Here Comes The Colonel Sun

    I am not sure who is not aware of this, but aside from roads, I am a HUGE fan of James Bond. I remember when ABC used to play a combo of the Roger Moore and Sean Connery entries during the summer on Sunday nights in the 80s and early 90s.

   Later on, I began to read the original source material written by Ian Fleming between 1953 and 1965. While some of the movies stayed fairly true to the books, a few strayed considerably, particularly The Spy Who Loved Me, You Only Live Twice, Moonraker, and The Man With the Golden Gun. Of course, we all know that theatrical license needs to be taken to make a movie watchable. Trust me on Moonraker, that book put me to sleep.

   In the early 1980s, an author named John Gardner picked up the Bond concept in a series of novels that ran between 1981 and 1996. These books were more in the vein of Roger Moore silliness than Fleming's cold and calculating secret agent. I read most of them quite easily within a day or so, which may have been the problem. Gardner's prose was was simple without diving too deeply into sensory detail, which at the time suited me fine. Even now, I skip past long paragraphs describing gorgeous sitting room furniture because the plot is at a standstill.

   Even Fleming's novels went through a metamorphosis. Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, Moonraker, Diamonds are Forever, and From Russia With Love were not overly inundated with long detail. Doctor No and Goldfinger started to get into more detail, and On Her Majesty's Secret Service and You Only Live Twice had long paragraphs in tinier print that irritated the hell out of my eyes.

   The 1950s Bond novels tended to pit Bond against the Soviet secret service organization called SMERSH, with two exceptions. In the 1960s, the new enemy became SPECTRE, led by mega-villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld. SPECTRE was what many of the early Bond movies focused on and even rewrote from SMERSH material. And then came Roger Moore...and I don't want to talk about that...at least not in this article.

   In 1968, British author Kingsley Amis, fascinated by Bond, wrote his own Bond novel called Colonel Sun. I just finished this book and I have to say...meh!

   I picked up a copy at my favorite local thrift store months ago and just recently decided to delve into it. Now, this is the only Amis book I have ever read, so I have nothing to compare this book to except Fleming novels...particularly the SPECTRE entries in terms of long paragraphs I can do without. Thankfully, the story went only 194 pages.

   One thing I can say for Amis is that he had done his research, specifically on Bond's superior name M and M's domestic staff at him home Quarterdeck, as they were featured briefly in On Her Majesty's Secret Service 5 years previously. 

   The plot is a bit odd, but worthy of transformation into a movie. In fact, it would not amaze me if elements of the book were already part of other films. The basic idea is that M has been kidnapped by Colonel Sun Liang-tan and his men and taken to a Greek Island. Sun had intended to grab Bond as well, but Bond foiled that plot. After consulting with his higher-ups using a planted clue, Bond deduces that M was taken to Greece and once there makes contact with Greek blooded but Communist-leaning Ariadne Alexandrou who is supposed to take him to Soviet friends but not for evil purposes. In short time, Bond and Soviet Major Gordienko form an uneasy truce before Gordienko is killed. After Bond and Ariadne recruit the help of her father's old comrade Niko Litsas, they come to Sun's fortress on Vrakonisi, a Greek Island, where a Soviet detente gathering is happenig. Sun and Nazi von Richter intend to kill everyone at the gathering and pin the blame on M and Bond.

   Bond, as well as Ariadne and Litsas, is eventually captured by Sun's people and, after a brief reunion with M, is taken to a basement to undergo physical and psychological torture performed by Colonel Sun himself. This part of the book to the climactic ending is the most readable...and it is only about 30 pages, but at least the action is palpable. The torture described is gruesome and I was amazed that Bond did not suffer permanent damage from it...but this IS Bond! Litsas sees to von Richter's demise while Bond first stabs Colonel Sun and later kills him. At the end, Bond is offered a medal by the Soviets, which he must refuse. Like with other Bond girls, he and Ariadne vow to spend time with each other when they can. This is a pattern in Bond books...by the next one, the previous book's Bond girl left him. As the next Bond book was Gardner's  1981 Licence Renewed, we never hear of what happened with Ariadne.

   Ariadne Alexandrou is fiercely passionate of Greek legend and history...and probably the most erotically described Bond girl of all time. Put into context of Bond's tragically short-lived marriage, Bond completely gives himself to her, damn the consequences. James Bond was already world-weary by 1963, tired of the hopeless pursuit of Blofeld and in 1964 when he found Blofeld, he strangled his enemy to death, and in 1965 was temporarily brainwashed to think he was a Soviet assassin assigned to kill M. 

   I appreciate what Amis is trying to do here, showing Bond as a quite seasoned agent who is less active than he once was, taking many an opportunity to take a round of golf. In some way, his way with women has not changed, but he is the wiser for his experience, falling almost happily into Ariadne's clutches, knowing it was going to happen one way or the other.

   As for Colonel Sun himself, he appears to be a Chinese version of Blofeld, waxing philosophical when performing torture. The scene in which Bond undergoes this agonizing torture almost seems like it should have been in You Only Live Twice shortly before his swordfight with Blofeld and then strangling him to death. Sun is evil, and yet at the end his emulation of the Marquis de Sade is revealed to not have the satisfactory feel he expected and he even apologized to Bond for this failure before dying. Sun is in fact a recreation of SPECTRE in terms of a third party trying to destroy the other world powers.

   For a one-off attempt at a Bond story, Amis did ok. It was like he had an idea he had to run with so he could get to other literary inspirations. I know that feeling well. Sadly, there was no 1970s literary representation of James Bond, leaving fans to deal with....Roger...Moore! As much as I dig the last name, no thank you!