Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories (James Bond 007) by Ian Fleming

The title is a bit misguided… it has NOTHING to do with the next Bond FILM (which script probably is only slightly inspired by a classic old short story if anything at all…).
BUT… this is a great recompilation of ALL the short Bond stories.
Of course it is better read IN CONTEXT… meaning they were written in the sixties… no cell phones etc.
A magnificent recompilation of the original works.
I must admit (having seen the films) I did not bother with the books for a long time… I was wrong… Fleming knew what he was writing about.
I enjoyed the films of course… but they have distorted somewhat the original novels so to premium the bang/crash/wallop of the film industry (which after all is supossed to know what we like!).

The book is Highly Recommended (of course).

ADB

PS: Car nuts will be glad to know that Bond “personal car” is a Bentley Continental transformed by Mulliner in a two seater with plenty of luggage room… “a bit selfish” (Bond admits!)… And if (as I did) you then read ALL the original novels (five stars stuff… see my reviews if interested) you will learn the ASTON-MARTIN is from “the car pool” and in the beginning of the series Bond owns a “classic” BENTLEY…

James Bond Encyclopedia by John Cork and Collin Stutz

If I may wax nostalgic for a moment, I can still recall the very first James Bond movie that I sever saw…actually the first three Bond movies…it was sometime in the late 60’s or early 70’s and my mom took me and my brothers to the drive-in theater to see a triple feature of Goldfinger, Dr. No, and From Russia with Love…in that order. I know I never made it past the credits of From Russia with Love but man…I loved those first two films! I had never seen anything like Bond before with his cool gadgets and those nasty villains like Odd Job and that began a lifelong passion for James Bond. With Christmas approaching, I cannot think of a better gift for the Bond fan on your list than the James Bond Encyclopedia from DK Books.

I’ve read a lot of books from DK on popular films and while they are always very well done, they sometimes can be a bit light on material. No so with this book. This book contains over 300 pages filled with information that will test even the most knowledgeable of Bond fans. It is bountifully illustrated with over 2000 photographs and images and traces the Bond history right up to the most recent film, Casino Royale.

As the title suggests it is an encyclopedia but rather than just list its hundreds of entries in alphabetical order it lists them alphabetically by subject. The subjects include: The Bond Style, The Role of Bond, Bond Villains, Bond Women, Supporting Cast, Vehicles, Weapons & Equipment, and the Movies. A comprehensive index finishes things off.

The role of Bond covers the six actors who have portrayed Bond with two pages of biographical information on each actor and a list of the Bond films they starred in. Next up is the section on Bond Villains. This section covers Bond villains from the criminal masterminds Blofeld, Hugo Drax, and Goldfinger; crime lords like Frank Sanchez; muscled thugs Jaws, Odd Job, Mr. Kil, and Tee Hee; and dangerous females May Day, Elekta King, and Bambi & Thumper. The encyclopedia gives the film(s) they appeared in, their current status, characteristics, the actor who portrayed them, and a synopsis of their roles in the films.

No book on Bond would be complete without looking at the dozens of Bond Women played by some of the most beautiful actresses in the world: Terri Hatcher, Ursula Andress, Lana Wood, Eva Green, and Halle Berry. The section on supporting cast members covers all the other major and minor characters in the Bond films from Q to Miss Moneypenny. Each Aston Martin that Bond drove is featured in the section on vehicles along with some of the more extraordinary vehicles like the Bath-O-Sub from Diamonds are Forever and the Dragon Tank from Dr. No. And of course all of Bonds secret weapons and gadgets are detailed in the Weapons section.

The last fifty pages or so of the book covers each bond film in chronological order with a listing of cast and crew credits but rather than provide a synopsis of films you’ve probably seen numerous times the book instead provides anecdotes on the making of the films with all manner of interesting production notes.

This is a book that is perfect for the die-hard or casual James Bond fan.

