682 replies to this topic

[Turn]

I started YOLT on Thursday on impulse. I had previously read the first two Gardners and was considering continuing with Icebreaker, but decided to go with YOLT. It seems both books are fan favorites, so I don't have much to lose it appears.

[Tanger]

It seems odd to me that people want to read the books out of order. IMO, for maximum enjoyment they need to be read in order.

[Qwerty]

Currently now on the graphic novel for The Living Daylights.

[Turn]

It seems odd to me that people want to read the books out of order. IMO, for maximum enjoyment they need to be read in order.

Since I have already read about the books in the Bedside Companion and The Bond Files and such over the years and am a huge fan, I don't think it's really necessary to read them in order. I've already read OHMSS, so it's not important to know the backstory of Bond's mindset going into YOLT.

Being more impulsive, I'd rather do it this way. Reading them in order seems to be more like something I'd be required to do in a high school class or something.

[Bond111]

It seems odd to me that people want to read the books out of order. IMO, for maximum enjoyment they need to be read in order.

Yes I think it's somewhat odd too. There's nothing wrong with just reading a book at random, but I think for the first time you should read them all in order. It's like that for all of the book series I read, must just be a quirk of mine.

[Qwerty]

It seems odd to me that people want to read the books out of order. IMO, for maximum enjoyment they need to be read in order.

I tried as best I could to read them in order the first time, and did fairly well at doing so-- although a few were out of place. Now it's whichever I'm in the mood for.

[Tanger]

I'm whizzing through Goldfinger at break neck speed (like I do with all the Fleming's - I just can't put them down) and should be finishing it tonight.

Next, I don't know whether O should start Chris Wood's JB, TSWLM, Colonel Sun, Serpent's Tooth or whether I should take a break from Bond and read Zero Option by Chris Ryan. What do you guys think?

[Qwerty]

I'd move onto Wood or Amis, some excellent books from each!

I just finished the The Living Daylights story in the graphic novel.

[Tanger]

Finished Goldfinger this afternoon. Read the last three chapters as soon as I got home. I decided to go for Zero Option by Chris Ryan though as I've read four Bond books in a row and I felt it was time for a break.

[Turn]

I just completed YOLT Thursday night (enjoyed it a lot) and decided to switch back to Gardner and Icebreaker, which seems to be a fan favorite here at CBn. Read the first two chapters before going to my evening job.

[Agent 76]

I'm currently reading Casino Royale and I'm in the 8th chapter right now.

[Qwerty]

I'm waiting to see what choice ends up in Blades, looking like it will be Diamonds Are Forever.

[SPECTRE ASSASSIN]

Well to answer this thread, I'm still on You Only Live Twice. (I've been lazily reading it for two months now. ) I'm barely on page 114 on a 202 book. I'm not a slow reader, just lazy reading it!

[Max Zorin]

I just picked up Col. Sun at a yard sale (along with many other Bond novels) and I'm currently making my way through it. Just as a though, does anyone else want to see Litsas (spelling?) make it onscreen as a Bond ally in the future?

[Qwerty]

I think it might be better to adapt more from Colonel Sun.

[Agent 76]

currently reading...hein..let's see , today I'm gonna start reading Live and Let Die !

[Tanger]

Reading Colonel Sun at the moment. About six chapters in. Can't really see what all the fuss is about but I'm sure it improves as it goes on. How people can say this is better than Fleming I'll never understand.

[Briane1911a1]

Hi, everybody -
I'm new to the forum so I thought I'd jump in with this question. I just started reading "Casino Royale" for the upteenth time. I think this is four or five. I first read all the Bond books two or three times through junior high and high school. So now, as a "real" adult, I'm getting a fresh look at the books.

So far, I'm liking it more than ever.... --Brian

[B007GLE]

Brian,

Welcome to CBN. I'm sure you'll enjoy it here.

As a fan of the books you should jon the Blades Book Club here. We're currently on DAF (we've been reading the Fleming novels in order.)

I myself began rereading "the Flemings" in order last summer. It's great to read these books with more experienced and fresh eyes.

[Qwerty]

Always great to see another fellow Bond reader, welcome to CBn.

