New James Bond book announced.

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Random House has announced that in commemoration of what would be Ian Fleming's 100th birthday, one of its subsidiaries, Doubleday, will publish a brand-new James Bond novel, Devil May Care. Previously, Kingsley Amis, John Gardner, and Raymond Benson had been hired to write books in the Bond series after Fleming's death. For this new title, the Ian Fleming estate personally chose writer Sebastian Faulks (The Girl at the Lion d'Or, Birdsong, and Charlotte Gray. The novel will be released on May 28, 2008.

"I was surprised but flattered to be asked by Ian Fleming publications if I would write a one-off Bond book for the Ian Fleming centenary," Faulks said in a press release. "I told them I hadn't read the books since the age of 13, but when I re-read them, I still enjoyed them, and could see how I might be able to do something in the same vein.

"On re-reading, I was surprised by how well the books stood up. I put this down to three things: the sense of jeopardy Fleming creates about his solitary hero; a certain playfulness in the narrative details; and a crisp, journalistic style that hasn't dated," Faulks said. He added that he developed a prose style that is "about 80 percent Fleming."

Over 100 million Bond books have been sold to date, and over half the world's population has seen a Bond film. The most recent, "Casino Royale" starring Daniel Craig, grossed over 594 million dollars worldwide.

Devil May Care is a madcap adventure that begins in Paris, one of the settings that Faulks writes about with perfection. The novel is set during the Cold War, with the action played out on two continents, in exotic locations and in several of the world's most glamorous cities.

"My novel is meant to stand in the line of Fleming's own books, where the story is everything," Faulks said. "In his house in Jamaica, Ian Fleming used to write a thousand words in the morning, then go snorkeling, have a cocktail, lunch on the terrace, more diving, another thousand words in the late afternoon, then more Martinis and glamorous women. In my house in London, I followed this routine exactly, apart from the cocktails, the lunch, and the snorkeling."

All 14 of Fleming's Bond books have been made into films, but it's been tough walking in the master's shoes. Only two titles out of 12 that Gardner penned made it to film (Goldeneye, License to Kill), only two out of seven that Benson wrote made it to the big screen (The World is Not Enough, Tomorrow Never Dies and none by Amis. So the big question remains, will this centenary title be strong enough to become part of the James Bond film legacy as well?

Obviously, we'll have to see.

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