You Only Live Twice (James Bond Novels) by Ian Fleming

I have read (I am actually reading “The Man with the Golden Gun”) the whole Ian Fleming works this summer, and a good decision it was…
Perhaps 4,5 stars would be a better rating, but the Japanese plot idea (so much BEFORE Clancy or Crichton ever thought about it!) is a must read (always having in mind when the book was written -middle sixties-), the setting of Blofeld is probably the weakest in the trilogy… Hemingway meets E.A.Poe…
I love the minus gadgets and more stamina balance, and the fact Bond REALLY is made from flesh&blood… at least on paper.
I would recommend the experience of reading the books to anyone having enjoyed a film of the saga (or even not… still a better approach probably).
The end is quite puzzling but the beginning of the last novel (the follow up) is really one of the best.
I think in the end Fleming was running out of “baddies”… but James Bond, “M” and the rest become more and more human.

As usual recommended.

The Young Bond Series, Book Three: Double or Die (A James Bond Adventure) (Young Bond) by Charlie Higson

Charlie Higson’s Double or Die is the pivot on which the Young Bond series turns. Double or Die both pulls from past books and points to the future. Where SilverFin infused Bond with his fearless instinct and Blood Fever developed his brawn, Double or Die works his mind (and ours).

Thematically, Double or Die is an adventure of the mind. Bond and his band of friends must decrypt puzzles and clues contained within a mysterious cipher sent by a kidnapped professor. Higson plays the motif throughout as references to skulls and the brain abound. Where Blood Fever was bright and expansive, Double or Die is dark and contained. While this may make it a lesser Bondian adventure for some, the smaller scale allows Higson to work in greater texture and detail, making Double or Die the most vivid and visual of all the Young Bond novels to date. It’s also the Young Bond novel that showcases its 1930s setting the best as Higson peppers the book with delightful period slang and long forgotten brand names.

The body count in Double or Die is lower than Blood Fever, but Higson doesn’t skimp on the gore, especially during the terrific climax on the London Docklands and inside an abandon pneumatic railway (wonderful Bondian locations both). The fact that the henchmen comes away from each encounter with Young Bond missing another body part is grisly good fun. Higson adds a surprising postscript to this book that is unlike anything that has yet appeared in a Young Bond novel. I will leave it to the reader to discover it, and decide whether it belongs in the Young Bond universe.

Absence of a Bond Girl (or any female for that matter) is missed during the first two thirds of the book, but the arrival of the perfectly named Kelly Kelly and her “Monstrous Regiment” (a sort of cockney street urchin version of Pussy Galore’s Flying Circus) is a highlight of the final third. Higson again toys with romance, but one gets a sense he’s nervous about scaring off his youngest male readers. At the risk of getting a schoolyard beating, I admit that I’m looking forward to the “love story” Higson promises will feature in his fifth Young Bond novel, By Royal Command (due for release in the UK in September).

The measure of any James Bond continuation novel, and novelist, is how they compare with Fleming. Charlie Higson matched Fleming with the excellent Blood Fever. Now, with the complex and thrilling Double or Die, Higson appears to be steering the Young Bond series toward even higher literary achievement.

James Bond Movie Posters: The Official 007 Collection by Tony Nourmand

At last a collection of James Bond posters! While I wouldn’t say this book is complete in a check-list sort of way, I do think it’s pretty darn impressive. This book owes much to a German publication released in 1997 called LICENSE TO THRILL. In fact, it uses many of the same images and utilized the same basic format. But at least with this book I can read the text (or what there is of it).

The best thing about the book is the concept art for OHMSS, DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, and LIVE & LET DIE. The OHMSS concept art is worth the price of the book alone. It shows you not just variant posters, but a whole different approach to marketing the movie. The “007 and Bride” posters are wild and I think this would have made a great campaign. It certainly would have been the most daring and different campaign ever done for a Bond film and I think perfect for this very special movie. For those of you who love montage art, you’ve got to see the Thai OCTOPUSSY and NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN posters (too bad it doesn’t have the Thai A VIEW TO A KILL which is in the German book).

The only disappointment (and this was true of the German book as well) is how little space is devoted to the later films, especially the Dalton films. Paramount is the fact that, even though they make reference to it in the text section for LICENCE TO KILL, there are no examples of the unused and vastly superior LICENCE REVOKED campaign by Robert Peak. This is a glaring omission! Also, where’s the standard U.S. one-sheets for NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN and FOR YOUR EYES ONLY? Strange.

But aside from these points, I would say this book is a must for Bond fans, especially if you don’t have the German book.

