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Solo

(James Bond - Extended Series #46)

William Boyd

3.50 · Rating details · 4,818 ratings · 646 reviews

It is 1969 and James Bond is about to go solo, recklessly motivated by revenge.

A seasoned veteran of the service, 007 is sent to single-handedly stop a civil war in the small West African nation of Zanzarim. Aided by a beautiful accomplice and hindered by the local militia, he undergoes a scarring experience which compels him to ignore M's orders in pursuit of his own bran ...more

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Hardcover, 325 pages

Published September 26th 2013 by Jonathan Cape

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· 4,818 ratings · 646 reviews

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Oct 08, 2013 Alejandro rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, novel, espionage, military, politics

With Licence to Read!!!

BOND, ONLY BOND

The Year: 1969.

The place: West Africa.

The Mission: Oh, something easy...

...just to stop a civil war.

Bond, only Bond.

I had good expectations about this new novel about James Bond.

The first thing that I liked it was the title of the book: Solo. I liked it since I know that Ian Fleming (creator of James Bond) was involved in the pre-production of the 60´s TV series about spies: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. And Fleming created the character of "Napoleon Solo ...more

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Oct 25, 2013 Elizabeth Heritage rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Hmm.

It's not that I didn't like this book - it's well plotted and the writing is perfectly competent - it's that it turns out I really don't like James Bond.

This came as something of a shock. I've always enjoyed the films, especially Skyfall, starring the immensely talented Daniel Craig. Bond is glamorous, witty, strong, loyal, balletically violent, looks great in a tux - everything I could want in an action hero.

The thing is, though, is that, with a movie, you're carried along by the spectacle ...more

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Nov 05, 2015 Ken rated it liked it · review of another edition

Bond is sent to Zanzarin to help end the civil war in the Africa country.

Boyd really captures the essence of Flemings original novels, both in Bond’s character and the tone of the writing.

Both London and the fictional African country is brilliantly brought to life.
It’s a great fun ready, an enjoyable addition to the cannon.

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Sep 27, 2013 Mark rated it it was ok

Recommends it for: James Bond Literary fans

Recommended to Mark by: My thirst for more 007 adventures

Shelves: spies, continuation-from-original-writer, 2013, english-writer, james-bond

The book opens with a chapter where Bond looks back on the first time where he as a young soldier in the aftermath of the invasion in Normandy (1944)for the first time faces death. And is actually fine reading and shows a promise for the book.
Then 007 gets shipped of the Africa where he is supposed to end a civil war by taking out the leader of one of the parties involved. It all goes of course horrible wrong and Bond ends up being terrible hurt. The 2nd part of the book is Bond going "solo" on ...more

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Sep 27, 2013 Martyn Perry rated it it was amazing

Shelves: my-book-collection

I think it's important to remember when a new Bond book comes out that this isn't, and never will be, an Ian Fleming Bond book. What Faulks did with his "writing as Ian Fleming" was a nice gimmick for want of a better phrase, but i've always felt that the continuation of the Bond franchise in book form always works best when authors put their own spin on the writing style. If anything, it's a little bit like a comic book series, writers, artists and inkers all come and go, but the comic book cha I think it's important to remember when a new Bond book comes out that this isn't, and never will be, an Ian Fleming Bond book. What Faulks did with his "writing as Ian Fleming" was a nice gimmick for want of a better phrase, but i've always felt that the continuation of the Bond franchise in book form always works best when authors put their own spin on the writing style. If anything, it's a little bit like a comic book series, writers, artists and inkers all come and go, but the comic book character lives on, is instantly recognisable, but is always slightly different in each "run".

Following Amis, Gardner, Christopher Wood, Benson, Higson, Faulks and Deaver, Boyd takes on the new story for James Bond and manages to achieve only what few of the authors preceding him have done, created a brand new Bond story which is undoubtedly the character that Fleming created, but in an original story which is a real page turner.

From the first chapter right through to the story's conclusion, I found this to be a really enjoyable book and a magnificent example of a Bond story. Sure 5 stars is completely over the top when comparing it to other books (even Boyd's own), but in the context of the Bond franchise, this is as good a book as you could hope for. Bond in Africa really does come across as completely original, and filling in on more of his backstory from the World War 2 years is a brilliant idea, ensuring that his acts in the 1969 African civil warzone come across as "realistic" considering his history. Shoving Bond into the middle of a war zone is a great way of exploring different sides of Bond's character and abilities without reverting back to the evil henchman on an exotic island that Gardner absolutely loved to do.

