26 replies to this topic

[General Koskov]

Take a guess! (I hope at least one person gets this wrong so I can say I'm somewhat smarter than the average evil Soviet general!)

[rafterman]

that would be Wood's James Bond The Spy Who Loved Me......1977 how many novelizations have there been in total? Guess...

[Blofeld's Cat]

All depends on whether you consider Wood's efforts as novelisations or novels. I think the latter.

So, I'm going with GoldenEye as the first novelisation of a Bond movie.

[rafterman]

you're forgetting Licence to Kill by Gardner.....

[Hardyboy]

I suspect this is a trick question to see how much we REALLY know about James Bond. OK, I'll bite. I'll say that the first "novelization" is actually Ian Fleming's 1955 novel "Moonraker." Fleming had been trying to sell Bond to filmmakers from the very beginning, and he worked on a script that basically begins where the second part of the novel starts. The planned film came to nothing, and so Fleming translated his script into a book. He needed to expand the story into novel-length, and so he created the Blades scenes especially for the first part of the book, and he later explained that's why "Moonraker" seems to be divided in half.

If that isn't the answer, then it's Fleming's 1961 "Thunderball" novel, which of course was based on the script he hashed out with Kevin McClory and Jack Whittingham.

[Blofeld's Cat]

Originally posted by rafterman
you're forgetting Licence to Kill by Gardner.....

Of course.


Nice bit of linear thinking there Hardyboy.

[zencat]

Depends on what you're considering a "novelization", General. Strictly speaking, the first novelization (in book form) was James Bond The Spy Who Loved Me as rafterman said. But the first "in print adaptation" of a film was the comic of Dr. No.

But like Hardyboy pointed out, the first novel to be inspired from a movie idea or script was Moonraker (followed by Thunderball and FYEO and, I believe, Dr. No).

[zencat]

Originally posted by rafterman
that would be Wood's James Bond The Spy Who Loved Me......1977 how many novelizations have there been in total?  Guess...

I'll take a crack at this. As far as I know there have been 6 novelizations:

JAMES BOND THE SPY WHO LOVED ME (Wood)
JAMES BOND & MOONRAKER (Wood)
LICENCE TO KILL (Gardner)
GOLDENEYE (Gardner)
TND (Benson)
TWINE (Benson)
and
DAD (Benson) coming in Nov.

And there have been 7 comic adaptations:

DR. NO
FYEO
OCTOPUSSY
A VIEW TO A KILL (Norwegian only)
THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS (Norwegian only)
LICENCE TO KILL
GOLDENEYE


Believe it or not, I've been able to track down a novel tie-in edition (reprint of the orig Fleming with movie poster or blurb on cover) or novelisation for EVERY film except OCTOPUSSY. If someone knows of one, let me know.

[General Koskov]

And the winner is...Hardyboy!

I was thinking Thunderball, because this was written from a screen treatment. But Moonraker is an interesting idea, Hardyboy, I never thought of that. Anyway I managed to fool some people!

And I do consider Wood's JBTSWLM as a novel, but technically it's a novelisation. JBAM is still pending my finding, but to take a guess, I'd say it's more of a novelisation because Fleming had a useable book, rather than the unique situation with The Spy Who Loved Me.

[General Koskov]

You bring up an interesting point, Zencat, about what novelisations are. Personally, I define them (I define 'terrorism', too, so don't take this as the absolute truth!) as books (or novels, or whatever) that are written using the plot of a film after that film is written. But the term 'novelisation' has a bad connotation to it, eh? Like some hack writer saw a good film and wrote it out in prose.

Also, I mentioned above that I think it's written using the plot of a film after that film is written. I couldn't say 'released; rather than 'written' because it would take away the whole point of this thread which bases on the fact that although Fleming wrote Thunderball before it's release in '65, he wrote it after a film screen treatment had been written.

Anyway, I try to read novelisations as 'novels', that is to say, I don't read them to see how well they make me visualise the film, I read them as I would one of Fleming's novels. This is why I don't like Benson's Tomorrow Never Dies: it caters to the theatregoers rather than readers.

[Hardyboy]

Originally posted by General Koskov
And the winner is...Hardyboy!

I was thinking Thunderball, because this was written from a screen treatment. But Moonraker is an interesting idea, Hardyboy, I never thought of that. Anyway I managed to fool some people!

