Solo (Boyd novel) paper I saw its potential. Not only did it fit the theme of the novel perfectly, it's also a great punchy word, instantly and internationally comprehensible, graphically alluring and, as an extra bonus, it's strangely Bondian in the sense that we might be subliminally aware of the '00' of '007' lurking just behind those juxtaposed O's of SOLO". For background Boyd read all the Bond stories in chronological order; and had researched Fleming and the literary Bond's background. Boyd was a child when his father introduced him to Fleming's works. As a result, Boyd found himself also becoming fascinated with
James Bond "Licence to Kill" and "GoldenEye" – were novelizations of Eon Productions films of the same name. Gardner moved the Bond series into the 1980s, although he retained the ages of the characters as they were when Fleming had left them. In 1996 Gardner retired from writing James Bond books due to ill health. In 1996 the American author Raymond Benson became the author of the Bond novels. Benson had previously been the author of "The James Bond Bedside Companion", first published in 1984. By the time he moved on to other, non-Bond related projects in 2002, Benson had written six