Message from Charlie Higson via Ian Fleming Publications

By: Anders Frejdh

Published:
2023-05-04

Ian Fleming Publications, Charlie Higson message

Young Bond and On His Majesty’s Secret Service author Charlie Higson has sent a personal message to all readers of his books via Ian Fleming Publications. Classification: Gold level (For Your Eyes Only)

The message reads as follows...

“To all Bond readers,

Chapter One of Silverfin (2005) begins with the following line: ‘The smell and noise and confusion of a hallway full of schoolboys can be quite awful at twenty past seven in the morning.’ My first Young Bond novel was published in 2005 and my final Young Bond story, A Hard Man to Kill was released in 2009. That seemed to be the end of that particular era of my writing.

Until now.

It’s always an easy headline to say, ‘Bond is back’, so instead let’s boldly and modestly state ‘Higson has returned’.

It’s been 14 years and much has changed with the world, with publishing, with popular culture and literature. But Bond hasn’t changed. And people still want to read Bond books. Including me.

The time is always right for a James Bond adventure. Whether all is right with the world or all is wrong with the world, it is always a pleasure to relax at home with a cocktail, a cigarette and wearing a perfectly tailored suit (just me?) and become lost in the stories of Ian Fleming’s creation.

The timing was particularly apt this year when in February 2023 I got the call from Ian Fleming Publications inviting me to write an original story for charity to time with the Coronation of King Charles III. A chance to dive back into the world of 007 – and produce a story in three weeks.

How could I refuse?

The day before I got the call, I had no notion of a new Bond adventure. It was not on my mind. And yet just a day or two after the call, the idea leapt almost fully formed – it shot out with the clarity and decisiveness of a poisoned blade hidden in the sole of a Smersh shoe. My story is set two days before the Coronation and finds Bond reflecting on his recent mission – to ‘neutralise’ a threat to King Charles III in the form of the self-styled Æthelstan of Wessex who sees himself as the true heir to the throne. The mission takes Bond to Croatia, Hungary and an ancient castle where Bond must take on Æthelstan and his army. Some things go as planned. Others do not.

That is the case with this whole experience. And that’s okay. Myself and Ian Fleming Publications had not planned a new James Bond book for this year and yet here we are. With nothing but lots of encouragement, early morning scrambled eggs and late night coffee, we managed to create and deliver On His Majesty’s Secret Service in time for the historic occasion this May.

Charlie Higson, On His Majesty's Secret Service

Charlie Higson, On His Majesty's Secret Service

All royalties from the book are going to support the National Literacy Trust so please support their cause by buying a copy. It is available in hardcover (with some signed copies floating around), eBook and audiobook, read by me. So please, when you have finished watching the Coronation, sit back and lose yourself in Bond once again, as I have so enjoyed doing these last few months.

See you in another 14 years or so,

Charlie Higson”

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Message from Charlie Higson via Ian Fleming Publications

The time is always right for a James Bond adventure. Whether all is right with the world or all is wrong with the world, it is always a pleasure to relax at home with a cocktail, a cigarette and wearing a perfectly tailored suit (just me?) and become lost in the stories of Ian Fleming’s creation.

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