Jump to content


This is a read only archive of the old forums
The new CBn forums are located at https://quarterdeck.commanderbond.net/

 
Photo

Top 10 Continuation Novels - poll added


72 replies to this topic

Poll: Your Top 10 Continuation Picks

This is a public poll. Other members will be able to see which options you chose

What are your 10 favourite continuations?

You cannot see the results of the poll until you have voted. Please login and cast your vote to see the results of this poll.

What are your favourite novelizations, prequels & spin-offs?

You cannot see the results of the poll until you have voted. Please login and cast your vote to see the results of this poll.
Vote Guests cannot vote

#1 SecretAgentFan

SecretAgentFan

    Commander

  • Commanding Officers
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 9055 posts
  • Location:Germany

Posted 05 March 2013 - 07:07 AM

Here´s my confession: 

 

Apart from Deaver´s "Carte Blanche" (which I did not like) I have never read any of the continuation novels. But I would like to start now.

 

So... if you like, please give me your top 10 with reasons.

 

 


Edited by Dustin, 15 August 2013 - 04:53 AM.


#2 freemo

freemo

    Commander RNR

  • Veterans Reserve
  • PipPipPip
  • 2995 posts
  • Location:Here

Posted 05 March 2013 - 07:29 AM

I think the first three Gardners - Licence Renewed, For Special Services and Icebeaker - are very enjoyable.

 

With Licence Renewed Gardner neatly and effectively laid out his intentions for his Bond, changes to his drinking and smoking habits, for the 1980s. It's very much a straightfoward and traditional Bond story after that, and owes as much to the films as to teh books, and though a tad dry in spells there are genuine passages of tension and suspense.

 

For Special Services is his most colourful, most lively, most bizzare, and probably most Bondian effort, and a step up from his solid-rather-than-spectacular debut. Pet pythons, drugged ice cream, one-breasted bisexual women, Bond on the bayou: Now here's a Gardner I can get on board with!

 

With Icebreaker I think he really found his voice as Bond author and it's a good mix of the Bond formula and his own style. A tad shallow perhaps, but a lot of fun, with some great action set pieces.

 

If you're going to try Gardner I'd definitely recommend starting with his first three to see if you're into what he had to offer.



#3 seawolfnyy

seawolfnyy

    Commander

  • Veterans
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 4763 posts
  • Location:La Rioja

Posted 05 March 2013 - 08:29 AM

I haven't read any of Gardner's novels. I've read Benson's and must say that while Zero Minus Ten isn't bad, you wouldn't be missing anything by skipping them.



#4 Dustin

Dustin

    Commander

  • Commanding Officers
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 5786 posts

Posted 05 March 2013 - 08:36 AM

Freemo's spot-on, definitely the first three Gardners, perhaps expanded with ROLE OF HONOUR and NOBODY LIVES FOREVER. You are going to find a slightly updated version of Bond, though perhaps one that developed into a different direction than Fleming's might have.

When approaching the continuations you should perhaps start with COLONEL SUN, the first one that tackled the problem and tried to remain faithful to Fleming. Compare this to the two film tie-ins by Christopher Wood which married the tone of Fleming with the plot excesses of the Moore era. It's a completely different kind of continuation, but it's easy to imagine a parallel universe where Wood continued the books.*

With hindsight (always 20/20) the 1970s proved to be a watershed decade for the literary Bond, too. 1973 saw John Pearson's Authorised Biography, a sideline of the Bondverse under the premise Bond was a real person and Fleming his first biographer (for propagandist reasons as well as for misinformation). The episodic character leaves much to be desired, but the ideas featured therein are mouth-watering. Tries to tap into the films towards the end with giant rats and laser sharks. A must-read.

Insert Gardner HERE. Or just forget about my sermon and read whatever takes your fancy, in whatever order.

Should you decide to have your first tastes of Gardner here, then it might be interesting to follow them with Benson's first. Firstly for comparison reasons, secondly because the atmosphere of the Bensons is closer to the early Gardners than his later run, say post-WIN, LOSE OR DIE. It mixes up the chronology a bit, but that's not really a problem with Bond. So I'd say insert ZERO MINUS TEN (or the entire Benson run, should the fancy take you) here.

