7 replies to this topic

[Bond111]

That's right, a review of For Your Eyes Only. I haven't actually finished the book yet, but I will post a critique on each short story as I go along. The rating system is: '*****' being the best and '*' being the worst. I will be interested to hear any comments on my reviews, and you can post reviews yourself. There may be some (albeit minor) spoilers throughout, but I will do my best. Lastly, these reviews may be more coherent if you have read the book.

From a View to a Kill

For starters, the beginning wasn't as engrossing as I wanted it to be for a Bond book, but it was well written (as always). Once Bond came on the scene, though, and started investigating, it became much more interesting. The Bond girl for this story (Mary Ann Russell) was a bit bland, but hell it's a short story.

The investigation tends to drag on a bit, but soon gets the 'breath of life' once Bond, in camouflage, spots the villain coming out of his ingeniously disguised lair. It's all uphill from there, including a great motorcycle chase & Bond's very-near-demise.

In all, it's certainly not the best Bond tale, but definitely not the worst. I think it does well for itself considering it's a short story. And of course Fleming's descriptive writing is superb, to say the least.

I hereby give From a View to a Kill a rating of:

* * *
:cool:

[DanMan]

I basically agree with everthing you wrote. The girl is pretty bland and it starts off pretty slow, but it does go uphill from there. Wait until you get to Quantom Of Solace and then the Hilderbrand Rarity, they're very good.

[Bond111]

For Your Eyes Only

Once again the first few pages were a bit irrelevant and slightly boring, in my opinion. But the dramatic murders soon to follow more than make up for it.

Then we get a great "M" scene. Very personal. But soon after that, when Bond travels to Virginia, the story tends to slow a bit, but not too much. Bond meeting Judy Havelock was great. I liked her rebelious attitude toward him. The end shootout was very suspenseful and gripping.

The locales in this book, Virginia/Canada/Jamaica, are pretty good and well described (especially Virginia). The henchman (Gonzales) was particularily menacing, but the villain (von Hammerstein) is terribly underdeveloped; he is really only mentioned by M. But I suppose it would have to be a full-size novel to have all of that. The basic plot, and even many of the scenes, in this story are surprisingly close to the movie.

On the recap, it was a very good story, but I think Mr. Fleming can do better. I give For Your Eyes Only:

* * *


PS Thanks for your comments DanMan.

[freemo]

I concur with most of your thoughts on For Your Eyes Only, especially the scene with M here, wonderful scene. Judy Havelock was a good character too I think, the pace of the story does kind of slow to give her development, but I didn't mind.

From A View to a Kill I'll disgaree a tad, I actually liked it a bit better than you did, and actually did get into it from the very beginning (something I struggled to do with the other short stories). I like Bonds logic in choosingthe drink that he does and stuff like that. This and Quantum of Solace are my two favorites from the book.

Nice reviews bond111.

[Bond111]

Thanks freemo! I should have The Quantum of Solace up tomorrow. And from you it sounds like a great story.

[Bond111]

Quantum of Solace

Well, I have heard much praise for this story, and I heartily agree with it all. Funny thing is, Bond isn't an integral part of the story. I was interested from beginning to end. The story told by the Governor was very good, and never got boring. Even Bond's thoughts were great, as always. It was so great I found myself wanting more, as it is probably the shortest of these stories.

This story was great. It even has a moral to it. I have a feeling that this one will be the masterpiece of the whole collection. Very compelling. I will give The Quantum of Solace:

* * * * *

[Qwerty]

Great reviews Bond111! Would love to see “Risico” and “The Hildebrand Rarity” in the future.

[Byron]

Great review Bond111! Keep it up.