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

Product Information

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.” Fleming strayed just once from his own formula, he explains, in The Spy Who Loved Me, told from a female perspective. 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.” Bond has a moment of introspection about disliking a hired killer, and the author states that this could be due to some self-loathing because they both kill people.

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 new novel, titled On His Majesty's Secret Service, was commissioned specifically to celebrate the royal occasion.Talking to Higson, 64, an author of bestselling adult crime novels as well as children’s books, whose previous foray into 007 territory was his Young Bond series, featuring the spy as a boy in a hit series of children’s books, his excitement is infectious. Like when he eats an avocado – they were called avocado pears at the time, so Fleming made the mistake of having him eat one for dessert in Casino Royale.” The original plan was for royalties to support The Prince’s Trust and Camilla’s Reading Room literacy charity, but Higson’s regicidal plot – featuring a wealthy, eccentric and anti-‘woke’ wannabe king called Athelstan of Wessex, allegedly a descendent of Alfred the Great – ruled out an official tie-in. I was pleasantly surprised with the release of this albeit short novel and hope that the literary heirs have got Higson on their list for another Bond novel but give him this time a lot more time to create a 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.

Indeed, his next book was On Her Majesty’s Secret service, considered by fans to be one of his best. But the author, who died aged 56 in August 1964, was trapped by his creation. 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.” Higson wrote five novels in the Young Bond series, which are young adult spy novels featuring Bond as a teenage boy attending school at Eton College in the 1930s. It is down or Bond to thwart the villain in the new novel, all the proceeds for which will go to the National Literacy Trust.

Customer reviews

This book has received its place between the 007 novels in my collection, it is not the best one (which were the Fleming ones) and certainly not the worst (looking at you SOLO). I appreciate the author wrote the book in a month and for charity but I don’t think that’s an excuse for the results, especially in this franchise and it’s a shame the Fleming foundation didn’t plan ahead of time rather than approaching the author so late in the day resulting in a largely missed opportunity. Contemporary Bond - you can write contemporary Bond without shoehorning in words like Nutella and Toblerone, it’s set during the kings coronation, I know it’s modern, I don’t ever want to read the word Nutella in a Bond novel, no matter what year it’s set. It would perfectly fit his argument about how, following the Norman invasion, the poncey French have subjugated the English so completely we’re going to have this foreign vegetarian dish,” he says.

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 Athelstan 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? The best Bond stories start when Bond goes into M’s office, M gives him a file and says, ‘This is the villain, this is what he’s up to, I want you to infiltrate his organisation and sort him out’. Bond’s given a mission and off he goes with his fists and a gun. But how did he create something fresh and interesting and still make 007 recognisable as Fleming’s Bond? A description of a character as promoting Covid/ vaccines/ mask wearing, anti-immigration, anti-EU, anti-BBC, anti-MSM, anti-cultural Marxism, climate change denial all show how the author has let his political beliefs impact his writing and the story. I was half expecting it to be a farce of a book.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.” The plot is a familiar template - rich, megalomaniac with radical ideas; tough, ruthless seemingly unbeatable henchman; secluded/protected enemy lair. Oh, and don't forget the girl who has her own strong and independent nature. 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. I loved Higson's Young James Bond novels. But I don't think his young James Bond was really the person that would become Fleming's Bond - too caring, good-natured and sympathetic - and with good reason for these books.