"The Man with the Golden Torc" by Simon Green. Simon Green is a British sci-fi/fantasy author who is generally more entertaining than serious.

As the title indicates in some respects this book is a goof off the James Bond series. The lead character's real name is Edwin Drood. But he jokes that he's known as "Bond. Shaman Bond".

He is indeed a secret agent. His family, the Droods, work behind the scenes to keep the world safe from all sorts of conspiracies-human, alien, supernatural, scientific, the works. Edwin has always been a sort of rogue agent, having a bit more conscience than his family prefers. At the beginning of the book he is formally declared an outlaw by his family. To save himself and find the real traitor he must ally with some of his most bitter enemies in this world and beyond.

This may sound somewhat formulaic because it is. Drood has an Armourer, who is a stand in for Q and the Matriarch of the Family is a stand in for M. Still it works because it's fun. Green has a writing style that is very dry and humorous, somewhere between Neil Gaiman, Benny Hill, and Monty Python.

If you've read Green before this may just seem like rewrites from his Nightside or Deathstalker series. If you are new to Green or a Green fanatic, this book is a lot of fun.


"When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives."
Winter is Coming

Now this is the Law of the Jungleā€”as old and as true as the sky; And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk, the Law runneth forward and back; For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.