This week’s ranking deals with the rest of the unmentioned continuation authors’ novels. Those authors include Kingsley Amis, John Pearson, Christopher Wood, Sebastian Faulks, Jeffrey Deaver, William Boyd, and Anthony Horowitz. Other authors available to be used–if you wish–are Samantha Weinberg, Kim Sherwood, Vaseem Khan, and Raymond Benson–but only for his Felix Leiter novel, The Hook And The Eye.
So what are your rankings? Mine are:
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COLONEL SUN – (Kingsley Amis) – The first (released) official continuation novel is the best of this list. Miles “M” Messervy is kidnapped and James Bond travels to Greece to rescue him. This is a different 007 adventure and yet it is still very Ian Fleming-esque. Highlights are Niko Litsas, De Graaf, Sun Liang-tan, and the torture scene. Col. Sun is a classic villain.
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TRIGGER MORTIS – (Anthony Horowitz) – In the aftermath of the Goldfinger adventure, Bond soon finds himself trying to prevent an assassination during a major auto race at the Nürburgring course, which then leads him to the mysterious Jason Sin and a plot to send an American rocket off course and cause a disaster. Highlights include the auto race, Sin and his method of deciding causes of death, Bond’s being buried alive, and the climax of the book.
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WITH A MIND TO KILL – (Anthony Horowitz) – The story we (or at least I) never knew we wanted or needed. Fresh off The Man With The Golden Gun mission and back in M’s good graces, Bond is immediately sent back to the Soviet Union to terminate his brainwasher–the man who had just sent him to assassinate M–Boris Leonov. It is a very different Bond adventure and a very different and unconfident Bond. It all adds up to an uncertain and suspenseful story. Highlights include the coldly calculating Leonov, the Soviet cabinet meetings headed by the vengeful Nicholai Gruzaboyschikov aka General G, Bond’s encounter with Ivan Aranov, and the assassination scene in East Berlin. Great finishing novel from Horowitz.
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JAMES BOND, THE SPY WHO LOVED ME – (Christopher Wood) – The first 007 novelization. It’s largely like the film with a few extra touches here and there–most notably in a torture scene involving Ivan and Boris. Unfortunately, Naomi is notably absent in this tale. Still, it’s a good read with solid backstories regarding both Sigmund Stromberg and Jaws aka Zbigniew Krycsiwiki. Highlights include the ski and car chases and just Jaws in general. He’s even more threatening here than in the film, if that’s possible.
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JAMES BOND AND MOONRAKER – (Christopher Wood) – Similar to JBTSWLM, this novelization closely follows the film, but also adds a tense and wonderful scene where Bond does a spacewalk to save the American space marines. It is so good that it is a damn shame that it wasn’t included in the film. But at least we got it here. The novelization also plays the story more straightforward than the more jocular film does to its credit and better believability. Highlights include the opening freefall and the aforementioned spacewalk.
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FOREVER AND A DAY – (Anthony Horowitz) – Bond’s first 007 mission–at least chronologically. Bond replaces 007 after the latter is killed and continues his investigation into the mysterious Madame Sixtine. His efforts lead to an American filmmaker and a Corsican drug dealer and a plot to mass distribute heroin throughout the U.S. Highlights include Joanne Brochet–one of the very best Bond girls in the entire series–and Jean-Paul Scipio–a more than morbidly obese, disgusting individual who’s nevertheless very threatening and scary.
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CARTE BLANCHE – (Jeffrey Deaver) – The first official rebooted literary 007 novel. However, nothing else came of it, so what was the point of that exercise? As a read, the story works, but yet never quite fully clicks. I don’t know if that is a result of the reboot with this being Bond’s first ever mission, or if it is something else. I wasn’t wild about the mystery box set up regarding Bond’s parents’ deaths as it seems too stereotypical to many stories these days. But other than that, I enjoyed it. Highlights include Severan Hydt who is one sick, twisted dude; Bond’s causing a train derailment; and Bond’s efforts to save Felix Leiter from getting maimed.
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DEVIL MAY CARE – (Sebastian Faulks) – There is a lot to like here with an evil, deformed villain; a sadistic henchman; and one of the best allies in the series who is cut from the same cloth as Darko Kerim. And yet, just as Faulks is set to wrap up his tale, he undercuts his efforts by taking the piss out of it, which severely damages one’s opinion of the story. I probably would have ranked this above at least Carte Blanche had he not taken the piss out of it, but c’est la vie. Still, there are highlights to be had, namely the the villain, Julius Gorner; the henchman, Pham Sinh Quoc aka Chagrin; the ally, Darius Alizadeh; and the use of the ekranoplan–a great Bondian touch there.
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THE HOOK AND THE EYE – (Raymond Benson) – The first Felix Leiter novel. Taking place soon after Bond’s Live And Let Die mission that literally cost Leiter an arm and a leg, sees Leiter on his way to recovery and joining the Pinkerton Detective Agency. What follows is a hard-boiled, film noir-type of detective story that goes on a road trip across the country. Leiter is hired to safely escort Dora Wysocki to Odessa, Texas, to visit her sister, but things aren’t all that they seem, and Leiter soon finds himself in the middle of dangerous espionage goings on. The story is solid and enjoyable and sits comfortably as a worthwhile entry into the Bond series.
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THE MONEYPENNY DIARIES: GUARDIAN ANGEL – (Samantha Weinberg) – Much of this story takes place following the events of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service in the aftermath of the death of Bond’s wife, Tracy, and how he goes about dealing with it–basically, not well. It was nice learning more information about this important time in Bond’s life. We also learn more about Jane Moneypenny through whose eyes we witness the tale. She also has a side situation going on throughout the novel, but the book’s main mission is Bond’s (and eventually Moneypenny’s) involvement in the Cuban Missile Crisis. It’s well done and a solid entry in the Bond series. Highlights include Bond and Moneypenny’s escapes from Cuba and her confrontation with Boris in her home.