James Bond by Alastair Dougall

There is a conceit to “James Bond: The Secret World of 007″ that fans of the movies, especially the early Sean Connery efforts, might not appreciate. Pierce Brosnan’s suave figure adorns the cover of the book and we are informed by the foreword, written by M16’s very own M, that this is the “real” James Bond. So while the book covers every major “mission” of the world’s most famous secret agent, you will not find any photographs of Bond in action until he looks like the guy on the cover. A section in the back of the book is devoted to the Bond “movies,” which, of course, are based on the “missions.” There we are told there are five actors who have played Bond (but James has never said which one he prefers), but only four are identified in photos. Of course, those who have followed ALL of the Bond flicks will recognize immediately who is missing: David Niven in “Casino Royale.”

This book opens with “The Bond Dossier,” which introduces the current cast of characters so you can keep them in mind as you go through the various “Missions,” which go from “Dr. No” to “The World Is Not Enough.” Basically for each “mission” we are introduced to the cast of characters on one spread and then the next provides details on some key aspect of the mission, such as the Bondmobile from “Goldfinger,” the “Disco Volante” from “Thunderball,” and the Mountain Aerie from “For Your Eyes Only.” Bond’s biggest chases and fights are examinedblow-by-blow. It is certainly interesting to see the DK attention to visual detail applied to the Bond films in the same way we have learned about Medieval Castles and the like. Of course, the Bond girls are all over the place… Alistair Dougall provides the textual details while Roger Stewart does the technical illustrations.

I would think “James Bond: The Secret World of 007″ would be a must for any big time fan of the series. I certainly found it interesting and I have never considered the Bond films to be anything more than big time movie fun. The conceit imployed bothered me a bit at first, but then it became clear the focus is on the stories not the actors, and I can certainly appreciate that approach. Besides, everybody already knows who the best James Bond was…

James Bond: Casino Royale (James Bond (Graphic Novels)) by Ian Fleming, Anthony Hern, Henry Gammidge, and John Mclusky

the rendition of casino royale is very close to the original even in the torture scene. there is nothing explicit but you know what’s happening. this is a visual companion to the novel and great for Bond purists.

For Your Eyes Only by Fleming, Ian, Reader: Whitfield, and Robert

Fleming is at his best when describing Bond’s meals and drinks. “From a View to a Kill” contains an obligatory meal scene that works especially well. Fleming not only describes food and drink in exacting detail, but manages to turn these descriptions into commentaries on the culture and society of the meals’ location. This time Anglo-centric unleashes his opinions on has-been post-war Paris. In the process he manages to reveal some interesting background points about Bond’s early life. But all this quickly evaporates into more of an action/detective in which Bond investigates a murder.

Fleming’s stories usually include a point during which a plot or a scheme is revealed to be bigger than it first appeared. Bond discovers what he suspected to be the case, that the murder was an assassination by unearthing a hidden underground base of sorts. The logic of this thing’s existence and purpose are hardly believable, but the gadgetry of the place is interesting because it is a step beyond what had been typical for Fleming up to this point. Indeed, the rose-periscope and bush-door seem more like something out of the Roger Moore Bond movies, still years away. It is worth noting that “From a View to a Kill” has nothing at all in common with the Roger Moore movie, A VIEW TO A KILL, other than the name and the setting in France.

“From a View to a Kill” is too short to skip, but it ultimately isn’t very satisfying.

“For Your Eyes Only”
After re-reading the second short story in FOR YOUR EYES ONLY (also titled, “For Your Eyes Only,” I reached the conclusion that James Bond works much better in novels than in short stories. This is in part because this short story, much as the last one, left me wonder why I was reading it. While the story had action, it lacked the type of suspense, plot development, and surprise endings that move the Bond novels along. Also, that I had completely forgotten most of this story from my first reading of it many years ago was telling. “For Your Eyes Only” is more of a story than From A View to a Kill,” but it is still a scratch pad of sorts, interesting more for ancillary reasons than for the story itself.

Still, these ancillary reasons are worth mentioning. Bond’s job is never more illicit than in this story. He is sent to commit an assassination more or less as a personal favor for his boss, not as an official governmental act. He struggles with this a bit, and a different type of writer could have made more out of that struggle than Fleming does. But he trudges along to carry out his assignment. This story, perhaps more than any of the novels, establishes Bond as a “cold blooded killer.”