Finally you ought to give the last two Gardners a try, SEAFIRE and COLD. Not because they are his best efforts - sadly they are not - but because Gardner tries to introduce his own kind of continuity and freshen up his version of the Bondverse with new ideas. The 00-section is reinstated, becoming part of a larger ultra-secret counter-terrorist and intelligence network codenamed 'MicroGlobe One'. 00-section is now called The Two Zeros, with Bond as their head. Sounds familiar? Indeed I think CARTE BLANCHE might have worked better as a direct sequel to Gardner's mid-90s concept.





*Interestingly Wood supposedly didn't like Fleming particularly, so it's a bit baffling what he achieved with his two efforts. Still, unlikely he would have kept at it for any length of time, certainly not as long as the workhorse Gardner did.

#5 Jim

Jim

    Commander RNVR

  • Commanding Officers
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 14266 posts
  • Location:Oxfordshire

Posted 05 March 2013 - 08:41 AM

1. Nobody Lives Forever - it's a terrific story and just motors along very happily; the singlemost purely entertaining Bond novel by any author.

2. Colonel Sun - if you're looking for something more closely associated with the source novels, not just in timeframe but also style.

3. Scorpius - stunningly violent in places, possibly the most violence of any Bond; some very interesting, prescient ideas.

4. Hurricane Gold - oddly affecting, melancholy characterisation, amidst some amusingly peverse ideas. Cracking.   

5. Blood Fever - tremedously exciting, funny, an absolute blast.

6. Role of Honour - veers towards the dry but, again, some fun notions popping up.  

7. For Special Services - if you're looking for a bit of a hoot; bit daft, really, but maintains interest.

 

I struggle a bit after this

 

8. Icebreaker - if you're looking to be confused: much of it is very enjoyable and the setting is unusual but it is horrendously contrived.

9. Licence Renewed - OK, but it takes an awfully long time to get going and the details overload at the expense of the story.

10. Devil May Care - some of the ideas are huge fun but the execution of them is very dodgy: unnecessarily drawn out towards the end.

 

I would be cautious about anything Gardner from 1990 inclusive as he appears to be writing about Captain Boldman, a different and much more stodgy character, and the Bensons aren't happy experiences, save perhaps DoubleShot. Carte Blanche is better read as a Dan Brownesque pastiche than (ahem) seriously as a Bond book.

 

Obviously I would advise reading them all, so far as time and budget allow. The Higsons are perhaps the most consistent in quality. If you can get hold of the Christopher Wood novelisations, they're very, very good but (if only to cover up the wretchedly shaming fact that I forgot about them in listing my top ten above) I wouldn't consider them "continuations" per se.



#6 SecretAgentFan

SecretAgentFan

    Commander

  • Commanding Officers
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 9055 posts
  • Location:Germany

Posted 05 March 2013 - 09:57 AM

Thank you, everybody, for your quick and thoughtful responses! Sounds very interesting. Happy to fill this gap in my fandom-mania.



#7 quantumofsolace

quantumofsolace

    Lt. Commander

  • Veterans
  • PipPipPip
  • 1563 posts

Posted 05 March 2013 - 12:45 PM

The best are by Higson and Weinberg. Best read in order. They are the only ones that truly feel like you are reading about the character Fleming created.Colonel Sun and early Gardner are worth a go. Benson is okay if you want something in the style of the Moore and Brosnan films.



#8 5thstreet

5thstreet

    Midshipman

  • Crew
  • 45 posts
  • Location:New York

Posted 05 March 2013 - 03:18 PM

James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007 by John Pearson + Colonel sun.

