SilverFin

Malcolm and I were on one of our book buying escapades and feeling slightly experimental (books are so much cheaper in England than Australia - until you start buying in bulk...). Malcolm pointed out the (then) new novel that introduced James Bond as a boy and I was instantly intrigued by the idea. I've never been much of a James Bond fan, although I have no problem watching Sean Connery as a rule - it's all too gruesome for me. So I've never read any Ian Fleming. But when Malcolm pointed out Silverfin I knew he was interested, and I was in the mood to be impulsive and just "try it out." I didn't really expect to enjoy it that much but I thought that Malcolm would read it anyway, so the money wouldn't be wasted. That's how reckless we show more were with our book spending back then. Sigh.

As it happens, several years have passed and I am still the first of us to pick it up (I guess that now that we can't buy books so madly, we're finally having to catch up with our old purchases!). I have no way to compare it with the original Bond novels. But I don't care. It's a great book. For the first two thirds, apart from a few dark hints, it doesn't even seem like Bond to me. It's a fascinating, and not particularly fast-paced story, about a boy's first half at Eton. I enjoyed every minute of the development of James' character and his life at Eton. It has the same satisfying feeling that entering Hogwarts has - there is enough space devoted to "normal" life to really appreciate and enjoy it, unlike the tantalising glimpses one is afforded of some fictional universes. I felt I was able to walk around and get to know James' Eton without ever being bored.

I was also startled by the essential thread of "Britishness" that runs as a connector between the characters of Arthur Ransome, Enid Blyton and Ian Fleming / Charlie Higson. At points James might very well be a member of the Famous Five, setting up camp and trying to solve the mystery of the castle. At other times, he and his friends display the kind of practical know-how that typify the Swallows, Amazons and Death or Glories. James Bond could so easily be a grown up Julian with added toughness.

The more gruesome elements are left to the final third of the novel and the vivid and imaginative portrayal wouldn't disgrace a Bond movie. But by the time I reached this section I was hooked on the characters and had to continue. Interestingly, there were even moments that reminded me of John Marsden's Tomorrow series. James' combination of experience and inexperience is very reminiscent of Ellie and her companions. But I'm just glad that books were sufficiently cheap in England that I was tempted to feel reckless one day... show less

I have read the first three books in this series and unfortunately Silverfin is not a great start - the second book Blood fever and the third book Double or Die are much better. I think this is because (SPOILER ALERT) I think the evil scientist and rich bully intent on taking over the world trope has been done to death. But I digress....
In this first one we meet the young James Bond in the year after his parents' death being sent to Eton. He struggles a bit to settle but finds his place with his two Mess mates and the fact that he is an excellent runner. There are such vivid descriptions of Eton and all its quirky traditions that Higson must have either attended or done some serious research on the school. James is there in the early show more 1930s and is being brought up by his Aunt and his ailing uncle Max. James goes to stay at Max's cottage in the remote Scottish highlands and discovers the noxious bully he has been trying to avoid all term actually lives in a castle next to the village. On the train up, James also meets a boy called Red who thinks something sinister has happened to his cousin at the castle. (The readers know that something has happened because the opening passages are about Red's cousin illegally fishing on the castle estate). James and Red set out to investigate...cue the trope...

Boys will like this book because of the mystery and action and also because it shows the great James Bond started out just like every other school kid - feeling a bit like the odd one out . James starts to develop a risky side to his personality in this book which comes to the fore in the next. show less

James is an interesting character. I liked the camaraderie between him and his group of Eton friends. The whole Eton thing confuses me but it confuses James too so the explanations are straightforward. I love Charmian. Such an unconventional woman for the time but so strong and brave and resilient and intelligent. James reminds me a lot of Alex Rider. Friendly but not really having many friends. Strong and resourceful but kind of quiet and shy. Kelly is funny. The plot is interesting, although pretty disturbing - but I like how James goes about everything - he just takes everything in his stride.

First time through I rated four stars but it's really more a 3.5. Either way, they're a really great action packed tale.

