James Bond books never die

By ALLEN PIERLEONI

SACRAMENTO — Icy-eyed Daniel Craig will return to the big screen in November as James Bond, author Ian Fleming’s suave, licensed-to-kill British Agent 007. It will be the 22nd “official” Bond movie in the franchise, focused on a character introduced 46 years ago in “Casino Royale.”

The movie is “Quantum of Solace,” actually the title of a Fleming short story, whose plot has nothing to do with the film. Further, as part of the movie’s marketing campaign, Penguin will issue “Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories” by Fleming ($15 paperback, 288 pages). Look for it in August.

Which leads to two other Bond-theme titles:

“Devil May Care” by Sebastian Faulks (Doubleday, $24.95, 304 pages),

After Fleming’s death in 1964, a much more politically correct 007 lived on in several series by a half-dozen “homage authors,” most notably Kingsley Amis and John Gardner. Add to that Sebastian Faulks’ new “Devil May Care,” commissioned by the Fleming estate to coincide with the centenary of the novelist’s birth.

The plot: It’s the 1960s, and Bond is brought back from a six-month sabbatical to bust a plan that would flood Britain and the United States with illegal-drug epidemics. Of course, a Bond Girl and a super-villain play big on this stage.

“The Bond Code: The Dark World of Ian Fleming and James Bond” by Philip Gardiner (New Page, $16.99, 255 pages)

The nonfiction “The Bond Code: The Dark World of Ian Fleming and James Bond” by Philip Gardiner is a bit off the well-worn Bond trail. The author offers a detailed biography of Fleming, yes, but segues into how Fleming was influenced by “the world of the occult,” which led him (the author contends) to conceal codes and ciphers in the Bond books. Documentary filmmaker Gardiner has written other books in the same vein, including “Secret Societies,” “The Ark” and “The Shroud.”

X Allen Pierleoni writes for the Sacramento Bee.