#9 AMC Hornet

AMC Hornet

    Commander

  • Veterans
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 5857 posts

Posted 05 March 2013 - 05:40 PM

In order of publication:

 

Colonel Sun

JB the Authorized Bio

JB, the Spy Who Loved Me (Wood)

Licence Renewed

Icebreaker

Nobody Lives Forever

Scorpius

Zero Minus Ten

(For all the reasons mentioned by the others above)

 

Win, Lose or Die - As a FNP myself, I enjoyed Cmdr Bond's return to active duty. Second book to take place over Christmas. As was said about OHMSS, "[John Gardner] has never written anything better!"

 

Brokenclaw - only disappointing as a followup to WLoD, but quite satisfying in its own. Probably more exotic to Europeans than to North Americans.

 

Zero Minus Ten - just as successful a return as LR; Benson's best effort.

 

High Time to Kill - Benson's second-best. Akin to Icebreaker, without the constant double/triple/quadruple-crosses.

 

Okay, so that's 12, but it's rather like paring the music of the Guess Who down to their best ten songs - it can't be done and shouldn't be attempted.

The problem with reading all the best first it that you're bound to be increasingly disappointed with the remainder - unless, of course, your tastes are as varied as those of us who have responded to your request for advice. You may find that you like Never Send Flowers and The Man With the Red Tattoo best of all!



#10 SecretAgentFan

SecretAgentFan

    Commander

  • Commanding Officers
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 9055 posts
  • Location:Germany

Posted 05 March 2013 - 06:48 PM

Lots of treasures to delve in deeply, then. Thanks!



#11 Dustin

Dustin

    Commander

  • Commanding Officers
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 5786 posts

Posted 05 March 2013 - 07:29 PM

I completely forgot about Young Bond and Moneypenny Diaries, sorry about that. Yes, they absolutely should be amongst the top ten.



#12 AMC Hornet

AMC Hornet

    Commander

  • Veterans
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 5857 posts

Posted 05 March 2013 - 11:44 PM

Or not.



#13 Dustin

Dustin

    Commander

  • Commanding Officers
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 5786 posts

Posted 05 March 2013 - 11:52 PM

Depends.



#14 chrisno1

chrisno1

    Lieutenant

  • Crew
  • PipPip
  • 931 posts

Posted 06 March 2013 - 12:09 AM

I have to think here.

Some years back I wrote a series of reviews on a competitor site. The novels I scored highest were:

 

1. Icebreaker                                                     (scored 9)

2. James Bond: The Authorised Biography      (scored 7)

3. For Special Services

4. No Deals Mr Bond

5. Colonel Sun                                                  (scored 6)

6. James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me

7. Cold

8. Licence Renewed

9. Doubleshot

10. A Hard Man to Kill

 

For the record I don't think I rated Carte Blanche, at least it doesn't have one on the copy in my memory stick. It'd probably be a 6 too.

Everything else scored 5 and below.

Not a great guide, but there you have it. Amis and Pearson are good in a traditional Flemingesque way, Wood makes his mark with a well observed movie tie in, Gardner is hit-and-miss but tried to come up with original ideas (many were pinched by the movie franchise), Benson is fairly rubbish and his novels most resemble the films for me, especially Brosnan and latter day Moore. Higson I didn't like at all, but the short story A Hard Man to Kill was very effective and shows a more 'mature' schoolboy Bond.

 

If you really want to start reading try Gardner's first three, they are very accessible, then Wood's two tie-ins, lastly maybe Colonel Sun, after that, mate, you're on your own ! :unsure:

 

 



#15 marktmurphy

marktmurphy

    Commander

  • Veterans
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 9055 posts
  • Location:London

Posted 06 March 2013 - 12:09 AM

I suppose Higson's ones aren't really continuation novels as such as they're set before the originals(!), but I'd rate them higher than most of the others. They're the only ones to capture Fleming's nicely twisted ideas; and stripped of all the spy stuff they show Bond novels for what they are: adventure stories.

 

From my memory of it Colonel Sun feels the closest to a standard 007 original novel, although I think I remember it flatlining for about half of it. Gardner's books are entertaining and have James Bond in them, but there's not much Fleming influence left. Still, they're solid on the whole, and it's oddly nice to have the early 1980s as a sort of period piece- they're more of their time than the Bond films of the same period. If they had films made of them they'd feel like those slightly gritty late 70s/early 80s British movies like Who Dares Wins or some Alistair MacLean adaptation with Richard Harris and a machine gun in.

