29 replies to this topic

[Loomis]

I've yet to read FOR SPECIAL SERVICES, but I enjoyed LICENCE RENEWED (largely because of Gardner's prose, though, and not particularly due to his handling of Bond or the situations he places him in). I found ICEBREAKER an entertaining adventure thriller, but was disappointed that it has even fewer echoes of Fleming than LICENCE RENEWED.

What's your verdict on the first three Gardners?

[zencat]

Tough call be cause I really love them all for different reasons. I think some of Gardner's best writing is in LR...I like long passages of Bond's thoughts while driving to Scotland. It's a smaller scale Bond adventure, but I like this in a book. Reminds me of Moonraker in that way. This was my favorite Gardner book for some time, maybe it still is.

However, I recently re-read FSS and I really loved it! It's Gardner's best "movie Bond" book. Large scale, wild sets, great action set pieces, the return of SPECTRE! It's the movie I long to see. So, for the movie Bond lover, FSS may be the best of the batch.

But I also really love Icebreaker because it

[Loomis]

I gather Gardner sucked after his first three or four efforts, though. Would you agree, zencat?

[zencat]

I gather Gardner sucked after his first three or four efforts, though. Would you agree, zencat?

I remember Role of Honor (book #4) felt a bit weak compared to the first three, but I still liked it. Nobody Live Forever (bk #5) I thought was terrific and many people call this their favorite Gardner book. Then we went into suckage with No Deals Mr. Bond and Scorpius, but recovered with Win, Lose or Die. The books Gardner did in the '90s were hit and miss for me, mostly misses -- but of the batch I do like Never Send Flowers and Brokenclaw (yes, I like Brokenclaw

[Qwerty]

Zencat, we are very similar in our ranking of the Gardner books! I thought Role Of Honor was kind of a letdown after the first three, but it was still fine, Nobody Lives Forever is his best work in my opinion.

I love all three of his first three, and they all are great in their own way.
I think my favorite of these is For Special Services. The plot works well and the return of SPECTRE was handled pretty smoothly.

Icebreaker is also fairly solid. Double crosses and things that appear different than they seem and another faced paced novel on the whole.

Licence Renewed was my first Gardner book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Good characters and a good way to bring Bond into the 80's.

[SirMiles83]

For Special Services is my favorite out of LR, FSS, and IB, maybe even the best of all of Gardner's. Plenty of good action, return of SPECTRE, and a great villain or I should say villains! As for the rest of Gardner's Bond novels, I liked No Deals, Mr. Bond, Brokenclaw, Win, Lose, or Die and Never Send Flowers.

[Tanger]

I've heard that Licence Renewed and For Special Services are good and that Icebreaker is his best book overall.

[Qwerty]

His first few books are solid, but the later Gardner era is something of a rollercoaster ride at times.

[1q2w3e4r]

Read all of Gardner and have never been really able to get into them. While Fleming I can remember passage's from memory.

That said, For Special Services is the pick of the bunch. It's probably Gardner's best novel as well in my opinion. Highly entertaining stuff.

[DLibrasnow]

Hey Zencat - I thought NO DEALS MR. BOND was a great, fun read.

As for this thread - my vote goes with ICEBREAKER!

[Qwerty]

Figured I would bump this up as the is currently on the early Gardner novels.

[Jim]

The first two are fine but Icebreaker is the work of a lunatic. Or is it? Yes it is. No it isn't. But yes it is. Or is it? Stop these twists and have it make some sense, eh?

Or not.

But maybe so.

[00Twelve]

FSS.

[dee-bee-five]

I've yet to read FOR SPECIAL SERVICES, but I enjoyed LICENCE RENEWED (largely because of Gardner's prose, though, and not particularly due to his handling of Bond or the situations he places him in). I found ICEBREAKER an entertaining adventure thriller, but was disappointed that it has even fewer echoes of Fleming than LICENCE RENEWED.

What's your verdict on the first three Gardners?

They are the best of his Bond books, to be sure. But that, I'm afraid, is damning them with faint praise because I find the Gardner series an abomination.

[Jim]

I've yet to read FOR SPECIAL SERVICES, but I enjoyed LICENCE RENEWED (largely because of Gardner's prose, though, and not particularly due to his handling of Bond or the situations he places him in). I found ICEBREAKER an entertaining adventure thriller, but was disappointed that it has even fewer echoes of Fleming than LICENCE RENEWED.

What's your verdict on the first three Gardners?

They are the best of his Bond books, to be sure. But that, I'm afraid, is damning them with faint praise because I find the Gardner series an abomination.

Ah, but in true Icebreaker spirit, in five posts' time you will reveal yourself as a huge Gardner fan. Three posts later, you will deny it again. And then towards the end, expose yourself (as t'were) as John Gardner.

You twisty-turny devil, you.

[dee-bee-five]

I've yet to read FOR SPECIAL SERVICES, but I enjoyed LICENCE RENEWED (largely because of Gardner's prose, though, and not particularly due to his handling of Bond or the situations he places him in). I found ICEBREAKER an entertaining adventure thriller, but was disappointed that it has even fewer echoes of Fleming than LICENCE RENEWED.

