Are the Non-Fleming Novels Worth Reading As Part Of The Series?

Q and M

just considering adding the non-fleming novels to the 14 fleming novels in my possession?

Golrush007

If you like reading Bond novels then I would say get them by all means. They are somewhat different to Fleming, and certainly not as good, but I have found many of them to be great reads. I haven't read many of the Bensons, but I enjoy John Gardner's books. Icebreaker, No Deals Mr Bond and Scorpius are my favourites. Kingsley Amis' Colonel Sun is a cracking good read as well. They are not too difficult to pick up second hand in charity shops or via the web, and the Gardner novels are being reprinted soon, so now is a good time to get into them.

Happy reading! :007)

Mr_Ice

I second Icebreaker and No Deals.

I haven't read Scorpious: I'll have to get that one as some folks on here seem to like it.

I really enjoyed reading Icebreaker winter before last when it snowed ~6 feet.

I have a soft spot for License Renewed and For Special Services as they came out when my original Bond literary phase was in full swing.

Thunderpussy

I have to agree Colonel Sun is IMHO as good as the Flemings, The early Gardners are also a good read but soon tail off to average, Benson starts well Zero minus ten which I enjoyed but he too soon seemed to give up, I doubt I'll ever read Bensons work again. At least Gardner did some good work my favourite being "For special services " and have just started to read "Broken claw" again.
I might not think that a lot of them are any where near the quality of Fleming But I'd feel I'd missed out if I hadn't. Same with "Devil may Care " started off good but the ending seemed to go on forever.

Sir Miles

I think it's definately worth buying the non-Fleming Bond books....Colonel Sun is excellent (I remember hiring someone to find this book for me, it was out of print and way before the days of ebay ) )....the Gardner books vary wildly in quality....Benson tries to mix in too much cinematic-Bond (I do like Doubleshot though)...I'd consider buying and reading the Higson Young Bond series too - they are really good....

Le Samourai

Colonel Sun is one of my favorite Bond novels, period. I think it's better than some of the lesser Flemings.

Like practically everyone else, I find the Gardner books a very mixed bag. In an inversion of what I said about Colonel Sun, I prefer the weakest Flemings to the best Gardners. The Gardner novels remind me of second-tier Bond films: enjoyable for what they are, but not especially memorable. They are perfect for summer reading on holiday. That being said, John Gardner is a good writer and there are some great individual moments spread throughout his tenure.

Raymond Benson is, alas, not a very good writer. I liked Zero Minus Ten and The Facts of Death well enough, but his series started going downhill fast after that.

SilentSpy

I need to read Colonel Sun, I don't know why I haven't yet...The Gardner books are pretty good. I don't remember the last few books so I guess they were pretty weak. I'm going to read them again when they are re-released.

7289

It's time to balance things out some.....

I have read the post-Fleming Bond novels, but stopped after a while. I found the expierence was like drinking Muscatel out of a Don Perignon bottle.

Fleming was Bond, IMHO Bond died with Fleming.

Napoleon Plural

Chris No1 had his famed literary continuation novel reviews in this forum.

Generally, I think it's Colonel Son, then Faulks' Devil May Care if you want a novel to follow on from that, though it mostly has his detractors.
Then Christopher Wood's novelisations of The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker read most like Fleming to me.
The rest? Bleugh. Gardner's Icebreaker was the pick of his bunch, they're inessential though.

Sir Miles

Napoleon Plural wrote:

Then Christopher Wood's novelisations of The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker read most like Fleming to me.

Good call....they do....I wonder if they ever thought of approaching him to write a new story ?

Napoleon Plural

I really wish they would, but I guess the Ian Fleming Estate want a big name to sell copies. Though quite why they persisted with Gardner and then Benson for so long is really beyond me.

Mr_Ice

I wish Charlie Higson would write some adult Bond.
The Young Bond series was outstanding, and I was hoping that the 'big news' would be that he would be moving on to adult stories, during WWII maybe.
Oh well...

