By Royal Command

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A let down. Ok its alright but it out classed - Rated
A huge let down. This was Ok, thats all. Boring in a few places, typical in the next. James falls in love this time and acts way out of character compared to the other James Bond books. I am sorry to say the worst of Young James Bond.
Alex Rider author Anthony Horowitz and Jimmy Coates author Joe Craig, Twilight Author Stephene Meyers and Jason Steed author Mark Cooper know how to write about teenagers, love and spys.
Charlie Higson has the ground work done by Ian Flemming yet he does not use it. Please dont let him write another. This sereis should be a number one seller. Its not and never will be, I can see now why they wont make a young Bond movie.
However I give it three stars. Its just after reading Twilight, Jason Steed, The Boys in Stripped Pyjamas, Jimmy Coates and Alex Rider this book is a let down. Its just 'outclassed'
I would still read it if you have read the other boks. Silverfin was good.

A little slow - Rated
Not what I thought it would be. very slow, going on and on about facts not required, It seems the author is trying very hard to get a film made of the series, giving details of music ect as someone is killed and lots of non-requored details. The ending was good, but Charlie Higson sems to lack the skill of Ian Flemming or Anthony Horowitz.

A Satisfying end to a surprisingly good series - Rated
So we come to a close to the 'young bond' series, which i have to admit was far better than i expected it to be. Praise to Charlie Higson for handling the task emmensly well and for creating a very entertaining series. 'By Royal Command' is the final book in the series and this is the fifth time James Bond, a fourteen year old kid, has managed to get in to some mad far fetched adventure invovlving spies and this time round the prince of whales. So you have to completly abondon any plausability factor and by that i mean it's difficult to beleive that one boy can get mixed up in so many adventures, but still these books are entertaining and if you have read the others the chances are you won't be dissapointed with this. All the right ingrediants are there - the action, the locations, the girls, the allies and of course a larger than life villian, in fact in this story it's difficult to tell who's a friend or an enermy of our hero. There are some nice plot twists, even though the plot does waver in places. Compared to Hurricane Gold there is a lot less action, but there is still ample to keep younger readers fixed. Roan - the love interest is the strongest female friend to appear in the series so far, as her character is given more depth than anyone previously. This makes her the ownly believable thing in the book, but makes for a good love interest for Bond. Considering this is for children i'd have to say Higson over steps the mark on violence throughout the climax. It even made me feel sick let alone a thirteen year old. I wouldn't say that it is the best of the bunch, but it is still a entertaining read and is a satisfying close to a good series. well done Mr Higson.

By Royal Command Young 007 - Rated
Charlie Higson has won me back. The last book Hurricane Gold was a copy of Alex Rider's Skeleton Key, but this is as good as Silverfin the fisrt James Bond book. Its worth a full 5 stars. Great stuff, I wont spoil the story, but if you like the Alex Rider, Jason Steed, Young James Bond books you will love this.

Blown Away - Rated
I must admit that while I have been an avid reader of the Young Bond series but while I have found each volume to be wildly entertaining, I have never considered them quite on a par with the Alex Rider series. However, By Royal Command, unfortunately the last in this cycle of the series, blows the others out of the water! By Royal Command has it all: not just a rip-roaring story, but an emotional roller coaster that fits into the Bond cannon beautifully (I enjoyed it far more than Sebastian Faulks' much-vaunted continuation) and does so with a kind of sophistication and moral ambiguity that one seldom find in a book of this sort. It seems a shame that anyone might be put off because this is marketed as a children's novel. Absolutely brilliant and I hope that we get to see more of Higson's Bond in the future.