Solo

‘Solo’ paperback now available in USA

June 4th, 2014 by

Following the recent paperback release of Solo in the UK, yesterday saw William Boyd’s novel available in paperback in the United States. The novel follows on from Ian Fleming’s chronology and sees Bond celebrating his 45th birthday before being sent to West Africa on a mission that eventually leads him to Washington DC. The US paperback […]

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UK and US cover art for ‘Solo’ paperback revealed

February 18th, 2014 by

  Ian Fleming Publications has today unveiled the cover artwork for the forthcoming paperback editions of Solo, by William Boyd. The UK edition is published by Random House on 8th May 2014, with the US and Canadian edition by HarperCollins hitting bookshelves on 3rd June. You can pre-order the Solo paperback from Amazon UK or Amazon.com. IFP says […]

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The Dorchester’s Bond breakfast reviewed

December 4th, 2013 by

The Dorchester has recently been offering a breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon following the hotel’s appearance in the most recent James Bond novel, Solo and it is something I would have loved to experience. Sadly, a flight to London just for breakfast is a little too extravagant and so I’ve had to make do with […]

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What James Bond drinks in ‘Solo’

November 28th, 2013 by

Several reviewers have commented on the amount James Bond drinks in Solo, the latest 007 novel, and author William Boyd has recalled in interviews how heavy drinking was part of daily life in those days. Back then drinking and driving still wasn’t taboo and a couple of martinis were part of a normal lunch for […]

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‘Solo’ up for book awards

November 23rd, 2013 by

Solo, the new James Bond novel by William Boyd, has been nominated for two book awards, according to an article on MI6. The book has been nominated for the ‘Specsavers Popular Fiction Book of the Year’, which goes to a British author of successful adult fiction, and ‘Audible.co.uk Audiobook of the Year’ for an unabridged […]

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William Boyd interviewed on Guardian books podcast

November 13th, 2013 by

Solo author William Boyd recently spoke to John Mullan for The Guardian’s book podcast, available to download from iTunes. The podcast includes a reading from the latest James Bond novel, as well as how he went about writing the book, Ian Fleming and how he had to ignore the films. Download Podcast from iTunes The […]

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James Bond’s drinks: Calvados

October 30th, 2013 by

One of my favourite and most frequently used culinary insights from the James Bond books is the recipe for scrambled eggs from 007 in New York, originally from the US edition of Fleming’s collection of travel writing, Thrilling Cities. Author of the new Bond book Solo, William Boyd, writes his book having been inspired by the […]

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UK sales of ‘Solo’ continue to disappoint

October 15th, 2013 by

Following the first week’s disappointing sales, William Boyd’s new James Bond novel has dropped out of the UK’s top ten new publications and sits in 22nd place, according to MI6. This must question whether Ian Fleming Publication’s can afford to continue with their policy of hiring big name authors to pen further continuation novels. Household […]

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James Bond’s age: a tricky subject

October 9th, 2013 by

William Boyd’s explanation of his decision to give Bond’s age as 45 in 1969 has prompted me to write up some thoughts on the tricky subject of Bond’s age. Boyd offers his contention that as You Only Live Twice was the last Bond novel published in his lifetime, Fleming’s statement, via M’s premature obituary, that Bond […]

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‘Solo’ released in the US

October 8th, 2013 by

Today sees the publication of Solo in the United States, not quite two weeks after its debut in the UK. Written by William Boyd, the book is published in the US by Harper and available in both hardback and Kindle versions from Amazon. Solo is set in 1969 and introduces 007 as he celebrates his […]

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