Rank the John Gardner main Bond girls

Books Other Continuation Authors
1

This week’s edition is ranking the John Gardner main Bond girls. Continuation novels are included.

So what are your rankings? Mine are:

  1. Sukie Tempesta – NOBODY LOVES FOREVER – I’ve always really liked her and her rapport with James Bond. She is fun and good natured and her and Nannie Norrich spice things up and keep things entertaining as Bond, with a literal bounty on his head, tries to stay one step ahead of his pursuers throughout Europe and beyond.

  2. Pam Bouvier – LICENCE TO KILL – There may be a carry over from Carey Lowell’s performance in the film as she is my favorite cinematic Bond girl, but I still like the novelization’s Pam too. She’s spunky and independent and I like her attitude.

  3. Lavender Peacock aka Dilly – LICENSE RENEWED – Gardner’s first main Bond girl is a solid one. She’s more of a kept woman type a la Domino Vitali in Ian Fleming’s Thunderball, but I still like her and she has a good scene saving Bond at the end too.

  4. Natalya Simonova – GOLDENEYE – See Pam in LTK above. My feelings are very much the same here although Izabella Scorupco is almost, but not quite, my favorite cinematic Bond girl (#4 actually).

  5. Praxi Simeon aka Sulphur – DEATH IS FOREVER – Many (most?) would have Elizabeth “Easy” St. John as the Bond girl here–and for all intents and purposes, I suppose she is. However, Praxi ends up with Bond at the end and, perhaps more importantly, I like her character better. So Praxi gets the nod for me. Gardner tended to have Bond fall for his main women seemingly rather hard and fast–and fairly often. I would have been fine with it had he done it once, MAYBE twice, but I can think of four instances off the top of my head (Harriett, Beatrice, Easy, Fredericka) that it happened during Gardner’s run and that seems to hurt the girls’ respective standings with me except for Fredericka which I thought was done fairly well. Anyway, getting back to Praxi, she is another competent, independent, and resourceful woman so she gets a top five ranking for me.

  6. Fredericka von Grüsse aka Flicka – NEVER SEND FLOWERS – Now this is Bond falling for a Gardner girl done right. Fredericka is similar to Pam, Natalya, and Praxi (hey, maybe I have a type :grinning_face:) Gardner doesn’t get sappy (at least not overly so) in writing Bond’s feelings for Flicka which I feel he leans toward doing in other instances. Flicka works well with Bond as a partner on their assignment too. I like her.

  7. Fredericka von Grüsse aka Flicka – SEAFIRE – Despite my liking Fredericka in NSF, I wasn’t wild about seeing her return in Se/F. But if she is one of Bond’s “soul mates” (and she really is Gardner’s Vesper Lynd and/or Tracy di Vicenzo), it does make sense. I don’t think she works as well the second time around, but she’s still solid. And I have to admit it is interesting to see a Bond girl return.

  8. Cedar Leiter – FOR SPECIAL SERVICES – I would venture that I like Cedar more than most people. Is it likely or logical for Felix Leiter to have a grown daughter (and in the CIA)? Probably not, but I just roll with it. I do find it humorous that she chases romantically after Bond but he keeps her at arms length, which I think is appropriate.

  9. Harriett Horner – SCORPIUS – I like Harriett. The biggest thing that drags her down for me is Bond seemingly falling hard for her. Nothing really against her, but it’s baggage she doesn’t need and can’t escape. But ultimately, she’s basically a lesser version of the Pam/Praxi/Flicka template.

  10. Toni Nicolletti / Beatrice da Ricci aka Hellkin – COLD FALL – Again, with CF, I see it as a book with two missions separated by a four year gap. So I rank the two Bond girls together as one for this ranking. I love Toni. She would probably be in my top 5 if I were to just include her. She is a lot of fun. Beatrice, on the other hand, is not one of my favorite Gardner girls–although I do like her better in this book than in WLOD. So in combination, the two of them wind up 10th.

  11. Percy Proud – ROLE OF HONOR – There are three instances in the Gardner run where I like the secondary Bond girl better than the main one (ROH, NDMB, WLOD, or four if you count Praxi in DIF) and for some reason I tend to hold that against the main girl through no fault of their own. The one exception is Percy. I prefer Cindy Chalmer who I find more fun and exciting, and yet, I also enjoy Percy enough that she isn’t downgraded very much–if at all–in comparison. She has a good rapport with Bond and is a solid Bond girl.

  12. Paula Vacker – ICEBREAKER – As is the case in Icebreaker, one is never sure whose side anyone is really on. That is probably the reason Paula doesn’t rank higher on my list. She’s good and capable, but she doesn’t quite click with me as others higher on the list do.

  13. Stéphanie Adoré – THE MAN FROM BARBAROSSA – Some might not have Stéphanie as the Bond girl in this story, and I can understand why. But for me, she gets the nod since Bond sort of ends up with her at the end and mostly she’s about the only “good” girl in the story. She has spunk and is competent, but she doesn’t interact with Bond a whole lot and is a fairly aloof which limits her rankings.

  14. Chi-Ho Sue aka Chi-Chi – BROKENCLAW – I like Chi-Chi, but she doesn’t seem as capable or independent as some other Gardner girls and, for me, she ends up suffering in comparison.

  15. Ebbie Heritage – NO DEALS, MR. BOND – This is probably the one most affected by my liking the secondary Bond girl better. There really is nothing wrong with Ebbie. She has a good rapport with Bond, but I much prefer the Heather Dare character and while reading the story I kept wishing Heather could/would be the Bond girl. Obviously, that wasn’t going to be the case, and yet I think I subconsciously hold it against Ebbie. Crazy, I know. :zany_face:

  16. Beatrice da Ricci aka Hellkin – WIN, LOSE OR DIE – And here’s another example of my preferring the secondary Bond girl (Nikki Ratnikov). But unlike Ebbie, there are other issues at play here that downgrade Beatrice. Namely, Bond (again) seems to fall fairly hard for her. So that’s two strikes right there. And her character never really does click for me (maybe because of her faked death where she’s off the page for quite awhile). And lastly, I never have liked how her character saved Bond at the end. I don’t hate Beatrice or even really dislike her, she’s just my least favorite of the Gardner girls.

So what are your John Gardner main Bond girls rankings?

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