Sir Miles

Mr_Ice wrote:

I wish Charlie Higson would write some adult Bond.
The Young Bond series was outstanding, and I was hoping that the 'big news' would be that he would be moving on to adult stories, during WWII maybe.
Oh well...

I'm with you there too

I spoke with Mr Higson a couple of years ago and he said he would love to write a 'proper' Bond novel. I wouldn't be shocked to see him return with some more Young Bond novels...or Slightly Older Bond novels )

Polar Bear 0007

Colonel Sun, License Renewed, and For Special Services are very good books in my opinion.

I am very much in the minority but I am no fan of Charlie Higson's "Young Bond". I've read the first 3 books and find them very silly. I rate them in competition with the Benson material for the "lows" of the Bond series.

Good Luck with the books!

Thunderpussy

I've only read one of the "young Bond" novels and thought it very weak, I just can't accept a kid Bond.

Nicholas Meadows

Thunderpussy wrote:

I've only read one of the "young Bond" novels and thought it very weak, I just can't accept a kid Bond.

Which one was it that you read? If it was Silverfin I would suggest Bloodfever. It's a brilliant book as is the whole series. Dont give up on it.

Thunderpussy

It was Hurricane Gold, a good enough story but not Bond. if I see some of them in a used book shop I might buy them to add to the Book collection.

SpectreBlofeld

Like most, I was a movie fan first - from childhood - and the first books I read were the Gardner books. They were good enough that I kept reading beyond the first one. Then I picked up the Fleming novels and were blown away. I've since donated/sold my copies of the Gardner novels and never looked back. They were entertaining enough to pass the time, but they're not worth re-reading and they don't hold a candle to Fleming. They're also obviously heavily inspired by the films in many ways, so the character doesn't seem very similar to Fleming's original character.

Funny how one's perception can change. The films are what got me into Bond in the first place. I had them all on VHS back in the day. Now they've been discarded and I only own three of the films on DVD, yet I own at least three copies of the original novels in various editions.

Sir_Miles_Messervy

I've only just finished Gardner's first two, and I have to say I think they are absolutely worth reading.

They are not Fleming, and they are not brilliant (though I'm getting a thrill out of having new more Bond to read, no matter the author).

To me, they are worth reading as the worst Bond movies are worth watching. Some are great, some are lacking -- but they are all Bond.

zaphod

Agree with the general thread that Colonel Sun is superb, the early Gardner is credible, and that Benson largely sucked. However even the poor ones are interesting because of their flaws. Just like watching disappointing Bond movies (which include most of them as only FRWL, OHMSS, LTK, & CR really 'do it' for me)

jbholsters

Don't forget "James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007" by John Pearson. It's OK, if not a little off the wall that Bond is a real person.

Donald Grant

I liked Gardener a great deal. While not exactly Fleming, I enjoyed the fact that Bond was back in print at that time and carried the literary Bond ball forward while at the same time offering a more sober Bond to Moore's 80's offerings. Who can forget the silver beast (Saab 900 Turbo) against the Shelby G.T. 350 and the ASP 9mm?! Great stuff!

DG

Golrush007

I have always encouraged people to give Gardner's Bond a chance as I have always enjoyed them, although until recently all of my experience of his novels was limited to the first half of his tenure - basically from Licence Renewed to Scorpius. I'd always heard that the later novels are very bad, so recently I made my first exploration into the latter part of the Gardner canon with Death is Forever and SeaFire. I must say that I found both to be rather enjoyable Bond novels. Certainly they aren't as good as Gardner's earlier work - and pale in comparison to Fleming - but I enjoyed being once more in the world of Bond. Obviously others might disagree, but is the way it is with any book/film etc. You basically have to just try and it and see if you like it.

GaddGeneGadd

A few months ago I picked up Bensons Union trilogy from Barnes and Noble. I liked the idea of reading the 3 books as one continuing story arc. I thought I was going to enjoy the first one " High time to kill " more than I ended up doing, but the second one in the trilogy " Doubleshot " I really enjoyed a good bit. It's not Fleming, but what is really .

