Editing Colonel Sun (section)

==Publication and reception==
===Publication history===
[[Jonathan Cape]] published ''Colonel Sun'' on 28 March 1968;{{sfn|"Books in Demand in March". ''Financial Times''}} the book was 255 pages long and priced at a [[Guinea (British coin)|guinea]].{{sfn|Gray|1968|p=309}}{{efn|A [[Guinea (coin)#Twentieth century onwards|guinea]] was originally a gold coin whose value was fixed at twenty-one shillings (£1.05). By this date the coin was obsolete and the term simply functioned as a label for that sum.{{sfn|Besly|1997|p=25}} According to calculations based on the [[Consumer Price Index (United Kingdom)|Consumer Price Index]] measure of inflation, one guinea in 1968 is approximately £{{Inflation|UK|1|1968|cursign=£|fmt=c|r=-1}} in {{Inflation/year|UK}}.{{sfn|Clark|2023}}}} It was listed as the second best seller in the "Books in demand" list of the ''[[Financial Times]]'' for March and April 1968.{{sfn|"Books in Demand in March". ''Financial Times''}}{{sfn|"Books in Demand in April". ''Financial Times''}} The novel sold well and the journalist and author [[Eric Hiscock]] states that by 1980 it had sold over 500,000 copies worldwide.{{sfn|Hiscock|1980|p=1043}} The paperback version was also popular and was reprinted ten times in three years.{{sfn|Van Dover|1984|p=213}} [[Harper (publisher)|Harper & Row]] published ''Colonel Sun'' in the US on 1 May 1968;{{sfn|Champlin|1968|p=D1}} it ran to 244 pages.{{sfn|"Colonel Sun; A James Bond Adventure (by) Robert Markham". Library of Congress}} In June 1969 the book was listed seventh in ''[[The Washington Post]]''{{'}}s paperback best seller list.{{sfn|"Paperback Best Sellers". ''The Washington Post''}}

===Reception===
<!-- Fleming's style missing -->
''Colonel Sun'' received mixed reviews from the critics; Benson considers this is because of the different styles between Amis and Fleming.{{sfn|Benson|1988|p=32}} Many of the critics reviewed the novel not just on its own merits, but also compared it to Fleming's works.{{efn|These included Roger Baker in ''[[The Times]]'',{{sfn|Baker|1968|p=21}} Alexander Muir in ''[[The Daily Mirror]]'',{{sfn|Muir|1968|p=21}} [[Malcolm Bradbury]] in ''[[The Guardian]]'',{{sfn|Bradbury|1968|p=12}} [[Maurice Richardson]] in ''[[The Observer]]''{{sfn|Richardson|1968|p=29}} and S. K. Oberbeck in ''[[Chicago Tribune]]''.{{sfn|Oberbeck|1968|p=Q5}}}} Roger Baker, writing in ''[[The Times]]'', considers that although ''Colonel Sun'' was a good thriller, it was different, given it was a recreation of Bond, and one written by Amis. Baker sees the novel does not include "the patina of sophisticated hedonism that made Bond the great pop-hero" and that the writing lacks Fleming's "off-beat kinkiness".{{sfn|Baker|1968|p=21}} Baker thought that with Amis writing the story, "one might, justifiably, have expected a joyous rejuvenation or at least a devastating detour from the Fleming pattern. We get neither. It is a pale copy."{{sfn|Baker|1968|p=21}} Writing in ''[[The Guardian]]'', [[Malcolm Bradbury]] thought the book readable, but that it was not representative of either Fleming or Amis{{sfn|Bradbury|1968|p=12}} and [[Maurice Richardson]], reviewing for ''[[The Observer]]'', thought it was what he described as Fleming's "spontaneous ''élan''" that was missing from the novel. He continued that Amis tried to keep the novel credible, but "missed&nbsp;... [Fleming's] particular ambience, especially that infections, cocky sense of well-being".{{sfn|Richardson|1968|p=29}}

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S. K. Oberbeck, writing in ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'', sees the character of Bond changed under Amis, humanising him into "a sensitive man-of-ethics"; this adversely affected the formula Fleming used when writing.{{sfn|Oberbeck|1968|p=Q5}} Donald Stanley, writing in ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' magazine, was unconvinced by the changes to Bond, observing that his "essential swinishness is being replaced by some kind of dilute humanism".{{sfn|Stanley|1968|p=10}} Writing in ''[[The Times Literary Supplement]]'', the playwright [[Simon Gray]], unimpressed with the novel, called the Bond in ''Colonel Sun'' "a chuckle-headed imposter whose arthritic thought processes would be a liability in a 'physical tussle' down at the pub".{{sfn|Gray|1968|p=309}} [[Sally Beauman]], writing for ''[[New York (magazine)|New York]]'', complains that Bond is far too gloomy and is more like one of [[Ingmar Bergman]]'s characters than Fleming's.{{sfn|Beauman|1968|p=60}}

<!-- Amis has done well -->
Several reviewers liked Amis's interpretation of Fleming's universe.{{efn|These included [[D. J. Enright]], writing in ''[[The Listener (magazine)|The Listener]]'',{{sfn|Enright|1968|p=411}} Alexander Muir in ''[[The Daily Mirror]]''{{sfn|Muir|1968|p=21}} and Donald Stanley in ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]''.{{sfn|Stanley|1968|p=10}} }} [[D. J. Enright]], writing in ''[[The Listener (magazine)|The Listener]]'', considered that, in literary terms, Fleming's "inheritance has been well and aptly bestowed", calling it "Good dirty fun, once read and soon forgotten".{{sfn|Enright|1968|p=411}} ''[[The Daily Mirror]]''{{'}}s reviewer, Alexander Muir, considered the book to be "an exciting, violent, sadistic and sexy piece of reading matter".{{sfn|Muir|1968|p=21}} Stanley praised Amis for emulating "the celebrated Fleming Effect".{{sfn|Stanley|1968|p=10}} The reviewer for the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', [[Charles Champlin]], stated that he still enjoyed the novel, saying that it left "intact the reputations of both Messrs. Amis and Fleming",{{sfn|Champlin|1968|p=D1}} although he thought that it "lacks the garish, outrageous, ridiculous, symbol-witted touch of the original article".{{sfn|Champlin|1968|p=D1}}

<!-- Amis has done poorly -->
Bradbury thought ''Colonel Sun'' "lacks a convincing rhetoric&nbsp;... and the traditional Fleming frissons emerge only in muted form",{{sfn|Bradbury|1968|p=12}} while Oberbeck thought Amis "never quite captures the bizarre beat of a Fleming pace".{{sfn|Oberbeck|1968|p=Q5}} Richardson wrote that when being judged as a thriller, the novel "is vigorous, quite exciting, rather disorderly, a bit laboured".{{sfn|Richardson|1968|p=29}} Beauman believed that Amis had ensured all the usual elements of Fleming's novels were there—an exotic location, lots of gunplay, a beautiful female character and a strong villain—yet, she wrote, "the book drags and becomes a bore". She attributes the novel's failure to the "differing characters of the authors".{{sfn|Beauman|1968|p=60}}