Big Bond Day In Britain

Even though it's nothing more than Halloween here in America, it seems inappropriate to let this day pass by without making note of all the cool stuff the Cousins have going on today across the pond. For starters, there's the first "new" Ian Fleming James Bond hardcover first edition since Octopussy and The Living Daylights came out in 1966! (Well, Amazon actually lists it as having come out at the beginning of this month, but I think it was originally supposed to be today.) That's right, the new collection Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories, first published in paperback in Britain and the United States this past summer, gets a hardcover release in the UK today from Penguin Classics. Of course, the true first was the Penguin paperback, but most collectors like to have all their titles in hardcover anyway. And it's a pretty neat hardback, with a stamped brown "field report" mini dust jacket and very nice looking boards. I'm not generally a fan of half-sized jackets (and of course I would have preferred a Richard Chopping style cover like next week's Black Butterfly), but this one looks cool. The same book is also out in a smaller format, mass market paperback this month as well, sporting yet another cover (right). I'm surprised the mass market version isn't a movie tie-in, given that the whole point of the book even existing is to tie the books in with the films!

Second, and no less essential, is the paperback debut of Samantha Weinberg's final entry in her "Moneypenny Diaries" trilogy, Final Fling. This was a stellar conclusion to a truly phenomenal series, and every Bond fan should read it. Really, these books are much closer to the spirit of Fleming than that Centenary pretender Devil May Care, or even Charlie Higson's excellent Young Bond spinoff series. Weinberg's "Diaries" are continuation novels even Fleming purists will enjoy, which can't be said for many of them. The paperback sports the same amazing Stina Persson artwork as the hardcover. Here's hoping the first volume in the series gets rejacketed to match...

And on top of those enticing book releases, there's also a movie of some sort in UK theaters today... one we won't get Stateside for another two weeks. Lucky limeys. Enjoy, guys!