One of the features of Bond stories that I enjoy is their 1950’s setting. Fleming wrote from the 50’s, obviously without any knowledge of how the future would unfold or how his time and thought process would be viewed years after he committed them to paper. The alieness of all of this is stark in “For Your Eyes Only.” The target of Bond’s assassination attempt is a former Nazi, who had recently been inn the employ of Cuba’s dictator, Battista. Battista was still in power when Fleming was writing, and Castro is mentioned not only sympathetically, but as an admirable quasi-ally. He certainly isn’t one of the Communists under just about every bush Bond looks under in most of the novels.

Neither the Nazi origins of the villain, Von Hammerstein, or even the villain’s name, ever make it into any of the Bond films. But much of this short story does. For such a weak story, I was interested that most of it made it into the movie version of FOR YOUR EYES ONLY. The movie was bigger, and the short story really comprised about a quarter of the film, but I was reminded once again that some of the Bond films improved upon the stories rather than just borrowing the names.

“Quantum of Solace”
“Quantum of Solace” is only superficially a James Bond story. Oddly, then, it is the most interesting and compelling at least of the first three stories in FOR YOUR EYES ONLY. Bond is in Jamaica on assignment, but the story is not about the assignment. In this one, Bond mostly listens to a story within the story, told by the colonial governor of Jamaica, with whom he had just had dinner. This story within the story is the thrust of “Quantum of Solace.” It has nothing to do with espionage, action, or adventure. Rather, it is a brief tale about a failed relationship. That’s it. Somehow Fleming manages to make it interesting. I was wondering where the story was going and was caught off guard by its mild, but unexpected surprise ending. In this regard, Fleming achieves on a small level some of what he otherwise better captures through novels than short stories. While “Quantum” has little to do with Bond (or, more accurately, Bond has little to do in Quantum), it is the most enjoyable story so far in this collection.

“Risco”
A good portion of the plot of the movie, For Your Eyes Only, is taken from this short story. After reading this and the short story version of FYEO, I came to a greater appreciation of the movie-maker’s desire to blend the two stories together into a coherent one that remains as faithful as could be hoped to a couple of short stories.

“Risco” plays out the Kristatos-Columbo rivalry around which the plot of the movie turns. Of all the short stories in this book it is the one that most resembles the previous Bond novels. It involves a mission to a foreign land, colorful characters, a devious villain with vague ties to Russia, and in Columbo, an ally somewhat reminiscent of Karim Bey in From Russia with Love. Nevertheless, “Risco” is not as good as any of the previous books, probably in part because it is not developed like a full novel. Also, not for the first time, while reading it I felt that the moviemakers did this story better. I was actually somewhat bored reading it.

There are no great surprises in “Risco,” perhaps because we all know Kristatos, not Columbo, is the real villain. Nothing special is revealed about Bond’s past or his predilections. As with most of the rest of the short stories in this compellation, “Risco” seems more like the outline of a story than a complete work.

“The Hildebrand Rarity”
After being worked over by the somewhat boring “Risco,” “The Hildebrand Rarity” delivers the knockout punch. For Your Eyes Only saves the worst for last. It is significant to note that very little of this short story made its way into any Bond movie to day. “Milton Krest,” the character that passes for a villain in this one, and his boat, The Wavekrest, appear in the movie, License to Kill, but only in name. The story of “The Hildebrand Rarity” is lost in the final pages of this book.

“The Hildebrand Rarity” contains one of the worst elements of Bond stories: Bond is basically an observer of events here. How and why he ends up in the situation of the story, which has nothing to do with spying or even government work, is murky at best. The story is basically a reverse mystery, a Murder on the Orient Express set on a ship, with an all-too-easy search for a rare fish thrown in, and one twist. Fleming’s twists are usually the capstones to his Bond novels, but here the twist is that the mystery is never solved. Indeed, the build up to the crime is too long, and the aftermath is wholly inadequate. It is almost as if Fleming got tired of this story and just put it down. I did too.

Tags: 007, Bond, James Bond, James Bond 007