Once the story moves away from Africa it inevitably loses some of that really enjoyable originality that Boyd did so well to tap into. However, once back in familiar territory (Washington DC), Boyd keeps the twists coming and the story continues to engage. A twist is sown into a double twist into a feasible yet completely surprising third twist. It's all managed much more feasibly than Deaver's somewhat forced efforts in Carte Blanche and ensures that the action and characters within the story continue to entertain.

For Bond literary fans that are willing to conceed that Fleming is never going to return and this is the best that they can hope for, they will absolutely enjoy this new Bond adventure. I'm uncertain as to what Boyd fans or just general thriller fans would think, however, it can't be less than a 3 star thriller story for a non-Bond fan.

Absolutely recommended, 007 is back and I'd welcome another Boyd story continuing on from 1969. ...more

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Dec 17, 2014 Sophie Narey (Bookreview- aholic) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Published: 08/10/2013
Author: William Boyd
Recommended for: fans of action books

William Boyd is a very good and talented author and I think he did a brilliant job with this book. It was compeling, keeps your attention, the storyline is also very good. I think that people who enjoy the original Ian Fleming James Bond books will enjoy this book as well. As I love James Bond I was abit sceptical about reading a 'James Bond' book not written by Iam Fleming, but I must admit I really really enjoyed rea ...more

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Jan 05, 2019 Glen rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, espionage, men-s-adventure

It's 1968, and James bond, turning 45 years old, is sent into a dirty war in Africa.

This is not the James Bond that Fleming wrote about. Rather, it's boring guy having a mid-life crisis. The villain isn't strong enough to hold any sort of interest. It's like a 1970's "moral equivalence" type novel. ...more

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Oct 05, 2014 F.R. rated it liked it · review of another edition

So, James Bond heads to a small war-torn African republic. Fair enough. What’s the point in William Boyd writing a Bond novel if he doesn’t do the stuff which interests him?

It’s 1969 and Bond is sent to Zanzarim, a fictional country caught up in a drawn out civil war. Oil has been discovered and it’s up to Bond to bring this conflict to a swift conclusion. From there we have double agents, triple agents, psychotic South African mercenaries, mistaken identity, drugs, torture and some good old fas So, James Bond heads to a small war-torn African republic. Fair enough. What’s the point in William Boyd writing a Bond novel if he doesn’t do the stuff which interests him?

It’s 1969 and Bond is sent to Zanzarim, a fictional country caught up in a drawn out civil war. Oil has been discovered and it’s up to Bond to bring this conflict to a swift conclusion. From there we have double agents, triple agents, psychotic South African mercenaries, mistaken identity, drugs, torture and some good old fashioned James Bond brutality. This is the tired Bond of ‘The Man with the Golden Gun’, the same version that Sebastian Faulks explored in ‘Devil May Care’ (I really must read ‘Colonel Sun’, ‘Devil May Care’ and ‘Solo’ back to back one quiet fortnight, just to see if there are any allusions and jokes which link them all). It opens with Bond’s 45th birthday and from there it’s a late sixties spectacular – but one experienced by a middle aged man. So Bond is happy with the latest fashions if it means the women don’t wear bras, but he’s a little befuddled by the new cars and sounds and you get the impression of a man who would be happy if the world hadn’t changed since 1958. There is though a Hammer Horror scream princess to keep his bed warm, and, really, you can’t get more 1960s than that.

Whether this is Fleming’s voice or Fleming’s vision is up for debate: the Bond of the later books is far angrier and prone to ranting about the modern world and that doesn’t really come through these pages; while if Fleming was going to write about Bond in an African republic then one can’t help thinking that there’d be more than one unfortunately racist remark which would make the modern reader wince. So it’s more Boyd than Fleming, and that’s fine as it’s a swift paced and entertaining read, although with perhaps an unexpectedly abrupt ending.

Next up is Anthony Horowitz, and from what I’ve heard of it I’m a little disappointed. Not that Horowitz isn’t a good writer, but because he’s using some mouldy old flea bitten idea that Fleming himself couldn’t be bothered to turn into a book. It seems like the stifling of originality. Come on, Ian Fleming Estate, if we’re going to hire literary authors then let’s really go for it. If you want someone who’s already a genre specialist, then let’s get James Ellroy to explore what that Felix Leiter is really up to. By why stop at genre specialists? Let’s see what Hilary Mantel makes of this imperialistic secret agent, or discover how expansive James Bond’s vocabulary gets when Will Self has a turn. ...more

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Dec 04, 2014 Rob Thompson rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2014-challenge, to-review, thriller, audio, reviewed, fiction

Boyd is in many ways a natural choice to produce a new instalment in the Bond series. He has written good quality spy stories of his own, and also has a track record of novels set in exotic locales. He doesn't disappoint here. In fact, this was a great deal better than I'd expected.

