New George Smiley book?

[Danny McG]

I saw somewhere that Nick Harkaway is continuing his dad's work by writing a George Smiley book set in the 1960s.
Does anyone know any info about this?

 

[Danny McG]

I've an update now, the book is called Karla's Choice. It'll be released on October 24th.

The blurb:-

Set in the missing decade between two iconic
instalments in the George Smiley saga, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Nick Harkaway's Karla's Choice is an extraordinary, thrilling return to the world of spy fiction's greatest writer, John le Carré.

It is spring in 1963 and George Smiley has left the Circus. With the wreckage of the West's spy war with the Soviets strewn across Europe, he has eyes only on a more peaceful life. And indeed, with his marriage more secure than ever, there is a rumour in Whitehall – unconfirmed and a little scandalous – that George Smiley might almost be happy.

But Control has other plans. A Russian agent has defected in the most unusual of circumstances, and the man he was sent to kill in London is nowhere to be found.
Smiley reluctantly agrees to one last simple task: interview Susanna, a Hungarian émigré and employee of the missing man, and sniff out a lead. But in his absence the shadows of Moscow have lengthened.

Smiley will soon find himself entangled in a perilous mystery that will define the battles to come, and strike at the heart of his greatest enemy…

 

[The Big Peat]

I am torn between eager anticipation and a skepticism that this will live up to the ones that went before.

 

[Ian Fortytwo]

I'm looking forward to reading this.

 

[Danny McG]

I am torn between eager anticipation and a skepticism that this will live up to the ones that went before.

Ditto
I've read a couple of Harkaway books and they seem to fizzle out when they're about three quarters through

 

[THX1138]

I'm looking forward to reading this.

Me too.

 

[Swank]

I should probably read all the original ones first.

 

[The Big Peat]

Ditto
I've read a couple of Harkaway books and they seem to fizzle out when they're about three quarters through

Never even read him now you mention it. He does thrillers like his old man, yeah?

 

[hitmouse]

Never even read him now you mention it. He does thrillers like his old man, yeah?

No. Eclectic range of stuff from solid sf to ironic thrillers with an odd fantastic twist. A bit variable, but very good at his best.

 

[paranoid marvin]

On a slight aside, 'Spy Who Came in from the Cold' is the greatest cold war movie, starring Richard Burton. Very highly recommended.

 

[Vladd67]

Audible do a collection of all the Smiley books as one item, I noticed although it maybe radio dramas.

 

[Toby Frost]

Normally I'm wary and cynical about books like this, but I found that Le Carre's style changed a lot between novels, and also that some books were much better than others. So I think it could work, although I'm not sure how "necessary" it will be.

 

[Vladd67]

Audible do a collection of all the Smiley books as one item, I noticed although it maybe radio dramas.

It is The complete George Smiley radio dramas.

 

[Danny McG]

Speaking of Nick Harkaway, I am on Facebook messenger and this mysterious communication popped up from him today.
It confused me because I'm not friended with him on FB and neither do I follow him, I've never messaged the man, it's like he's randomly reached out to message me with his bewildering text.

 

[Toby Frost]

I think this would make more sense if you were told it by a man in a mac while sitting on a park bench, just before swapping briefcases.

 

[hitmouse]

Facebook just sends me loads of pictures of ladies in bikinis, and I don’t know any of them either.

 

[Danny McG]

I got the new George Smiley book this morning, I need to finish Fortress Sol by Stephen Baxter first

 

[mosaix]

Speaking of Nick Harkaway, I am on Facebook messenger and this mysterious communication popped up from him today.
It confused me because I'm not friended with him on FB and neither do I follow him, I've never messaged the man, it's like he's randomly reached out to message me with his bewildering text.

View attachment 123133

You mentioned the book on one website and got a message about it on another. Coincidence? I think not.

 

[HareBrain]

I started it yesterday. I needed something for the Kindle on a trip to London, and since I'd recently watched Smiley's People and was thinking about rereading one of my le Carre's, I thought I'd take a (pretty expensive) punt.

So far, it's OK. I'd say Harkaway has caught his father's style. Unfortunately, it's the waffly style of The Honourable Schoolboy, not the tight, tell-a-story-in-150-pages style of his earlier years.

 

[mosaix]

it's the waffly style of The Honourable Schoolboy, not the tight, tell-a-story-in-150-pages style of his earlier years.

Good description @HareBrain, exactly describes my view.

Apparently, Le Carre wanted his legacy to be that of a novelist rather than a writer of spy stories. For me, it never worked. I always considered him to greatest writer of the spy genre, the rest was mediocre.