71 used & new from $0.05
See All Buying Options
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
 
Silverfin (Young Bond)
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don’t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.
 
  

Silverfin (Young Bond) (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: Lord Hellebore, George Hellebore, James Bond (more...)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


14 new from $9.59 53 used from $0.05 4 collectible from $18.00

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
  Library Binding $15.99 $15.99 $36.72
  Hardcover, April 27, 2005 -- $9.59 $0.05
  Paperback $6.99 $0.99 $0.01
  Audio, CD, Audiobook, Unabridged $28.12 $21.31 $11.05
  Unknown Binding -- $6.99 $0.25
  Audio, Download Offsite Link $12.28 or less with new Audible membership

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Young Bond Series, Book Two: Blood Fever (A James Bond Adventure, new cover)

The Young Bond Series, Book Two: Blood Fever (A James Bond Adventure, new cover)

by Charlie Higson
4.5 out of 5 stars (24)  $7.99
The Young Bond Series, Book Three: Double or Die (A James Bond Adventure)

The Young Bond Series, Book Three: Double or Die (A James Bond Adventure)

by Charlie Higson
3.7 out of 5 stars (10)  $7.99
The Young Bond Series, Book Four: Hurricane Gold (A James Bond Adventure)

The Young Bond Series, Book Four: Hurricane Gold (A James Bond Adventure)

by Charlie Higson
4.8 out of 5 stars (9)  $11.55
By Royal Command (Young Bond)

By Royal Command (Young Bond)

5.0 out of 5 stars (3) 
The Recruit (Cherub)

The Recruit (Cherub)

by Robert Muchamore
4.6 out of 5 stars (14)  $6.99
› Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-9–Meet Bond–James Bond–at 14, before he became the suave, lady-killing international spy. An orphan, he attends Eton and lives with his Aunt Charmian during school breaks. While the premise for this prequel sounds intriguing, it fails to deliver. Action, adventure, and mystery are not a part of the plot until the end. While visiting his dying Uncle Max in Scotland, James discovers that his enemy at Eton, George Hellebore, is visiting his father, Lord Randolph, who owns the castle in the same town. On the train to Scotland, James met Red Kelly and learned that Red's cousin Alphie is missing. Rumor has it he disappeared near Loch Silverfin, which is part of the Hellebore estate. It doesn't take long for James and Red to determine that Alphie's disappearance is connected to the castle. Red Kelly, Meatpacker, Wilder Lawless, and her horse, Martini, are interesting and quirky characters while James is positively dull. He is merely a part of the plot instead of a driving force. The book may appeal to serious Bond fans, but for students who are looking for mystery and adventure, Anthony Horowitz's "Alex Rider" books (Philomel) are a better choice.–Angela M. Boccuzzi-Reichert, Merton Williams Middle School, Hilton, NY


From Booklist

Gr. 5-8. The name's the same--Bond, James Bond. But the face is different. And no wonder: the late Ian Fleming's fabled superspy is only 14 years old in this newly launched, lavishly promoted, high-concept series. Higson struggles heroically to incorporate all Fleming's trademark ingredients. There's a ravishing heroine (who rides a horse named Martini); a larger-than-life villain (a wealthy American with large, flashing white teeth who is "mad, I tell you, mad"); and lots of melodramatic nonsense about eels and eugenics. The problem is that young Bond is a bit of a cipher, and the story takes forever to get going. Then once things heat up, they go on too long and, worse, too predictably. Part of the problem is endemic to all new series: the need to establish characters, background, etc. But one hopes that Higson will give more attention, in future volumes, to fresher plotting and fleshing out the character of his hero. Michael Cart
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

  • Reading level: Ages 9-12
  • Hardcover: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Miramax Books; First Edition edition (April 27, 2005)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 078683661X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0786836611
  • Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #653,185 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Author

Charlie Higson
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

› Visit Amazon's Charlie Higson Page
Front Cover | Front Flap | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:
Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Lord Hellebore, George Hellebore, James Bond, Loch Silverfin, Alfie Kelly, Sergeant White, Captain Johns, Head Master, Red Kelly, Tommy Chong, Wilder Lawless, Perseus Friend, School Yard, Andrew Bond, Annie Kelly, Fort William, Judy's Passage, Leo Butcher, Lord Randolph Hellebore, Never Sleep, Parson's Hill, Pett Bottom, Sargasso Sea, Ward's Mead, Andrew Carlton
New!
Concordance | Text Stats
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 2 books:

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(11)
(9)
(7)
(7)
(7)
(5)
(5)
(4)
(4)
(2)
(1)
See all 15 tags...