Saying that, the main problem is not so much the plot but the storytelling. This isn't a thriller by any means as it lacks urgency. Not uneventful, but with little incident and almost no action until the halfway mark. Boyd is in many ways a natural choice to produce a new instalment in the Bond series. He has written good quality spy stories of his own, and also has a track record of novels set in exotic locales. He doesn't disappoint here. In fact, this was a great deal better than I'd expected.

Saying that, the main problem is not so much the plot but the storytelling. This isn't a thriller by any means as it lacks urgency. Not uneventful, but with little incident and almost no action until the halfway mark. Scenes occur so we can revisit them once something happens. Without a proper mission or megalomaniac to hunt the pace flags.

Fleming's cardinal rule (borrowed from pulp fiction) was keep the plot flying and they won't see the plot holes. Here they appear cavernous, as chapters end with little coercing you to start the next. Without head to head showdowns over cards/cars/golf, 007 wilts amid a conspiracy. The girls and henchmen are well characterised but fail to loom large.

In fairness the twists are good and it's an easy read. I enjoyed it as a romance in the same old-fashioned sense that applied to Fleming's work.

(view spoiler)[The story has all the elements that are compulsory for a Bond novel - Martinis, fast cars, a sinister villain, beautiful and intriguing women falling at the hero's feet... But the style is definitely recognisable as Boyd's, and it's better for it. It doesn't seem lightweight or overly improbable. Boyd sends Bond off to Africa, with a mission to speed the ending of a civil war in a fictitious oil-rich African state. This is a good move - Boyd knows Africa and many of his best novels are set there. The wartime setting and political nature feel more believable than a closer-to-home mad villain bent on world domination style plot.

After celebrating his 45th birthday alone at The Dorchester, Bond is sent to Zanzarim to bring a speedy end to the civil war in the country which has seen the delta region of the country split to form the Democratic Republic of Dahum. Before leaving for Africa, Bond visits Gabriel Adeka—the rebel leader's brother—who runs AfriKIN, a London-based charity who send aid to Dahumni children; Gabriel tells Bond that he is not in contact with his brother Solomon, as the pair have fallen out.

On his arrival in Zanzarim, Bond is aided by a local agent who introduces herself as Efua Blessing Ogilvy-Grant. The two travel from the capital city to the rebel enclave, but are attacked shortly before reaching their destination and taken captive by Kobus Breed, a mercenary assisting the rebels. The group are attacked on their return journey and Ogilvy-Grant goes missing in the confusion, while Bond escapes.

Bond proceeds to the enclave, where he is met by Breed, who accepts Bond's cover as a journalist. Bond meets Solomon Adeka and realises that the leader will shortly die of cancer: his mission to kill Adeka is needless. Bond sees supply flights of arms and equipment coming into the country, all funded by billionaire Hulbert Linck; the aeroplanes all show the AfriKIN name on the fuselage. When Adeka dies a few days later, Bond tries to leave the country on one of the supply flights, but is confronted by Breed and Blessing, who both shoot him and leave him to die.

Bond is saved by a journalist he befriended and returns to the UK, where he spends time in a military hospital. After discharging himself, he decides to go on a revenge mission against Breed and Ogilvy-Grant. Discovering AfriKIN has relocated to Washington DC, Bond travels to the US and tracks down both of them at the AfriKIN offices. While conducting surveillance against the company, Bond is briefly detained by Brigham Leiter—nephew of Felix—of the CIA, who explains Ogilvy-Grant also works for the CIA.

Bond meets Ogilvy-Grant, who assures him that she shot to wound him in order that Breed would not shoot them both. The following day Bond watches a mercy flight bringing in maimed and injured Zanzarimi children; he dines alone and returns to his hotel to find that Breed has killed Ogilvy-Grant.

