18 replies to this topic

[Jriv71]

Just finished this one, and I only had one problem with it...I've got to stop reading the back of the book, before I read the book itself, because this one held no suspense for me. I thought the idea was great; important military secret on a microdot, stolen, crashes on top of a really big mountain, James Bond and some bad guys have to climb the mountain to get it. Problem is, I knew that from reading the back of the book.

Spoiler:

Bond gets the microdot, the bad guy dies. OK, we all knew that was gonna happen also.

Honestly, it was pretty good, I liked Marquis' character and most of the villains. The story was well told, though I didn't think we needed the double-cross by Paul Baack at the end. Again, we're not talking about a story where the good guy can die at the end, so that kind of thing, with 2 pages remaining, doesn't thrill me. But I'm just nitpicking.

One stupid side note, because I'm an idiot: Every time they mentioned that Bond and Marquis were at Eton together, I kept thinking, 'Man, that would make these guys, like, 74 years old or something! Aren't they kind of old to be climbing a mountain?' (If you go by a true timeline, I think YOLT sheds some light on this, Bond was at Eton in around 1940.) I know, suspend disbelief, but that's the kind of thing that keeps happening to me every time Gardner or Benson mention Vesper or Tracy or somebody like that. Nevermind that M would be about a hundred and fifty years old. This is part of the reason that I'm kinda glad there are no more Bond novels forthcoming. It's also part of the reason that I said I was an idiot.

[zencat]

I love HIGH TIME TO KILL!

And, yes, it's best not to do the math when you read Bond continuation novels.

[Loomis]

Originally posted by Jriv71

One stupid side note, because I'm an idiot: Every time they mentioned that Bond and Marquis were at Eton together, I kept thinking, 'Man, that would make these guys, like, 74 years old or something! Aren't they kind of old to be climbing a mountain?' (If you go by a true timeline, I think YOLT sheds some light on this, Bond was at Eton in around 1940.) I know, suspend disbelief, but that's the kind of thing that keeps happening to me every time Gardner or Benson mention Vesper or Tracy or somebody like that. Nevermind that M would be about a hundred and fifty years old. This is part of the reason that I'm kinda glad there are no more Bond novels forthcoming. It's also part of the reason that I said I was an idiot.

Hey, you don't seem idiotic to me.

Benson digs his own grave when it comes to credible continuity by including so many Fleming references. The only way to cope with this is to assume that Benson's books are not part of the same series as Fleming's, and constitute a kind of Fleming tribute set in a parallel universe with people who have the same names as Fleming's characters (James Bond, Bill Tanner, etc.) but are nonetheless different people.

Either that or Benson is the idiot!

As for "High Time to Kill", I absolutely hated it. I found the writing sloppy and lifeless, the characters and story uninteresting, and the car chase with the flying "scout" took the piss, as we say in the UK. Basically, I felt that there were several gross insults to the reader's intelligence on every page. That said, I've read all the other Bensons apart from "The Facts of Death" and "Doubleshot", and enjoyed them.

[DLibrasnow]

You are not inspiring confidence Loomis...What did you think of TMWTRT?

[Qwerty]

I love HIGH TIME TO KILL!

Ditto. Often tied with The Facts Of Death as my favorite of Benson's.

[Loomis]

You are not inspiring confidence Loomis...What did you think of TMWTRT?

I liked it. MILD SPOILERS Unlike the dire "High Time to Kill", "The Man With the Red Tattoo" actually seems to be set more in the world of Fleming than in the world of Eon. As with "Zero Minus Ten", there's the escapist thrill of exotic locations described well. Benson's enthusiasm for Japan shines through, and he describes the country vividly and unpretentiously. There is the odd ammunition-for-the-Benson-bashers clunker, though, for instance: "Yoshida's eyes betrayed the madness behind them. His evil stare travelled through the hundreds of miles of the telecommunication system's fibre optics and clutched Bond and Mayumi's souls." Hmmm.... cheers, Ray. Never mind: these occasional howlers are more than made up for by moments like Bond's sadistic shooting of a sitting duck target ("one of those rare moments when he received utter and complete satisfaction"), recalling his brutality towards Professor Dent in the film DR. NO, and neat jokes like the meeting between Bond and Tiger Tanaka at the statue of Hachiko (a loyal dog that continued to wait for its master at Tokyo's Shibuya Station long after the latter's death).

