Friday, October 7, 2011

Map of the Planet Mongo


Here we have a map of the planet Mongo, from Flash Gordon.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Chronology of James Bond, as per Jeffery Deaver


In 2010 the Ian Fleming Publications commissioned thriller author Jeffery Deaver to write a new James Bond novel. Deaver agreed to write but didn't want to do a period piece, like 2008's Devil May Care. IFP agreed that he should write a Bond set in modern times. Unlike John Gardner and Raymond Benson who continued the adventures where Fleming left off, not aging Bond, Deaver "rebooted" Bond.

On May 26 2011 Carte Blanche was released in the United Kingdom. Although it is a "reboot" the book tends to stay true to Fleming in many ways. Many of Fleming's creations make appearances, M, Bill Tanner, Moneypenny, Mary Goodnight, Felix Lighter plus he introduced quite many new characters like Ophelia Maidenstone a liaison officer and Sanu Hirani, the head of Q Branch.

I must say at first I was very weary of a "rebooted' Bond. But after reading Carte Blanch I was very unpressed.


Below I have constructed a chronology based on the book Carte Blanche. Deaver gives many hints that he is staying true to Fleming's timeline for Bond's early life. The one problem I found was when Bond joined the Royal Navel Reserves.

_________________________

November 11, 1979
James Bond is born

1990
Bond’s parents are killed while climbing
Bond is sent to live with his Aunt

1992
Bond starts Eton

1994
Bond kicked out of Eton, goes to Fettes
Bond starts a climbing club at Fettes

2005
In the wake of the 7/7 attacks the Overseas Development Group (ODG) is created

? to 2007
Bond in the Royal Naval Reserve
Bond sent to Afghanistan, attached to forward ground combat units, and some unofficial missions behind the lines. During this time he met Felix Lieter, who was a marine at the time. Before leaving Bond is becomes a Commander.

2007 to 2008
Bond in Defense Intelligence

2008
Summer
Bond joins ODG, as agent 007
Bond sent for training

2008 to 2011
Bond on various assignments against insurgents, terrorists, psychopathic criminals, amoral traitors selling nuclear secrets

2010
Bond help Found Kharaz’s son with some thugs that where bothering the boy
Bond rescued a local MI6 agent from the shoot-to-kill zone surrounding a North Korean prison

2011
Early 2011
Bond on joint ODG and DGSE operation (with Rene Mathis) rapping up Al-Qaeda and other European criminal enterprises in Europe and North Africa

Sunday, May 15 to Friday, May 20
Carte Blanche

Monday, May 23 to ?
Bond sent on assignment involving Malaysia and a Tokyo connection



Tuesday, July 26, 2011

0031/2: The Adventures of James Bond Junior



With the death Ian Fleming in 1964 and the release of the remaining James Bond stories; The Man with the Golden Gun in 1965 and Octopussy and the Living Daylights in 1966. Glidrose made the decision to look to other authors to continue the Bond saga.

In 1967 the world would see the first non Ian Fleming James Bond novel. But this novel did not feature agent 007, it was about his nephew James Bond junior. In face the adult Bond never makes an appearance in the book at all. R.D. Mascott is given as a pseudonym for a famous author but to this day there is debate as to who the author really is. Most people believe it to be Arthur Calder-Marshall. For more information on the book itself or Arthur Calder-Marshall check out look at this great page on Commanderbond. net 0031/2: The Adventures of James Bond Junior.

How does this fit into the Bond cannon, well it doesn’t really. Creating a logical chronology from James Bond Junior is difficult for many reasons, the most obvious being Bond’s creator Ian Fleming never mentioned him and had impeded he had not other living relative other then his aunt. This easiest way of solving this is to say 0031/2: The Adventures of James Bond Junior is apocryphal and discount it from the cannon. But for the sake of argument it was sanctioned by Gliderose, Ian Fleming’s production company, so let’s see what we can do.

We can explained why he is unknown to the cannon because David Bond is not close to his brother James. A reasonable explanation to this is to say David was born much later then James, close to the time of their parents dead. Soon after their dead James went off to Eton, so James would not have know David growing up. Another reason could be that he is kept out of the books for his own safety.

