Rank the John Gardner novel Main Allies

Books Other Continuation Authors
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This week’s ranking deals with John Gardner’s main allies from the novels. Characters from the novelizations are eligible to be included.

So how do you rank them? Here’s mine:

  1. Gus Wimper aka Orphan – DEATH IS FOREVER – I like his camaraderie with James Bond. It’s probably the closest Gardner comes to imitating Ian Fleming’s Darko Kerim in From Russia With Love. They get along great, but he’s gone all too soon.

  2. Maxim Smolin aka Basilisk – SCORPIUS – Initially thought to be the bad guy by Bond, he nevertheless quickly gains 007’s trust, and he has a good rapport with Bond. I like his character.

  3. Brad Tirpitz aka “Bad Brad” – ICEBREAKER – Tirpitz is something of a rarity in the Gardner run in that he is actually a triple agent. But even though you’re not sure which side he truly is on, I still like him and his interactions with Bond.

  4. Pete Natkowitz – THE MAN FROM BARBAROSSA – There’s a lot of good allies in TMFB (Natkowitz, Bory Stepakov, Nigsy Meadows) but Natkowitz is the primary ally as he starts and completes the mission with Bond. Again, like those above, he also has a good rapport with Bond.

  5. Bodo Lempke – NEVER SEND FLOWERS – Clearly inspired by Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot, Lempke is still a fun character as he helps Bond out by filling in some dots.

  6. Becker – NOBODY LIVES FOREVER – There aren’t a lot of allies for Bond in NLF, but this Salzburg policeman does the most to fill in some details about the head hunt, and he has a great personality in his limited page time with Bond.

  7. Jack Wade – GOLDENEYE – An over the top character that I enjoy.

  8. John Pearlman aka Pearly – SCORPIUS – Another character that has a good rapport with Bond that gets a little complicated due to Pearlman’s daughter’s relationship with the villain.

  9. Sharky – LICENCE TO KILL – Another enjoyable character that ends up as one of his story’s sacrificial lambs.

  10. Jack Hughes aka “Pop” / Eddie Rhabb – COLD FALL – With CF I see it as two different missions four-plus years apart so Hughes gets the main ally role in part 1 (Cold Front) and Rhabb gets the title in part 2 (Cold Conspiracy). Hughes is a likeable old pro while Rhabb is a little more business-like in running his American team.

  11. Ed Rushia – BROKENCLAW – There’s nothing really wrong with this character, but he just never clicked with me as much as those above him.

  12. Nick – ROLE OF HONOR – This is another story where Bond’s allies are limited. In this case, I go with the blimp pilot who shows up at the end and is a likable character.

  13. Richard Duggan – LICENSE RENEWED – He helps fill Bond in on the mission at the beginning of LR. It’s not much, but the other ally options are few and not as good.

  14. Jim Dodd – SEAFIRE – Similar to Nick in ROH. In a story with few ally options, Dodd shows up at the end to team up with Bond and lead the assault to stop Maxwell Tarn.

  15. John Walmsley – WIN, LOSE OR DIE – I went with the guy who’s in charge of the Landsea mission which is aboard his warship. I also kind of like it that Walmsley doesn’t like Bond but grudgingly has to work with him. It’s a nice twist from the usual 007 allies.

  16. NORAD Colonel – FOR SPECIAL SERVICES – This story has perhaps the fewest ally options, so I went with the guy in charge of the NORAD station at the end who follows Bond’s lead.

So what are your John Gardner main ally rankings?

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I’m sorry I can’t contribute a lot more to these rankings but for one, I’m just not much into ranking. And then it’s really been some time since I last ventured a whole Gardner reread.

As for Gardner’s characters outside the main protagonist, there’s not that much variety or depth present to set these apart from one another. Of his allies I only remember two: Natkowitz because I really know one Pete Natkowitz.

And Ed Rushia because he’s almost certainly a nod to Edward Ruscha.

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That is probably the most dead-on critique I have ever read of Gardner’s Bond series. I read every single on of them starting in the 90s. I even caught up and read some of the last immediately as they were published. They are honestly both interchangeable and forgettable for me personally. I don’t mean that as any kind of slam against the man himself, but the books served only to tide me over until something better Bond-related came along, and truth be known, they didn’t even do that very well for me personally. And I say that as a bona fide Fleming fan. I also genuinely liked Amis’ “Colonel Sun” and enjoyed all of Anthony Horowitz continuation novels. I was not a very big fan of the other authors. Obviously your mileage may vary from mine.

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Not to pile on here, but I’m following these threads in a slight state of awe that people remember any details from the Gardner books at all.

Maybe they’ve read them a lot more recently than I did…?

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While part of the issue is no doubt the forgettableness of much of Gardner’s output (especially the latter half, as I observed in the other thread), I wonder if this also has to do with the sheer number and frequency of literary Bond adventures over the years. With 25 films spread over a 63+ year period, it’s not so difficult to have watched each EON entry multiple times (especially as obsessive children), often to the point of instant recall. But it’s much harder to do the same with a series of 60+ novels, each of which takes considerably longer to consume than a two hour film. Plus, literary works don’t have the added benefit of visual stimulation which can aid recall. I’m willing to bet most of us haven’t read the vast majority of continuation novels more than once or twice.

Not that any of this is inherently problematic, mind you, especially if we enjoy delving into the books at our own leisure and interest. But at what point does it become more of a chore to become a knowledgeable / fluent literary Bond fan than a genuine expression of our own enthusiasm for the series?

Yes, I still get excited for new Bond novels, and Horowitz’s contributions have been some of my favorites. But the sheer volume of the back catalogue can be quite daunting sometimes.

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