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more
 

Customer Reviews

51 Reviews
5 star:
 (21)
4 star:
 (18)
3 star:
 (4)
2 star:
 (5)
1 star:
 (3)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (51 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars SilverFin Will Hook You! (Contains Spoilers), April 25, 2005
By Christopher Wright (Cleveland, Ohio, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
SilverFin by Charlie Higson puts the pleasure in pleasure reading. It is one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read. I stayed up very late on many school nights reading it because I couldn't put it down. It is a very addictive book. I've read six James Bond novels by Ian Fleming in my time and I enjoyed reading SilverFin more than some of them. Mr. Higson is a fantastic author because he writes with great detail, his writing style makes the story very easy to comprehend, and it is evident that he did much research. SilverFin started off the Young Bond™ series very nicely with a perfect introduction to James Bond's formative years.

I liked how Higson made James weak in the beginning and made him grow tougher as the story progressed. James was vulnerable and scared of bullies in the beginning but that all changed at the end of the story. I am eager to see more evolution in young James as the series continues. I am a little disappointed that James wiped off the kiss he received from Wilder Lawless because at thirteen years old a boy should not believe in "cooties" anymore. When I was thirteen years old I was kissing girls but maybe it was different in the 1930s but I doubt that. I would have expected James Bond to enjoy that kiss even at thirteen. Isn't this the same James Bond that lost his virginity at sixteen, only three years later, to a prostitute in Paris? I was also a little disappointed by James' group of friends at Eton. To me they came off as the school "rejects" but I guess that Higson wanted to show us that James is an outsider, which makes sense. James' friend, Red Kelly, is a good character. He is important to the plot and also a source of comic relief, which got annoying at some parts.

I enjoyed learning about James Bond's family. The part about his parents is very touching. Higson keeps the reader hooked by hinting about his parents throughout the beginning. Later on the story of their death is revealed in an appropriate way. Aunt Charmian and Uncle Max are great characters and they obviously had influences on James that carried on into adulthood, which is evident in the Fleming novels. For example, James learned about spying and fast cars from his Uncle Max. I like how May was Uncle Max's housekeeper. If you've read the Fleming novels you would know that she becomes James' housekeeper. I am disappointed that Uncle Max passed away because he was such a lovable character but it was obvious that he would die at some point since his health was pretty bad.

The villain in SilverFin is a very good villain. He is a very sick and cruel man, which is surprising since this book is aimed at pre-teens. His plan of creating a genetically altered race of men and beasts is very interesting especially because this story takes place in the era of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. His son, George Hellebore, was a good enemy until his predictable change of heart. He turned on his father therefore becoming a good ally for Bond later on when together they destroyed Lord Hellebore's castle in Scotland where he conducted his evil experiments.

SilverFin is as perfect as can be but I am concerned about how it will be accepted by the parents of its target audience. The book has a lot of violence, death, and a little gore and I certainly understand why it was toned down in the United States. That stuff doesn't really bother me but it may bother some strict parents. The only violent part I didn't really like was the abuse and murder of some piglets by Cleek MacSawney, Lord Hellebore's right hand man.

I recommend SilverFin to readers of all ages and it is a must read for fans of James Bond. This book makes reading fun and I should know because reading has never been my favorite thing to do. If you decide to read SilverFin, don't read it too fast because Book 2 is coming out in January 2006. Waiting for it will be as painful as being mauled by Lord Hellebore's killer, genetically altered eels from Loch Silverfin. Well, maybe not that painful but still pretty painful!
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A View From A Bond Fan, April 16, 2005
By John Cox (Studio City, CA) - See all my reviews
Critics complained that John Gardner and Raymond Benson could never step free of the shadow of Ian Fleming in their 007 "continuation novels." The good news is Charlie Higson has finally stepped clear of that shadow...the bad news is he's landed squarely in the shadow of J.K. Rowling. Parts of SilverFin read a bit too much like a Harry Potter clone, and while this may please the pre-teen target audience, it may make Young Bond Book #1 a tough read for the more seasoned James Bond fan. (But make sure you read this review to the end -- it get's better.)

After a thrilling opening prologue that would not be out of place in a legitimate...err, I mean, adult James Bond novel, we meet young Bond as he arrives at Eton in the 1930s (kudos to Higson and the copyright holders for making these books period). Like Potter, James is an orphan sent to a school filled with eccentric headmasters, odd slang, and old rituals. Like Potter, he is polite and self-effacing. For much of the novel he is really an observer of more talkative and flamboyant characters. In what is certainly a low point of young Bond's masculine development, Wilder Lawless, the spunky "girl" of the story, wrestles him to the ground and shoves leaves into his mouth. This is clearly NOT Fleming's Bond. It's not even Roger Moore's Bond. But know this is also by design...

It's no spoiler to say Young Bond #1 is a story of transformation and that, by the end of the novel, the timid boy has found his 007 steel and menace via his harrowing experience on Loch Silverfin. If nothing else, this book HAD to be that. And when Bond finally shakes off his yammering Potteresque companions, the action of the final third of the book is downright thrilling! Age becomes less of a factor when Bond is facing off with a madman or battling for his life in the waters beneath a Scottish Castle. It's here Higson begins to channel Fleming at his best and shows us the true potential of a Young Bond series. For this old Bond fan, the final third was a last minute save; a rousing return to Bondian basics with a dash of sci-fi horror thrown in. I would still rather be reading the adventures of an adult 007, but like young Bond himself, I found myself transformed in the end by SilverFin.