Benson's novels are... not very good. Maybe they're more like the films sometimes but they're just a bit trashy and thin and there's not much wit there. He's the least accomplished writer of the group here.

 

Unlike many I didn't hate Devil May Care although I can remember very little about it. I think it perhaps felt a bit like pastiche at times and could be guilty of box ticking. Didn't Bond and the evil villain at one point play a deadly game of... tennis?

Carte Blanche was a decent enough thriller with some nice little set pieces, as I remember. Not hugely Bondy and it felt a bit clunky, but it passes the time. Probably slightly more interesting than most of the Gardners but not really excelling them by a huge margin.

 

I haven't tried Moneypenny Diaries yet.



#16 tdalton

tdalton

    Commander

  • Veterans
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 11680 posts

Posted 06 March 2013 - 12:11 AM

Not sure I can come up with a complete Top 10, but the ones that I've enjoyed have been:

 

  • Colonel Sun by Robert Markham (Kingsley Amis)
  • Licence Renewed by John Gardner
  • For Special Services by John Gardner
  • Icebreaker by John Gardner
  • Scorpius by John Gardner
  • Cold Fall by John Gardner
  • Doubleshot by Raymond Benson
  • Never Dream of Dying by Raymond Benson
  • The Moneypenny Diaries by Kate Westbrook (Samantha Weinberg)

Edited by tdalton, 06 March 2013 - 12:12 AM.


#17 Professor Pi

Professor Pi

    Lt. Commander

  • Veterans
  • PipPipPip
  • 1430 posts

Posted 06 March 2013 - 07:13 AM

After buying and reading every hardback by Gardner and Benson since the day they were released, I haven't read a continuation novel in over ten years.  So these were the impressions that lingered:

 

Colonel Sun by Robert Markham (Kingsley Amis) -- most violent torture scene, most sensuous sex scenes, best of the bunch

 

by John Gardner:

For Special Services -- Felix Leiter and other characters from the Bond universe.

Icebreaker--absolute page turner and all whom I recommended it to liked as well.  (But I was 15 when I read it)

No Deals, Mr. Bond--First to start to tweak Bond formula and not be so much like the movies.  And Heather Dare.

Scorpius--Father Valentine, cult leader villain, one I'd like them to make a movie of

Never Send Flowers--villain a magician and finale set at Eurodisney, meaningful Bond girl

 

by Raymond Benson

The Facts of Death -- while not great, villain is mathematician and fun stuff about ancient Greece and Pythagorus

High Time to Kill -- cool stuff about mountain climbing, and two heroines who ,  well ...

Never Dream of Dying -- movie budget film producer villain and another Bond universe character

 

novelisations

"JB, The Spy Who Loved Me" by Christopher Wood is worth tracking down.  Russians are far meaner in the opening pages...

 

other worthwhile efforts are Gardner's LTK and Benson's TND and TWINE which elaborate on holes left in scripts shot.

 

Maybe I'll start Faulkes and Higson after this ...



#18 sharpshooter

sharpshooter

    Commander

  • Executive Officers
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 8996 posts

Posted 06 March 2013 - 11:58 AM

I suppose Higson's ones aren't really continuation novels as such as they're set before the originals(!), but I'd rate them higher than most of the others. They're the only ones to capture Fleming's nicely twisted ideas; and stripped of all the spy stuff they show Bond novels for what they are: adventure stories.

Entirely agreed. Outside of Fleming's work, Higson is fantastic and my clear favourite. I like all of his five books. I'm happy to include them in Fleming canon, along with Colonel Sun. That brings my total up to 6, not a top ten. But those are my picks. I'm not as well versed in the others. I didn't like Devil May Care or Carte Blanche that much.  



