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
Solo (Boyd novel) set in 1969—six years after Fleming's last work was set—and the novel begins with Bond celebrating his 45th birthday. Boyd altered aspects of the character, making him "an older, wiser Bond"'; while having coffee on the King's Road, Bond's "advancing age lends an undertone of poignancy to his almost detached observation of the bra-less, mini-skirted cavalcade". Boyd's version of Bond is "more impulsive, less emotionally guarded, and also more sadistic" than Fleming's, and he has the facility for extreme violence. According to "The Sunday Times", Bond's "casual sexism has gone, to be replaced by a flaring lust that teeters on