Colonel Sun
| Colonel Sun | |
|---|---|
 1st edition |
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| Author(s) | Kingsley Amis writing as Robert Markham |
| Cover artist | Tom Adams |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | James Bond |
| Genre(s) | Spy novel |
| Publisher | Jonathan Cape |
| Publication date | March 1968 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover and Paperback) |
| Pages | 255 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-224-61294-8 (first edition, hardback) |
| Preceded by | 003½: The Adventures of James Bond Junior |
| Followed by | James Bond: The Authorised Biography of 007 |
Colonel Sun (1968), by Kingsley Amis, is the first James Bond continuation novel published after Ian Fleming's death in 1964; Glidrose Productions used the collective pseudonym "Robert Markham", for British novelist Kingsley Amis, with the intent of so publishing other novels by different writers. Previously, Amis had written the literary study The James Bond Dossier, and the humorous The Book of Bond (under the William Tanner pseudonym), and was rumoured at one time to be the editor and ghost writer of The Man with the Golden Gun, Fleming's final novel (this has since been debunked).
Discounting Christopher Wood's two screenplay novelisations, and the novel James Bond: The Authorised Biography of 007 (1973), by John Pearson, Colonel Sun was the last, new novel in the Fleming canon's original Cold War time (the 1950s and the 1960s), until Licence Renewed (1981), by John Gardner, who, like Raymond Benson, updated the character to the 1980s and to the post–Cold War 21st century respectively, until publication of Devil May Care (2008), by Sebastian Faulks, which occurs in the late 1960s.
The introduction to the Titan Books 2005 reprint of the Colonel Sun comic strip confirms that during the late 1970s, Amis asked EON Productions to adapt it as a Bond film; he was told Harry Saltzman (series co-producer till 1974) had "blackballed" Colonel Sun, because Glidrose had rejected publication of Per Fine Ounce, a Bond continuation novel that he (Saltzman) had championed, despite not owning the franchise after The Man with the Golden Gun (1974). Still, Colonel Sun, yielded Bond film elements: the Greek setting of For Your Eyes Only (1981); M's kidnapping in The World Is Not Enough (1999); and the name Colonel Tan-Sun Moon, the North Korean villain in Die Another Day (2002).
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Secret Service chief, M, is violently kidnapped from his house, and James Bond—as a visitor to the property—is also nearly captured. Bond follows the clues to Vrakonisi, one of the Aegean Islands, where he and Ariadne Alexandrou, a Greek Communist agent, plan to rescue M. Meanwhile they must thwart the complex military-political plans of People's Liberation Army Colonel Sun.
Sun is sent to sabotage a Middle East détente conference (of which the Soviets are hosts) and blame Great Britain, causing World War III. Bond meets Soviet agents there, and they realise a third party is behind this and that there is a traitor in the organisation. All the agents except Ariadne are killed in an attack, but the leader encourages Bond and Ariadne to work together. However another Soviet agent, when told about the attack by Ariadne, thinks Bond is lying and plans to capture him. Ariadne persuades a friend of her father to help them by saying a former Nazi, Von Ritcher, is working with them. Bond is nearly captured by a Soviet agent, but is saved by the Greek sailor. He gets to the island, although is unfortunately knocked out by one of Sun's men. He is then told a mortar will be used by Ritcher to destroy the conference. Bond will be tortured by Sun, before his inevitable demise. Then he and M will be found dead next to the weapon with forged orders. It will look like one of them was careless and dropped a mortar bomb which killed them.
Bond is tied to a chair in a cellar and Sun tortures him brutally, until one of the girls at the house is ordered by Sun to caress Bond fondly as one of his greatest pleasures is of women. However she cuts one hand free and provides him with a knife. She tells Sun that Bond is dead, and when examined Bond stabs Sun. He then frees the Greek sailor, and opens a door to a room where two of the girls are, one of which is in league with Sun and called Doni. Bond and the sailor defeat the guard. Doni is then bound and the other girl gags her. Bond stops Von Ritcher, who is unable to escape. However Sun has survived and kills the girl who helped Bond. Bond follows the trail of blood and dodges a mortar Sun throws. Sun says he was misled, and seems to beg for a quick end, which results in Bond stabbing him again. The Soviets thank Bond for saving their conference, and Bond tells Ariadne he has one day before he gets back.