The second problem would be that it is stated that “three years before…(David)…inherited (land) from his father.” This would be very difficult seeing the Bond’s father was killed in the 1930s. But this can be explained in a similar manner that people have explained that James Bond had gotten his Bentley new in 1933. He really didn’t his father had gotten the car and it went to James upon his fathers death. Being the oldest son, most of his fathers assets went to James, including his land. In 1963 James Bond was thought to have been killed when Blofeld’s castle was destroyed in You Only Live Twice. There is even an obituary for him. Therefore David would have inherited the land from James, who inherited from his father. It is accepted that You Only Live Twice too place in 1963, therefore this would place 0031/2: The Adventures of James Bond Junior, three years later in the year 1965.

In the book, everyone knows that James Bond is 007. This may seem ridicules, but this is an invention of Ian Flemings. In the books, especially The Spy Who Loved Me, it is stated that Fleming is writing the Bond books, so it does make sense that people would know who he is. The question should be do they believe that he is real or not.

__________________________

James Bond Junior Chronology

1933
David Bond is born

1952
James Bond jr is born

1962
October 9
James Bond is missing thought to be dead after the destruction of Blofeld’s castle

Late October
David Bond inherits land from is older brother James

1964
James jr writes to his uncle James and receives a hunting knife from him

1965
July
0031/2: The Adventures of James Bond Junior

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Treasure Island Map

Every now and then I will submit a map for your viewing pleasure. Those of you who are adventurous, or foolhardy, may want to travel to these far away lands and see what they hold.

Below you will find an authentic map of Treasure Island used by Long John Silver.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Chronology of AJ Raffles, The Amateur Cracksman






1863
Arthur J (AJ) Raffles is born

1867
Harry “Bunny” Mathers is born

1880
Raffles and Bunny meet it a Public School

1882
Le Premier Pas

1891

Sunday, March 15
The Ideas of March

Sunday, April 5 to Wednesday, April 8
A Costume Piece

Wednesday, May 24 to Thursday, May 25
Out of Paradise

Friday, May 26
Raffles returns to Palace Gardens to speak with Bunny’s ex fiancee

Monday, July 13 to Saturday August 15
Gentlemen and Players

Saturday August 15
Raffles tells Bunny of his first crime

Early October
Raffles and Bunny in Ireland

Mid October
Willful Murder (1day)


1892

April
The Spoils of Sacrilege

July
The Field of Philippi

Late October
Nine Points of the Law (2 days)

November
The Return Match (1 day)

1893

February
The Criminologists’ club

April (before Easter)
The Chest of Silver

Thursday, July 20
A Bad Night


1894

March
To Trap a Cracksman

Before July 10th
Raffles in Calsbad for two weeks

Tuesday, July 10 to Tuesday July 17
Mr. Justice Raffles

Tuesday, July 17 to later July
Raffles and Bunny escape to the continent Bunny returns to London would not see Raffles again until later August

August to September
The Rest Cure

1895

-Bunny hadn’t seen Raffles for a few months, moved closer to the River

Sunday, June
Bunny with Raffles on river

July Wednesday to Tuesday (week and an half)
The Emperors Gift

August 1895 to February 1897
Bunny in prison for 18 months

August 1895
Raffles on Elba a few weeks

September 1895 to March 1896
Raffles on Baize island (The Fate of Faustina)

1897

March or April
Raffles back in London posing as Mr. Maturin

Tuesday, May 11
No Sinecure

Wednesday, June 16 to Saturday, June 19
A Jubilee Present

Early August
Raffles sees an organ grinders in the street and tells Bunny The Fate of Faustina

Late September
The Last Laugh (2 days)

October
To Catch A Thief (1day)

Late October to November
An Old Flame (a few weeks)

Mr. Maturin “dies”

Bunny takes rooms on the edge of Ham Common

1898

March
The Wrong House

1899

Winter
Raffles and Bunny become obsessed with the Boor War

December
The Raffles Relics

1900

The Knees of the Gods

January
Raffles decided to enlist in the army to fight in the Boor War. Raffles dyes his hair red.

February
Raffles and Bunny sail off to South Africa

Connel leads troops in the wrong direction

Tuesday, 13 March
Bloemfontein is captured

Peter Bellingham recognizes Raffles

Raffles is killed and Bunny is wounded in the leg

Wednesday, June 27
Bunny meets his ex fiancee

Thursday, June 28
The Last Word

1908
Bunny meets Teddy at a Turkish bath and convinces him to write the story of Mr. Justice
Raffles