Who according to you are essentially James Bond but in a fantasy setting? I have a very strong contenders for the archetype and that's Rand Al 'Thor and to some extent Geralt of Rivia and I'm talking about the book version of Bond.
Haroun bin Yosif from Glen Cook's Dread Empire series. His entire family is killed by religious zealots, leaving him as The King Without a Throne. He then goes on to lead an extremely successful rebel movement, including taking on several alternate identities. He also studies magic and becomes a very competent sorcerer who eventually infiltrates the Dread Empire itself, which is ruled by that world's most feared sorcerers.
simon green's secret history books main character is edwin drood, aka shaman bond i'm not sure where you get rand and geralt from. james bond is a killer of men (literally has license to kill) who relies on deceit and manipulation to foil their plans.
I'm comparing Rand based on the fact that he can turn on the charm if he needs to to get what he wants, it doesn't always work obviously and sometimes attracts the wrong kind of attention and Geralt was based purely on his portrayal in the games, he can and does kill whoever he thinks is necessary to kill which to me at least is as close as a license to kill
Kelsier from *Mistborn* is a bit similar - he has a bit of spy / gentleman thief about him and certainly covers the more brutal side of Bond. Going back to something considerably less recent, Silk from David Eddings' Belgariad series. He's a multi-talented spy, maybe a bit overdone and straying into the mary sue space.
Oh man I loved Silk. Good comp.
It's interesting you say that because I did envision Kelsier as being played by Robert Redford. I definitely agree he has that kinda vibe and I'm pretty sure Sanderson has said Mistborn is partially inspired by Oceans 11
Elle pepper “under the spoken rose”
Brust's Vlad Taltos.
Locke Lamora. Curious what your reasoning is behind Geralt. Considering charm isn’t exactly something he has unless you’re counting Axii. But if anyone from those books is James Bond it’s Regis.
Locke Lamora scratches this itch for me. A loveable con-man who fights using his wits. Replete with negative traits but you root for him. The novel also folds in a healthy dash of pirate-Robin-Hood, but if Bond didn't work for MI6 and was working on a smaller scale, I see them getting along.
Was going to say this. Book 2 has casino royale vibes.
I mean Simon R Green has a whole supernatural parody about Bond. The Drood Chronicles.
Tal Hawkins from Raymond Feist's Conclave of Shadows trilogy fits this pretty closely.
Rand? In what way is he James Bond? He is a sheep herder, and any nobility shown is either lucky or heavily influenced by advisors.
I'm talking about the book version of Bond
I think you could make a case for Logen Ninefingers (The Bloody Double-Oh Nine) from The First Law (Joe Abercrombie).
A better fit, in terms of being her Royal Majesty's spanner-in-the-works, would be The Queen's Thief (Megan Whalen Turner).
A bit closer to the suave sophisticated movie Bond: Ammar ibn Khairan from The Lions of Al-Rassan (Guy Gavriel Kay).