Bond attacks the house where Breed is staying with the children, and incapacitates the mercenary, leaving him for dead. He establishes that the children are being used as drug mules to smuggle raw heroin into the country and locates Solomon Adeka, who had not been killed in Africa, but been turned into a heroin addict in order to control him. Adeka's older brother had been killed in London, ensuring Solomon became chief of the tribe whose lands held massive amounts of oil: as he was an addict, these rights were signed away in favour of Hulbert Linck. Linck was killed by the CIA during the raid on the house. (hide spoiler)]

A good and interesting period companion piece about 007, but not an A#1 Bond adventure. ...more

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Jul 23, 2015 Cynthia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

It wasn't EXACTLY like reading a James Bond novel or watching a James Bond movie but it was very good, and a real page turner. And I enjoyed that it was written by a "real" literary author. I had been a little put off initially that it's set in Africa, I sometimes find Africa thrillers to be so brutal and grim that it's hard to bear but Boyd writes about it in a way that's gritty without being painful. ...more

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Jan 10, 2014 Vicki rated it really liked it · review of another edition

More reviews here: http://lilmissvixreads.blogspot.co.uk/

It is no secret that I am a huge Bond-geek, so it was a given that I pounced on this book the moment that I saw it on the library shelf. Admittedly, despite my love for all things Bond, it has been a while since I've read any Ian Fleming to compare Boyd's style to (the last Bond book I read was Sebastian Faulk's Devil May Care and I can't remember much about that either).

The storyline is about as far from the glamourous world of casino's a More reviews here: http://lilmissvixreads.blogspot.co.uk/

It is no secret that I am a huge Bond-geek, so it was a given that I pounced on this book the moment that I saw it on the library shelf. Admittedly, despite my love for all things Bond, it has been a while since I've read any Ian Fleming to compare Boyd's style to (the last Bond book I read was Sebastian Faulk's Devil May Care and I can't remember much about that either).

The storyline is about as far from the glamourous world of casino's and villains that we have come to associate with the British icon as you can get, and war stories really aren't my kind of thing. Nevertheless, I decided to give it a go, for Bond's sake. In his Author's Note, Boyd states that he has taken notice of Bond's 'obituary' published in You Only Live Twice, and thus has set the novel in line with the Fleming canon, ignoring the modern setting of the films and Jeffrey Deaver's Carte Blanche. Putting Bond back where he belongs, in the case of this novel 1969, brings him back to life again; he is a 'veteran' in a rapidly changing world. The opening dream/flashback section at the beginning of the story to Bond's youth in the army caught my attention and provided an interesting insight into Bond's character, but the story only really gets going once Bond is on his revenge mission; just like in the films, there's a lot of not much going on for a few hundred pages until it all comes to a head, and I raced through the final chapters to see how it all ended.

With regard to the 'Bond Girls', I wish that Bryce had a bigger part in the story; she seemed like a genuine love interest and her scenes with Bond were among the most engaging parts of the book. The same cannot be said for Blessing who I had very little empathy for.

Jakobus Breed could easily be ranked alongside the best of the Bond villains with his facial disfigurement and penchant for gruesome trademark deaths, yet I couldn't help but feel cheated out of a final showdown between him and Bond, and whilst I appreciate the tension created by his disappearance I would have liked to find out whether or not he survived.

I read this book for Bond alone, and without him the plot holds much less appeal for me; I'm currently reading another of Boyd's works Waiting for Sunrise which I definitely prefer.

4/5 stars: An interesting addition to the Bond franchise which is by no means badly written, but fans of the more gritty Daniel Craig films may appreciate the plot more than I did. Bond is back, literally with a vengeance. ...more

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Oct 28, 2013 Raven rated it really liked it

William Boyd dons the mantle of the late great Ian Fleming, with his latest outing Solo, and despite being a fan of both Boyd and Bond, I had rather a mixed response overall…

Boyd takes us back to the swinging Sixties with our ubiquitous hero celebrating his birthday and in pensive mood, but then quickly being commissioned to thwart a civil war in a small African nation. Boyd does present the spirit of this era perfectly, and as with all good Bond fare, there is the usual attention to cars, gadge William Boyd dons the mantle of the late great Ian Fleming, with his latest outing Solo, and despite being a fan of both Boyd and Bond, I had rather a mixed response overall…