#19 Odd Jobbies

Odd Jobbies

    Lt. Commander

  • Veterans
  • PipPipPip
  • 1573 posts
  • Location:London

Posted 06 March 2013 - 12:37 PM

The best (by a long way) is Colonel Sun.  Amis shows his class in the opening, which feels like it could well have been written by Fleming, if you didn't know any better. It never quite reaches that high mark again, but is still a great Fleming-esque read through to the end.

 

From there though it's not  best-to-worse, but rather  bad-to-really-bad....

 

Devil May Care feels fairly satirical; good fun, but no edge. You get the impression that Faulks is slightly too embarrassed to want this book to be taken seriously and so makes a point of camping it up a little.

 

And in utter last place is the god awful Carte Blanche.... Deaver  manages to make Bond such a bore; so caught up in detail, routine, correct operating procedure that you almost root for the villains. He's forever justifying his actions and wanting to be liked as 'nice person'. This is not the haunted, conflicted Bond of Fleming's excursions into doubt, it's soft and cuddly Bond who'd make a lovely stepdad for the cosseted brats of all of Deaver's loyal middle class, CSI-watching, Tory/Republican voting readers.  That's right, i didn't like this book very much ;)

 

The only other one i've read is Gardner's  Licence Revoked. Light entertainment is the best i can say.... It's fun, but to say it lacks edge is an understatement.

 

I'm looking forward to the next one - they may have struck gold netting Boyd. But one thing all these continuation novels highlight is just how hard Fleming is to emulate, let alone surpass. If this pattern continues it makes it hard to dispute that he's one of the most underestimated writers of the modern age.

 

ETA: I've just noticed British Vulture has put Licence Revoked above many other titles that i haven't read, so i can't begin to imagine just how bad they must be !!!


Edited by Odd Jobbies, 06 March 2013 - 12:46 PM.


#20 Walecs

Walecs

    Lieutenant

  • Crew
  • PipPip
  • 789 posts
  • Location:Italy

Posted 06 March 2013 - 02:06 PM

Thank you from me as well, because I own some continuation novels but haven't read them yet. This thread is very useful.



#21 Loomis

Loomis

    Commander CMG

  • Veterans
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 21862 posts

Posted 06 March 2013 - 02:26 PM

The best (by a long way) is Colonel Sun.

Agreed. I'm tempted to say that it's the only continuation novel that's truly worth reading.

 

That said, JAMES BOND: THE AUTHORISED BIOGRAPHY by John Pearson and JAMES BOND, THE SPY WHO LOVED ME by Christopher Wood have their moments.

 

Was flicking through DEVIL MAY CARE by Sebastian Faulks the other day, and it occurred to me that - while it's far from a good book, is largely very dull and was a tremendous disappointment given its author's talent - it's probably considerably better than most of the other continuation novels.

1. Nobody Lives Forever - it's a terrific story and just motors along very happily; the singlemost purely entertaining Bond novel by any author.

Interesting. I may give it a go. I haven't read much Gardner but the last continuation novel I read was NEVER SEND FLOWERS and I wasn't all that keen on it, although I do note your point that:

I would be cautious about anything Gardner from 1990 inclusive as he appears to be writing about Captain Boldman, a different and much more stodgy character



#22 freemo

freemo

    Commander RNR

  • Veterans Reserve
  • PipPipPip
  • 2995 posts
  • Location:Here

Posted 07 March 2013 - 12:21 AM

Hi Loomis,

 

I'd agree Gardner's first seven are a fair cut above his last seven, and I don't think he has anything new to say about Bond in his last four (of which NEVER SEND FLOWERS is one of) in particular. DEATH IS FOREVER is an odd concoction of both his very best and very worst and it's tone is all over the place, and NEVER SEND FLOWERS is, well, NEVER SEND FLOWERS. His last two, SEAFIRE and COLD do perk up a bit, but they're mostly rehashed ideas from his earlier work.

