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I must admit it hadn't kept me awake at night wondering about James Bond's origins, but SILVERFIN, the first in a new series of prequels featuring the early life of Ian Fleming's suave spy, left me entertained and intrigued. UK comedian and writer Charlie Higson, probably best known for his appearances on BBC's The Fast Show, has been contracted to write the pre-history of special agent 007. And based on this first showing in SILVERFIN, they'll be rattling good fun. It's the 1930s and the orphaned James Bond is sent to Eton where he must get himself acquainted with the bizarre rituals of one of England's top fee-paying schools. One of the first people he soon falls foul of is cocky American George Hellebore and his hideous father Randolph. Their paths cross again when he is sent up to Scotland in the school holidays to stay with his beloved Aunt Charmian and ailing Uncle Max. James and his feisty Cockney sidekick Red Kelly are soon caught up in a sinister genetic engineering plot as they investigate the disappearance of Red's cousin Alfie. I found some of those early Eton scenes a little on the slow side, but once James goes north of the border, the plot really starts motoring. Higson retains the spirit of the Bond originals with little asides which will be picked up by the true aficionado, but won't seem an in-joke to anyone else. And he introduces a beautiful and spirited teenage girl who catches James's eye, along with a villain well on the way to rivalling some of Fleming's maddest and baddest. It'll be interesting to see where the Higson books position themselves in the market. I'm very fond of Anthony Horowitz's Alex Ryder series and suspect that these will be far more meaningful to today's teenagers than the Bond books, fun though SILVERFIN is. I rather think a significant part of the market for the Higson books will be adults intrigued to see what he's done with the dashing spy. Oh, and I'm glad I'm a vegetarian, as I shall never look at eels in quite the same way again!
Reviewed by Sharon Wheeler, April 2005
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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