[edit] Release and Reception
Colonel Sun was published in 28 March 1968[1] by Jonathan Cape; the book was 255 pages long and cost 21 shillings.[2] The novel sold well and was listed second best seller in the "Books in demand" list of the Financial Times for March and April 1968.[1][3]
[edit] Reviews
D. J. Enright, writing in The Listener, considered that, in literary terms, Fleming's "inheritance has been well and aptly bestowed."[4] he went on to say that "Colonel Sun offers apt literary pabulum for Bond's fish-and-chip culture, for his neurotics, alcoholics and suicides. Good dirty fun, once read and soon forgotten".[4] Roger Baker, writing in The Times noted that from one angle Colonel Sun is a "neat, not over-inventive thriller, low on sex, high on violence and more than usually improbable";[5] however, he noted that once the elements of the re-incarnation of Bond and the writing of Kingsley Amis were taken into account, things were different. Baker thought that with Amis writing the story, "one might, justifiably, have expected a joyous rejuvenation or at least a devastating detour from the Fleming pattern. We get neither. It is a pale copy."[5]
Writing in The Times Literary Supplement, Simon Gray, was unimpressed with the novel, and thought that this was "not a Bond resurrected but a chuckle-headed imposter whose arthritic thought processes would be a liability in a 'physical tussle' down at the pub."[2] He went on to comment that "all that Colonel Sun offers the frustrated Bond addict is a small academic problem, of swiftly passing interest."[2]
[edit] Adaptations
- Serialisation (1968)
Colonel Sun was serialised on a daily basis in the Daily Express newspaper from 18 March 1968[6] to 30 March 1968.[7]
- Comic strip (1969-1970)
Colonel Sun is the only non-Fleming Bond novel adapted as a comic strip by the Daily Express newspaper, and syndicated worldwide. It was published from 1 December 1969 to 20 August 1970, adapted by Jim Lawrence and drawn by Yaroslav Horak.[8] In December 2005, Titan Books reprinted Colonel Sun and included River of Death, another original James Bond comic strip story published before the Colonel Sun strip in 1969.
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Books in demand in March". Financial Times: p. 24. 16 April 1968.
- ^ a b c Gray, Simon (28 March 1968). "Unlucky Jim". The Times Literary Supplement: p. 309.
- ^ "Books in demand in April". Financial Times: p. 10. 9 May 1968.
- ^ a b Enright, D. J. (28 March 1968). "Books". The Listener: p. 411.
- ^ a b Baker, Roger (30 March 1968). "No Touch". The Times: p. 21.
- ^ Markham, Robert (18 March 1968). "Colonel Sun". Daily Express: p. 5.
- ^ Markham, Robert (30 March 1968). "Colonel Sun". Daily Express: p. 14.
- ^ Fleming, Gammidge & McLusky 1988, p. 6.
[edit] Bibliography
- Benson, Raymond (1988). The James Bond Bedside Companion. London: Boxtree Ltd. ISBN 978-1852832347.
- Black, Jeremy (2005). The politics of James Bond: from Fleming's novel to the big screen. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0803262409. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=g4-sFrU8Xw0C&lpg=PA101&dq=Clarence%20Leiter&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false.
- Fleming, Ian; Gammidge, Henry; McLusky, John (1988). Octopussy. London: Titan Books. ISBN 978-1852860400.
- Lindner, Christoph (2009). The James Bond phenomenon: a critical reader. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0719065415. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=x9-1QY5boUsC&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false.
- Lycett, Andrew (1996). Ian Fleming. London: Phoenix. ISBN 978-1857997835.
- Pfeiffer, Lee; Worrall, Dave (1998). The essential Bond. London: Boxtree Ltd. ISBN 978-0752224770.
- Simpson, Paul (2002). The rough guide to James Bond. Rough Guides. ISBN 978-1843531425. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=BikCz7XZijEC&lpg=PA1&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false.
- "The Genesis of Colonel Sun" in James Bond 007: Colonel Sun. London: Titan Books, 2005; np.
[edit] See also
- Per Fine Ounce, an unpublished James Bond novel that some sources suggest was to have been published under the Robert Markham pseudonym.
