James Bond is heading back in time for yet another literary adventure.
Titled All In, the official upcoming novella from Ian Fleming Publications is being written by historian Dan Jones and will celebrate the 70th anniversary of Fleming's Diamonds Are Forever.
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According to The Independent, the project was commissioned as part of the National Year of Reading. Its announcement was timed to coincide with October 5, also known as “James Bond Day,” which marks the anniversary of the 1962 premiere of the first 007 film, Dr. No., which starred Sean Connery as the iconic globe-trotting secret agent.
All In takes place in 1954, a few years after the events of Fleming's first 007 novel, Casino Royale, which was published in 1953 but takes place in 1951. Here’s the official synopsis from the publisher:
Ceylon, 1954.
The British are leaving. It’s six years since Ceylon, land of the most precious gemstones on earth, was released from the Empire. The forts and officers’ messes on the island are emptying.
But James Bond is travelling in the opposite direction.
007 is on a mission to track down one of the most valuable stones in the world. And he doesn’t have much time to do it. Bond is lured into a deadly game played from the cool mountains of Kandy to the pitch-black depths of the ocean floor, finding the stakes are far higher than gemstones alone.
To come out alive, he’s going to have to gamble everything. It’s ALL IN – or nothing.
Jones described the opportunity as “one of the greatest honours in contemporary fiction.” He also expressed excitement about taking Bond to Ceylon and paying tribute to one of Fleming's most celebrated novels.
All In will be available from December 3.
The announcement adds to an increasingly busy period for the James Bond franchise. Recent literary releases include Kim Sherwood's Hurricane Room, Vaseem Khan's The Man with the Golden Compass, and Charlie Higson's King Zero, as well as Big Finish Productions' brand-new audio series Young Bond: SilverFin (which is adapted from Higson's 2005 book of the same name), and IO Interactive's video game 007 First Light, which stars Patrick Gibson (Dexter: Original Sin) as Bond.
Meanwhile, the next James Bond film is in early development. Denis Villeneuve (Dune, Blade Runner 2049) is directing Amazon MGM's reboot, with Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders) writing the screenplay. No new 007 casting announcement or release date has been confirmed yet.
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