Thinking of Rereading Gardner

Le Samourai

It's been a long time since I've read any of the John Gardner Bonds, and I've been thinking of going back and rereading a few of them. I'm trying to decide which ones might be worth a reading again. I'll definitely reread the first three, which I recall were the best of the lot.

Which Gardner Bonds do the folks here at ajb007 think are worth revisiting?

chrisno1

Le Samourai wrote:

It's been a long time since I've read any of the John Gardner Bonds, and I've been thinking of going back and rereading a few of them. I'm trying to decide which ones might be worth a reading again. I'll definitely reread the first three, which I recall were the best of the lot.

Which Gardner Bonds do the folks here at ajb007 think are worth revisiting?

You are right about the first three.
Past that I'd struggle to pick any really worth reading - and I recently read and reviewed the whole lot. (You can search for my thread on the site).
If pushed I recall Cold as being particularly good, but it has generally mixed reactions among fans. Seafire, WIn Lose or Die and Scorpius are probably the ones I'd consider most interesting. Avoid Never Send Flowers at all costs.

Le Samourai

chrisno1 wrote:

Le Samourai wrote:

It's been a long time since I've read any of the John Gardner Bonds, and I've been thinking of going back and rereading a few of them. I'm trying to decide which ones might be worth a reading again. I'll definitely reread the first three, which I recall were the best of the lot.

Which Gardner Bonds do the folks here at ajb007 think are worth revisiting?

You are right about the first three.
Past that I'd struggle to pick any really worth reading - and I recently read and reviewed the whole lot. (You can search for my thread on the site).
If pushed I recall Cold as being particularly good, but it has generally mixed reactions among fans. Seafire, WIn Lose or Die and Scorpius are probably the ones I'd consider most interesting. Avoid Never Send Flowers at all costs.

I followed your review series and really enjoyed it. I'll probably skim through your reviews again, but I was curious to see what others had to say re: the Garner books. Of the ones you just mentioned, I do seem to remember liking Cold and Seafire, but it's been some time since I've read them. The only one I remember flat out hating was Brokenclaw.

Sir Miles

chrisno1 wrote:

If pushed I recall Cold as being particularly good, but it has generally mixed reactions among fans. Seafire, WIn Lose or Die and Scorpius are probably the ones I'd consider most interesting. Avoid Never Send Flowers at all costs.

Cold ? Really ? For me it's the worst of the Gardner novels....first three are pretty good....I do like Nobody Lives Forever though...Win, Lose Or Die is good too....I have a soft spot for Role Of Honour and quite like No Deals, Mr Bond - despite it's terrible title !
I would also try and read Goldeneye too...he did a good job with that -{

Le Samourai

Sir Miles wrote:

chrisno1 wrote:

If pushed I recall Cold as being particularly good, but it has generally mixed reactions among fans. Seafire, WIn Lose or Die and Scorpius are probably the ones I'd consider most interesting. Avoid Never Send Flowers at all costs.

Cold ? Really ? For me it's the worst of the Gardner novels....first three are pretty good....I do like Nobody Lives Forever though...Win, Lose Or Die is good too....I have a soft spot for Role Of Honour and quite like No Deals, Mr Bond - despite it's terrible title !
I would also try and read Goldeneye too...he did a good job with that -{

I rather liked 'Role of Honour' as well, though it doesn't seem very popular among fans.

chrisno1

Role of Honour is a tricky one. Personally I hated it, the prose is almost in shorthand. Not a lot happens in the novel.
I think its fair to say Gardner's books pretty much divide all readers in all different ways!

Sir Miles

chrisno1 wrote:

Role of Honour is a tricky one. Personally I hated it,

I think we all have our 'guilty pleasures' - I've no idea how anybody can possibly like either 'SeaFire' or 'Cold'....but some do -{

Lancaster

They say never judge a book by it's cover, but if I did, I like the look of the first 4...and they are not a bad read in my opinion.

As for the title of "No Deals Mr Bond"....who let that one through!

Cold is better known for being an expensive 1st for a collector rather than the tale itself....

Golrush007

For me No Deals Mr Bond is one of the strongest, and Icebreaker is my favourite Gardner book. The only one I have ever read twice was Scorpius, and I enjoyed it on both occasions. I wouldn't mind rereading the first two, as they didn't do much for me the first time round, but I might change my mind on the second reading.

Sir Miles

Golrush007 wrote:

For me No Deals Mr Bond is one of the strongest, and Icebreaker is my favourite Gardner book. The only one I have ever read twice was Scorpius, and I enjoyed it on both occasions. I wouldn't mind rereading the first two, as they didn't do much for me the first time round, but I might change my mind on the second reading.

I've read them all - bar SeaFire and Cold several times (I've only read those two twice) - and can manage to find some decent chapters in all of them...but you can tell when he rushed a book to finish it due to ill health...

Ben/Sophie

First post here after lurking in the Literary section for the past month.

I've never read any of Gardner's books, but am in the process of buying the whole Bond series (from Casino Royale to Carte Blanche) so am trying to stay away from any spoiler reviews but am reading about all the books. I've read the first two Fleming books in the past month & OHMSS, Octopussy & Benson's The Man With The Red Tattoo (which I loved) years ago. I'm doing them all in chronological order. From reading on here I think Gardner split the whole Bond world in half in the '80s with some hating him & some loving them.