Bond echoes

Wint

Having ploughed through five of Bensons novels, I found them very workmanlike (with the exception of the first half of TMWTRT).

However, what i did enjoy was the way Benson has echoed previous Bond plots. The Mahjong game in ZMT and Moonraker and the train ride with the girl and the kappa in TMWTRT etc

Are there any other echoes in the continuation novels?

And was it Gardner who invented the term "blunt instrument?" to refer to Bond.

Wint

Sorry, I meant the From Russia With love train ride and TMWTRT.

Barbel

Wint wrote:

Are there any other echoes in the continuation novels?

And was it Gardner who invented the term "blunt instrument?" to refer to Bond.

No, it wasn't Gardner but Fleming; in YOLT Blofeld calls Bond a "blunt instrument".

There are countless echoes in Benson's books. He has a particular liking for reviving characters such as Draco, Mathis and Tanaka and even the Governor from Quantum Of Solace makes an appearance. Bond even has a Jamaican house suspiciously like Fleming's Goldeneye, although Benson calls it "Shamelady". Gardner keeps his echoes to a minimum, though.

zencat

There are many echoes of Fleming in the Young Bond series. The opening line of SilverFin is an echo of the opening line of Casino Royale. Double or Die -- book 3 -- is very similar to Fleming's Moonraker -- book 3 -- in that it is entirely set in England and has a compressed time frame. Book 4, Hurricane Gold, will echo Diamonds Are Forever (Fleming's fourth) in that Bond tangles with American gangsters. And Book 5 will echo FRWL in that it will have a somewhat complex plot involving political (Royal) espionage.

Wint

Thanks guys. I love this constant referencing things that goes on - one of the successes of Higson's books, I thought.