The book sold well, appearing in the top ten-selling book lists in the UK.Īfter celebrating his 45th birthday alone at The Dorchester, Bond is sent to Zanzarim to bring a speedy end to the civil war in the country which has seen the delta region of the country split to form the Democratic Republic of Dahum. Other critics saw the book as being equal with, or superior to, Fleming's stronger novels. Solo received mixed reviews, with a number of critics pointing to the convoluted and unstirring plot. It took 18 months to write the novel, with some friction between Boyd and the Fleming estate over the portrayal of Bond. He has been a Bond fan since his youth and, in preparation for writing the novel he read all the Bond stories in chronological order. Boyd was raised in Nigeria and used his experiences during the civil war to provide the location for the novel.

The novel is set in 1969-six years after Fleming's last work was set-and Bond is 45 years old. After being shot by Ogilvy-Grant, Bond tracks both people to Washington on a revenge mission, finally establishing that Breed is trafficking heroin into the US.īoyd closely based his version of the Bond character on Ian Fleming's, and eschewed any of the film versions. The plot centres on Bond's mission to the civil war in the fictional country of Zanzarim-a thinly veiled version of Biafra during the Nigerian Civil War-where he meets the local MI6 contact, Efua Blessing Ogilvy-Grant, and a Rhodesian mercenary, Kobus Breed.

It was published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on 26 September 2013 in hardback, e-book and audio editions, and in the US by HarperCollins on 8 October 2013. Solo is a James Bond continuation novel written by William Boyd.

Solo boyd novel