6 replies to this topic

[Qwerty]

This thread is intended for reviews and ratings of Cold by members of the The Blades Library Book Club here. Be sure to add your review if you do vote in the poll!

The Blades Library Book Club will be reading Cold from: 24 October 2008 - 15 December 2008

Sorry this month's addition is a few days late!

[Captain Tightpants]

I have actually read COLD; I think it's the only continuation novel I've read. It was a few years ago now because it was in my high school library and I was bored. I didn't think very much of it at the time, which is odd given that I was at the age where I was easily impressed. I don't really remember the content save for seuqences in a villa in Italy and Bond trying to escape via helicopter (I think), and the finale on a boat (I think). But it was such a total non-entity at the time that I was put off reading the other expanded Bondverse novels.

[Donovan]

What a flimsy title.

[mccartney007]

I don't remember much about the book as it has been quite some time since I read it -- nearly 10 years, I think. I remember not caring much for it the first time I read it, but then really enjoying it the second time around. Not much a review from me, but as I don't have a copy of the book near me to skim I can't really offer anything else!

[Sbott]

What a flimsy title.

I haven't read it yet and so the answer to this question may be obvious but why was the book renamed Cold Fall for the US market?

[quantumofsolace]

It's an improvement on the previous few Gardner novels. It has an interesting structure and a lightness of touch that suggests Gardner was having fun again, probably because he knew his term was over!
It's not up to the quality of his early Bond novels but is still entertaing. As with most of his later Bond books, the plot is unmemorable(theres not much detail coming from the others posting in this thread either) and Bond is a very different character to the one created by Fleming.
But, most importantly, the pages kept turning and so it's an admirable way for Gardner to exit.

[dogmanstar]

OK first with the bad--
1. The dialogue is terrible. Bond should never say, "Is she gonna make it, doc?" Not a Bondian thing to say. The double-entendres, too, are here at their most juvenile.
2. Yes, we've seen these crosses and double crosses before. Some of the plot could use a little work.
3. And, Children of the Last Days (COLD), a cult bent on world domination, has been used before in Gardner--with Scorpius, etc.

Now on to the good--
1. COLD ranks high (strangely so in my estimation) on referring back to other Bond stories. There's a relatively high amount of Fleming references and it makes Bond more human and, dare I say it (?), more Fleming than we've had from Gardner in a long time.
2. The action sequences are excellent. The jet-ski chase is quite exciting. So is the helicopter sequence.
3. The structure of the novel is pretty cool--the first half takes place about five years before the second half. Both parts fit together well.
4. I am very fond of the women Gardner revisits here--Beatrice and Sukie are two of his better creations and it is nice to see them again.
5. It's a pretty fast read and a lot of fun.

So, to sum up, I would say that COLD is a fitting end to the tenure of the standard bearer of the literary Bond of the 80's and early 90's. Find the book, if you can, find a good armchair, and enjoy yourself!