Colonel Sun

James Bond, Book 15

By: Kingsley Amis

Narrated by: Simon Vance

The life of secret agent James Bond has begun to fall into a pattern that threatens complacency…until the sunny afternoon when M is kidnapped. The action ricochets across the globe to a volcanic Greek island, where Colonel Sun Liang-tan of the People's Liberation Army of China collaborates with an ex-Nazi atrocity expert in a world-menacing conspiracy.

Stripped of all professional aids, Bond faces, unarmed, the monstrous devices of Colonel Sun in a test that brings him to the verge of his physical endurance.

©1968 Ian Flemming Publications (P)2000 Blackstone Audioooks Ltd

Very good but not Ian Fleming good.

Simon Vance rocks. I won't listen to an audio book by anyone else. The story was not as compelling as other James Bond books. I had problems following the plot at times. But I enjoyed it and would recommend to anyone has had listened to all of the others.

A strong addition to Bond lore

the performance was one of the best, the story was spot on, the narration blended well with the original Ian Fleming style. very impressed - enjoyed this book

Both story and narration were great

Of all of the reviews of all the non-Ian Flemming books, this one was rated the highest.

I concur.

This one closely resembled James bonds creators vision.

Had it's moments but blatantly devoid of Fleming charm.

A few fun set pieces and characters but I'll be sticking to the classics henceforth.

An excellent James Bond continuation novel

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this audiobook to anyone who's already read all the Ian Fleming James Bond novels and is looking for more. Amis really manages to capture Fleming's style and pace and attention to detail without copying him, and the result is one of the best post-Fleming continuation novels about the character. He clearly loves Fleming and Bond (one need only read his James Bond Dossier or The Book of Bond to realize that), but also can't quite help indulging in just a bit of parody. But the parody is very subtle (so subtle that in sending up Fleming's xenophobia, Amis actually comes off as even more xenophobic), and in keeping with the sense of humor Fleming had about his own material anyway.

Basically, there is Fleming, and then there are the continuations. None of the continuations are as good as the real thing, but for what they are, there are some excellent ones to be found. Colonel Sun has always been one of my favorites, and revisiting it after many years as an audiobook I find it still holds up as such.

What did you like best about this story?

The pace is great. Amis's Bond story moves very quickly. Bond feels like the same character Fleming wrote about, and the Bond Girl, Villain, and Ally are all great characters true to some of Fleming's best as well.

What about Simon Vance’s performance did you like?

Vance is a totally competent narrator, and I like the sense of continuity of having the same person who reads the Fleming novels take on the continuation novels.

Any additional comments?

The audiobook is unfortunately a bit poorly edited. On several occasions the same exact passage is repeated twice. It's annoying, but definitely not detrimental to the listening experience.

It Need Not Be Fleming to Be Bond

Ok, I admit it. Having run through the Fleming canon more than once, I shrank from trying out the extensions of the series penned by other hands. Call me a purist. Call me an idiot. I was both.

That all changed the day I realized that for years I’ve been enjoying (or not enjoying) the film version of Bond, in tales obviously penned by other hands (or, knowing Hollywood, a platoon of hands). So why not give in and try one of the non-Fleming novels?

Maybe it’s the familiar voice of Simon Vance, my favorite reader of the original Bond books. On the other hand, Kingsley Amis gets the Bond vibe down perfectly. Whatever the reason, this is five stars all around.

Production problems

What did you love best about Colonel Sun?
You can't go wrong with Kingsley Amis and Simon Vance's reading was flawless. However, entire passages were repeated as if (mind you I say "as if") it were a record skipping a groove. Jarring. At least four instances that I noticed. Otherwise an excellent story. I know that I will listen to this again.

Intricately exciting and well dramatized

Simon Vance dramatizes Colonel Sun in good fashion. It is only the character Ariedne that his performance is noticeably weak. Additionally, the recording has a few snafus where I counted three passages were repeated. As I read the book simultaneously with the Audible recording, it did not interrupt my reading. But this is an intricately exciting story with some entertaining characters accompanying and opposing Bond. The novel started fast and the pace never let up. It is a worthy volume to the Bond thriller series.

In Ian Fleming's footsteps

Well, the title and my rating should tell you all you really need to know about this book. Kingsley Amis does such a good job channeling Fleming that it's often hard to tell the difference between this and the many other, previous Bond books. It picks up where The Man with the Golden Gun left off and does so immensely well. Like Fleming, it gets bogged down in its pace a few times but otherwise it's great. If you liked some of the great Fleming Bond novels like Dr. No or Live and Let Die, then chances are you'll like this one as well. Thankfully Simon Vance returns to continue his excellent narration of Bond, so if you've listened to any of the previous titles you'll be getting what you expect. As usual, he does a superb job. 'Nuff said.

Same...

As mentioned by most of the other reviews, there are several sections that repeat. It's annoying but not unbearable. Otherwise, ★★★★★