Boyd takes us back to the swinging Sixties with our ubiquitous hero celebrating his birthday and in pensive mood, but then quickly being commissioned to thwart a civil war in a small African nation. Boyd does present the spirit of this era perfectly, and as with all good Bond fare, there is the usual attention to cars, gadgets and the natural charm of Bond in his dealings with the ladies, so little deviation from Boyd in his remit. I enjoyed the build up to Bond’s African mission, as Boyd neatly taps into our perception of Bond, accrued from the books and movies, detailing his particular quirks in relation to his personal life balanced with his unerring eagerness to undertake seemingly suicidal missions on behalf of her majesty’s government. I thoroughly enjoyed the African mission significantly, where using his cover as a journalist, Bond is drawn into a bloody and dangerous intervention in a civil war, and enjoyed the more compassionate side to Bond exposed when interacting with the innocent victims of such conflicts. The introduction of the feisty Blessing provided a good interplay in Bond’s mission (and naturally in his bed as well), along with the maniacal despots that seek to snuff out our favourite secret agent. A rollicking good beginning I thought, but although ostensibly capturing the key elements of the James Bond ouvre, particularly in the London and African set portion of the novel, I did find the conclusion of the novel set within the boundaries of Washington DC, a little less satisfying and disjointed than what had gone before and it all felt a little rushed, after the staunchly controlled writing of the first half of the book. Indeed the first half of the novel read like a conventional Bond book, but the second was definitely more cinematic in style for this reader certainly, and as much as we all like to suspend our disbelief as far as Bond is concerned, I just felt the two halves of the book didn’t marry completely, although not irritating enough to compel me to stop reading.

Without question, Boyd is singularly, in this reviewer’s opinion anyway, one of the finest literary fiction writers Britain has produced and often imitated but rarely bettered, but I wasn’t totally convinced by his rendition of a traditional Bond adventure I’m sorry to say, with its slight unbalance in the narrative and the denouement of the adventure. However, despite my misgivings and taken as a whole I think this book largely fits the Fleming mould, and Boyd does capture the essence of the originals with the quality of his characterisation. Not quite licensed to thrill but in the end not bad enough for me to give it a big (Doctor) No- no…
...more

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Oct 26, 2013 Carl rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I am a big Bond fan, both the books and movies and have read the Fleming books, or most of them.
I especially like the idea of different authors doing a Bond story, it gives the reader a slightly different take on the 007 franchise.
Sebastian Faulkes did it with Devil May Care which was a Flemingesque adventure for Bond. Also Jeffrey Deaver wrote a modern Americanesque Bond
Which was a bit of a standalone version called Carte Blanche this was also good.
Solo by William Boyd harks back to the Fleming ...more

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Oct 11, 2013 Gail Strickland rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Bond. James Bond is back. Boyd's Bond is closer to the original Ian Fleming Bond than other authors have managed. In this one, however, Bond seems to have developed a conscience and is without all the gee-whiz gadgets we're used to from the movie renditions. ...more

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Sep 28, 2013 Bettie rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: series, fradio, testost-tosh, autumn-2013, abandoned, spies, radio-4, published-2013, adventure, next

Word Up ...more

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Aug 24, 2018 Mr Shahabi rated it it was ok · review of another edition

This was far from what's I've expected, but the problem lies not in the material, it's just that I've spent 30 years watching Bond on the screen, all the luxury suits and fancy cars.. Etc eye candy, you are enjoying a cinematic experience at its best, that bieng said, I belive that I cannot accept Reading a Bond novel, no matter how good it was, it's just isn't a "Cinematic" experience anymore, that Aura is on somewhere else.

Plus, the story wasn't that Grand to be honest, a bit mix of Tomorrow N ...more

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Oct 01, 2014 Patrick rated it liked it · review of another edition

[3.5]

Taken on its own terms, Solo, or at least the first two thirds of Solo, is really rather good. Yes, of course, the whole notion of a jack-of-all-trades secret agent with a 'licence to kill' is faintly ridiculous, but then Bond is not and never was meant to be about realistically portraying the world of an intelligence service operative. If you want that, read John Le Carre.

Boyd knows how to write a spy thriller. This is a much simpler and less layered book than Restless or Ordinary Thunder [3.5]

Taken on its own terms, Solo, or at least the first two thirds of Solo, is really rather good. Yes, of course, the whole notion of a jack-of-all-trades secret agent with a 'licence to kill' is faintly ridiculous, but then Bond is not and never was meant to be about realistically portraying the world of an intelligence service operative. If you want that, read John Le Carre.

Boyd knows how to write a spy thriller. This is a much simpler and less layered book than Restless or Ordinary Thunderstorms, and it moves along much more quickly. The whole sequence from landing at an airport in the fictional war-torn African country of Zanzarim to being evacuated after having been double-crossed and near-fatally wounded at another airport at the other end of the country, takes place over just a hundred pages or so. Bond is given a touch more depth than in the films (I've not actually read any of Fleming's books) but only so much as to suggest that he is a little scarred by a life spent in constant proximity to death and destruction, and that this might be an explanation for his heavy drinking (more obvious than in the films, I thought we were in Rebus territory...) and his reluctance to become too close to anyone. No curveballs, in fact pretty much how you would expect Bond to be portrayed if the author is to give voice to his internal thoughts. But it was well done, and if you don't want to write or read a Bond novel, you probably shouldn't be writing/reading a Bond novel.