First in what is expected to be a 5-book series called Young Bond, looking at the life and adventures of future spy James Bond, when he was 13 and slightly older (2 are out in the U.S. and four in the U.K.). Teenaged Bond series have been done before, but with awful results. I was expecting more of the same, and thus was surprised to discover that this book was quite good. Instead of trying to modernize Bond as a contemporary teen, Higson sets his stories during the 1930s, and tries very hard to fit them into the continuity established in Fleming's adult Bond novels. The adventure in this first novel takes place as Bond is a first-year student at Britain's Eton boarding school (according to Fleming's story's, Bond will later be show more expelled), and continues as he visits relatives in the Scottish highlands over "the holidays". The characters are all sharply drawn, and the typical types of scenes common to adult Bond novels appear in modified form here -- the villain holding Bond at his mercy and explaining his whole scheme, exotic women (in this case a teenager), laughably bizarre character names, etc. This is an unexpectedly enjoyable series, aimed at teens, but as an adult I also liked it. My only complaint is that James acts and sounds like he's in his late teens instead of 13, but that's only a minor quibble. show less

I read this with my ten-year-old son over the course of about a month. Every night or so, we'd read a chapter together. It's a good book for that kind of thing: it's readable, the dialogue is decent, the plot has a few surprises in it that made us laugh, and my son can get in on the cool of 007 now, while he's too young to watch Skyfall. It's clean as a church bulletin and Higson does a good job of presenting the young Bond with just enough irony to make us enjoy watching him as a kid. There's no child version of M., Moneypenny, or Q., he doesn't have ay gadgets, and he doesn't have the kind of understatement that would mark him as an adult. All that is to the good. My son wants to read the next one.

I like to Scottish location but Higson is still finding his feet with this adventure so its not the best of the Young Bond series - that title would go to "Blood Fever" or "By Royal Command".
When the idea of a teenage James Bond was first raised (in an effort to capitalize on the Harry Potter success), the notion was met with a mixture of abject horror from some Bond fans and insatiable curiosity from others.
I fell squarely in the latter and so it was a no-brainer that I was going to order a copy of the UK paperback version that was released a whole two months earlier than the novels arrival in the US. I'm glad I did.
Taking his inspiration from the brief slivers into James Bonds formative years that Fleming alluded to in his original show more novels, and injecting some very sly references that offer a foreshadowing of his furure exploits, British author Charlie Higson gives us an entertaining and fast moving "boys own" adventure. The book, one of the longest of all the Bond books at well over 350 pages, bears more than a passing similarity to the kids adventure novels that Enid Blyton was writing over a half century ago.
The young Bond novels start with James arriving at Eton in the 1930s and, after a particularly horrifying prelude, for the first 100 pages we are treated to a selection of shooting, swimming and cross-country competitions. All that give early promise of Higsons ability to build up tension and keep us turning those pages one after the other. The first part of the novel also gives us an early glimpse at the main villain of the piece - a rich American arms dealer, some Scottish Laird - Lord Randolph Hellbore and his spoilt brute of a son George.
Following a fortuitous meeting with a young Irish street kid named Ned Kelly on the train up to London the second part of the novel deals with James arrival in Scotland, the introduction of the first "Bond girl" and James' aunt Charmian and Uncle Max. Then the third part of the novel details goings on at the villains castle lair on Loch Silverfin.
For the first time in a Bond novel our hero is referred to in the first-person and this book is a must-have for all self-respecting James Bond fans. One of the chapters of particular interest to Bond fans is the fleshing out of Bond's learning the news of parents death in a climbing accident. This is a well known piece of biographical data first revealed by Fleming (almost in passing) but here we get a whole chapter devoted to the flashback).
One thing that I really appreciate is that there is NO young Q or young M in this initial outing, Many feared after the inane James Bond Jr. that Higson would fall into this trap but he thankfully avoids it.
Higson proves to be an inspired choice to write the Young Bond series and its interesting that both he, and previous continuation novelist John Gardner, both chose a Scottish Laird for their main villain. show less

It's easy to imagine how this young man became the dashing, fearless James Bond we all know so well. Typically for Bond, the plot was quite gruesome involving a very nasty group of villains. The story begins with Bond's introduction to Eton sometime after the Great War. It was interesting to read about the traditions at Eton. I enjoyed this YA book with its page-turning excitement and will follow up with another in the series.