On His Majesty's Secret Service (James Bond 007)

Product Information

All royalties from sales of the book will support the work of the National Literacy Trust, an independent UK charity working with schools and communities to give disadvantaged children the literacy skills to succeed in life. The action of this entirely new 007 adventure brings Bond into the present day. It is the 4th of May, two days before the coronation of King Charles III, and the world's favourite spy has his work cut out for him. Bond is sent at the last minute to thwart an attempt to disrupt the Coronation by the wealthy, eccentric, and self-styled Æthelstan of Wessex, who is on a deadly mission of his own to teach the United Kingdom a lesson. Can Bond dismantle his shady plans and defeat his privately hired team of mercenaries? Fleming famously wrote fast, and I channelled that energy. And now it's so exciting for me to finally enter the world of grown-up Bond. The idea originally was to do a longish short story, perhaps 10,000 words, with a month to write it. I thought it would be such a fun idea,” he says. I didn’t want to write him as a slightly stuffy man out of time with fifties’ attitudes - the Jacob Rees-Mogg 007. I wanted him to be a contemporary young man.

Of course 007 is sent to stop this person whose support is mainly right wing extremists and mercenaries, and he has only so many days to solve this lunatic and his plans. After watching an interview with the author on the ‘Bond Experience’ YouTube channel and having a Bondian way to celebrate the coronation, I was very excited to add this book to my collection, unfortunately it didn’t live up to expectations.Ian Fleming Publications also created a disclaimer to accompany the reissued texts, stating “This book was written at a time when terms and attitudes which might be considered offensive by modern readers were commonplace. It’s On His Majesty’s Secret Service; it’s being published two days before the coronation. Otherwise, Bond just goes on a mission as usual, working for ‘King and Country’. This just felt like such a great story, so rich in possibilities. They didn’t argue, and no one had any problems with it; the charities just couldn’t be associated.” Published on Thursday 4th May ahead of the Coronation on Saturday 6th May – and 60 years after the publication of Ian Fleming’s tenth novel, 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service', in 1963. All royalties from the sale of the book will go to support the work of the UK charity, the National Literacy Trust. He said: “When Ian Fleming Publications came to me with the idea of writing an adult Bond story a little more than a month ago I was thrilled - until I realised it had to be ready for the coronation in May.

He worked as producer, writer, director and occasional guest star on Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) from 2000 to 2001. Subsequent television work has included writing and starring in BBC Three's Fast Show spin-off sitcom Swiss Toni. He is currently starring in Tittybangbang series 3 on BBC Three and has appeared as a panellist on QI. Things I liked less - the resolution was anticlimactic, and the author's need to pass comment on Wokeism, big business, immigration and right wing media, etc over and over again was a bit overkill. When we got the references to bus lanes and congestion charges, I groaned. It kinda felt the author was trying a bit "too hard". One fatal mistake IMO is Higson basing his entire story around the idea of a ‘Bond formula’ rather than coming up with something original and putting his own stamp on it. I genuinely believe his own voice and ideas would have made for a far more interesting story. This brand new James Bond adventure arrives during a momentous year for Ian Fleming Publications. 13 April 2023 marks 70 years since the initial publication of Ian Fleming’s first James Bond novel, Casino Royale. The company are celebrating 70 years of 007 throughout 2023, with many events planned, including the release of the Bond books under their own imprint on 13 April.If I was trapped by a rabid monarchist who was trying to persuade me I should pledge my allegiance to the king, I could easily come up with an anti-monarchist argument.

Charlie Higson’s phenomenally successful Young Bond series has sold over a million copies in the UK alone and has been translated into more than 24 different languages. He adds: “When IFP came to me with the idea of writing an adult Bond story a little more than a month ago, I was thrilled – until I realised it had to be ready for the Coronation in May. Getting it written and turned around in such a short space of time was going to be as tense and heart-pounding as any Bond mission. Although, of course, nobody would actually be shooting at me. But I’ve been thinking about writing an adult Bond adventure ever since working on the Young Bond books, and he came bursting out of me with both fists flying. It was all I could do to keep up with him and get his story down on paper. Fleming famously wrote fast, and I channelled that energy. And now it’s so exciting for me to finally enter the world of grown-up Bond. Everything you want from a Bond story is in there – sex, violence, cars, a colourful villain with a nasty henchman, and of course, Bond himself. So well-known and yet so unknowable.” The Telegraph revealed that a number of racial references from Fleming’s ahead of the republication of his espionage thrillers following a review by sensitivity readers. Food was always an important part of the original books. Bond was this fantasy figure who did things a bank clerk in Croydon couldn’t. Readers lived vicariously.Charles is apparently a big fan of the Bond books and there was that great moment at the 2012 Olympics where the Queen and 007 came together – our two greatest cultural icons united – so that was the obvious place to start.” Charlie Higson, author of the bestselling Young Bond series, has been commissioned by Ian Fleming Publications to write a new James Bond adventure to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III, it is announced today, Friday 31 March. Indeed, Higson was first approached about the project in February, wrote the book throughout March, and it sent to the printers by April – rapid-fire by even Bond’s standards!

Corinne Turner, managing director of Ian Fleming Publications, said the book would be the publisher’s own way of marking both the coronation of Charles, and 60 years since the publication of Fleming’s thriller Her Majesty's Secret Service, from which the new volume derives its name. Jonathan Douglas CBE, Chief Executive of the National Literary Trust, says: “James Bond has been creating avid readers for seventy years and we are delighted that the royalties from On His Majesty’s Secret Service will go towards our own not-so-secret mission: to support the literacy skills of children and adults in the nation’s most disadvantaged areas. We hope that this partnership will create a whole new generation of readers, who will continue to discover the thrills of Bond for years to come.” In 1953 a writer called Ian Fleming introduced A character called James Bond, so this year marks his 70th birthday. The 6th of May was the coronation of King Charles III, so what better to celebrate both with a single novel that is also a nice pun referring to one of Ian Fleming best 007 novels with a his instead of her in the title. Higson said: “When Ian Fleming Publications came to me with the idea of writing an adult Bond story a little more than a month ago I was thrilled – until I realised it had to be ready for the coronation in May. Getting it written and turned around in such a short space of time was going to be as tense and heart-pounding as any Bond mission. Although, of course, nobody would actually be shooting at me.” Bizarrely Daniel Craig's incarnation in the films was probably the closest. Maybe it's just easier cinematically, because you don't have to try and describe Bond's thoughts, which is where it falls down - when Fleming did, they revealed a deeply flawed and at times quite nasty person. So Fleming's Bond was really an anti-hero and modern writers try to write him as a Hero.

Customer reviews

I'm a big Bond fan and I've enjoyed all the continuation novels and this was an enjoyable way to pass the time but it wasn't great, special, engrossing or particularly well written (the author has done much better and so has basically every Bond author at some point).