According to the Bookseller and the BBC the cover for the new James Bond novel by William Boyd has been revealed, featuring die-cut bullet holes which "hint at danger and espionage".
Solo, set in 1969, features Bond as a veteran agent, whose solo mission in Africa takes an unexpected turn. The designer, Random House creative director Suzanne Dean, said she was inspired by Ian Fleming's 007 series.
Dean, whose previous designs include the covers of Ian McEwan's Atonement and Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, said the book's title was her starting point.
"In the book, Bond goes on an unauthorised solo mission, recklessly motivated by revenge. I had always been keen, since finding out the title, that there might be a way to use the two o's within Solo and link it to the zeros in 007.” "It needs to appeal to literary and commercial audiences, both fans of the original 14 Fleming books and film fans. It needs to reflect both the content of the novel and capture the reader's imagination."
The audiobook edition of the novel, published in September, will be narrated by actor Dominic West.
Whilst quite stylistic long time fans of the Bond books will no doubt remember the 1960’s Pan cover for Thunderball which had a number of bullet holes.
In other James Bond news, as part of the Literature Autumn Season, William Boyd will be at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank Centre on Thursday 26 September 2013 making an exclusive appearance to launch Solo. Information about buying tickets can be found here.
No graphic designer working on James Bond cover designs in the last 60 years has come close to replicating the original and eye-catching style of British designer Raymond Hawkey’s 1960s Pan Books covers. And I’m afraid this latest effort does nothing to reverse that trend or make me give this book cover a first glance - let alone a second look! If I were an optimist I would hope the story contained therein would prove more exhilarating than its window-dressing.
ReplyDeleteGraham Rye
Editor & Publisher
007 MAGAZINE
I agree. It would have been nice if the designer had acknowledged the influence of the 1960s Thunderball cover but I guess not.
ReplyDeleteI do intend to read it mainly because I understand that he intends to return to the original period. Lets wait and see.