Also very Fleming are elements of the bizarre, most notably the notion of an evil dwarf hidden with deadly mosquitoes inside a model of the human heart, while a nearby art installation flashes random phrases such as "speak and live", "smile and die", "think and live" and "love and die". Well, it's pure Fleming as far as I'm concerned, the cuteness of the allusion to Fleming's second novel notwithstanding.

I guess TMWTRT is Benson's second sequel (of sorts) to "You Only Live Twice" (the first being "Blast From the Past"), and my love of YOLT leads me to give TMWTRT a few extra points. Of course, TMWTRT isn't remotely as good as Fleming's absolute masterpiece, but it's nice to have a continuation novelist making reference to YOLT (and nearly 40 years on, too!), regardless of the fact that, in doing so, Benson causes us to wonder whether characters like Bond and Tanaka are age-defying Doctor Who types (yep, that 40 years on thing's a bit of a double-edged sword)!

[David Schofield]

[quote name='Loomis' date='5 September 2003 - 20:51']
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Jriv71

One stupid side note, because I'm an idiot: Every time they mentioned that Bond and Marquis were at Eton together, I kept thinking, 'Man, that would make these guys, like, 74 years old or something! Aren't they kind of old to be climbing a mountain?' (If you go by a true timeline, I think YOLT sheds some light on this, Bond was at Eton in around 1940.) I know, suspend disbelief, but that's the kind of thing that keeps happening to me every time Gardner or Benson mention Vesper or Tracy or somebody like that. Nevermind that M would be about a hundred and fifty years old. This is part of the reason that I'm kinda glad there are no more Bond novels forthcoming. It's also part of the reason that I said I was an idiot.
[/QUOTE]

Hey, you don't seem idiotic to me.

Benson digs his own grave when it comes to credible continuity by including so many Fleming references. The only way to cope with this is to assume that Benson's books are not part of the same series as Fleming's, and constitute a kind of Fleming tribute set in a parallel universe with people who have the same names as Fleming's characters (James Bond, Bill Tanner, etc.) but are nonetheless different people.

Either that or Benson is the idiot!

Hey, Loomis maybe that is EXACTLY what Benson's up to and we're the idiots -

In HTTK (this is sad I remember this, but...) when Bond is driving the DB5 to the Gurkha HQ, he thinks how nice it would be to have a convertible on beautiful days such as this but living in England the weather would rule it out (more or less).

Now forgive me for noticing, but weren't both Bentley's driven by Fleming's James Bond in England convertibles? (In YOLT Bond ponders the need to put the roof up on the Continental as September advances).

Perhaps the weather in the UK has worsened since the 50s (Global Warming?). Or perhaps Benson's Bond really is a different man.

Raymond, we misjudged you.

[Loomis]

I guess TMWTRT is Benson's second sequel (of sorts) to "You Only Live Twice" (the first being "Blast From the Past")

Or maybe TMWTRT is actually Benson's third YOLT followup - didn't he do a computer game in the '80s called "You Only Live Twice II"* or something, or am I imagining things?

*I guess this was based on the film rather than the novel, though.

[spynovelfan]

Make the agent 005 and set the thing in 1964 and none of these problems exist.

Sorry.

SPOILERS AHOY.

This thread has reminded me of a couple of similarities this novel has with a couple of Adam Hall's Quiller adventures. If I remember rightly, Bond has to rescue a British-made technological specification from a crash site before several other opposition cells get to it. In THE TANGO BRIEFING, Quiller has to rescue a British-made technological specification from a crash site before several other opposition cells get to it. And in the 1991 novel QUILLER BAMBOO, Quiller smuggles a dissident Chinese doctor into Tibet. From the jacket of that book:

'LONDON
Summoned late at night to the Bureau, Quiller attends a secret conference with the Foreign Secretary and a surprise defector: the Chinese ambassador to Britain. Minutes later the ambassador's body is flung out onto the sidewalk of a deserted London street, riddled with bullets.

