6 replies to this topic

[Kronsteen]

I, myself, have just read three of Gardners novels so far, byt I have just got my hands of five others.
Well, I simply thought it would be interesting to see which of his novels you find is the best and the worst.

Out of Licence Renewed, For Special Services and Never Send Flowers, that I

[zencat]

My favorite Gardner books (not in any particular order):

LICENSE RENEWED
FOR SPECIAL SERVICES
ICEBREAKER
NOBODY LIVES FOREVER
BROKENCLAW
NEVER SEND FLOWERS

I do think Benson's books are superior, however.

[Jim]

Nobody Lives Forever (For Ever? - whatever - Nobody Lives in Dundee either) was the first Bond book I read, and from small acorns et cetera...

As a result, I look fondly on that one (whatever its objective merits). Who knows - had it been Brokenclaw I might never have bothered reading a Bond book again.

As for ranking, Nobody Lives Forever at the top, Brokenclaw at the bottom (oo-er) (pathetic, I know) and the rest in the middle somewhere except for The Man from Barbarossa which is spinning off in its own orbit of utter weirdness. JG just tried a bit too hard with that one.

[jetsetwilly]

I own all the Gardner books, which is either a sign of James Bond devotion, or masochism. As far as I'm concerned, the best ones are "For Special Services" (even though I hate "sequel" stories), "Win Lose or Die", and "Nobody Lives For Ever". The worst? Pretty much everything after Brokenclaw - it's clear that Gardner's just collecting the cheques and that's it. The Flicka "trilogy" is abominable, and "Cold" (or "Cold Fire") just takes one of Gardner's best female characters (Sukie Tempesta) and turns her into an abominable she-devil.

And yet, I'd still rather read any of it than Benson....

[ThomasCrown76]

I just re-read Nobody Lives Forever and really enjoyed it. For Special Servies is ok for about 2/3 of the book. I seem to recall Win Lose or Die, but every time I was caught reading it, people would tease me about it sounding like that old game show Burt Reynolds was on all the time. Cold Fall has its moments. Brokenclaw gets really bizarre towards the end. I like License Renewed because the Bond girl Lavender Peacock has the same last name as my ex. Role of Dishonor really sucks. I wasn't too crazy about Icebreaker. The other ones I have in paperback, but I really can't tell you much about them. They weren't that memorable for me. I didn't like the political stuff with the double o section and the British government. I know it's meant for realism and all, but I didn't like it.

[Vodka Martino]

I remember "For Special Services" as being one of Gardner's better efforts. The same with "Icebreaker". As for "Role of Honor" , perhaps the slowest moving Bond story ever written.
"Cold" had one great moment in it. In the chapter titled 'Water Carnival' with the paragraph that begins with "He could only see the sky above."
I hadn't read a Bond book in years and had thought that I'd grown out of reading them. But when I read that passage, my eyes welled up.
And I thought to myself, 'I'm still a fan".
My wife looked at me and said: "You really should get that Bond script finished if it all affects you that much."
I'm reading "Brokenclaw" at the moment. It's okay so far. I read a couple of pages of "Zero Minus Ten" by Benson, but it reads like a Bond film rather than a book.

[General Koskov]

Like the films, I lump the books into several categories rather than actually having to think why 'number 3 is better than number4 because...'

Licence Renewed, For Special Services, Icebreaker, Nobody Lives Forever, and No Deals Mr Bond, are the good.

Scorpius, Brokenclaw, Win Lose or Die, and Role of Honour, are the bad.

The Man from Barbarossa, and Never Send Flowers are the ugly.