 

Jim's point about Bond reading somewhat like a different (less interesting) character (Captain Boldman) from about WIN, LOSE OR DIE (book 8) onwards is a good one. Actually, there's a scene about two thirds of the way through the until-then rather potent SCORPIUS (book 7), where Bond visits a safety deposit box and exchanges the "Bond" passport and id on his person for the "Boldman" items inside. It doesn't go on to be especially significant to last third of the book, but when reading it (I was reading the books out of order and had also previously read Jim's Bond/Boldman observation when he made it in an earlier thread) it felt to me like this symbolic change-over from Gardner writing about Ian Fleming's Commander Bond to writing about (as Jim would put it) John Gardner's Captain Boldman.

 

Back to the point, from memory you've read a couple of Gardners and didn't rate them (I recall you using the phrase "big slab of nothing", though that might have been someone else), but I think NEVER SEND FLOWERS is an unfair one to judge his whole canon on. I maintain that his first seven on a whole, are, a success (albeit perhaps, a relative one, but then everything is relative). They all have a number of fine premises and clever ideas, and while they can be a tad dry in spots, and the characterizations of the female leads in particular aren't always the best, they also have genuine high spots. They are enjoyable (I mean that as praise). If this all sounds like less than a complete endorsement that's only because I can't guarantee you’ll dig them (not everyone does and you've already indicated that you don't), I’d say to anyone that hasn’t tried them yet only that they are worth a go. We all crave more Bond and more fun, and if you go in expecting those two things you should get them.

 

(Also, while they are "dated", they're also oddly prophetic at times).



#23 Odd Jobbies

Odd Jobbies

    Lt. Commander

  • Veterans
  • PipPipPip
  • 1573 posts
  • Location:London

Posted 08 March 2013 - 09:06 AM

@ Loomis

That said, JAMES BOND: THE AUTHORISED BIOGRAPHY by John Pearson and JAMES BOND, THE SPY WHO LOVED ME by Christopher Wood have their moments.

I'd forgotten about Peasron's biography. It's indeed a great read and takes second place for me behind Colonal Sun. In fact it's probably the only one of them (including Sun) that i may flick through again sometime.

I'd love to see a faithful movie adaptation of it - perhaps that's the material it would be safe to let Tarantino loose on, since it's not strictly canon. Although Spielberg would also do a fine job.

Edited by Odd Jobbies, 08 March 2013 - 09:10 AM.


#24 Dustin

Dustin

    Commander

  • Commanding Officers
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 5786 posts

Posted 08 March 2013 - 05:03 PM

 



The best (by a long way) is Colonel Sun.

Agreed. I'm tempted to say that it's the only continuation novel that's truly worth reading.
 
That said, JAMES BOND: THE AUTHORISED BIOGRAPHY by John Pearson and JAMES BOND, THE SPY WHO LOVED ME by Christopher Wood have their moments.
 
Was flicking through DEVIL MAY CARE by Sebastian Faulks the other day, and it occurred to me that - while it's far from a good book, is largely very dull and was a tremendous disappointment given its author's talent - it's probably considerably better than most of the other continuation novels.

1. Nobody Lives Forever - it's a terrific story and just motors along very happily; the singlemost purely entertaining Bond novel by any author.

Interesting. I may give it a go. I haven't read much Gardner but the last continuation novel I read was NEVER SEND FLOWERS and I wasn't all that keen on it, although I do note your point that:

I would be cautious about anything Gardner from 1990 inclusive as he appears to be writing about Captain Boldman, a different and much more stodgy character

 


Hi Loomis! Long time no see!

With the Gardners I think you definitely ought to give the first four/five a try. It's often been said the Glen films took some'inspiration' from Gardners work, particularly the similarities of LICENCE RENEWED & ROLE OF HONOUR with A VIEW TO A KILL, though that film perhaps owes more to Len Deighton's YESTERDAY'S SPY. But I suppose Gardner for the most part influenced the general atmosphere of the John Glen run with his approach.

