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Loading... Licence Expired: The Unauthorized James Bondby Madeline Ashby (Editor), David Nickle (Editor)
None No current Talk conversations about this book. 1   TobinElliott | Sep 3, 2021 |    )1 Rivendell | Jun 24, 2019 | In nineteen stories, From Eton to Jamaica, James Bond forever. ( )1 alanteder | Sep 16, 2016 |
 Overall, I’d say this is a collection well worth seeking out. In my view the hits outweigh the misses, and the misses were trying something new even if I didn’t feel they hit the target in the end. As you may remember, James Bond, the literary version at least, entered the public domain in Canada last year. In Canada, a work’s copyright term is 20 years fewer than in the United States, Britain or Australia, which is why this collection interrogating, remixing and riffing on Ian Fleming’s 007 markets itself as “only in Canada.” It’s an entertaining selection, about a third of which is especially memorable. My one complaint is I wish Licence Expired did more of what it does well, which is looking at Bond through diverse lenses (gender and race, particularly). The editors wish they could have had even wider diversity, too, but felt pressed by looming potential copyright changes: If the Trans-Pacific Partnership had been in place, we wouldn’t have a book like this – not for another 20 years. That would be a great loss. Neither Bond nor readers should have to wait so long. Awards
An anthology of collected stories from various Canadian authors, based on Ian Fleming's fourteen published Bond novels, edited by Canadian genre authors Madeline Ashby and David Nickle. To be published in Canada only. No library descriptions found. |
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I will say this started out strong with an interesting and enigmatic opening story, followed by the best story of the collection as the second, by Robert J. Wiersema. I won't blow it, but I will say that, with his story, Wiersma effectively rewrote the entire reason for Bond's service in one neat little story.
After that, I found the book settled into a reasonably predictable rhythm of Bond stories, occasionally feeling like they broke from canon a little too often, or at least contradicted themselves from story to story (Bond is set financially for retirement / Bond doesn't have enough money, Bond easily recalls the women he's been with / Bond sees all women the same, etc.). For the most part, however, the stories were well-written, and engaging.
The second standout came toward the end of the book with Ian Rogers' story where he posits a bleak future for Bond. Again, really took a chance here, much like Wiersema, but it paid off.
Overall, if you love Bond, you'll definitely find some fun stuff in here. (