25 replies to this topic

[White Persian]

My love of Bond stems from the novels, so tend to judge any Bond project on how closely it agrees with Fleming's approach to the character of 007. For this reason I'm not a huge fan of John Gardner's novels . Raymond Benson's are a little better (his hearts in the right place) and Kingsley Amis's spot on.
There are two other Bond novels'though that are usually forgotten that I think are worth reading and reappraising. The screenwriter of two of the biggest of the Roger Moore Bond films, "The Spy who Loved Me" and "Moonraker" adapted his scripts as tie-in paperback novels and the first, especially, is not at all bad- capturing the Fleming flavour far better than either Gardner or Benson. Some of the sillier aspects of the films has been toned down in the books (though not entirely successfully in the case of Moonraker) and the character is written as Fleming's Bond, not Roger Moore's Bond. A good deal of backstory is included - we found out a lot more about Stromberg's motivation and who "Jaws" is and where he got that alarming orthodontic work. Bond has a far rougher time of it too, undergoing some rather nasty torture. The biggest surprise is a very different characterisation of the General Gogol character,here called general Nikitin (a nice reference back to Fleming and F.R.W.L).
"Moonraker" is not quite so successfully adapted, partly because it "treads on the toes" of Fleming's Moonraker and partly because the inherent silliness of the film is hard to disguise at times, but it is still a good read. It's also an interesting glimpse at an earlier version of the script. Corinne Dufour, for instance, is a perky American called Trudi.

[RossMan]

I've just finished Woods novilisation of THE SPY WHO LOVED ME and it was really pretty good. I especially like how he tied it in with the literary Bond by including SMERSH and General Nikitin. I'm expecting MOONRAKER soon but I doubt if Wood could have fit in with the Literary Bond as easily as TSWLM.

[RossMan]

I've just finished the novilisation of TSWLM and thought it was really pretty good. I especially like how Wood tied it in with the Literary Bond by including SMERSH and General Nikitin.
I'm expecting MOONRAKER soon but I doubt if that will fit in with the Literary Bond like TSWLM.

[RossMan]

Sorry, didn't mean to post that twice!!

[Blofeld's Cat]

I always enjoy reading the 'film tie-in' novels after I've seen the movies at the cinema.
The subtle (sometimes major) changes are due to the fact that for the novel to be released at the same time as the movie the novelisation has to be prepared well in advanced, and is based on an earlier treatment of the working movie script.
During the movie's production, however, it is very common for the script to be chopped, changed, and revised while the novelisation is being produced.
Hence, the differences.

[zencat]

...Oh, and the 4 different hardcover versions of LICENCE TO KILL go for serious $$$. The most sought after is the version with dust jacket (published in the U.S. for the UK market).

[zencat]

...unless of course you have a SIGNED COLD FALL. That book is impossible to find signed. All the other U.S. Gardner's are pretty easy.

[zencat]

U.S. Gardner and Benson novels are not rare. They had very large print numbers. The UK editions are the rare ones.

[MDSmith]

Does anyone know about the US Gardner, Benson novels, rare?

[Jacques Nexus]

zencat (29 Jun, 2001 04:26 p.m.):
I would recommend all Bond fans to ALWAYS buy the first UK hardcover editions as soon as they come out. Not only does it make a nice collection, but you never know when you're going to luck out. Had you bought a COLD on release, you'd have a book that is now near impossible to find and sells for up to $300US. Same with GoldenEye. TND looks to be heading up there in price and scarcity. Even ZERO MINUS TEN now sells for over $100.

And of course, had you picked up a first edition CASINO ROYALE back in 1953, you'd now have a book that sells for $20,000.00!

Sounds like I might be sitting on a modest goldmine !. Thanks for the info zencat. I like to collect all the different versions of each Bond novel, purely because I love to look at book cover art and there's been some good Bond book covers over the years. The best were probably the old Pan paperbacks from the 50's & 60's, plus ofcourse, the original Richard Chopping dustjackets. My favourite cover is the original Pan & Johnathon Cape edition of COLONEL SUN. With the sun and Bond's image reflected off the Red Chinese guy's eye glasses, I think that cover was the coolest ever.

[zencat]

Jacques Nexus (19 Aug, 2001 11:55 a.m.):
Sounds like I might be sitting on a modest goldmine !. Thanks for the info zencat. I like to collect all the different versions of each Bond novel, purely because I love to look at book cover art and there's been some good Bond book covers over the years.

I also started collecting the books in all their forms for this very reason. It's fun to see how the image of James Bond has changed throughout the years. Recently I've discovered the world of proof jackets and jacket art. I have a proof of GoldenEye which has a pic of Pierce with his beard and long hair on the cover... Both TND and TWINE had proof jackets that are completely different than the issue jackets. There's also proofs of DOUBLESHOT and NDOD which have slight differences to the final product.

