References to the older Bond in the Young Bond adventure Strike Lightning

As we gear up for the publication of Red Nemesis, the next Young Bond novel and the final one, at least from Steve Cole, I thought it was a good time to look back on the previous novel, Strike Lightning. One of the pleasures of reading the Young Bond books is spotting the nods to Ian Fleming's original books, and Strike Lightning has its fair share.

When James witnesses the death of a fellow student, he begins another dangerous adventure to seek answers. With the clouds of war looming, James travels to Holland and discovers a plot to create a deadly weapon, gains the help of the resourceful Kitty Drift, and has several deadly encounters with technological mastermind Hepworth Maximilian Blade.

In fine tradition, James introduces himself to Kitty as 'Bond, James Bond', eats scrambled eggs on toast several times (on one occasion having rye toast, just as he does in later life in Diamonds are Forever), and dons a dinner suit.

Aspects that would define James' attitude to life and his job are also nicely alluded to. At their first encounter, Blade advises James not to squander his future, to which James replies that he fully intends to make the most of his time. This recalls the words in You Only Live Twice that Mary Goodnight suggests represents James Bond's philosophy: 'I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time'. Later, the young James, when faced with the prospect of killing in cold blood, asks himself whether he could ever do such a thing. We know, of course, that the older Bond can, but as he reflects in Goldfinger, he never likes doing it. 

There are shades of Dr No when James Bond manages to get hold of the files about the secret weapon – Steel Shadow – and tries to make his escape. His presence has been detected, and he is prevented from leaving the building by a series of cunningly hidden traps. Shutters come down in front of doors, heating under a rubber staircase melts the stairs, creating a sticky goo, releasing toxic fumes and slowing James down, and turning on the lights gives James an electric shock. This reminded me of Dr No's deadly obstacle course on Crab Key, which also subjects Bond to electric shocks and heat, among other terrors.

Strike Lightning includes a reference to one of the presumed inspirations for James Bond. Kitty asks the young James after he's outlined a foolhardy scheme to hijack a moving train: 'Who do you think you are – Richard Hannay?' At another point, playing on the phrase often attributed to the villain when he catches Bond in his lair, Blade says: 'I wasn't expecting you, Bond.'

As Bond's adventure reaches its denouement, he and Kitty remain in danger. At a particularly tense moment, he tries to reassure her by telling her 'It's all right, now, Kitty. Quite all right. We have all...'. James is interrupted but presumably meant to say that 'we have all the time in the world'. The words after all are similar to those of the older Bond's in On Her Majesty's Secret Service: 'It's quite all right. She's having a rest. We'll be going on soon. There's no hurry. We've got all the time in the world'. (Actually, the young Bond's words seem to derive from the film version of that novel, in which Bond tells the motorcycle policeman that 'we have all the time in the world'.)

Strike Lightning no doubt contains more references to the original books (and films), and I'll have to read the book again to find them all. In a few weeks, though, there'll be another Young Bond novel to read, and I can't wait to get stuck in and spot the references in that one.