Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Young Bond: Book One – Silverfin
Fiction Series
For ages 12 and up
Hyperion, 2006 ISBN: 978-0786838660
James Bond is not sure about being at Eton. The work is not too hard but he finds the uniform that he has to wear and the rules that he has to live by rather irksome. Then there is the fact that one boy, an American by the name of George Hellebore, seems to be determined to make James’s life at school as miserable as possible. Every time they meet the two boys clash and when James beats George in a cross-country race, the situation is only made worse.
When he heads off for Scotland to spend the Easter holidays with his aunt Charmian and his ailing uncle Max, James hopes that he won’t have to think about George and their rivalry for a while. Unfortunately he soon finds out that George’s father, Lord Hellebore, owns a castle not far from where James is going to be staying and George is there. James can only hope that they will not have to meet at all.
Soon after he arrives James joins Kelly, a London boy, in the search for a missing Scottish boy called Alfie. Their investigations lead them to the castle of Lord Hellebore next to Lake Silverfin. James has already encountered Lord Hellebore at Eton and he does not like the man. There is something about him which makes James to feel very uncomfortable. When James breaks into the castle one night he finds that his instincts about the Lord were on the mark. The man is definitely dangerous, and possibly quite mad as well. Lord Hellebore has a truly evil plan in the works and James knows that he has to do everything he can to stop the plan from proceeding.
In this first book in the Young James Bond series, readers will be thrilled to find out what the young James Bond was like. They will begin to understand what shaped the boy who would one day grow up to be the famous 007. Some of James’ special qualities come to surface and we learn that spying is the family. This wonderfully crafted story is full of surprises and fans of high adventure will not be disappointed.
