WITH A MIND TO KILL by Anthony Horowitz (May 2022)

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Comments

  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,728
    I ordered it too Stamper, it's arriving tomorrow. The one thing that swung it for me was reading there's a chapter devoted to each of the novels. I'm expecting it to be a very good reference book whilst reading the novels.
    I can't find a thread devoted to The Man With the Golden Typewriter, is there one, anyone?
    (I don't want to start a thread on it and have it locked, which happens occasionally on this board I've noticed).

    Here you go:

    https://www.mi6community.com/discussion/13898/the-man-with-the-golden-typewriter

    On the not starting threads until you've searched to see if it's already there point that is good practice. You can always check on Google by typing in, for this example The Man with the Golden Typewriter and then "mi6 community" beside it in quotation marks and it will bring up any relevant threads on that subject. I'm sure you can appreciate that the mod team wish to cut down on duplicate threads and this is the best way of making sure one doesn't double up on a topic. :)
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,518
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    I ordered it too Stamper, it's arriving tomorrow. The one thing that swung it for me was reading there's a chapter devoted to each of the novels. I'm expecting it to be a very good reference book whilst reading the novels.
    I can't find a thread devoted to The Man With the Golden Typewriter, is there one, anyone?
    (I don't want to start a thread on it and have it locked, which happens occasionally on this board I've noticed).

    Here you go:

    https://www.mi6community.com/discussion/13898/the-man-with-the-golden-typewriter

    On the not starting threads until you've searched to see if it's already there point that is good practice. You can always check on Google by typing in, for this example The Man with the Golden Typewriter and then "mi6 community" beside it in quotation marks and it will bring up any relevant threads on that subject. I'm sure you can appreciate that the mod team wish to cut down on duplicate threads and this is the best way of making sure one doesn't double up on a topic. :)

    Speaking of doubling up on a topic.... ;)
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,728
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    I ordered it too Stamper, it's arriving tomorrow. The one thing that swung it for me was reading there's a chapter devoted to each of the novels. I'm expecting it to be a very good reference book whilst reading the novels.
    I can't find a thread devoted to The Man With the Golden Typewriter, is there one, anyone?
    (I don't want to start a thread on it and have it locked, which happens occasionally on this board I've noticed).

    Here you go:

    https://www.mi6community.com/discussion/13898/the-man-with-the-golden-typewriter

    On the not starting threads until you've searched to see if it's already there point that is good practice. You can always check on Google by typing in, for this example The Man with the Golden Typewriter and then "mi6 community" beside it in quotation marks and it will bring up any relevant threads on that subject. I'm sure you can appreciate that the mod team wish to cut down on duplicate threads and this is the best way of making sure one doesn't double up on a topic. :)

    Speaking of doubling up on a topic.... ;)

    Oh dear. I spent a while typing my reply and in the interim you had posted! Ah, well. At least I hope it illustrates the fact we're a helpful enough bunch when we want to be! :)
  • Thanks guys.
    I thought the book was a new book, but it's six years old. Anyway, I'll use that thread to put my thought on, it seems not many here have posted on this book.
    I did do a search using the forum search, and nothing came up. I'll do a google search next time, thanks for the tip!
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,518
    Thanks guys.
    I thought the book was a new book, but it's six years old. Anyway, I'll use that thread to put my thought on, it seems not many here have posted on this book.
    I did do a search using the forum search, and nothing came up. I'll do a google search next time, thanks for the tip!

    For sure! Not sure why our own search is not so useful, but it’s a shame.
  • edited November 2021 Posts: 988
    So, how do people view the Horowitz Bond books now? The first one, Trigger Mortis, I saw as part of the 'guest author' series, and then we had a second. . .
    Now we're getting a third, are we to think of Horowitz as the new continuation author, like Gardner and Benson?
    Not that it matters either way, I really like his Bond books and rate them higher than Gardner's and Benson's.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,728
    Thanks guys.
    I thought the book was a new book, but it's six years old. Anyway, I'll use that thread to put my thought on, it seems not many here have posted on this book.
    I did do a search using the forum search, and nothing came up. I'll do a google search next time, thanks for the tip!

    For sure! Not sure why our own search is not so useful, but it’s a shame.