What's your verdict on the first three Gardners?

They are the best of his Bond books, to be sure. But that, I'm afraid, is damning them with faint praise because I find the Gardner series an abomination.

Ah, but in true Icebreaker spirit, in five posts' time you will reveal yourself as a huge Gardner fan. Three posts later, you will deny it again. And then towards the end, expose yourself (as t'were) as John Gardner.

You twisty-turny devil, you.

Nothing quite so simple. I am in fact Irma Bunt's love-child who posed as a female Mossad agent to bed Bond but will later be revealed as being a male Muslim terrorist with a hatred for the West, who infiltrated MI6 and lived under Bond's very nose for many years by adopting the guise of an elderly Scottish treasure called May. Naturally, when all this comes out, it will also be revealed that I am the secret male lover of Felix Leiter (man, the things he can do with that hook...), who was a double agent working for Nazi remnants of the Third Reich all the time he was supposedly working for the CIA and Pinkerton's.

The Gardner style is so easy, when you put your mind to it...

Edited by dee-bee-five, 22 February 2007 - 08:08 AM.

[David Schofield]

I don't dislike LR or FSS. Icebreaker is a bit too "cliche crazy Nazi" and twistified, as Jim points out.

But all three are way ahead of his subsequent work, which give the impression he was just in it, sadly, for the cash.

I suspect Gardner would have been in far greater esteem by us all, though, if he had left it alone after these three.

[Turn]

I've always been surprised so many like Icebreaker so much as I found it weak. The setting and atmosphere were unique, but that's about it. The twists for twists' sake stuff just got incredibly boring quickly. I remember reading Benson's review of it in The James Bond Companion and agreeing with him at the time on that aspect.

It's not a good thing when the read can anticipate the author bringing back the characters and finding so-and-so isn't dead or not captured, etc.

It also didn't say a whole lot for Gardner's creativity when out of just 3 books he'd written for the series, he's resurrected SPECTRE and Nazis as villains. I wonder if he thought about using Goldfinger's brother for Role of Honor before settling on SPECTRE again?

[Mr_Clark]

For Special Services is easily the best out of his series.

[AgentPB]

Well i am almost done with the Fleming novels and i was really wondering if it would be worth continuing. I don't want to be disappointed. Or bored.

[Mr_Clark]

Well i am almost done with the Fleming novels and i was really wondering if it would be worth continuing. I don't want to be disappointed. Or bored.

Colonel Sun by Kingsly Amis would be the best way to go, I find his book better then almost all of the Gardner material; it's a shame Amis never wrote more Bond novels.

[Qwerty]

Well i am almost done with the Fleming novels and i was really wondering if it would be worth continuing. I don't want to be disappointed. Or bored.

You may want to give the two Christopher Wood novelizations a try before moving onto the Gardner era.

[dee-bee-five]

Well i am almost done with the Fleming novels and i was really wondering if it would be worth continuing. I don't want to be disappointed. Or bored.

Do give Colonel Sun a try; personally, I think it even pips a couple of Fleming's lesser efforts like DAF and TMWTGG. The Christopher Wood novelizations are surprisingly good. As for Gardner, don't let me, or anyone else, put you off because everything's subjective and you may possibly enjoy one or two. The fact that I find them grim is neither here nor there. Thankfully, the Benson books made up, in part, for the Gardner years.

[Lazenby880]

Thankfully, the Benson books made up, in part, for the Gardner years.

I appear to have spilled piping hot coffee all over myself.

Do try Colonel Sun AgentPB: it is a tightly-written thriller that, despite being unlike Fleming in style and tone, grips the imagination.

Edited by Lazenby880, 15 March 2007 - 05:31 PM.

[DLibrasnow]

You may want to give the two Christopher Wood novelizations a try before moving onto the Gardner era.

Absolutely.
The two Christopher Wood books are great Bond novels - in my opinion the two best continuation novels.

[bond_girl_double07]

Has any one read The Moneypenny Diaries yet? I'm really getting discouraged with Gardner half way through his first book (which is annoying because I really wanted to stay in chronological order in my reading).. I'm thinking about switching to either the Wood novelizations or sticking to the 60's with TMPD if things don't start to improve with License Renewed..

[00Twelve]

Haven't read the Diaries, but stick it out if you can...I found For Special Services a rather good read.

[bond_girl_double07]

Haven't read the Diaries, but stick it out if you can...I found For Special Services a rather good read.

K, I'll try thanks.. I'll try to pick it up again this weekend and see if it moves any quicker this time around..

[Qwerty]

Has any one read The Moneypenny Diaries yet?

Both are excellent. Here's my review of Secret Servant: The Moneypenny Diaries: http://commanderbond.net/article/4052

[YellowDetective]

I've not read Icebreaker, but have read License and I just finished FSS last night... I liked them both, but I'm thinking FSS is the better. Wow, talk about a twist ending! Should have seen that coming, but sure didn't...

I would like to go back and read all of the Gardner books, as well as the Benson series (I have Zero Minus Ten) but have not yet read it...)