I found the description of the nasty little African civil war that Bond becomes embroiled in, with its cast of psychopathic mercenaries, quite convincing, although having never been to Africa, let alone to a war zone, I don't know what that counts for. Its only when the action moves to Washington in the second part of the book that I thought it began to lose momentum, and for the action to feel a bit cartoonish, whisper it, a bit Pierce Brosnan-era Bond movie-ish. The ending, where Bond appears to have doubts of a sort about the motives of the MI5 operatives who sent him on the mission, felt a little bit didactic, and while I don't doubt the truth of what Boyd (because I can't help thinking it is Boyd giving voice to his own concerns) has to say about Western involvement in resource-rich 3rd world countries, I somehow can't imagine James Bond caring much. It took me back to reading books like The 39 Steps when I was a kid, and if run of the mill thrillers were usually as well put together as this, I might read more of them. ...more

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Sep 30, 2013 Michael rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: thriller, 2013, espionage

The year is 1969 and special agent James Bond has just celebrated his forty-fifth birthday when he is directed by M to undertake an unusual assignment. The western African nation of Zanzarim is in the middle of a civil war and his mission is to eliminate the rebel threat. When Bond gets to West Africa he soon finds out this isn’t as straightforward as it appeared. Soon he finds himself going solo to seek revenge.

I love the James Bond movies but haven’t had much experience with the 007 books; I h The year is 1969 and special agent James Bond has just celebrated his forty-fifth birthday when he is directed by M to undertake an unusual assignment. The western African nation of Zanzarim is in the middle of a civil war and his mission is to eliminate the rebel threat. When Bond gets to West Africa he soon finds out this isn’t as straightforward as it appeared. Soon he finds himself going solo to seek revenge.

I love the James Bond movies but haven’t had much experience with the 007 books; I have only read Carte Blanche and Casino Royale. So if I’m comparing this book to those two, then Solo is amazing. But if I compare it to everything I know about Bond then there is something missing. William Boyd has modelled his Bond after You Only Live Twice so I can’t help but picture Sean Connery.

Solo’s 007 seems to be a heavy smoker but his drinking and womanising is lacking. I know that might seem weird but Bond and misogyny go hand in hand. It is like having a Bond without any wacky gadgets…oh wait, that is a bit of problem here too. One of the things that got me out Boyd’s Bond was that whenever he beds a woman he is making love to her. This just bothered me, I can’t imagine Bond being in love with all those women so the term ‘making love’ doesn’t seem right, also couldn’t we mix it up a little and use a few different teams; ‘slept with’, ‘took to bed’ and so on?

Apart from my issues with this novel, Boyd has a decent knowledge of James Bond and it was nice to see references in the book to a younger 007. For example when he tried to get a Walther PPK in a gun store, they didn’t have any so he went with a Beretta and made references to this being his weapon of choice when he was younger. Little things like that really pulled the book together.

Aside from his knowledge on Bond, William Boyd also has a decent knowledge of that classic spy thriller formula. Nothing too complicated but the light reading of a Bond or Thriller novel. Blending the nuances of the Bond and spy thriller genre, Boyd really seemed to make this his own. While die-hard fans may be annoyed and some people will be bothered with the changes, this was a lot of fun to read.

This review originally appeared on my blog; http://literary-exploration.com/2013/... ...more

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Nov 04, 2013 David Monroe rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: expanded-universe, thriller, historical-fiction, fiction, 20th-century