    It seems to only search for the words you type in that appear in the main body of the thread and not for specific thread titles. It's always been like that but the Google tip is one handy way around it at least.
  • BirdlesonBirdleson Moderator
    Posts: 2,161
    ... rate them higher than Gardner's and Benson's.

    I will agree with that, but I still don't think highly enough of his writing to heartily recommend them, and have only been buying them for the unused Fleming. But I do seem to be in the minority on here. He has quote a vocal fanbase among the MI6 Community.
  • ImpertinentGoonImpertinentGoon Everybody needs a hobby.
    Posts: 1,351
    Is there a thread or has anybody ever put together a shortlist of must-read continuation novels? I have only ever read Carte Blanche and Trigger Mortis and have to admit that I don't have a huge appetite do go through all 26 continuation novels or however many there are, after reading some of the stray comments here. But I guess as a fan, I should at least give some of them a shot, right?
  • BirdlesonBirdleson Moderator
    edited November 2021 Posts: 2,161
    There have been many such lists within a variety of threads, but I couldn’t tell you where to find them at this point.

    I think by consensus COLONEL SUN by Amis wins out, after that it varies. I would say Horowitz would probably be the next most highly regarded on these boards, regardless of my personal preferences. The Wood adaptations are beloved as well, if not widely read. I certainly place him right after Amis, who I feel is the best thing next to Fleming that we’ve had.

    I also recommend Boyd’s SOLO. Like CS, the author’s bare bones approach serve it well.
  • edited November 2021 Posts: 988
    I didn't get on so well with Solo. I will re-read it at some point.

    Colonel Sun, Trigger Mortis and Forever and a Day for me, as the essential ones. They're all placed in the Fleming era too. CS takes place after TMWTGG, Trigger is after Goldfinger, and Forever and a Day is before Casino Royale.

    The Benson and Gardner novels take place in the era they're wrote in. I haven't read all of them, but they can be fun too.

    edit - I think Faulk's Bond was the only other continuation novel that was placed in the Fleming era? I could be wrong.
    When it comes to Gardner/Benson, I have to say I prefer to read Benson, although Gardner would be viewed by most as the better writer. I think I cut Benson a lot of slack because I loved his Bedside Companion book, and his Bond knowledge meant he could put lots of little details in his books that linked back to Fleming.
    A friend recently sent me the hardback of Benson's Never Dream of Dying, which I've not read. I'm looking forward to that one. It's the third in the 'Union Trilogy' I think.
  • ImpertinentGoonImpertinentGoon Everybody needs a hobby.
    Posts: 1,351
    Thank you for the answers.
    Forever and A Day, Solo and Colonel Sun have been on a mental shortlist for a while, so maybe I will actively look into acquiring those.

    Colonel Sun probably also makes sense as a companion to this upcoming Horowitz book, right? Given that they occupy similar or possibly even the same timeframe. Do we know whether Horowitz considers that book canon?
  • I don't know, but I'm betting not.
  • Colonel Sun probably also makes sense as a companion to this upcoming Horowitz book, right? Given that they occupy similar or possibly even the same timeframe. Do we know whether Horowitz considers that book canon?
    I don't think so. Horowitz's third novel will seemingly take place before Colonel Sun, so I doubt it will foreshadow Amis's story. Nevertheless, I agree with @Birdleson: Colonel Sun comes the closest to an entry in Fleming's canon and Boyd’s Solo was a quite good one-shot that deserves to be given a shot.

    On another note, Wood's James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me is, more than any other continuation novels, written in a Fleming's way, so it can be quite pleasing for a literary Bond fan.
  • Posts: 9,731
    Is there a thread or has anybody ever put together a shortlist of must-read continuation novels? I have only ever read Carte Blanche and Trigger Mortis and have to admit that I don't have a huge appetite do go through all 26 continuation novels or however many there are, after reading some of the stray comments here. But I guess as a fan, I should at least give some of them a shot, right?

    Give each of the authors a try

    For me I love Benson and later era Gardner I like Amis. I don’t get the love of Horrowitz I felt Trigger Mortis had a bad teen mom subplot and as for forever and a day bond getting high made me throw the book across the room…

    Maybe the third book is where his real talent will lie
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,053
    About Colonel Sun, Horowitz himself said that he liked it more than some of Fleming’s own work. He said somewhere that he didn’t like Devi May Care or Carte Blanche. I always enjoy him talking about James Bond.
  • Posts: 7,653
    MaxCasino wrote: »
    About Colonel Sun, Horowitz himself said that he liked it more than some of Fleming’s own work. He said somewhere that he didn’t like Devi May Care or Carte Blanche. I always enjoy him talking about James Bond.

