Gardner novels compared to the others
#1
Posted 08 November 2004 - 12:22 AM
Oh, and flood control SUCKS when you're in a hurry!!!
#2
Posted 08 November 2004 - 12:40 AM
#3
Posted 09 November 2004 - 02:05 AM
#4
Posted 09 November 2004 - 03:50 AM
Some of my favorites of his are:
Licence Renewed For Special Services Icebreaker Nobody Lives Forever Never Send Flowers SeaFire |
#5
Posted 11 November 2004 - 01:04 PM
His Bond work is equally good (as Benson and perhaps almost Fleming himself) IMO and I rate both Gardner and Benson very highly, along side each other.
Obvously John's had a lot more experience than any of the others authors, as he completes his 51st book quite soon. But I'd recommend you read all of Gardner's.
My favourites include: Licence Renewed, For Special Services, Icebreaker, Role Of Honour, Death Is Forever, Never Send Flowers and Seafire. I reckon Gardner got better with Bond as he got on, dispite what many may think.
#7
Posted 12 November 2004 - 02:21 PM
#9
Posted 12 November 2004 - 06:59 PM
One late one that I love is Win, Lose or Die. License Renewed is good but dated.
If you've read all the Flemings then by all means give Gardner a try.
#10
Posted 15 November 2004 - 05:10 PM
I don't like his Bond books an no more his other books like Boatsie Oakes. I find them boring. I read them in french and some in english. Same effect to me in both languages!! ;-)
Edited by Cesari, 15 November 2004 - 05:14 PM.
#11
Posted 16 November 2004 - 06:30 AM
Edited by James Boldman, 16 November 2004 - 06:30 AM.
#12
Posted 03 December 2004 - 07:33 PM
#13
Posted 07 December 2004 - 02:10 AM
#14
Posted 13 December 2004 - 07:24 PM
As for favorites, I enjoyed everything from For Special Services to Nobody Lives Forever, Death is Forever and Brokenclaw.
#15
Posted 13 December 2004 - 08:58 PM
I like Gardner's Bond novels though I do think he tneded to rely on double and triple crosses too much as well as using pretty much the same description every time someone was shot in the head. That doesn't really bother me but it just sorta stands out after you've read all the books.
As for favorites, I enjoyed everything from For Special Services to Nobody Lives Forever, Death is Forever and Brokenclaw.
I've read the first four and half of Nobody Lives Forever and noticed those repetitions, also. The double and triple crosses really become tedious after a while, especially in Icebreaker, which a lot of people here seem to enjoy a lot.
#16
Posted 13 December 2004 - 09:00 PM
#17
Posted 13 December 2004 - 09:25 PM
#18
Posted 13 December 2004 - 09:41 PM
Back to the original question though. I like Gardner better than Benson in many respects because his books have a little more variety than Benson. Gardner's are up there with Fleming's, but not at the top of course.
#19
Posted 15 December 2004 - 09:17 PM
#20
Posted 15 December 2004 - 09:27 PM
Licence Renewed is a pretty good place to start but I wouldn't call it his best. It has it's moments but there are a few dull patches where you'll probably stop reading.
For Special Services is a cracking read and I myself shot through it in a few hours. Highly recommended - ie. if you read only one, make sure it's this one.
Icebreaker - Hmmm, I have mixed opinions on this. It's just not the classic people claim it is. Like Licence Renewed, it has it's good spots but other bits are just dull. In fact, I don't think I ever finished this one. I think I got about three quarters through it and then gave up. I'll probably give it another go one day but it's really not all that great.
#21
Posted 15 December 2004 - 09:27 PM
#22
Posted 03 January 2005 - 01:50 AM
I can't remember which book plot goes with which title.... which I don't find to be a problem with Fleming or Benson
#23
Posted 03 January 2005 - 02:01 AM
the only thing I don't like about Gardner are his titles.....
I can't remember which book plot goes with which title.... which I don't find to be a problem with Fleming or Benson
The worst titles in the cannon by far, but looking at some of the interviews with him, they could have been much worse.
#24
Posted 16 January 2005 - 06:38 PM
For Special Services left a sour taste in my mouth. Everyone seems to like it, I just thought it was plain weird.
Agreed. It's entertaining stuff, but for me it becomes a little too bizarre and overblown towards the end.
Still, it was nice to see the first three Gardners back in print in an omnibus edition last year. I hope Coronet will republish more of his books (and a Benson omnibus would be great, too).
#25
Posted 02 February 2005 - 07:38 PM
#26
Posted 20 February 2005 - 09:01 PM
#27
Posted 20 February 2005 - 09:06 PM
#28
Posted 21 February 2005 - 01:00 PM
My two favorite Gardner novels are ICEBREAKER and NO DEALS, MR BOND.
#29
Posted 21 February 2005 - 01:07 PM
Better than Benson (at least Gardner knows how to write and his prose is not as jaw-droppingly bad as Benson's), but not as good as Fleming.
My two favorite Gardner novels are ICEBREAKER and NO DEALS, MR BOND.
Yes, Gardner writing ability will always set him ahead of Benson. Benson's plots were - sort of - better than Gardners (certainly post Barbarossa) but so horrible to read in a unique form of bad, uneducated adolscent English. At least Gardner new how to structure a sentence and what to pu tin it even if, msot of the time, it had nothing to do with James Bond