.
Speaking of Casino Royale, did you enjoy the move back towards
Fleming's roots?
Yes it was great, doing Casino Royale straight could not have
worked and it would have been flat. However, they had enough
of the book and Fleming in it to make in interesting to the Bond
fan and they had enlarged it and made it exciting enough to make
it work as a contemporary movie. I think it was a really cleaver
film without having to wear its cleverness on its sleeve. You
don’t need to now all the past history to enjoy the film;
it’s not the kind of anal, nerdy approach to it. It’s
looking at all the bits of the Bond mythology and showing how
it all starts, and it worked as a fantastic film.
Many thanks to Charlie Higson.