It's true, many of his ideas seem to be left hanging in the air (older Bond, exercise regimen, 'steady' girlfriend inside the service, so forth) only to be forgotten again. And the one idea he pursued with some persistence - Bond suddenly being a Royal Navy career officer (instead of Fleming's chocolate sailor) - didn't gel well with the Bond persona in my view. But on the whole Gardner's work was much more entertaining than he's often given credit for. And at the time this was what people wanted from their Bond experience. If anything Gardner perhaps should have been bolder with Bond. Some of his books clearly show he did have the ideas for it.

If you do intend to give Gardner a second chance (NSF isn't representative of Gardner's Bond or his work in general) it might be interesting to pick up Gardner's last COLD and compare that entry to what Jeffery Deaver set out to do with CARTE BLANCHE. I have a suspicion CB might have worked better for fans if it had just continued COLD's state-of-affairs instead of redoing the entire setting.

Edited by Dustin, 08 March 2013 - 05:05 PM.


#25 OmarB

OmarB

    Lt. Commander

  • Veterans
  • PipPipPip
  • 1151 posts
  • Location:Queens, NY, USA

Posted 08 March 2013 - 06:52 PM

I'm a hardcore Gardner fan so if I had to pick 10 non Ian authors it would be one from Higson then 9 Gardners.

#26 Professor Pi

Professor Pi

    Lt. Commander

  • Veterans
  • PipPipPip
  • 1430 posts

Posted 09 March 2013 - 01:05 AM

It looked to me like you listed them in order of publication.



#27 glidrose

glidrose

    Lt. Commander

  • Veterans
  • PipPipPip
  • 2469 posts

Posted 10 April 2013 - 12:45 AM

In publication order:

 

1. The Adventures of James Bond Jr. 003 1/2 (Calder-Marshall)

2. Colonel Sun (Amis)

3. James Bond - The Authorised Biography (Pearson)

4. James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me (Wood) - reads like a novel, not a book of the film, shame IFP didn't hire Wood to write original Bond novels

5. Silverfin (Higson)

6. Blood Fever (Higson)

 

After that it's hit and miss, more notable works include

 

-James Bond and Moonraker (Wood), a letdown after the Spy book of the film

-By Royal Command (Higson)

 

A bit further down the list come the two other Higsons.

 

After that, Gardner's Cold Fall and Faulks Devil May Care have their moments but aren't very good.

 

Gardner and Benson are interesting cases. Some love 'em, some loathe 'em. I have no use for either author. Anybody who says Gardner was writing about some other spy who has Bond's name is dead on the mark. Benson hits the mark with the character of Bond, and he has some interesting ideas, but with all due respect he is not a writer. His prose is appalling.



#28 glidrose

glidrose

    Lt. Commander

  • Veterans
  • PipPipPip
  • 2469 posts

Posted 15 July 2013 - 08:29 PM

Fans like Gardner's "Nobody Lives Forever". Surprised I left that off my list because it's clearly Gardner's best Bond novel. With Gardner it always helps to know the spoilers so that the idiotic plot twists don't come as too much of a surprise and get in the way of enjoying the book.



#29 AgenttiNollaNollaSeitsemän

AgenttiNollaNollaSeitsemän

    Sub-Lieutenant

  • Crew
  • Pip
  • 493 posts
  • Location:Oulu, Finland

Posted 18 July 2013 - 06:38 AM

Amis' Colonel Sun, Pearsons' "biography", first 5 Gardners and Faulks' Devil May Care. That's all. Only Amis is near Fleming's league though.


Edited by AgenttiNollaNollaSeitsemän, 18 July 2013 - 06:39 AM.


#30 Odd Jobbies

Odd Jobbies

    Lt. Commander

  • Veterans
  • PipPipPip
  • 1573 posts
  • Location:London

Posted 18 July 2013 - 07:26 PM

James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007 by John Pearson + Colonel sun.

 

Great picks.

 

I might try Scorpius  after reading this thread.

 

The only other Gardner i've read is License Renewed, which was pretty hammy and done in very broad unsophisticated strokes. Wasn't my cup of tea, but if your Bond is Moore, circa OP / AVTAK then it's probably up your alley.


Edited by Odd Jobbies, 18 July 2013 - 07:27 PM.