If you're interested, here is a Sign up link. http://debrief.comma...?showtopic=8759

[Turn]

Hi, everybody -
I'm new to the forum so I thought I'd jump in with this question. I just started reading "Casino Royale" for the upteenth time. I think this is four or five. I first read all the Bond books two or three times through junior high and high school. So now, as a "real" adult, I'm getting a fresh look at the books.

So far, I'm liking it more than ever.... --Brian

I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on reading the novels from a "then and now" perspective if you'd like to share them in the future. I tried to read a few when I was younger and it was tougher to appreciate them than it is now.

[IanFleming007]

Just finished re-reading YOLT a week ago.

I began my last Bond book "The Facts of Death" and it isn't that good.

Along with this I'm reading 3 other books to, after I finish these up I'll probably give Seafire or Goldfinger a re-read....actually I will re-read both

[Tanger]

I gave up on Colonel Sun. Geez, it's so boring. I might come back to it at a later date though and give it a second chance.

I've recently read teh stories 007 in New York, Octopussy and The Property of a Lady and am currently halfway through Meltdown which is brilliant and much better than I've heard people say.

[Briane1911a1]

As I said in an earlier note, I've just begun reading "Casino Royale" again - can't recall how many times I've read it before, but it's been several - back when I was in my early teens. This is the first time I've had a look at it as an adult (pushing 30, but don't let that fool you) and here are my thoughts so far:

I still like this book. A good, basic spy story with just enough meat on the bones to keep you interested. Bond is certainly not the fully developed character we get to know later (there are no personal details of his life, for example - unlike in Moonraker, where we learn quite a bit); his supporting players, Mathis, Leiter, Vesper, are nothing but shells; still, it works. The writing is a little clunky. Fleming could have cut several words from each sentence it seems, but probably didn't want to retype everything. The gambling showdown between Bond and Le Chiffre is always thrilling - been there several times already, and I still cringe when Bond gets "beaten and cleaned out" and smile when Felix shows up with extra funds.

I wish Fleming had cut the foreign words. There's just too many scattered around to follow what he's trying to communicate. Head of S. made the same mistake in his memo to M. regarding the Le Chiffre counter operation, and M. chewed him out: "This is not the Berlitz School of Language, Head of S....." (A line that always makes me laugh, by the way - can you imagine Bernard Lee, at his crankiest, saying that?) Fleming should have taken some of that advice himself.

I'm halfway through the book now - Vesper has just been kidnapped. I don't know why Fleming made the choices he did here. There's much more room for more adventure, chasing after Le Chiffre, etc., that Fleming could have done; the extended "honeymoon" between Bond and Vesper always seemed a strange to me. But we'll see how it plays out through my older, more experienced eyes. --Brian

[Turn]

I finally finished Icebreaker Tuesday. A decent book with a lot to keep you on your guard as far as twists even if a few were painfully predictable.

Again, I am faced with the big question of whether to take up the next Gardner, Role of Honor as I am trying to read those in order, or to skip around with one of the others. I'm toying with maybe reading Zero Minus Ten or Colonel Sun or maybe something totally out of the blue.

[Qwerty]

I finally finished Icebreaker Tuesday. A decent book with a lot to keep you on your guard as far as twists even if a few were painfully predictable.

Again, I am faced with the big question of whether to take up the next Gardner, Role of Honor as I am trying to read those in order, or to skip around with one of the others. I'm toying with maybe reading Zero Minus Ten or Colonel Sun or maybe something totally out of the blue.

Oh continue on with the Gardner's Turn, in order. Really quite good that way!

[Moonraker]

I'm currently reading Moonraker and keeps getting better every page.

[Righty007]

Moonraker likes Moonraker. I would have never guessed.

[Qwerty]

Well I just got my UK 1st edition of No Deals, Mr. Bond in the mail today, maybe time to read that one again.

[Lazenby880]

I have just finished Licence Renewed and literally could not put it down. Tense, thrilling, with plenty of memorable characters and a truly brilliant literary villain in the form of Anton Murik, Gardner also captured the spirit and character of Bond perfectly as well as placing much of the action in Scotland, which is a case for excellence on its own. I was genuinely surprised at how much I really enjoyed the book, and it is now included on my favourites list.

Next up is For Special Services and Icebreaker, as I have the omnibus edition. I only hope they can live up to the high standard set by Gardner's first.