Zero Minus Ten
OCLC 38014268 | |
Zero Minus Ten, published in 1997, is the first
Benson's working title for the novel was No Tears for Hong Kong; this was eventually used as the title for the last chapter in the novel.[1]
Continuity
According to Raymond Benson, as far as character continuity was concerned, he had been given free lease by Ian Fleming Publications (then Glidrose Publications) to follow or ignore other continuation authors as he saw fit.[2] Benson took a middle-of-the-road approach to this. While Benson treats Ian Fleming's novels as strictly canon, Gardner's novels are not, though there are some aspects that he adopts.
For instance, in Gardner's
Some elements of the films also carry over into Benson's novels.
Plot summary
As the
Through his Hong Kong contact, T.Y. Woo, Bond also investigates Li Xu Nan, the
With Li Xu Nan in Bond's debt, Bond uses Li's contacts to go to Australia to investigate EurAsia Enterprises and find a link between it and the nuclear blast. As it turns out Thackeray is very much alive and has been mining unreported uranium in Australia to make his own nuclear bomb, which he plans to detonate in Hong Kong at the moment the handover takes place in retaliation for the loss of his family's legacy. Returning to Hong Kong, Bond, Li Xu Nan, and a Royal Navy captain track down Thackeray's nuclear bomb and defuse it. The battle claims the lives of Li Xu Nan as well as Thackeray, who is drowned by Bond in the harbour.
Major characters
- James Bond– British Secret Service agent sent to investigate numerous terrorist attacks in Hong Kong as the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong from the British to the People's Republic of China nears.
- M – The successor to Sir Miles Messervy and the head of the British Secret Service, she sends Bond to investigate a number of terrorist attacks in Hong Kong that could potentially disrupt the fragile handover and cause the breakout of a large-scale war.
- Guy Thackeray – A British shipping magnate, his company EurAsia Enterprises is being stripped from him when the handover takes place on 1 July 1997. In retaliation Thackeray uses his company to build, test, and attempt to detonate a nuclear bomb in Hong Kong, making it uninhabitable.
- General Wong – A general from the People's Republic of China. Although a member of the Communist Party, he is a corrupt and greedy leader who attempts to claim EurAsia Enterprises not only for China, but for himself.
- Li Xu Nan – The head of the Dragon Wing Triad. He is the rightful descendant of Li Wei Tam and heir to EurAsia Enterprises when the handover takes place on 1 July 1997.
- Sunni Pei – A "Blue Lantern" (associated non-member) of the Dragon Wing Triad, she seemingly betrays Li Xu Nan by giving up his identity at a club to Bond. Subsequently, Bond feels obliged to protect her once Li Xu Nan issues a death warrant for her.
- T.Y. Woo – Working for the British Secret Service station in Hong Kong, he meets Bond upon his arrival. He later sets up Bond in a mahjong game at a casino in Macau so that Bond can get to know Guy Thackeray.
Trivia
- As the novel begins, Bond is in Jamaica at his newly purchased estate that he dubs "Shamelady". The estate was previously owned by a "well-known British journalist and author." The author is in fact Ian Fleming and the estate, Goldeneye, where Fleming wrote every James Bond novel till his death in 1964. Shamelady was suggested to Fleming in 1952 for Goldeneye by his wife, Ann Rothermere.[3] "Shame Lady" is another name for the plant mimosa pudica.[4]
Publication History
- UK first hardback edition, ISBN 0-340-68448-8), 3 April 1997
- US first hardback edition, ISBN 0-399-14257-6), 5 May, 1997
- UK paperback edition, ISBN 0-340-68449-6), 5 March 1998
- US paperback edition, ISBN 0-515-12336-6), August 1998
- Reissue with new introduction by Raymond Benson, Ian Fleming Publications, 5 October, 2023
See also
References
- ^ "Working title: "No Tears for Hong Kong"". Q&A with Raymond Benson. Retrieved 31 January 2007.
- ^ "Amis, Pearson, Gardner continuation". Q&A with Raymond Benson. Retrieved 31 January 2007.
- ISBN 0-224-61136-4.
- ^ "Mimosa pudica L". Archived from the original on 25 June 2008. Retrieved 4 October 2009.