Controversial opinions about the books

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  • Posts: 5,997
    Bond's Navy background would also make it hard to see him jumping from embassy to embassy in his prewar days which Fleming mentions (Kingston, Paris, New York and Moscow are all Bond's embassy jobs I believe).

    All right for Paris, New York and Moscow, but not for Kingston. Jamaica was still a British colony (complete with a governor) when Bond started his career. The only time he was there post independance was in TMWTGG, which takes place in 1964. Just setting the record striaght, that's all.
  • SIS_HQSIS_HQ At the Vauxhall Headquarters
    Posts: 3,789
    I also liked the Pan books, especially the designs on the Gardner books like Seafire for example.

    I think my new favorite would be the Folio Society covers, love them.
  • Gerard wrote: »
    Bond's Navy background would also make it hard to see him jumping from embassy to embassy in his prewar days which Fleming mentions (Kingston, Paris, New York and Moscow are all Bond's embassy jobs I believe).

    All right for Paris, New York and Moscow, but not for Kingston. Jamaica was still a British colony (complete with a governor) when Bond started his career. The only time he was there post independance was in TMWTGG, which takes place in 1964. Just setting the record striaght, that's all.

    Yes that is true, thank you for the correction. It does still stand though that it would be unlikely for Bond to do the sort of pre-war work he supposed did in Jamaica (I believe Fleming said stop Cuban drug smugglers or something of the sort) with the Royal Navy.
  • Posts: 17,759
    SIS_HQ wrote: »
    I also liked the Pan books, especially the designs on the Gardner books like Seafire for example.

    I think my new favorite would be the Folio Society covers, love them.

    I haven't really had a closer look at the Gardner book covers, as I haven't read any of his Bond novels. I do quite like the first edition cover for No Deals, Mr. Bond. It might not be all that exciting, but it reminds me of the cover style of some 70's and 80's paperbacks I have, that I like the look of.

    The Folio Society covers are really nice. I think that's the great thing about these sort of special edition books (both Folio Society and others); they don't have to look like the typical book covers we are so used to see. They can be more experimental, be illustrative or use patterns and shapes (like the Penguin Clothbound Classics).
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 8,266
    Gerard wrote: »
    Bond's Navy background would also make it hard to see him jumping from embassy to embassy in his prewar days which Fleming mentions (Kingston, Paris, New York and Moscow are all Bond's embassy jobs I believe).

    All right for Paris, New York and Moscow, but not for Kingston. Jamaica was still a British colony (complete with a governor) when Bond started his career. The only time he was there post independance was in TMWTGG, which takes place in 1964. Just setting the record striaght, that's all.

    Yes that is true, thank you for the correction. It does still stand though that it would be unlikely for Bond to do the sort of pre-war work he supposed did in Jamaica (I believe Fleming said stop Cuban drug smugglers or something of the sort) with the Royal Navy.
    I haven't read the books for quite some time, but embassies used to have quite a few military staff as well. They were liaison for the local counterparts, or intelligence operatives. I'm not too familiar with the way the Brits did it but he could've worked for military intelligence and be a navy officer.
  • Gerard wrote: »
    Bond's Navy background would also make it hard to see him jumping from embassy to embassy in his prewar days which Fleming mentions (Kingston, Paris, New York and Moscow are all Bond's embassy jobs I believe).

    All right for Paris, New York and Moscow, but not for Kingston. Jamaica was still a British colony (complete with a governor) when Bond started his career. The only time he was there post independance was in TMWTGG, which takes place in 1964. Just setting the record striaght, that's all.

    Yes that is true, thank you for the correction. It does still stand though that it would be unlikely for Bond to do the sort of pre-war work he supposed did in Jamaica (I believe Fleming said stop Cuban drug smugglers or something of the sort) with the Royal Navy.
    I haven't read the books for quite some time, but embassies used to have quite a few military staff as well. They were liaison for the local counterparts, or intelligence operatives. I'm not too familiar with the way the Brits did it but he could've worked for military intelligence and be a navy officer.

    That's why I mentioned "Naval Attache" as cover or something like that although I'm not sure the Navy would allow the MI6 to use that sort of cover.

    But anyway, the reason why I don't think military intelligence would work with Bond is because their brief is very war-planning oriented/direct wars going on at the moment. Meanwhile Bond's pre-war jobs don't seem to have much to do with that sort of thing. The two jobs I know Fleming thought of were the the Monte Carlo cheating job with the Romanians (referred to in CR) and the Cuban infiltration of Jamaica labour unions (mentioned in LALD). Both operations have pretty much nothing to do with what Defence Intelligence would get their hands on.
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,638
    Some of my controversial opinions.

    TSWLM was in someways ahead of it's time for literary Bond. I say this based on the spinoffs, and I wouldn't be surprised if we get a Bond novel told in the first person from Bond's POV or another character's again one day.

    I think writing Bond novels set in the past is not really risk taking. At least in Ian Fleming's timeline. It worked particularly well with Anthony Horowitz's novels, but it truly needs to have a rest for good.

    I'm willing to bet that the next novel spinoff will be a classic villain origin story, hopefully set in modern day. My money is on Goldfinger or Blofeld, and their iconic evil allies.

    IFP really should have written novelizations of some of the early 2000's videogames in particular Everything or Nothing. Either Raymond Benson or Bruce Feirstein could have easily wrote it. I would have liked to have seen Max Zorin make a surprise appearance.
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    edited September 30 Posts: 4,638
    If IFP wants to make a collection of Bond short stories, then previous ones should be included. Fleming, Benson and Weinburg for sure, as well as the other unofficial short stories.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bond_uncollected_short_stories

    Some new ones would definitely be appreciated though. By both Bond writing alumni and new authors. From all time periods, and different characters.
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,638
    https://crimereads.com/7-james-bond-books-better-than-any-of-the-movies/

    Should have stuck to non-Fleming novels for the list.
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