SilverFin

The story, without spoilers

On his first day at Eton, James Bond makes an enemy. A later journey takes him from the school's playing fields to Loch SilverFin in Scotland, where something dangerous is hidden. The discovery threatens to turn a schoolboy adventure into a new kind of warfare.

Higson begins before the familiar career, cars and intelligence briefings of adult Bond. The point is to meet James as a boy facing danger for the first time, while the school and Scottish landscape give the story a world of its own.

Can I start here?

Yes. This is the first Young Bond novel and the recommended start for Higson and Cole's nine-book sequence. You do not need to have read the adult Fleming novels first.

What stands out

The contrast between Eton and the Scottish loch provides the first Young Bond adventure's shape. Choose the original prose novel here; the graphic adaptation and Big Finish audio drama are different formats of this story.

Who wrote it

Higson, a novelist and co-creator of The Fast Show, was commissioned for the Young Bond books before writing SilverFin. His official Bond work covers both childhood adventures and adult missions.

Where it fits in Bond’s life

SilverFin is book 1 in Charlie Higson’s Young Bond run. These adventures take place during Bond’s youth, before his adult career and Casino Royale.

Content notes

Older children and teenagers. Threats to children, bullying, violence and disturbing danger at the loch.

Setting

• Eton, England
• Scotland
• Loch SilverFin Fictional

Main characters

James Bond, His Eton schoolmates and adversary.