35 replies to this topic

[Qwerty]

DO we know how long the wait might be before we have some "fresh" literature?

No regular James Bond books have been announced yet.

[ComplimentsOfSharky]

Now, as a good friend of Revovler, I'd like to back him up on this but I just can't. TMWTRT is just as good as any of Benson's other works. I understand that virus carrying mosquitos isn't terribly original but I think the execution of the whole scheme was well done. Also, Kappa to me was Benson's best henchman. He was unique and ominous but with just enough of a dash of reality. Fianlly, the final battle with Yoshida left me more satisfied that the Bond/Le Gerant/Draco mess.

All in all, I think TMWTRT was a great rebound from NDOD which I felt got a bit too......mystic. I won't even touch Draco getting shot by Bond. It seems where Fleming was a sadist with Bond, Benson is a sadist with all of Fleming's other characters.

Anyway, solid adventure from Benson I'd say, not as good as his earlier efforts but a good read and a decent note for him to go out on.

[Qwerty]

Anyway, solid adventure from Benson I'd say, not as good as his earlier efforts but a good read and a decent note for him to go out on.

It's interesting, but I find his first and last, (Zero Minus Ten & The Man With The Red Tattoo) to be his weakest.

[ComplimentsOfSharky]

Anyway, solid adventure from Benson I'd say, not as good as his earlier efforts but a good read and a decent note for him to go out on.

It's interesting, but I find his first and last, (Zero Minus Ten & The Man With The Red Tattoo) to be his weakest.

Well, like I said it's a decent note to go out on, not a great one. I remember being fond of Zero Minus Ten, not as much so as with Facts of Death, HTTK, and Doubleshot. I think Zero Minus Ten beats out TMWTRT though.

[IanFleming007]

I believe Benson ran out of ideas after ZMT. He loved to bring back characters from the past and his novels basic formula was. TFOD's plot was very similar to Gardner's NSF (an assassin leaving their calling card, personally NSF is way better). In NDOD there is a scene which is very similar to a scene in Seafire.

In SeaFire Bond drives his car and jumps out just before it goes off the cliff, which means he succesfully evades the enemies.

In NDOD Bond drives a lorry and drops a grenade in it, and jumps out. It goes over the cliff and explodes and the enemies think he is dead.

Most of Benson's novels are about nuclear devices, starting a war between 2 countries, or stealing/using a virus.

To me, Benson seems to be a really nice guy, who tried to write a quality Bond novel but failed.

[Qwerty]

Anyway, solid adventure from Benson I'd say, not as good as his earlier efforts but a good read and a decent note for him to go out on.

It's interesting, but I find his first and last, (Zero Minus Ten & The Man With The Red Tattoo) to be his weakest.

Well, like I said it's a decent note to go out on, not a great one. I remember being fond of Zero Minus Ten, not as much so as with Facts of Death, HTTK, and Doubleshot. I think Zero Minus Ten beats out TMWTRT though.

It's very opinionated on Raymond Benson's books for Bond fans. I'd definitely agree it was a fine book to go out on, not bad by any accounts, just when I, personally, compare it to some of his earlier work like The Facts Of Death and High Time To Kill, it's not as good.

Then again, some say High Time To Kill is one of his worst. Go figure. It's all a matter of personal tastes, and I find the tastes on Benson to be rather extreme with Bond fans. In my view, he's written some great Bond novels, a couple of which I thoroughly enjoy to read anytime. He's not Fleming, but then no one is, except Fleming himself.