jdwad246 wrote:I have been working my way through the Fleming novels. I am currently reading TSWLM, I am getting antsy because I will soon be out of Fleming novels to read. Do any other authors come remotely close to his style, and his Bond? What about the comics?
I will echo the splendid reply of Caractacus Potts and say Colonel Sun should come first on the post-Fleming list. And as Mr. Potts notes, the comic strip adaptations of TSWLM, The Hilderbrand Rarity and Octopussy do an excellent job of expanding the originals. The comic strip version of TMWTGG sticks closer to the book but improves on it.
I also recommend John Pearson's James Bond: The Authorised Biography, written by a man who truly knew Fleming. It's more creative than any of the later continuation novels. I've read all of Gardner's Bonds, but I don't think any are essential reading. I read Benson's first book and wasn't interested enough to pursue the rest.
For the Fleming touch you could also try his nonfiction works Thrilling Cities and The Diamond Smugglers, along with his charming book of letters The Man With the Golden Typewriter.
If you still want fiction, why not read the authors who influenced Fleming? Dashiell Hammett (The Maltese Falcon), Raymond Chandler (The Big Sleep), Sax Rohmer (The Island Of Fu Manchu), Sapper (Bulldog Drummond), Leslie Charteris (The Saint in New York), Dennis Wheatley (Contraband), Somerset Maugham (Ashenden), Graham Greene (This Gun For Hire), Eric Ambler (A Coffin for Dimitrios), Geoffrey Household (Rogue Male), Simenon (the Maigret series), Peter Cheyney (Dark Duet), John Buchan (The 39 Steps), Hugh Edwards (All Night at Mr. Staneyhursts--Fleming wrote a introduction to its reissue), Herbert de Lisser (White Witch of Rosehall), E. Phillips Oppenheim (The Great Impersonation), Phyllis Bottome (Wind in his Fists), Peter Fleming (The Sixth Column), and Rex Stout (the Nero Wolfe series). Put them all in a blender and you get something very close to Ian Fleming!
Last edited by Revelator (5th Jan 2018 03:52)