    I recently re-read Colonel Sun and it does not match the writing of Ian Fleming anywhere, I even prefer Flemings' TSWLM more than CS simply because Fleming did an excellent experiment with writing a noir Fleming style.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,518
    Colonel Sun probably also makes sense as a companion to this upcoming Horowitz book, right? Given that they occupy similar or possibly even the same timeframe. Do we know whether Horowitz considers that book canon?
    I don't think so. Horowitz's third novel will seemingly take place before Colonel Sun, so I doubt it will foreshadow Amis's story. Nevertheless, I agree with @Birdleson: Colonel Sun comes the closest to an entry in Fleming's canon and Boyd’s Solo was a quite good one-shot that deserves to be given a shot.

    On another note, Wood's James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me is, more than any other continuation novels, written in a Fleming's way, so it can be quite pleasing for a literary Bond fan.

    I think it might, no? Isn't Horowitz' book meant to take place after TMWTGG?
  • 00Heaven00Heaven Home
    Posts: 573
    I'm a bit late to the party but I'm reading Forever and a Day at the moment and really enjoying it.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 14,861
    Is there a thread or has anybody ever put together a shortlist of must-read continuation novels? I have only ever read Carte Blanche and Trigger Mortis and have to admit that I don't have a huge appetite do go through all 26 continuation novels or however many there are, after reading some of the stray comments here. But I guess as a fan, I should at least give some of them a shot, right?

    If you’re happy with the central concept, I find that Higson’s Young Bond novels capture the feel of Fleming, in a slightly modulated way, more than any other author south of Amis does.
  • edited November 2021 Posts: 3,273
    SaintMark wrote: »
    MaxCasino wrote: »
    About Colonel Sun, Horowitz himself said that he liked it more than some of Fleming’s own work. He said somewhere that he didn’t like Devi May Care or Carte Blanche. I always enjoy him talking about James Bond.

    I recently re-read Colonel Sun and it does not match the writing of Ian Fleming anywhere, I even prefer Flemings' TSWLM more than CS simply because Fleming did an excellent experiment with writing a noir Fleming style.

    I re-read CS and thought the same. I must admit, when I first read it years ago I thought it was very much Fleming, but my opinion changed too when reading it again. The biggest issue with the book is the fact that Amis doesn't really go into Bond's head, his everyday thoughts, like Fleming did.

    It's the one thing I'm grateful to Horowitz for, is that he tries to also do this with his books - get inside Bond's head. That to me is the biggest letdown with CS, because other than that it does feel like a Fleming book, but more like the short story OP, where we see Bond from a distance. That was the only other time Fleming experimented with the character after TSWLM, where we lived in Viv's head. In OP, we live in the Major's head, and Bond becomes a character we see from afar.
  • BirdlesonBirdleson Moderator
    Posts: 2,161
    I had written about that somewhere. In both instances Bond is seen as intimidating, bordering on frightening. Fleming reminds us that Bond is no ordinary man.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    SaintMark wrote: »
    MaxCasino wrote: »
    About Colonel Sun, Horowitz himself said that he liked it more than some of Fleming’s own work. He said somewhere that he didn’t like Devi May Care or Carte Blanche. I always enjoy him talking about James Bond.

    I recently re-read Colonel Sun and it does not match the writing of Ian Fleming anywhere, I even prefer Flemings' TSWLM more than CS simply because Fleming did an excellent experiment with writing a noir Fleming style.

    I agree, although CS starts great.
  • I think it might, no? Isn't Horowitz' book meant to take place after TMWTGG?
    Yes, it will apparently directly followed TMWTGG, whereas Colonel Sun takes place a year or so after. Apart from maybe seeing M be subjected to a syncope, I can't see how it could be conceive as a companion to Amis's novel.
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,882
    I have tried to appreciate CS, but I just can't. My first attempt, I gave up. The 2nd time, again I wasn't enjoying it, but made it through to the end. It feels like the book is fighting me, as if it doesn't want to be read.

