59 replies to this topic

[Qwerty]

Something wrong with the Star coding K1?

It works for me:

[Quartermaster007]

Great Article Qwerty, Always a fun read.

[Qwerty]

Thanks.

[K1Bond007]

Something wrong with the Star coding K1?

Yeah.. I don't get it. Maybe it's a setting or something..

Here's what your post looks like to me:
http://k1bond007.sha...Qwerty_post.jpg

Here's what your post looks like in preview:
http://k1bond007.sha...ars_preview.jpg

Works fine in IE apparently. No love for Firefox evidently.

Edited by K1Bond007, 12 August 2005 - 03:00 AM.

[Qwerty]

I'll bring up that up with the other staff members. Thanks for letting me know.

[Gri007]

I found Licence Renewed a lot easier to read then Scorpius. The story is very straight forward to read.

[Qwerty]

Both are good Gardner novels in my opinion. I like Licence Renewed more however.

[Aussie21]

While the last post here is almost a year old, I've just finished License Renewed and wanted to share my opinion on it.

This being the first Gardner continuation novel I've read, I really didn't know what to expect. That said, I was pleased to realise that this was a well written Bond adventure that I've ignored for quite some time.

[I never miss]

Good book enjoyed it. I've only read two of Gardner's (LR and FSS). Both are good, but suffer in that they have slightly rushed endings - the villains are despatched without enough tension being built-up. Hopefully I've haven't given too much away here to those that haven't read these books (come on, we all know that 9 times out of ten the Bond villain gets it don't we?!)
I am now going to read Icebreaker, which I've heard is equally as good as the first two.

[Qwerty]

I am now going to read Icebreaker, which I've heard is equally as good as the first two.

Hope you enjoy it. Icebreaker is definitely in top half of the Gardner canon for me.

[Jericho_One]

I am now going to read Icebreaker, which I've heard is equally as good as the first two.

Hope you enjoy it. Icebreaker is definitely in top half of the Gardner canon for me.

Definitely is.

Edited by Jericho_One, 17 August 2006 - 06:39 PM.

[DLibrasnow]

I am now going to read Icebreaker, which I've heard is equally as good as the first two.

Hope you enjoy it. Icebreaker is definitely in top half of the Gardner canon for me.

It's my favorite of the Gardner 007 novels.

[Qwerty]

Figured I would bump this up as the just recently read Licence Renewed.

[manfromjapan]

OK. Just finished Licence Renewed. First of all, I have to say that I feel ashamed for listening to all the negative hype surrounding the continuation novels. I have enjoyed all the Bensons and the Amis one too, but never expected to. Licence Renewed starts off very slowly and Gardner spends chapter after chapter with descriptive prose. But once 007 arrives at Murik Castle, it picks up nicely, and the pace never flags. Gardner works hard to make the story come alive with his descriptive and impressionistic prose, and his action scenes are extremely exciting, easy to read and atmospheric. The plot was very impressive and believable, and Bond comes across well. I was so surprised by how the book improved! Initially, I wasn't looking forward to reading the other fourteen books! (I have already read Goldeneye.) The book isn't perfect - Caber is a very silly villain and Franco is a pretty dumb guy for a super-terrorist. Mary-jane Mashkin is a nothing character. Would Tanner really accompany Bond in the field? Why is 'M' suddenly so avuncular? But Murik and Lavender are good characters, and I will remember Licence for the changes it made to Bond's world, the vivid, suspenseful action scenes, and for being a thrilling read. Trivia hounds will love to try and spot the similarities to Thunderball, A View to a Kill, The Living Daylights and Tomorrow Never Dies.

Edited by manfromjapan, 11 November 2006 - 11:55 PM.

[Willowhugger]

I must confess that I found this book to have plenty of ups and downs. The idea of detonating a bunch of nuclear power plants is a pretty serious terrorist action with all sorts of craziness inherent to it....Gardener comments on it too. I also found that I couldn't care less if the Bond girl gets the title to her estate or not. Really now, does the benefit of being able to cut the ribbon at malls mean THAT much really?

Perhaps I'm just not able to take seriously a villain whose description is a "Scottish Lord fashion designer who dabbles in nuclear physics."

[[dark]]

I'm in the process of reading the Gardners and recently finished Licence Renewed.

It's pretty slow-burning to start with (I tried reading it a couple of years back, but coming straight off the Fleming, Amis, Pearson and Wood books, I think I was suffering a bit of Bond burnout), but it really hits its stride once Bond manages to infiltrate Murik's inner circle. Speaking of which, Murik's a decent villain, and his caper is simple, but worthy of the Bond canon. Caber, on the other hand, is a fairly dull brute of a henchman (though there's some odd appeal there; the wrestling is well-handled in this regard). The two women in the story are interesting, as is Murik's relationship with them both (also liked the untraditional ending with Lavender). The exotic locations are lacking (but the Perpignan stuff is quite well done). I also got much more of a thrill out of, say, Bond's crafty escape from his shackles during the novel's climax than the gadgetry that ultimately seeped in (seemingly to appease fans of the films).