I hereby take my bows. Now--what's my prize? I hope it's monetary: I'm broke.

[General Koskov]

The prize...? Er, it's er...it amounts to the 'prizes' the Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow, and Tin Man got: it's 'Satisfaction Knowing that You Know Bond the Best'.

[Hardyboy]

Well, shoot, even the Scarecrow got a diploma. . .

[Maximilian Largo]

I think their are more books based on a Bond movie. I have dutch translations of the next two books:

A View To a Kill by Chris Moore (Dutch ISBN 90 6213 943 4)
Octopussy by Chris Moore (Dutch ISBN 90 449 2119 3)

I can remember the story A View To a Kill was completely printed in the Dutch newspaper "De Telegraaf" by the outcome of the film.

[zencat]

Originally posted by Maximilian Largo
I think their are more books based on a Bond movie. I have dutch translations of the next two books:

A View To a Kill by Chris Moore (Dutch ISBN 90 6213 943 4)
Octopussy by Chris Moore (Dutch ISBN 90 449 2119 3)

I envy you Maximilian! I have the Chris Moore Dutch Octopussy (hey, I guess I was wrong, I do have an Octopussy tie-in), but I've never been able to track down a copy of AVTAK.

If you have a second copy that you're willing to sell -- name your price.

[Peter]

Back in the mid 80s, there was a series of books called "Choose Your Own Adventure" where the reader made A, B, or C choices and the story would change every time you read it (unless you chose the same answers, of course)

Anyway, AVTAK had at least two of these books, actually in a rival series called "Find your Fate" published in connection with the film. The first was called "Win, Lose, or Die" (or something like that) which focused on the first half of the film in Paris as well as the Pre-credits sequence. There was at least a second book which focused on the events set in San Francisco.

If I recall, "Win, Lose, or Die" featured Kimberly Jones much more prominently, and saved Stacey Sutton for the second book. But the authors also came up with a bunch of original stuff, too. The illustrations suggested the actors in the films, particularly Roger Moore.

[Lotman]

Bumping an old thread.

I'm definitely interested in these novelisations. Could anyone provide me with a comprehensive list of James Bond tie-ins?
I'm familiar with the usual suspects, of course.

But it appears that Moonraker is also - technically - a novelisations.
Someone mentioned that the sames holds for FYEO and Dr No, could you explain?

I also have the Chris Moore Octopussy tie-in - the Dutch version. But does anybody know if there is an English version as well? Or was this only published in the Netherlands?

Finally, does anybody have more info on those 'Choose your own adventure' novels?

Thanks!
Cheers!

[Mr Twilight]

A View To a Kill by Chris Moore (Dutch ISBN 90 6213 943 4)
Octopussy by Chris Moore (Dutch ISBN 90 449 2119 3)

I have never never never heard about this books! Are the storys really true to the scripts or what? Tell me more about them. I'm so curious! Who's Chris Moore? Any scans, pictures?

[zencat]

A View To a Kill by Chris Moore (Dutch ISBN 90 6213 943 4)
Octopussy by Chris Moore (Dutch ISBN 90 449 2119 3)

I have never never never heard about this books! Are the storys really true to the scripts or what? Tell me more about them. I'm so curious! Who's Chris Moore? Any scans, pictures?

Yes! More info please. These I need.

[MarcAngeDraco]

Finally, does anybody have more info on those 'Choose your own adventure' novels?

Thanks!
Cheers!

The "Find Your Fate" books were published by Ballantine. There were four of them that were Bond related published in 1985, I believe they were Find Your Fate #11- #14.

Titles were: Win, Place, or Die; Strike It Deadly; Programmed for Danger; and Barracuda Run.

Edit: One of them was written by R. L. Stine, but I don't recall which one...

[zencat]

Finally, does anybody have more info on those 'Choose your own adventure' novels?

Thanks!
Cheers!

The "Find Your Fate" books were published by Ballantine. There were four of them that were Bond related published in 1985, I believe they were Find Your Fate #11- #14.

Titles were: Win, Place, or Die; Strike It Deadly; Programmed for Danger; and Barracuda Run.

Edit: One of them was written by R. L. Stine, but I don't recall which one...

