This year is turning out to be a bumper year for James Bond fans.
The Ian Fleming centenary has acted as a wonderful catalyst for the likes of Penguin, who are releasing a series of new covers, which are simply gorgeous.
Here’s the one from Casino Royale:
It maybe new, but it’s got that wonderful 60s retro feel.
The full set of books will be available at the end of May, though they haven’t announced if they will be making a box set available yet.
Of course there’s also the new Bond film which is set to be released on October 31st.
Earlier this year Royal Mail released a set of stamps to commemorate the centenary, while the Imperial War Museum is holding a really nice exhibition.
Of course the main thing behind Bond was the books, so you could do worse than spend some time acquiring some of the first editions. While you can get some of the first editions for as little as 30 or 40 euro there are some going under the auction hammer next Friday for prices ranging from 500 euro to ten thousand euro. More information is available on the Bloomsbury Auctions‘ site (you can bid via eBay)
While i count myself as a huge Bond fan i have never actually looked at the books. I worried that without the John Barry theme, Sean Connery delivery and sexy babes they wouldnt stand up. So do they?
Alan
The books are great. I’ve read them all several times at this stage.
There are, of course, differences between the books and the films, but that’s only to be expected
Michele