Synopsis: In the dark waters of a remote Scottish loch, the mighty salmon Silverfin is said to swim. But no fish swim in those waters any longer, only deadly shoals of killer eels. The owner of the loch and of the castle that stands beside it is a man driven by an unquenchable desire for power. The local police can not stop him, the great Pinkerton Detective Agency can not touch him as his plans near fruition. There is, in fact, only one obstacle to Randolph Hellebore's victory; one boy who might be able to stop him. The boy's name is Bond; James Bond.

Review: The task of writing the history of the young James Bond is not an enviable one. Like most literary figures of a certain antiquity, stature and endurance, the body of information which has built up surrounding the character, based on hints dropped in various books as well as commonly held supposition, is sufficiently complex to provide a challenge of almost Herculean proportions. In undertaking this task at the behest of Ian Fleming Publications, Charlie Higson has stepped into the lion's den and there was much pre-publication hoo-hah about the wisdom and integrity of a Young Bond series *

A key decision was taken in the setting of the story. James Bond is one of those characters who, by surviving across generations, has been somewhere in the early stages of mature middle age for decades, but this Bond is the earliest of Bonds, attending school at Eton in the 1930s. This gives him a chance to mix with children of various races and, by introducing Bond to a Cockney rough diamond on his vacation, Higson also gives him contact with the seamier side of life. Other elements of Bond's future are touched on: although Bond is an orphan and a child, his adventurous aunt and former-spy uncle (his father's siblings) provide him with an early introduction to the joys of the automobile and the world of intrigue. One thing not much in evidence is that smooth Bond charm; young Bond's encounters with girls are few and slightly awkward and he is explicitly not yet much interested in the opposite sex. This is not necessarily a bad thing, of course.

But enough of the canonicity; is it any good? Well, yes it is, and it should do well. James Bond's spy-type adventures at Eton tap into not one but three major wells: James Bond himself is of course the main seller, but the pre-pubescent spy market has rarely been more bouyant and Eton is like Hogwarts, only tougher. Higson writes a good action scene and there are a few truly spine-chilling moments with killer eels and mutant pigs. With the current hiatus – or permanent conclusion, perhaps – of Alex Rider's adventures, there really is nothing in the market to touch Silverfin in terms of Boy's Own action adventure. Whether it would appeal to girls is more questionable as, even more than Anthony Horowitz's work, this is very boy-oriented fiction. Wilder Lawless may be a measure more capable than most grown-up Bond girls, but even taken together with Bond's tough and capable Aunt Charmian, the book is still left rather short of female characters of any sort. For good or ill then, Silverfin is a very boyish book, but a well-written one.

2006-10-29