I am now into the 3rd one. In this one " Never dream of dying " he ends up killing his father in law " Draco ". I am not sure how much I am going to enjoy this one since Draco was an ally in OHMSS. Benson also starts the book out with Bonds actions causing the deaths of several innocent bystanders. This is NEVER touched on in the movies, but ol JIMBO does indeed cause a whole lot of destruction and there are potential consequence from all the destructive action he does.

As for a earlier poster mentioning about how Deaver's Bond lacks a little sex appeal, well there is NO problem with that in the Benson books. Through the first 2 books JB's tally stands at a very healthy 7, including twins. But 3 of them ended up dying and only one was a villainess :v :x :v

For me, at least, It still is fun to read new Bond material B-)

Sir Miles

For me DoubleShot is Benson's best Bond novel...and Never Dream Of Dying is his worst...it's the ONLY Bond novel I've only read once...

I just felt NDOD was a total waste...there was a decent set-up but it was just thrown away in this silly book... X-(

GaddGeneGadd

Sir Miles wrote:

For me DoubleShot is Benson's best Bond novel...and Never Dream Of Dying is his worst...it's the ONLY Bond novel I've only read once...

I just felt NDOD was a total waste...there was a decent set-up but it was just thrown away in this silly book... X-(

Bond running around a French T.V. set with show dogs chasing him around ENOUGH SAID :v :v :v

In reading it, it looks like Benson just ran out of ideas for the trilogy story. He had everything set up and it looks like he just flat ran out of steam.

Mr Beech

Young Bond was okay, but you have to know it is not something to be approached as an adult reading Bond, but as just the Bond equivalent novels of young adult books. They are not must reads, but if you want some of the moodiness of Bond and don't mind going lighter into them since they are for a younger demo, go for it.

Sir Miles

Mr Beech wrote:

Young Bond was okay, but you have to know it is not something to be approached as an adult reading Bond, but as a just the Bond equivalent novels of young adult books. They are not must reads, but if you want some of the moodiness of Bond and don't mind going lighter into them since they are for a younger demo, go for it.

I quite enjoyed reading the Young Bond novels....as you say...don't take them too seriously...and read them for what they are....Boy's Own Adventure stuff -{

oscar rubio

I've never read anything in the Bond girl, the truth is I do not care about your life before MI6, think it might be a bad boy and many others.
In addition to Fleming's books, also I read 5 books that were translated into Spanish Gardner, are very good, do not you think?.
In addition, Gardner wrote novelization of license to kill and goldeneye.
I have 5 novels in my computer, but are written in Spanish, I can send those who want them ...
It is not for sale -{

friedfysh

They are watered down and often based more on the films than the novels. As soon as Bond got his iphone out in Carte Blanche, I stopped reading.
The bond novels have their shock value as part of the guilty thrill of entertainment. Fleming writes homophobic, racist and sexist slurs as a matter of point which help give Bond his flawed personality. Things like "the sweet tang of rape" from Casino Royale or the title of chapter 5 from Live and Let Die just wouldn't be allowed by modern society.
I read the last one, Devil May Care, and thought it was incredibly dull but nowhere near as bad as the John Gardner ones with their female Q "cute" and so on... I dunno, by all means get them but I would recommend reading through the fleming ones first. Why have margarine when you can have butter?

friedfysh

oscar rubio wrote:

I've never read anything in the Bond girl, the truth is I do not care about your life before MI6, think it might be a bad boy and many others.
In addition to Fleming's books, also I read 5 books that were translated into Spanish Gardner, are very good, do not you think?.
In addition, Gardner wrote novelization of license to kill and goldeneye.
I have 5 novels in my computer, but are written in Spanish, I can send those who want them ...
It is not for sale -{

Oh my God, I would love Spanish translations. Mandamelos por favor!!! friedfysh@gmail.com