Should I read Young Bond books?

I'm really interested to know about James Bond's childhood, so I would like to read the books, but before spending my money I'd like to know if it's a good reading or just a shit like James Bond Junior (the tv series, if you never heard about it, don't watch it or you'll be shocked) and Die Another Day.

No read them. All 5 are quite well done. Higson is a talented author.

You just have to get used to the fact that Higson has Young Bond engaging the deadliest of villains, and the most dastardly of schemes at age 14-15, yet he doesn't ever kill anyone, so it's a bit of juggling act, keeping him a kill-virgin yet effective.

It's all rather OTT for such a youngster to have such grand adventures, but they make for good reads.

To be honest, they are not quite my sort of thing as they are based at a younger fan base (children and teenagers) and so are a little bit too silly and over-the-top for me to take seriously seeing as he is supposed to be around 14 or 15 years old. They are quite politically correct and rewrite a fair bit of history but still, give them a try anyway because they are rather well-written and you may find more enjoyment out of them than I did.

Well, I'm 16, so I might enjoy them.

I tried reading them, but I didn't like them. I always found that a lot of Bond's characterisation was established with Casino Royale, and that the events of the story - particularly Vesper's betrayal and suicide - formed a significant part of Bond's character for the rest of the novels. The problem for me was that the Young Bond novels undid all of that by having the pre-Vesper Bond think, act and behave like the post-Vesper Bond.

Walecs wrote:

Well, I'm 16, so I might enjoy them.

No kidding. You seem a lot older.

I haven't read any of them and never will. From what I've heard about them, though,Young Bond doesn't resemble Fleming's Bond at all. Actually, I don't even think the Young Bond timeline matches with Fleming's Bond.

Walecs wrote:

I'm really interested to know about James Bond's childhood, so I would like to read the books, but before spending my money I'd like to know if it's a good reading or just a shit like James Bond Junior (the tv series, if you never heard about it, don't watch it or you'll be shocked) and Die Another Day.

John Pearson covers Bond's childhood in The Authorized Biography of 007. Pearson knew Fleming and really did his research, so his telling of Bond's childhood is likely the closest to canon there is. Whereas Higson has young Bond fighting supervillains.

Control wrote:

Walecs wrote:

Well, I'm 16, so I might enjoy them.

No kidding. You seem a lot older.

Wow, thank you. When I'm in this forum, I always feel as a kid sorrounded of adults, because most of you, if not all, are adults.

Walecs wrote:

Well, I'm 16, so I might enjoy them.

But 16 can still make you a Bond veteran, if not a world veteran. Most of us I suspect were Bond know-it-alls by age 12-13. By 16, Bond geniuses.

I do think Higson was careful with the Fleming timeline and actually now that I think of it, Young Bond's age was never more than 14, in the five books.

What's off about the books, is that he has such big adventures at such a young age. At this pace, the guy would be burned out by 18 from saving the world. Higson makes a nice move with the final book though, By Royal Command, in which Bond falls on the secret service radar, foreshadowing his future career. Higson flashforwards as well, to a very young-man Bond engaged in military intelligence. Maybe Higson intends that Bond had all this adventure between 13-14 and then leveled off to a more normal teenage life under the watchful eye of the service, which had already tagged him as a prime recruit.

Higson I guess had to juice-up Bonds adventures, at the very least, so he'd have exciting stories to peddle and books to sell.

I still haven't read Higson's final YB short story, which he published in the YB Dossier. Must read that soon. That might shed some further light as to how Higson had hoped to work YB further into the Fleming timeline.

Walecs wrote:

Well, I'm 16, so I might enjoy them.

By the time I was 16 I'd already eschewed the Hardy Boys and was devouring 007 and Nick Carter in almost equal measure (Killmaster' Carter is derivative tripe, btw).

John Pearson's coverage of Bond's early years was all I needed. Being a completist, however, I had to add Higson's work to my library - I've just never bothered to read any of them more than once.

They're not bad stories, and they're certainly not badly written, they're just...unnecessary. Go ahead and read them, justy don't take them seriously as cononical backstory, and certainly don't place them ahead of Fleming chronologically on your bookshelf - I don't even keep them in the same cabinet with my Fleming and Gardner editions.

I've known Bond since last year, March 3rd, however I've already read at least 10 James Bond books (and I own at least 25, everyone bought by me, they're all waiting for me to read them) and watched almost all movies.
So, despite being young, I think I'm growing up good.

AMC Hornet wrote:

They're not bad stories, and they're certainly not badly written, they're just...unnecessary. Go ahead and read them, justy don't take them seriously as cononical backstory, and certainly don't place them ahead of Fleming chronologically on your bookshelf - I don't even keep them in the same cabinet with my Fleming and Gardner editions.

I surrended to make a Bond universe canon a lot of time ago. Now I simply enjoy it. It's impossible to fit all of them in less than four canons (Fleming books, first movies, second half of movies, Craig's movies).

Walecs wrote:

I've known Bond since last year, March 3rd, however I've already read at least 10 James Bond books (and I own at least 25, everyone bought by me, they're all waiting for me to read them) and watched almost all movies.

Get cracking padwan. Minimum qualifications for top-classification, Bond-IQ status, is having read all 14 Flemings, plus viewing all 23 films. The rest is bonus.

As for your canon. Its real simple. There is the Fleming canon which is really all that matters. The continuation authors who try and work with the Fleming timeline and history, tend to trample all over, or brazenly ignore each others work. The later continuation authors such as Gardner, Benson and most recently Deaver, employ the Bond-as-perpetually-non-aging-contemporary-agent technique, much like the films do.

The movie continuity is simple. There are films 1-20, which employ the time-honored cinema-device of the hero conveniently not aging. Then there is the re-booted Craig series, which will eventually have to adopt the same not-aging technique.

Bond is a timeless Agent, always in his prime.

Connery's NSNA is another one-off timeline, exploring an actual older Bond as opposed to an old Bond pretending he's not old. (Moore)

DELETE

I read Silverfin - a friend bought it for me a few years ago. It was an easy read - nothing complicated or terribly interesting, but no where near the excitement, culture and class of Fleming's novels. It's not essential.

I had forgotten about these and that I read Silverfin. I'll have to dig it out, from what I remembered I actually enjoyed it quite a bit, though it does take some liberties.
I'll admit for cheap quick thrills I've enjoyed the Alex Rider books, which are downright silly in places but mostly serviceable.

I read GF in 4th grade, had read the canon by age 11 and was a full blown literary Bond addict struggling with the lesser continuation books. Still collect both the Hardy Boys and Three Investigators series from my childhood though I'm now 22. The madness of book collecting.

I find them very enjoyable reads, not quite in the echelons of Fleming's work, but they're really great fun, highly imaginative in places and Young Bond himself is very engaging. I would love to be a 12-15 year old reading them for the first time. I can safely say they are FAR better than the James Bond Jr television series. My God, that theme tune still haunts me to this day.

They certainly can't be worse.

Oh god, that theme tune is so terrible!

I still can't understand how's possible Bond has a nephew if he's an only child.

John Pearson mentioned a brother Henry, contrary to Fleming's obit in YOLT.

Which still doesn't make his brother's son 'Junior' to anyone but his own father, whoever he's named for.

They're hugely enjoyable page-turning adventure yarns, IMHO.