James Bond Is Back In "Solo"

Since the death of James Bond creator Ian Fleming, other writers have written novels featuring MI6's top secret agent. They were authorized, of course, by the Fleming estate.

A new James Bond novel hits London bookstores tomorrow.

According to The Mainichi:

LONDON (AP) -- William Boyd has left James Bond stirred, if not shaken. 

The British writer has taken on the fictional spy in "Solo," a new 007 novel that balances fidelity to Ian Fleming's iconic character with subtle changes. 

Bond fans will find much they recognize, along with some surprises -- one of which is that in Boyd's mind, James Bond looks like Daniel Day-Lewis. 

Boyd says Fleming once described the spy as "looking like the American singer-songwriter Hoagy Carmichael. Daniel Day-Lewis looks like Hoagy Carmichael." 

"Solo" is set in 1969, and takes the suave British spy from London's plush Dorchester Hotel to a war-ravaged West African country and on to Washington on a perilous lone mission. 

Boyd steers Bond away from his big-screen action-hero image and back toward the complex and conflicted character of Fleming's novels.

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