Non-Fleming Bond Novels - Where to Start?

Walecs

Ditch Gardner and movie novelizations and pick up Lycett's Fleming biography.

SaintMark

1) Colonel Sun - A worthy first novelisation
2) Young Bond - They are more fun than you might expect
3) Moneypenny Diaries - Simply one of the best 007 books out there.
4) Gardner - Worth of your time even if the later ones are declining in quality, even if Dragonpol will deny that, and he makes a good case I'll admit.
5) Benson - Written by a fan and leans more toward the movie Bond , but he has a few very good and underrated novels.
6) DMC - Liked it but written as too much of a pastiche has too little originality
7) CB - A great writer but this one is rather bland, James Bland.
8) Boyd - Some brilliant moments but the writer lost himself in the anti decolonization idea.
9) Wood - he wrote two novelisations that both have a better story than the movies, but his James Bond does come very close to Fleming You would not believe it the books are TSWLM & James Bond and the Moonraker) I would not mind seeing an original book from his writing table

Dragonpol

SaintMark wrote: »

4) Gardner - Worth of your time even if the later ones are declining in quality, even if Dragonpol will deny that, and he makes a good case I'll admit.

Why, thank you @SaintMark! I have a blog review series on 90s Gardner Bond novels coming up...I'll try to make the arguments there on why the novels should be better regarded than they are. :)