Also love the comparison zencat highlighted of 007 being "a knight sent to a castle to slay the ogre and free the maiden". Great take on a Bond story.

Overall, a worthy addition to the literary 007, but it inevitably lacks that Fleming spark. Not entirely what I expected from a series-relaunching entry, but well worth a read.

[Righty007]

Is this a second edition of the U.S. paperback? I've only ever seen the paperback with the blue cover in used bookstores and online.

Does anybody have a link to a photo of the full cover?

[zencat]

Here you go, Righty. They reprinted the first 4 books with these new covers in 90 or 91, which at the time made them fit in with the new paperback style (started with Nobody Lives Forever). These were the last new US printings -- 20 years ago.

Attached Files

•  19_License_USP2_copy.jpg   84.76KB   12 downloads

[Righty007]

Here you go, Righty. They reprinted the first 4 books with these new covers in 90 or 91, which at the time made them fit in with the new paperback style (started with Nobody Lives Forever). These were the last new US printings -- 20 years ago.

Thanks!

I own both paperback versions of Icebreaker but I did not know they reprinted Licence Renewed, For Special Services and Role Of Honour in this style.

EDIT: Would you mind posting a scan of the other three if you have them already on your computer? Thanks.

[zencat]

Here you go. Just posted to my Gardner Facebook page.

http://www.facebook....id=267811683959

[Righty007]

Here you go. Just posted to my Gardner Facebook page.

http://www.facebook....id=267811683959

Thanks.

Are these hard to find? I've only ever been able to find Icebreaker in this style.

[zencat]

I bought them back in the day, so I've never searched. But it sounds like from your experience they are hard to find. I remember thinking they would be. It was a wonderful day I discovered these all in my local bookstore.

[Righty007]

I bought them back in the day, so I've never searched. But it sounds like from your experience they are hard to find. I remember thinking they would be. It was a wonderful day I discovered these all in my local bookstore.

Being born the year of Win, Lose Or Die severely hampered my ability to collect the Gardner novels when they were brand new.

[zencat]

I really kept on top of the US paperbacks and collected any editions that had major changes to the cover art. For instance, many later printings didn't have raised/reflective lettering and artwork which made the covers look quite different (especially NSF). Glad I got these when I did because I don't know how I'd track them down today (or even know about them). Booksellers always list first editions, but they rarely go to much trouble with later printings, making those much harder to find.

[DAN LIGHTER]

Here you go, Righty. They reprinted the first 4 books with these new covers in 90 or 91, which at the time made them fit in with the new paperback style (started with Nobody Lives Forever). These were the last new US printings -- 20 years ago.

It's not the most exciting cover I have seen. A slight 80s feel maybe, very slight. One would hope they upped the game a little on any re-prints.

[zencat]

Oh, very 80s (and it was the 90s). They are sort of a mix of the new Gardners and the old Fleming reprints from the 80s.

[solace]

Nice work, Qwerty. I'm always up for a second look at the Gardner books. Bring on the rest.

I havent read any of the follow on novels as Im working my way through fleming as we speak. Definately going to read gardners next though. Great article qwerty!!!!

[GalaBond]

I've just finished reading it and I'm put confused as to what happened to Mary Jane Mashkin?

[archer1949]

Just finished this, my first Gardner novel. It wasn't bad. A bit slow starting. Although the villain was a bit derivative, I did like his scheme. Very topical for the time, considering Three Mile Island happening a couple years earlier, and still relevant in our current post 9/11 world.

However, I did find the main Bond Girl, Lavender Peacock, to be a bit of a nebbish and am really disappointed Franco, after so much buildup, didn't really get to do anything.

One thing I've noticed about many of these continuation novels: They really are influenced by the films. I could practically see Roger Moore in my head while reading this.

Overall, not a great novel, but good enough to keep me reading more. I guess that's enough.

I've just finished reading it and I'm put confused as to what happened to Mary Jane Mashkin?

Basically, she got hit by the untraceable poisoned bullet that was meant for Lavender Peacock when Bond interfered with Franco's shot.

[freemo]

Just finished this, my first Gardner novel. It wasn't bad. A bit slow starting. Although the villain was a bit derivative, I did like his scheme. Very topical for the time, considering Three Mile Island happening a couple years earlier, and still relevant in our current post 9/11 world.

...

Overall, not a great novel, but good enough to keep me reading more. I guess that's enough.

Yup. Solid rather than spectacular, but engaging enough in passages and all-round a decent re-launch. Does it's job.

Gardner's next few are better, if you're up for more. Try For Special Services (much livelier than LR) and Icebreaker (arguably Gardner's classic) next.