Here's a whole thread on them (also recently resurrected from 2002, strangely enough):

http://debrief.comma...?showtopic=3622

[Mark_Hazard]

I can remember the story A View To a Kill was completely printed in the Dutch newspaper "De Telegraaf" by the outcome of the film.

Hadn't thought of newspaper "novelisations", so here's my two penn'orth:

Parade (a girly mag of the 60s/70s) published a "novelisation" of OHMSS (with pictures) through February/March 1970.

And in December 1971, the Daily Express ran a novelistion of Diamonds Are Forever (adapted from the film by Victor Davis) with pictures - at the same time, the Sun was running an edited version of the Fleming novel, with pictures from the film.

[GUY007]

I think their are more books based on a Bond movie. I have dutch translations of the next two books:

A View To a Kill by Chris Moore (Dutch ISBN 90 6213 943 4)
Octopussy by Chris Moore (Dutch ISBN 90 449 2119 3)

I can remember the story A View To a Kill was completely printed in the Dutch newspaper "De Telegraaf" by the outcome of the film.

Chris Moore also wrote the novelization "The living daylight". It was published in Belgium in the magazine "Télé Moustique"

[Major Tallon]

Vic Davis wrote an adaptation of "Diamonds Are Forever" in the Daily Express, running between December 18 and December 24, 1971. He wrote an adaptation of "The Man With The Golden Gun," published in the Express between December 19 and December 24, 1974. Back issues of the Express are available on microfilm at the Library of Congress, and I printed off a copy of TMWTGG. They were unable to locate the film with the issues containing DAF, but I imagine the British Library has these.

[Simon]

And the winner is...Hardyboy!

I was thinking Thunderball, because this was written from a screen treatment. But Moonraker is an interesting idea, Hardyboy, I never thought of that. Anyway I managed to fool some people!

And I do consider Wood's JBTSWLM as a novel, but technically it's a novelisation. JBAM is still pending my finding, but to take a guess, I'd say it's more of a novelisation because Fleming had a useable book, rather than the unique situation with The Spy Who Loved Me.

I might take exception to this estimation.

A novelisation is something that comes after the film fact. So the first novelisation is, as above, Wood's Spy novel.

Moonraker and Thunderball were scripts in works that didn't become films before the book was released and are therefore not novelisations. Not sure what the terminology for these are as these are books from scripts that were never, in the first place, films.

Scriptalisations?

[Mark_Hazard]

Vic Davis wrote an adaptation of "Diamonds Are Forever" in the Daily Express, running between December 18 and December 24, 1971. He wrote an adaptation of "The Man With The Golden Gun," published in the Express between December 19 and December 24, 1974. Back issues of the Express are available on microfilm at the Library of Congress, and I printed off a copy of TMWTGG. They were unable to locate the film with the issues containing DAF, but I imagine the British Library has these.

I have the DAF adaptation in my old scrap books (which is how I managed to confirm it above) but don't remember TMWTGG. Just searching through my scrap books found that Bill Hagerty of the Daily Mirror did an adaptation of Live and Let Die (2nd-6th July 1973).
Found it, and sorry Major Tallon, I have to correct you on the dates of TMWTGG, they were 16th - 20th December, perhaps the LoC were late in getting their copies.
Bryan Rimmer of the Daily Mirror adapted The Spy Who Loved Me (8th-13thJuly 1977). By the time Moonraker appeared, it seems that local papers had got in on the act, as I have the Wolverhampton Chronicle (a weekly) printing an uncredited adaptation twixt 10th Aug-7th September 1979.

[Major Tallon]

Vic Davis wrote an adaptation of "Diamonds Are Forever" in the Daily Express, running between December 18 and December 24, 1971. He wrote an adaptation of "The Man With The Golden Gun," published in the Express between December 19 and December 24, 1974. Back issues of the Express are available on microfilm at the Library of Congress, and I printed off a copy of TMWTGG. They were unable to locate the film with the issues containing DAF, but I imagine the British Library has these.

Found it, and sorry Major Tallon, I have to correct you on the dates of TMWTGG, they were 16th - 20th December, perhaps the LoC were late in getting their copies.

LOL! I've got my copies filed away, so I was working from memory. But hey, I got the year right! And thanks for the information on the other adaptations. I hadn't known about those. I'll have to look in at the British Library next time I hop the pond.