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JAMES BOND: THE AUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY OF 007 – (John Pearson) – A biography detailing the life of James Bond 007. Should it work? Maybe not. Does it work? Yes, it does. There are two or three instances where Pearson contradicts Ian Fleming’s writings, which does irritate some. But they are few and far between. On the whole, he covers Bond’s life well and does it in an entertaining fashion. And not only does he cover each of the novels and short stories, he goes into detail–some more than others–about other missions Bond has done that weren’t the ones that starred in the novels and short stories. Some were mentioned in passing in Fleming’s written adventures, and some not at all. Highlights include where Bond has a dangerous reunion with Oborin–the man with the crag-like face–from Casino Royale; the telling of Bond’s encounter with Heinkel aboard the Arlberg Express, which was alluded to in Thunderball; the character of Maddox–Bond’s mentor; and the story behind Bond’s second kill.
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THE MONEYPENNY DIARIES: SECRET SERVANT – (Samantha Weinberg) – This story takes place following the events of You Only Live Twice. We don’t get a lot of Bond here as he is either missing, presumed dead in Japan; getting brainwashed in the Soviet Union; or recovering from being de-programmed. So this time, the action focuses on Moneypenny as she befriends Eleanor Philby, wife of disgraced spy and traitor Kim Philby, in an attempt to reverse his defection. Her efforts take her behind the Iron Curtain and into the Soviet Union where any slip-ups could mean imprisonment or even death. The story is interesting and fairly gripping, and I enjoyed it more than I might otherwise have thought I would. Moneypenny is no super-agent and certainly no James Bond, but her maneuverings throughout her mission are believable and grounded, which helps to ratchet up the suspense as one isn’t sure how she will get out of her predicament.
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SOLO – (William Boyd) – I wasn’t wild about this one. It’s probably my least favorite full-length novel that is Bond-centric. Bond is sent to an African nation that is oil-rich and on the verge of being taken over by a rival government. His orders are to protect and ensure the British oil interests in the region. For some reason Bond has a cold through much of the early going and not a lot of exciting stuff happens. The novel’s biggest highlight is Kobus Breed–a thoroughly despicable henchman (in the best possible way)–easily the best character of the novel. Whereas the villains–Hulbert Linck & Solomon Adeka are two of the weakest in the series.
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ON HIS MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE – (Charlie Higson) – This one is more of a novella, coming in at 161 pages. The story focuses on Bond having to stop a madman from assassinating King Charles and taking over the monarchy. The story is only so-so. It probably would have benefitted from being lengthened out. However, it sounded like it was a last minute thing and Higson only had time for what he wound up with. The villain is one of the weakest of the series and some of the politics mentioned is disconcerting. But the highlights are Ragnhei∂ur Ragnarsdóttir and Bond’s and Ragnhei∂ur’s wild ride down the mountain in an ATV toward the end of the story.
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THE MONEYPENNY DIARIES: FINAL FLING – (Samantha Weinberg) – This story takes place following the events of The Man With The Golden Gun (and would eventually also follow directly after Howoritz’s With A Mind To Kill). The novel is basically broken up into two parts. 1) in 1964 where MI6 is after yet another mole in the service, meanwhile, Bond also undertakes a mission to obtain samples of a lethal virus from mercenaries in the Belgian Congo. And 2) in the present day where the “author” Kate Westbrook looks into the final days of her aunt, Jane Moneypenny. The book works better in the 1964 days than the present, and I didn’t really like how it all wrapped up. The highlight is probably Bond’s mission although it doesn’t really amount to much in page length.
So that’s my list. I included Deaver’s Carte Blanche because it is a full-fledged Bond novel. And even though it is technically a reboot, since Ian Fleming Publications have done nothing with it, I prefer to just ignore that fact (and the parts that clearly state that this is Bond’s first mission).
I also included Benson’s The Hook And The Eye because it takes place in the Ian Fleming timeline, is a quality spinoff of Live And Let Die, and Benson’s Leiter is clearly Fleming’s Leiter.
And I also included Weinberg’s The Moneypenny Diaries trilogy because it does satisfactorily fit into a missing part of the Bond legacy and Bond and all the MI6 regulars are still easily identifiable as themselves. It is as likely to be a part of the Bond series as it is a separate entity.
That said, I did not include either Khan’s The Quantum Of Menace nor Sherwood’s Double-O trilogy. Sherwood’s trilogy is clearly in a separate universe from the Fleming timeline and regular continuation novels. And Khan’s story is likely in a separate universe as well. That one is less clear, but I don’t quite get the sense that Khan’s Q is the same as Fleming’s or the continuation authors’ Q either.
But if I had to rank them separately, this is the order I would make them.
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THE QUANTUM OF MENACE – (Vaseem Khan) – A nice little murder mystery. Q made an interesting detective.
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A SPY LIKE ME – (Kim Sherwood) – The best of the Double O trilogy with some good action and suspense.
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HURRICANE ROOM – (Kim Sherwood) – We really get to meet Sherwood’s Bond here. A nice little wrap up.
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DOUBLE OR NOTHING – (Kim Sherwood) – A bit too sci-fi for Bond for my liking and I don’t really like some of the things Sherwood did with some of the MI6 regulars.
The first two were hard to choose as the are really close. But Hurricane Room is a clear third and Double Or Nothing a clear fourth.
So how would you rank the rest of the continuation authors’ novels?