So for those die-hard Bond fans predisposed to not liking the Young Bond series, know that SilverFin will probably not change your mind, and I recommend seeking out a secondhand copy of John Pearson's superb James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007, which offers up a far more interesting -- or at least more adult -- version of young Bond's upbringing. But for those more pliable fans, like myself, who have enjoyed the various "continuation novels" and are willing to gamble on this Young Bond series, SilverFin will satisfy (and maybe even surprise). It's a good start. I just hope Higson will shake off the Harry Potter contrivances and edge back toward that shadow of Ian Fleming in Book #2.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An entertaining insight into a young James Bond, April 11, 2005
When the idea of a teenage James Bond was first raised (in an effort to capitalize on the Harry Potter success), the notion was met with a mixture of abject horror from some Bond fans and insatiable curiosity from others.
I fell squarely in the latter and so it was a no-brainer that I was going to order a copy of the UK paperback version that was released a whole two months earlier than the novels arrival in the US. I'm glad I did.
Taking his inspiration from the brief slivers into James Bonds formative years that Fleming alluded to in his original novels, and injecting some very sly references that offer a foreshadowing of his furure exploits, British author Charlie Higson gives us an entertaining and fast moving "boys own" adventure. The book, one of the longest of all the Bond books at well over 350 pages, bears more than a passing similarity to the kids adventure novels that Enid Blyton was writing over a half century ago.
The young Bond novels start with James arriving at Eton in the 1930s and, after a particularly horrifying prelude, for the first 100 pages we are treated to a selection of shooting, swimming and cross-country competitions. All that give early promise of Higsons ability to build up tension and keep us turning those pages one after the other. The first part of the novel also gives us an early glimpse at the main villain of the piece - a rich American arms dealer, some Scottish Laird - Lord Randolph Hellbore and his spoilt brute of a son George.
Following a fortuitous meeting with a young Irish street kid named Ned Kelly on the train up to London the second part of the novel deals with James arrival in Scotland, the introduction of the first "Bond girl" and James' aunt Charmian and Uncle Max. Then the third part of the novel details goings on at the villains castle lair on Loch Silverfin.
For the first time in a Bond novel our hero is referred to in the first-person and this book is a must-have for all self-respecting James Bond fans. One of the chapters of particular interest to Bond fans is the fleshing out of Bond's learning the news of parents death in a climbing accident. This is a well known piece of biographical data first revealed by Fleming (almost in passing) but here we get a whole chapter devoted to the flashback).
One thing that I really appreciate is that there is NO young Q or young M in this initial outing, Many feared after the inane James Bond Jr. that Higson would fall into this trap but he thankfully avoids it.
Higson proves to be an inspired choice to write the Young Bond series and its interesting that both he, and previous continuation novelist John Gardner, both chose a Scottish Laird for their main villain. Higson's book is a definite success and a true page-turner that has won plaudits from everyone from seasoned critics to skeptical Bond fans.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Good start to the series, Not as good as others.
It's a good start to the series, not as good as ALEX RIDER, or Jason Steed or Cherub. Young James Bond is written back in the day, 1937, so they have no gadgets or anything cool... Read more
Published 1 month ago by 007 Kid

5.0 out of 5 stars Great teen boy read
My son is a huge fan of the Alex Rider books, and it was a challenge finding something else that would grab his attention. This book did.
Published 6 months ago by Annette Lyon

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Start
A good beginning to a series of Bond as a younger person. It will be interesting to see if Higson will come up with story lines that explain the idiosyncracies of Bond as an... Read more
Published 11 months ago by P. McCaffrey

5.0 out of 5 stars Book 1 Of Young 007, Review By A Teen
For all those teens(like me) who like James Bond or who wants to see the movies but your parents won't allow you too, well here's your chance. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Book Writer

5.0 out of 5 stars The Young Bond
New to the young Bond series? You are in for a treat. By far one of the most enjoyable reads regardless of your age. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Dr Adam Weiss

4.0 out of 5 stars The anguilla anguillae* are coming! Run! I mean, SWIM for your lives!!!
"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. Read more
Published 13 months ago by H. S. Wedekind

4.0 out of 5 stars Young 007 James Bond
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... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Sid Lynch

5.0 out of 5 stars Silverfin
Silverfin
By Charlie Higson

Before James Bond was 007,he was a 13-year-old boy. But that doesn't mean he didn't spy. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Belinda Strebel

2.0 out of 5 stars Silverfin
A nice idea of having young Bond and I can see the potential market. However the story was poorly written and in the past. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Toby Simpson

2.0 out of 5 stars a poor copy of Harry Potter
He goes to a big school in scotland, makes a few friend, he is the best at everything, and wins against a vilian. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Steven Fincher

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   

So You'd Like to...

Create a guide

Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)

Look for Similar Items by Category

Look for Similar Items by Subject

Search Books by subject:















i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...
 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.



Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.