RETURN OF THE KINGS as Charlie Higson returns to the literary Bond world with a brand new 007 novel, King Zero!
Having cut his teeth on the first – and now latest – wave of Young Bond action and the subsequent regal novella On His Majesty’s Secret Service (2023), Higson now returns to Ian Fleming Publications with his first fully-gilded adult Bond work, King Zero.
A slick announcement project projected a spring tease across iconic London landmarks as the world of King Zero was finally revealed as Bond, Higson and Fleming are back!
Following in the literary footsteps of other Bond continuation authors such as John Gardner, Kingsley Amis, Sebastian Faulks, Anthony Horowitz, William Boyd and Jeffrey Deaver, Higson is the latest in an anointed line of Bond fan authors tasked with taking forward Ian Fleming’s spy legacy.
With Big Finish’s Young Bond audio adaptation of Higson’s SilverFin (2005) released later in 2026, The Fast Show stalwart, top author and good Bond mind Charlie is perfectly poised to take our man James forward at a key time for the Bond project in all its forms and future guises.
‘Having warmed up with my Young Bond series, and the short story, On His Majesty’s Secret Service, I’m beyond excited to be writing my first full blown adult Bond adventure. Twenty years after first writing “The name’s Bond, James Bond,” it still sends shivers down my spine every time I type it.’
– Charlie Higson
Launching with the murder of an agent in Saudi Arabia by a unique weapon never before and spanning the globe in an epic race against time to avert global catastrophe, KING ZERO brings 007 into the twenty-first century and an old world order that is crumbling as chilling new ones rise and one of the most distinctive villains steps into Bond and Fleming’s worlds. As this Bond advocate and fellow author was told around the release of On His Majesty’s Secret Service, Higson firmly believes Bond should be about the times he is living in – ‘I wanted it to be about what is actually going on in the world.’
With the prescient themes of energy, technology and global tensions at the book’s core, King Zero will be published in the UK in September 2026 by Penguin Michael Joseph. As a sign of the new Bond times, Amazon Publishing will steer the US publication.
“It embraces the worlds of both the literary Bond and the cinematic Bond, and my bad guy has all the elements we expect from a classic Bond villain, with a twist that’s not been done before.”
– Charlie Higson
Prepare for a villain unlike any before.
Prepare for King Zero.
King Zero
by Charlie Higson
Penguin Michael Joseph | Hardback
24th September 2026