CALCUTTA
Quiller is sent to meet Sojourner, the key figure in a plan to bring democracy to China. The same night Sojourner, too, lies dead, the shadow of a hooded cobra weaving across his body.

HONG KONG
Quiller snatches Dr. Xingyu, the notorious Chinese dissident, from a trap set by the Chinese secret police at Kaitak Airport and smuggles him into Tibet.

LHASA
Quiller's instructions are to fly Dr. Xingyu into Beijing, but he is threatened at every step by the secret police and the People's Liberation Army in a relentless manhunt among the ruined monasteries on the "roof of the world," where the cold and the altitude alone can kill.

QUILLER BAMBOO
For the first time in his career, Quiller feels himself personally engaged in a mission, for the aim of Bamboo is to avenge the tragic bloodshed of Tiananmen Square, Beijing, and help the people of China to achieve the freedom and democracy they crave...'

I liked the micro-dot planted in the pacemaker in Benson's book. In QUILLER BAMBOO, Xingyu is diabetic, and Quiller has to complete his mission while finding medicine to keep the guy from fading away. Rather good method of keeping the suspense up.

I'm not suggesting that Benson was influenced by these books - I doubt he knows they exist. But if you enjoyed HTTK - or didn't, but liked the idea - you might want to give either of these two a try. They're both very good thrillers.

Um.... as you were.

Edited by spynovelfan, 20 April 2005 - 09:52 AM.

[Blofeld's Cat]

It's the only Benson I've read to date and I thought it was OK, but light on.

To be fair though, I read it after a binge of thick juicy Tom Clancys, Dale Browns and Ludlums, so I was in "big book" mode.

Now that I've pretty much decided to read the others (and will most probably re-read HTTK as well) I may feel more forgiving after reading the Flemings, then Amis, Pearson, and Wood, followed by the Bensons.

Gardner, I'll give a miss.

[Tanger]

It's the only Benson I've read to date and I thought it was OK, but light on.

To be fair though, I read it after a binge of thick juicy Tom Clancys, Dale Browns and Ludlums, so I was in "big book" mode.

Now that I've pretty much decided to read the others (and will most probably re-read HTTK as well) I may feel more forgiving after reading the Flemings, then Amis, Pearson, and Wood, followed by the Bensons.

Gardner, I'll give a miss.

Whilst the bulk of Gardner is largely unsatisfying and quite forgettable, I'd certainly recommend you read his first three Licence Renewed, For Special Services and Icebreaker. These really are his best and you'll be missing out if you don't read them.

[Loomis]

Gardner, I'll give a miss.

Why? I don't like the Gardners, but I find it strange that a hardcore Bond fan would read Fleming, Amis, Pearson, Wood and Benson but not even try Gardner. What's put you off him?

Oh, and where do you stand on Higson?

[Blofeld's Cat]

I could not be bothered really.

Only a wee few are recommended, but I'm not going to just read those and not read all the others. Benson only wrote 6 (not counting the novelisations) so I'll perservere, but I'm not going to read 11 Gardners just because I read the other 3.

[Loomis]

I could not be bothered really.

Only a wee few are recommended, but I'm not going to just read those and not read all the others. Benson only wrote 6 (not counting the novelisations) so I'll perservere, but I'm not going to read 11 Gardners just because I read the other 3.

Why not just read the recommended three or so and skip the rest?

[DLibrasnow]

I agree with Loomis here. I think its a little silly to not even try the Gardner novels.

[Loomis]

They're almost endearingly boring.

[Jim]

Yeah, they achieve a certain ill-thought through tedium. But that's part of their charm.

[DLibrasnow]

You guys!! There are a number of Gardners works that I really like.

So where's that HTTK review Jim???

[Blofeld's Cat]

I could not be bothered really.

Only a wee few are recommended, but I'm not going to just read those and not read all the others. Benson only wrote 6 (not counting the novelisations) so I'll perservere, but I'm not going to read 11 Gardners just because I read the other 3.

Why not just read the recommended three or so and skip the rest?

I'd rather not read any than to read a small portion of Gardner's Bond. Ignorance is bliss.

I agree with Loomis here. I think its a little silly to not even try the Gardner novels.

Sorry, didn't realise my reading habits had to conform to your guidelines, Darren.