In trying to tag this book, I finally hit on its primary problem. Mystery? No. Noir? Nope. Hardboiled? I'll answer that when I stop laughing. It's really about, nothing. It starts out with promise. It's the day of Bond's 45th Birthday, 1969 and he's having recurring dreams about WWII. Specifically when he was a 19 year-old Lieutenant on the day after the D-Day landings, in the farms surrounding Normandy. It's the day he first faces death. Even though, since the war, he's lived a life where he's In trying to tag this book, I finally hit on its primary problem. Mystery? No. Noir? Nope. Hardboiled? I'll answer that when I stop laughing. It's really about, nothing. It starts out with promise. It's the day of Bond's 45th Birthday, 1969 and he's having recurring dreams about WWII. Specifically when he was a 19 year-old Lieutenant on the day after the D-Day landings, in the farms surrounding Normandy. It's the day he first faces death. Even though, since the war, he's lived a life where he's faced death many, many more times, it's that first time that still haunts him. And then the rest of the book happens. He's sent to a small African nation to stop a revolution, so there's cold war imperialism, poverty, racism and misogyny. You know, Bond stuff. But even that, which either sounds offensive as hell or a laundry-list of Bond tropes, is boring. Stuff happens. He sort of falls in love or something(?). Seriously, I don't know. Then he's shot, goes back to the UK to recover and then ... GOES SOLO! Because REVENGE. (or something, again--no clue). In this book it means nothing special. Just Bond traveling to England, Africa and Washington, DC buying stuff. Eating stuff. Running into Felix's nephew. More stuff, more food, more buying stuff and then shooting folks. And then, thankfully it ends. It ends well. With a very cinematic and very Bond novels flourish. I've JUST finished this and if you held a walther ppk to my head, I couldn't tell you what it was about. Seriously, no clue. Good start, good finish and ... stuff in-between. I want my couple of hours back, or better yet, I'll just go watch From Russia With Love.

Addendum: I don't give one star ratings lightly. I very rarely do it. I try very hard to find something positive and redeeming in a book and push it up a star. The word-salad I had to wade through and the racism were deal-breakers. Sure, it's of the period, but it was awkwardly shoe-horned in as if to say: "Hey, I know this book is set in 1969 and I totally haven't described anything of the late 60s for about 50 pages now, so here's some ugly casual mid-20th century colonial racism. Okay?" No. Just. No. ...more

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Nov 05, 2013 Carson rated it liked it · review of another edition

Re-read 2020 leading up to "No Time to Die"

SOLO has a lot of potential. It creates a fictional land with stakes and plot, twists and turns. In the end, it does not take us anywhere we haven't been before with Bond. It is not an essential 007 story. It's just an average one.

We begin with Bond turning 45 in 1969. We are brought up to speed on his life and many changes within it.

The first half of the story sets the table quite well. I would have much enjoyed a more fully developed end and a greate ...more

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Sep 30, 2013 Nick Brett rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I am a fan of William Boyd’s writing and was delighted to hear he had been selected as the writer for this important Bond novel. Which makes the actual result extra disappointing.

This is a book of three bits, Bond in London post a birthday celebration. Bond on a mission in Africa and Bond going solo in the US. It’s a short book at just over 300 pages.

We have to remember this is about the Bond that Fleming gave us, not the film and not as depicted in the Gardiner or Benson books. Important to rem ...more

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Sep 25, 2013 Adam Stone rated it really liked it

Solo is the most recent James Bond novel, and is also a return to form.

Unlike the previous novel, Carte Blanche, which was a modern day reboot of the series, this is firmly placed in the original novel canon, which is much better in my opinion as I think the character of Bond suits this style and era much better than a modern setting.

Bond is celebrating his 45th birthdays at the start of this novel, so he is a much maturer Bond that we have seen in a lot of the books, but when you read the boo ...more

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Oct 08, 2013 Randy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I read the Fleming Bond novels when I was fifteen, shortly after his death and kept up with the final novel and all the pastiches to come, including the novelizations of the original scripts and those of MOONRAKER and THE SPY WHO LOVED ME.

SOLO is the only one, with the exception of COLONEL SUN, that captured that pulp style of Ian Fleming. The Gardner Bonds, though I enjoyed them, strayed into literary style. Benson's were closer.

In this one, the setting is 1969 and Bond is sent into west Afric ...more

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Oct 11, 2013 Howard Brazier rated it did not like it · review of another edition

I struggle to understand how such an excellent author could write such a poor book. The story is very two dimensional, and Bond is far too introspective.
Boyd re-read all of Fleming's Bond novels before carrying out this assignment, and I think that he spent so much time copying Fleming's style (infinite detail on every drink (of which there are too many), meals and items of clothing, to name just the main ones) rather than working on a good story. I'm happy to have the story set in the '60s, but ...more

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Jul 04, 2017 Ruthiella rated it liked it · review of another edition

It has been many years since I read the Ian Fleming originals. For a while in my late teens and early twenties I was enamored with the Bond phenomena: books, movies, theme songs, you name it. As I recall, the books were a hoot to read, but for the most part miles apart from the films.

