#Flemingreadingchallenge

  Agreed Moonraker is a fantastic read but I'm sure you'll also
enjoy Dr No

I have enjoyed the MR readings on James Bond Radio. My father just messaged me and told me he was able to find Moonraker as well. So I shall have plenty of things to read.

My goal is to try and read them in order. I am not a reader. I don't really like it. I am different. ADD maybe. I do want to read more though.

Question though. I have found two different listings for the orders they are in, publication and chronological. Here is the link. Can you shed some light as to which list I should follow?

https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/james-bond/

Thank you for this explanation. I started CR yesterday. I’m six chapters in. So far it is good. I had to reread some page because I had no idea what was being said, who was saying it and what was the purpose for it being said. I think it clicked. For me, I had no idea who was talking/ thinking until I reread it. Bond just met Vepser and a bomb went off. That is where I stopped. My plan is to just read them as published. Eventually, I’ll get to the non-Fleming Bond stories. Have you read those? If so, any suggestions for where to go after Fleming? It will be some time before I get there. 

Colonel Sun was the first one published after Fleming died, and arguably the only essential one. Its been reprinted many times, so you should be able to find a copy.
There have been many written since then, but are a mixed bag.
The ones I liked best are unfortunately long out of print and not easy to find.
The two recent books by Anthony Horowitz are the best of the more recent ones, and will be easy to find. Grab those two when you see them and keep looking for Colonel Sun.

If you are finding the reading a slog or confusing, I have a recommendation:
Most of the books have been adapted very closely as radio plays by the BBC.
see this thread, which includes links to youtube uploads of those radio plays.
Listening to those may give you a better sense of the shape of the story, and who's talking and all that.
Unfortunately Casino Royale has not been adapted to radio yet, but you will find the plot is generally the same as the second half of the Daniel Craig movie.

oh and there were also recent comic book/graphic novel adaptations of Casino Royale and Live and Let Die, that also may help clarify if you're getting confused. published by Dynamite Comics.

Last edited by caractacus potts (30th Jul 2020 15:10)

I bought all the Flemings today in a charity shop for a tenner, so I'll be starting them soon too.

I hope you like reading as I think it's one of the best things ever. It's the original virtual reality experience.

I'm a slow reader, however, and even though I've been doing it for years I still feel a sense of accomplishment when I finish one.

James Patterson is good for readers who may be slightly less than confident, as they are short chapters with fast-moving plots. He sells a book every three seconds, apparently.

Even though I'm 31, and have published short stories myself, I see no shame in reading Young Adult fiction. There's plenty of teenager-as-spy books I would recommend, like Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider series and - which I'm soon to start - Robert Muchamore's CHERUB series. Then, of course, there's the Young Bond books.

I've also read Benson's first three and Gardner's first six, and liked them all.

So, I am about to add some of the non-Fleming's to my rotation. I have settled on the audiobook versions. I still have several of the Fleming books that I am going to read through too. What I want to get a list of the best non-Flemings. If you are reading this, what is your favorite and one you recommend?

I just got OHMSS, Colonel Sun and Trigger Mortis on audiobook. I think I will start CS today. Not sure.

jtullock did you get all the Flemings read then?
Colonel Sun happens a year after Man with the Golden Gun. Not that it makes a significant difference to the plot, but the opening paragraphs do reference the end of ...Golden Gun. and we see M's house and his household staff, first introduced in OHMSS.

if you've read some or all of the Flemings since last posting, you should give us some of your thoughts about the books!

_________________
EDIT: I see you also have Trigger Mortis
Trigger Mortis happens in between Goldfinger and For Your Eyes Only, and includes the return of a character from Goldfinger.
If you can find Forever and a Day it actually happens a few months before Casino Royale, it's Bonds first assignment after receiving his License to Kill.

Aside from John Pearson's Bond Biography, which covers Bond's entire life up til 1973, I think all the other continuation books happen well after Fleming's timeline.

Last edited by caractacus potts (16th Dec 2020 00:29)