Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The anguilla anguillae* are coming! Run! I mean, SWIM for your lives!!!, September 29, 2008
"Do you have any idea what you'd like to be when you're grown up?" he asked.
"I haven't really given it much thought," said James.
"Not an engine driver or a fireman or a soldier?"
"I don't know. Maybe an explorer. I'd love to see more of the world."
"That's a good ambition."
"Or a spy like you," said James.
"Oh," said Max, and he quickly changed the subject.
- A conversation between Young James Bond and his Uncle Max (SILVERFIN)
In the novel SILVERFIN, we first meet thirteen-year-old James Bond on his first day (during mid-term) at Eton College. He's alone, confused, and afraid. James had not been to a school since the untimely death of his parents in a mountain climbing accident when he was eleven. James was subsequently home schooled for two years by his kind, caring Aunt Charmian before enrolling at Eton. At first, James doesn't seem to fit in and is soon the target of some bullies, one being an American named George Hellebore whose father Lord Randolph Hellebore is a wealthy megalomaniac. James suffers at the hand of George until Easter break when he travels by train from England to Keithly, Scotland to spend the holiday with his Aunt and sickly Uncle Max. On the train, he meets and befriends a rough, street-wise boy named Red Kelly. Red is also traveling to Keithly to look for his cousin Alfie Kelly who has "gone missing" while fishing. Coincidently, the loch where Alfie went fishing (Loch Silverfin) belongs to none other than Lord Hellebore. Arriving at Keithly, James is taken under his Uncle's wing and learns a few things from him, specifically how to drive a car and how to be brave. This ldyll is soon disrupted when he again encounters the nasty Lord Hellebore and his bullying son George. Here the adventure and fun begin when James and Red team up to search for Alfie and run into some very unsavory characters along the way.
As an imagined early life of James Bond before he becomes the super-spy we know and love in the novels of Ian Fleming, this first book in the series is fast paced and entertaining. However, while the inclusion of bloodthirsty eels brings in the danger and creepy elements of the story, as well as some unbelieveable scientific experiments, they are unnecessary and, in my opinion, detract from an otherwise very good plot. I understand the next two books in the series are truer to Fleming's original JB. I do recommend SILVERFIN to readers of YA fiction...even to over-the-hill adults like myself.
(PS - One reviewer here couldn't understand why the horse ridden by the pretty lass Wilder was named Martini. I think it is an inside joke that most James Bond fans will get.)
* Anguilla anguilla is the European eel
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Young 007 James Bond, September 12, 2008
This is the first Young 007 James Bond book. Charlie Higson has done a great job on them. This introduces us to Young James in the 1930's, he goes to Eton in London for the first time.
He ends up in Scotland and the adventure starts. Great villians, great setting and the start of a great series.
Charlie Higson is folllowing the line of Alex Rider author Anthony Horowitz, I think Young James Bond has more depth than Alex Rider, Although none compare to the new teen agent Jason Steed, that book is the greatest.
The characters here in Silverfin are without a doubt fantastic, This could easily be made into a great film, I would be at the front of the que.
Great book, no fowl words or drugs.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Silverfin Book Review, January 19, 2007
A Kid's Review
Silverfin by Charlie Higson is the first book in the young Bond series. James Bond attends Eton a college in England. At Eton James encounters a boy named George Hellebore. Georges father is a very important man and they even have a tournament named after him at the school. When James returns to Scotland he meets a boy named Red Kelly, which they later become good friends. When James goes to his uncle's house he meets up with Red at the Hellebore's castle in an adventure that they will never forget.
I think that Silverfin was a good book and it gets you to now James in his younger age. I think some of the decisions that James made in the story are a good example of what a good person is. I thought that this book did not have as much action in it as some of the other books and movies had in them. I think this book was good and what I want to see us how James will grow and become an adult. I think this book is good for anyone who enjoys action and the James Bond series.
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