By Royal Command (2008) - The Young
James Bond Series by Charlie Higson: Book Five
Official Synopsis
Following a treacherous
rescue mission high in the freezing Alps, James Bond is preparing
for life back at Eton. But James
is under surveillance; his every move is being watched. He
alone holds the clue to a sinister plot that will bring bloodshed
and carnage to his school – and his country. Forced to
flee from Eton to Austria, James must leave behind everything
he knows,
with only a beautiful – and dangerous
– girl by his side. Soon he is trapped in a deadly war
of secrets and lies, as a nightmare reunion with a bitter enemy
plunges him once more
into the face of death. Life for James Bond will never be the
same again.
Teaser
By Royal Command sees James Bond thrown into the midst of a
dangerous,
spy-ridden plot that threatens to put both King and country
at risk. Set
between the two World Wars and moving between Eton and the
chilling slopes
of the Austrian Alps, By Royal Command sees the young James
Bond put to
the test as never before. Not only are his bravery and loyalty
on trial,
but the arrival of a pretty, young maid at Eton also teaches
him a lesson
of the heart.
Chapter Listing
Part 1: Kitzbuhel
- What WIll Be Will Be
- It is Only When We Are Close To Death That
We Feel Fully Alive
- Hitler-Jugend
- Austrian Waltzing Blood
- You're Going The Wrong Way!
- There is MOre Than One Way to Come Down a
Mountain
- White Death
- Goodnight, Vienna
- The Man Without a Face
Part 2: ETON
- Bloody Bentinck
- Consorting With a Common Maid
- An Invitation and an Order
- The Invisible Man
- By Royal Command
- Guest of Honour
- A Blunt Object
- Science is Not a Boring Subject
- The Infernal Device
- One Move and I'll Tear Your Throat Out
- The Shadow War
- The Men in Grey Hats
- A Cold-Blooded Killer
Part 3: FUGITIVES
- Blonde Bombshell
- The Marseillaise
- Fallen Among Friends
- The Stink of Death
- Keeping Up Appearences
- You Never Give Up, Do You?
- For Kng and Country
- Someone Has Let the Rabbits Out of Their
Hutches
- Diamond Heart
- From on Top of a Mountain
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Above: Promotional poster
Above: UK audiobook cover artwork
 Order
Audiobook (Amazon UK)
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Introduction
James Bond is the most famosu spy the world has ever known. His life in the shadowy
world of the British Secret Services was brilliantly documented in fourteen
classic books by Ian Fleming, from Casino Royale to Octopussy. Ian Fleming
wrote about James Bond over fifty years ago. He was uniquely placed to chronicle
Bond's secret-service career - he was himself involved at a high level in intelligence-gathering
operations in World War II. Charlie Higson is a well-known writer of screenplays
and adult thriller novels, as well as a performer and co-creater of The Fast
Show.
Official Announcement
Puffin and Ian Fleming Publications announce that the next
book in Charlie Higson’s bestselling Young Bond series,
to be published on 4th September 2008, will be entitled By
Royal
Command. Young Bond’s most daring adventure yet takes
him from England to the chilling heights of the Austrian Alps.
When
his whole world explodes, James is forced to go on the run,
pursued by enemy agents and the British authorities. James
must choose between friendship and duty. His life will never
be the same again...
Above: Young Bond from "Double
Or Die" as depicted by Kev Walker |
Behind The Books
Over the course of the previous four books,
author Charlie Higson gave exclusive interviews about the Young
Bond series
to MI6. The following excerpts concern book five - By Royal
Command. Click the links in the sidebar to read the interviews
in their entirety.
"[Hurricane
Gold] came out of the blue because I'd had a rough
scheme for the five books and then I shunted two books-worth
of ideas in to one book - all of which is now in book five
- it was going to be two different books. It’s going
to be a more complex book compared to the others."
"I have a story that finishes at book five, which
is the story that started at the beginning of SilverFin.
It will tie up all the various threads, characters and
themes that run through all the five books. It will end
with Bond leaving Eton, which is part of the Bond mythology,
which we had from Ian Fleming."
"The fifth book involves elements of a fairly major
nature. Yes, the Royal Family do play a part in the plot.
It
does involve the maid and it does involve him leaving
Eton. Basically, it is decided that things need to be
hushed up, kept out of the way and swept under the carpet,
official secrets, the government and the establishment
closing ranks and all that, trying not to let out what
has really happened, and that Bond is never allowed to
speak about it ever again. Which is why he never mentions
it when he's an adult! And so, they actively go about
changing the dates and circumstances. But so that the
general public and the newspapers can 't put two and
two together, the exact dates get altered and obscured,
so that James's activities and involvement never come
to light."
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Above: Author Charlie Higson
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"I hope to have fun with the maid incident and show that it
was a lot bigger and more complex than what was presented in
the obituary, and that the obituary is a deliberate attempt
to cover the truth up. And I hope it will also help explain
some of his attitude towards women in later life."
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