    If I were to include it in my ranking, I would rank Per Fine Ounce higher than it. What let PFO down, at least in the 2nd Edition which I have, was the abysmal lack of editing throughout the book. If I talked about it all day, but you wouldn't believe me until you read it yourself. I could overlook one or two mistakes, but not when it's at least one mistake per chapter.
  • Posts: 3,273
    I have tried to appreciate CS, but I just can't. My first attempt, I gave up. The 2nd time, again I wasn't enjoying it, but made it through to the end. It feels like the book is fighting me, as if it doesn't want to be read.


    :))
    Yes I know what you mean. That was my experience when reading it too. It feels like a battle, a struggle to digest it properly. I often found myself re-reading several sentences again as they didn't communicate effectively first time round.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 14,861
    I’m actually reading it again for only the second time at the moment, apart from some quite hard to follow descriptions of geography I’m not sure what you mean. But the plot does hit a bit of a flatline once they’re on the boat.
    Birdleson wrote: »
    I had written about that somewhere. In both instances Bond is seen as intimidating, bordering on frightening. Fleming reminds us that Bond is no ordinary man.

    Bit of a rubbish secret agent then! :)
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,518
    mtm wrote: »
    I’m actually reading it again for only the second time at the moment, apart from some quite hard to follow descriptions of geography I’m not sure what you mean. But the plot does hit a bit of a flatline once they’re on the boat.
    Birdleson wrote: »
    I had written about that somewhere. In both instances Bond is seen as intimidating, bordering on frightening. Fleming reminds us that Bond is no ordinary man.

    Bit of a rubbish secret agent then! :)

    To be fair, he gave up doing that at the end of the novel Casino Royale. ;)
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,053
    mtm wrote: »
    Sounds good fun; for some reason the Book Bond page seems to have gone, but here's the release from Harper Collins:

    "Iconic spy 007 must pose as a double agent to infiltrate a secret Soviet intelligence organization planning an attack on the West—and face off against a man who could be the most diabolical enemy he’s ever encountered—in internationally bestselling author Anthony Horowitz’s third James Bond novel.

    "The Soviet counterintelligence agency SMERSH may be defeated, but a new organization, Stalnaya Ruska, has arisen from its ashes. Under Moscow’s direction, the group is planning a major act of terrorism which, if successful, will destabilize relations between East and West.

    "Returning from Jamaica and his encounter with Scaramanga (The Man with the Golden Gun), James Bond ponders his future. He is aware of a world that is changing all too rapidly around him. The old certainties of the early postwar years are gone. Disdain for the establishment is rising, and the intelligence services are no longer trusted. Bond is beginning to wonder if his “license to kill” is still valid.

    "But the threat to the free world remains all too real, and now 007 has a new assignment: discover what Stalnaya Ruska is planning and prevent it from happening. To succeed, Bond will have to make the Russians believe he’s a double agent and travel behind the Iron Curtain.

    "First though, he will have to convince Sonya Dragunova, the Soviet psychiatric analyst as brilliant—and as dangerous—as she is beautiful. Sonya knows more of what’s happening in Bond’s mind than he does himself. She’s also hiding secrets of her own. It’s a love affair that is also a treacherous game.

    "Sonya’s boss is a man who has previously played his part to bring Bond and the West down behind the scenes in two previous Bond novels—but who has never yet appeared, until now. A Fleming creation, the evil genius responsible for Stalnaya Ruka just may be Bond’s most dangerous enemy yet."

    I wonder if there will references/homages to Skyfall and No Time To Die, based on how Bond’s world has changed around him. I am curious as to what Anthony Horowitz has thought of Daniel Craig’s 5 films.
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,882
    I have tried to appreciate CS, but I just can't. My first attempt, I gave up. The 2nd time, again I wasn't enjoying it, but made it through to the end. It feels like the book is fighting me, as if it doesn't want to be read.


    :))
    Yes I know what you mean. That was my experience when reading it too. It feels like a battle, a struggle to digest it properly. I often found myself re-reading several sentences again as they didn't communicate effectively first time round.

    I don't know what it is. It's not the violence, I have seen and read worse.

    I plan on reading the Bond books again in the coming weeks (I had started them earlier this year, but had to put them on the back burner when I moved). Whether it will be 3rd times the charm, or another tedious read, we'll see.
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