[Blue Eyes]

I've actually read these two, but a good 5 years ago so my memory is fading! I have them somewhere in paperback but after we moved house I couldn't find them. They could be anywhere in this house!!

I remember the back story to Jaws and all his orthodontic work. Giving him steel teeth was the only way he could talk or something like that. He was beatn up badly and lost all his teeth. It was something strange like that!

I really want to re-read them now to get the whole back story! Which is something I Really love. That's why I like TND by Benson, it had the best back story for Carver and Stamper!!

[White Persian]

Re Jaws backstory.
I think it was the other way around. His jaw implants were operated by nerve impulses from his vocal cords (or something) so that he was unable to speak...another reason why the cheesy "Here's to us" line in "Moonraker" was such a shock.
I,too, liked the extra info about Carver and, especially Stamper, in the T.N.D. novel. I was disappointed when the business about Stamper feeling pain as pleasure was lost, but I suspect they thought it was such a good idea, they decided to use a variation of it for Renard in T.W.I.N.E.

[Blue Eyes]

Stampers back story was really clever, the thought of orgasiming as you die is well ... mind boggling!

You're probably right about Jaws. I just thought there was something to the story where the teeth, being steel, would resonate to allow him to speak. I could be wrong of course!

[RossMan]

I've just ordered Wood's two Bonds off of Bookfinder.com in paperback. There were a few hardcover editions listed for sale but those were well over $100 which was a bit over what I could afford.

[zencat]

Of the two hardcovers JAMES BOND, THE SPY WHO LOVED ME is the rarer book and can be very expensive.

[Blue Eyes]

All this book collecting is amazing So are some of the prices! I knew books could be expensive but I didn't realise that more recent books (in terms of 50 years) could be as well!

[zencat]

The first five or six Flemings are, well, out this world price wise. Thanks goodness I bought them back on the '80s when they were still reasonable. But even some of the Gardner and Benson books are collectible and can be expensive. Watch out for a UK hardcover First Editions of GoldenEye or COLD. Very rare. And the UK hardcover of TND is now selling for a few hundred bucks.

[RossMan]

I believe that the first UK harcover edition of TWINE is pretty valuable. I recall reading somewhere that only so many copies of it were pritned.
That brings me to my next inquiry,
Why aren't the novilisations published in hardcover here in the US?

[zencat]

I think the Christopher Wood novelisations are darn good Bond books, SPY being the better of the two. Is everyone aware that Jonathan Cape put out nice HARDCOVER editions of these books? They look great sitting next to the Fleming/Amis titles.

[zencat]

RossMan (28 Jun, 2001 05:20 p.m.):
I believe that the first UK harcover edition of TWINE is pretty valuable.  I recall reading somewhere that only so many copies of it were pritned.That brings me to my next inquiry,
Why aren't the novilisations published in hardcover here in the US?

I'm not sure how rare the hardcover TWINE really is. When it was published there was much talk of a small print run. First I heard 750, then I heard 2,750. Whatever. All I know is there are currently MANY on the market and they don't sell for much more than a normal Benson first.

I also wish they'd do U.S. hardcovers! I have no idea why they don't.

[Blue Eyes]

Zencat. Just a question.

Given 10 years how much would a brilliant condition Never Dream Of Dying 1st Edition hard cover be worth?

I have no idea about the values of books!

[zencat]

Well...hard to say. The Gardner books, for example, really haven't increased in value at at all (except for some of the later ones which had very small print runs). Didn't one of you just buy a first edition License Renewed for $9?

However, the Benson books have smaller print runs and may prove to be more popular down the line. I could see a mint UK NDOD going for $80 to $100 ten years in the future. It really all depends how many are out there. Of course, Benson is very generous with his signature, so for an NDOD to catch top dollar I would think it would have to be signed.

Now, if Eon ever adapted the book into a movie...well, the value would go up quite a bit!

[zencat]

I would recommend all Bond fans to ALWAYS buy the first UK hardcover editions as soon as they come out. Not only does it make a nice collection, but you never know when you're going to luck out. Had you bought a COLD on release, you'd have a book that is now near impossible to find and sells for up to $300US. Same with GoldenEye. TND looks to be heading up there in price and scarcity. Even ZERO MINUS TEN now sells for over $100.

And of course, had you picked up a first edition CASINO ROYALE back in 1953, you'd now have a book that sells for $20,000.00!

[Blue Eyes]

I didn't know there were hard covers. I can't even find the paperback these days

[Blue Eyes]

That's a hell of a lot of money Zencat. I don't think I'll be buying one of those anytime soon then

But I'll definetly start buying first editions as soon as they come out. Hopefully they won't change the format/size anytime soon so they all look great on a bookshelf!