10 replies to this topic

[Loomis]

Have just read my first Gardner, "Licence Renewed". My verdict? Not bad at all, on the whole. The book is slow-starting (with a false "gripping start" that makes you think a character applying an elaborate disguise at an airport is going to hijack a plane or do something exciting - nothing happens), but once it gets going you know you're in the hands of a professional thriller writer who knows how to keep you turning the pages.

It's Gardner's writing skill that really makes LR, since the plot is nothing revolutionary (and struck me as a retread of that of "Thunderball", while the ending borrows heavily from "Goldfinger"). However, Murik's scheme seems very credible by Bond standards, and is genuinely horrifying. Gardner does a fine job of putting 007 in situations that seem convincingly dangerous. He's great at atmosphere and action. There's a drug-assisted torture/interrogation scene that's somehow all the more frightening for not being brutal and bloody, and the scenes during the Perpignan festival are superb.

It's not a million miles away from Fleming, but neither do we get the sense of great fidelity to Fleming's creation. In places, Gardner tries too hard: bones thrown to the purists with trainspotting references to "Casino Royale" and "From Russia With Love". Q'ute's bedroom scene with Bond, presumably intended as a jokey, pre-emptive acknowledgement that Bond has been updated for the 80s, comes across as laboured and more appropriate to an Austin Powers film.

Another criticism: the Bond girls are paper-thin, but then, in which novels aren't they?

Overall, though, an impressive debut Bond novel.

[zencat]

I really like LICENSE RENEWED. It's a good, straight-forward, PG-13 Bond adventure with all the elements in harmony (good locations, good car, good villain, henchman, girl...). Bond's mission is very clear, and I like that he doesn't have a foil or sidekick. He's on his own, and this keeps most of the dialogue inside his head. I also really like the sense that he's a knight sent to a castle to slay the ogre and free the maiden. And speaking of the maiden, I really like Lavender. She's in the Domino mold. An exquisite beauty held in bondage by a sadist. These types of Bond girls are too few and far between, IMO (we wouldn't get another until Benson's NDOD).

I don't know what to make of the Q'uet scene. A female Q. She was one of Gardner

[Loomis]

Originally posted by zencat

It's a good, straight-forward, PG-13 Bond adventure with all the elements in harmony (good locations, good car, good villain, henchman, girl...).  

That's true. Nothing sticks out like a sore thumb. And Caber's a fine henchman - I like the way Gardner doesn't try to jazz him up with special attributes, but instead just makes him a big, mean Scottish thug. He really brings Murik to life, too.

It's a good, solid thriller, by someone who's evidently a real pro. This wasn't a barrier to my enjoyment, but I felt it lacked the "element of the bizarre" to be found in much of Fleming's work. I've no idea whether LR is representative of Gardner's Bond canon as a whole, but if it is then I'd suggest Fleming fans might in a way be more satisfied with Benson. As a writer, a wordsmith, a craftsman of prose, Gardner is far more accomplished than Benson, but Benson's novels seem to have more flashes of the fantasy world created by Fleming, and his Bond seems closer to Fleming's, in some strange way that I can't quite put my finger on. Hmmm.... I don't know. Am I wrong?

[Bryce (003)]

You're going to love For Special Services;)

[Loomis]

I know. I can't wait to read about Cedar Leiter and the return of SPECTRE. But, of course, all these books are out of print and difficult to come by. I bought "Licence Renewed" in an antiquarian bookshop in London, and I'm planning on going back to pick up the first editions of "Icebreaker" and "Never Send Flowers" I saw. No "For Special Services", unfortunately. I really hope this rumoured three-in-one reprint of "Licence Renewed", "For Special Services" and "Icebreaker" comes to pass.

[zencat]

You can find them all on eBay or www.bookfinder.com for cheap.

[Loomis]

Cheers, zencat.

[Brix Bond]

I have *an* original Licence Renewed. I'm not sure how I can identify it to see if it is *the* original. If it isn't it's still a very nice book to display.

[Simon]

Loomis, also try abebooks.com

The quick flick through Bookfinder looked as though the majority of the entries might lead you to buying from the States - I've bought through the abebooks link from the UK a number of times. (I believe you'e in the UK, right?)

Bookfinder does seem to give a better run down of differing titles though.

[Loomis]

Originally posted by Simon

Loomis, also try abebooks.com

Thanks, Simon. I'll give it a whirl.

[MrDraco]

License Renewed (Hehe i typed License to kill, then License revoked before Renewed)
Was my first gardner novel, and i must say i was very pleased with it.... it got me further in away from Benson (cos at the time he only had two books out and i had read them twice)