Sebastian Faulks in the Bond world

Where to begin

Devil May Care marks Fleming’s 2008 birth centenary by returning to the Cold War. Read The Man with the Golden Gun first for its stated starting context. Faulks wrote one Bond novel, so there is no separate author sequence to follow. Choose it for a period mission after Fleming’s ending.

Reading order

1. Devil May Care (2008) — Standalone.

Why Faulks wrote Bond

Ian Fleming Publications records that Devil May Care was commissioned for the centenary of Fleming’s birth in 2008. Faulks came to the commission with a career in journalism and fiction, including The Girl at the Lion d’Or, Birdsong and Charlotte Gray. The anniversary helps explain why this Bond contribution is a return to an earlier period rather than the beginning of a modernised series.

Choosing the period route

Our suggestion is to finish The Man with the Golden Gun before taking this route. You then have Fleming’s ending in mind and can choose a continuation that returns to the Cold War world. There is no Faulks sequence to work through before Devil May Care. Readers who prefer one additional adventure can select it without committing to Gardner’s or Benson’s longer runs.

That is a useful distinction when deciding what “after Fleming” means. It can mean the next book published, a new story set in a similar period, or a different interpretation of the character. Here the period matters more than following every intervening continuation author. You can move from Fleming to Faulks, then return to the main hub to choose another approach. Publication order remains available if your aim is to explore the history of the whole continuation project.

Other routes to compare

For another individual novelist’s take on a historical Bond, consider William Boyd’s Solo. Anthony Horowitz offers more precise links to named Fleming adventures, including a mission after Goldfinger and a prequel before Casino Royale. Jeffery Deaver’s Carte Blanche is the contrasting option if you want Bond recast in a contemporary intelligence world. These comparisons are reading suggestions, not a ranking of which author reproduces Fleming most faithfully.

If you arrived through Birdsong or Charlotte Gray, use the premise and content notes in the book guide to decide whether an espionage adventure is the change of genre you want. Familiarity with Faulks’s name is a reason to investigate, rather than a promise of the same reading experience. The page below separates the story from print and audio choices, while this hub explains why the centenary novel sits apart from the longer continuation sequences. You can therefore choose an entry point by period, author or format without needing to settle on one master reading order.

From literary journalism to a Fleming commission

Faulks's own biography adds useful detail to the outline above. He studied English at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, graduating in 1974, and joined the Daily Telegraph in 1979. He became literary editor of the Independent in 1986. His account describes writing fiction alongside paid work before he could concentrate on books. That is the professional background to the novelist who later accepted the Bond commission, rather than a career that began with 007.

The author's account of Devil May Care dates the approach from Fleming's family to summer 2006 and identifies the commission as a one-off. Publication followed on 28 May 2008. In explaining his return to Fleming, Faulks highlighted the danger surrounding the central character, the narrative's playfulness and its concise journalistic prose. Those comments offer a useful starting point for a reader interested in the writing, beyond the anniversary attached to the book.

How to read the homage

Our suggestion is to keep two questions in mind: does the adventure carry you forward, and what makes you recognise Bond? They need not produce the same answer. You might respond strongly to a predicament but find the voice unfamiliar, or recognise favourite details while wanting the story to move faster. A continuation novel invites that double response because it is both a new book and an encounter with an established character.

Try comparing a short passage with a Fleming novel you have already read, rather than trying to identify references on every page. Look at how much practical information the prose supplies before a scene begins, how it presents a threat and when it lets Bond make a decision. This is an optional reading exercise, not a test of whether Faulks has reproduced a supposedly perfect formula. Your response to the completed novel matters more than a tally of familiar objects.

The individual Devil May Care guide is the place for the story outline, editions and listening choices. This author page helps you choose a route through the wider books. Keeping those purposes separate lets you look for background without immediately encountering a detailed account of the plot.

A practical next-reading plan

If the period setting is the attraction, our recommendation is to place Colonel Sun next on your shortlist. Read it as Kingsley Amis's own continuation, not as a required chapter between Fleming and Faulks. You can compare the way two established novelists handle the same central character without needing to finish every intervening publication.

If you want another self-contained author choice, visit William Boyd's hub and its guide to Solo. If you would prefer several linked reading decisions by one writer, the Anthony Horowitz page offers a different route. Choose according to your appetite for another single book or a longer run, rather than treating the entire continuation catalogue as homework.

For a return to Fleming, use The Man with the Golden Gun as the comparison already suggested above. If you have not read the originals, the publication-order guide gives a steadier starting point. There is no need to force Devil May Care into a universal timeline covering every later author's version of Bond.

Faulks beyond 007

To follow the author rather than the character, put The Girl at the Lion d'Or, Birdsong and Charlotte Gray on a separate list. These are part of Faulks's wider fiction, not continuations of Devil May Care. Our advice is to read their descriptions and opening samples before choosing; liking a writer's Bond novel does not require you to prefer every other kind of story he tells.

You can also take the reverse route. If a Faulks novel brought you to this page, try the Bond book as a particular commission with its own expectations. There is no need to become a series completist. Finish the one adventure, decide what interested you about it, and then either return to Faulks or explore another writer's approach to Bond. Both are sensible ways to use this guide.