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William Boyd, whose James
Bond continuation novel is set to be one of this year’s publishing
highlights, has today announced that his book will be called SOLO.
The announcement came on the opening day of The London Book Fair, where
Boyd is Author of the Day.
He explained his choice of title:
‘Sometimes less is more. For me as a novelist the simple beauty of SOLO as
the title of the next James Bond novel is that this short four-letter word
is particularly and strikingly apt for the novel I have written. In my
novel, events conspire to make Bond go off on a self-appointed mission of
his own, unannounced and without any authorization - and he’s fully
prepared to take the consequences of his audacity.
‘The journey Bond goes on takes in three continents – with the main focus
honing in on Africa. It’s what happens to Bond in Africa that generates
his urge to “go solo” and take matters into his own hands in the USA.
‘Thus far and no further, at this stage…’
He continues: ‘Titles are very important to me and as soon as I wrote down
SOLO on a sheet of paper I saw its potential. Not only did it fit the
theme of the novel perfectly, it’s also a great punchy word, instantly and
internationally comprehensible, graphically alluring and, as an extra
bonus, it’s strangely Bondian in the sense that we might be subliminally
aware of the “00” of “007” lurking just behind those juxtaposed O’s of
SOLO…’
Very little else has been revealed about the book at this stage, other
than that it will feature a veteran secret agent, with Bond aged 45. It
will be published on 26 September in the UK by Fleming’s original
publisher, Jonathan Cape, an imprint of Vintage Publishing, part of The
Random House Group, in hardback, ebook and audio editions. HarperCollins
will publish the book in Canada and the U.S. on 8 October.
Quote from Corinne Turner, Managing Director of Ian Fleming Publications
Ltd:
‘Ian Fleming had a great aptitude for naming his books and his Bond titles
have become true classics. SOLO is a simple yet striking title which fits
perfectly alongside the other books in the Bond canon. The announcement of
the title marks the lead up to the launch of William Boyd’s novel in
September, which we and the Fleming family are looking forward to
immensely.’
Quote from Richard Cable, Managing Director, Vintage:
‘We are delighted to be announcing SOLO as the title for the new James
Bond novel on the day on which William Boyd is celebrated as Author of the
Day at London Book Fair. The few of us with the good fortune to have read
SOLO can testify that Will has written an absolutely brilliant book and we
look forward with mounting excitement to a huge worldwide publishing event
on September 26th. The timing of the announcement is particularly apt as
we mark the 60th anniversary of Jonathan Cape’s first publication of Ian
Fleming’s CASINO ROYALE.’
The 60th anniversary of the publication of Ian Fleming’s first Bond novel,
CASINO ROYALE, was on 13 April. |