I think that Boyd has done a pretty good job keeping the character and the story in Solo in line with the original books, for better or for worse. There were some nice hints woven in which reference the earlier boo ...more

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Feb 06, 2018 David added it · review of another edition

I felt it to be a thoroughly competent Bond novel, which is pretty much damning with faint praise. The villains were violent enough and, for the most part, realistic. The questionable allegiance card is played. The women are both strong figures, neither being simple worshippers of ‘Bond as Man’ and the reason for the end of the romance is, in each case, more than simply getting tired of the other; in fact, the end of the second relationship is almost entirely dictated by the manner in which the ...more

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Jan 16, 2019 Nick Duretta rated it liked it · review of another edition

Boyd is a wonderful novelist, but he was slumming a bit when he took on this assignment. Not that James Bond isn't a wonderful creation, but formulaic thrillers are not what Boyd is best at. And this is certainly formulaic--beautiful women, nasty villains, tricky situations--all overcome by Bond without barely mussing his collar. (Still, it's better than the plots of the newer Bond films.) ...more

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Oct 23, 2020 Hilary rated it liked it

William Boyd takes over where Ian Fleming left off in this James Bond adventure. In order to appreciate how well he has taken over the mantle, I probably should have read some of the original Fleming stories. Still, judging from what I know from the films, it seems to have all the right ingredients - battle-scarred baddies, beautiful women, varied locations around the world, violence. But not really my cup of tea - or even my vodka martini.

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Jun 06, 2017 David Highton rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A long time since I read the original Ian Fleming Bond novels, so not sure I want or need to make a comparision. Boyd is a good writer and the story involves Africa, which Boyd has written about before, and not the Cold War. The details of the different underlying plot lines are not revealed too early and the mystery is maintained pretty much through to the end. All in all, an enjoyable read for me - not sure what the Bond purists will think.

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Sep 04, 2018 Nancy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Strangely, I've never read any of Ian Fleming's books, so I can't make any comparisons between his James Bond and William Boyd's. Having seen a few of the movies, I can say that Bond loses a lot of his glamour when viewed from the inside out. In the book he seems less decisive, more complaining -- I suppose more human. I enjoyed this well enough, but I can't say it really grabbed me. ...more

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About William Boyd

William Boyd

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Note: William^^Boyd

Of Scottish descent, Boyd was born in Accra, Ghana on 7th March, 1952 and spent much of his early life there and in Nigeria where his mother was a teacher and his father, a doctor. Boyd was in Nigeria during the Biafran War, the brutal secessionist conflict which ran from 1967 to 1970 and it had a profound effect on him.

At the age of nine years he attended Gordonstoun school, in Note: William^^Boyd

Of Scottish descent, Boyd was born in Accra, Ghana on 7th March, 1952 and spent much of his early life there and in Nigeria where his mother was a teacher and his father, a doctor. Boyd was in Nigeria during the Biafran War, the brutal secessionist conflict which ran from 1967 to 1970 and it had a profound effect on him.

At the age of nine years he attended Gordonstoun school, in Moray, Scotland and then Nice University (Diploma of French Studies) and Glasgow University (MA Hons in English and Philosophy), where he edited the Glasgow University Guardian. He then moved to Jesus College, Oxford in 1975 and completed a PhD thesis on Shelley. For a brief period he worked at the New Statesman magazine as a TV critic, then he returned to Oxford as an English lecturer teaching the contemporary novel at St Hilda's College (1980-83). It was while he was here that his first novel, A Good Man in Africa (1981), was published.

Boyd spent eight years in academia, during which time his first film, Good and Bad at Games, was made. When he was offered a college lecturership, which would mean spending more time teaching, he was forced to choose between teaching and writing.

Boyd was selected in 1983 as one of the 20 'Best of Young British Novelists' in a promotion run by Granta magazine and the Book Marketing Council. He also became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in the same year, and is also an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He has been presented with honorary doctorates in literature from the universities of St. Andrews, Stirling and Glasgow. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2005.

Boyd has been with his wife Susan since they met as students at Glasgow University and all his books are dedicated to her. His wife is editor-at-large of Harper's Bazaar magazine, and they currently spend about thirty to forty days a year in the US. He and his wife have a house in Chelsea, West London but spend most of the year at their chateau in Bergerac in south west France, where Boyd produces award-winning wines.
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Quotes from Solo - A James Bo...

“The air smelt of booze, sweat and cheap perfume - redolent of sex and danger. There was a kind of frontier recklessness about the atmosphere, Bond thought, and recognised its allure.” — 0 likes

“Bond went back to room 325 and poured himself two fingers of bourbon from his bottle and switched on the television while he waited for Delmont. He watched a game of baseball uncomprehendingly - the Senators versus the Royals - thinking that it made cricket seem exciting.” — 0 likes

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