Ian Fleming at his typewriter
This series of articles will endeavour to bring you the members of ajb007 closer to the literature of 007. You will be introduced to each book in the order that they were published. Within each article there will be commentary on the content, and the available background to the writing of each novel, and where possible the inclusion of the original book reviews.
From Ian Fleming right through to Raymond Benson, including, Kingsley Amis, John Gardner, and Christopher Wood you will be immersed into the exciting world that only this handful of men have had the licence to write about. From Casino Royale to Die Another Day we will read about the plots, the exotic locations, the villains, and the successes that have made the literary collection of James Bond books still immensly popular.
The Novels & Film Adaptations
Ian Fleming
1953 – Casino Royale
1954 – Live and Let Die
1955 – Moonraker
1956 – Diamonds Are Forever
1957 – From Russia, With Love
1958 – Dr. No
1959 – Goldfinger
1960 – For Your Eyes Only – A short story collection consisting of:
- From A View To A Kill
- For Your Eyes Only
- Quantum of Solace
- Risico
- The Hildebrand Rarity
1961 – Thunderball
1962 – The Spy Who Loved Me
1963 – On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
1964 – You Only Live Twice
1965 – The Man With The Golden Gun
1966 – Octopussy and the Living Daylights – A short story collection consisting of:
- Octopussy
- The Living Daylights
- The Property of A Lady was added for the 1967 paperback release
- 007 in New York was added for the 2002 paperback release
“Robert Markham” (Kingsley Amis)
1968 – Colonel Sun
John Gardner
1981 – Licence Renewed
1982 – For Special Services
1983 – Icebreaker
1984 – Role of Honour
1986 – Nobody Lives For Ever
1987 – No Deals, Mr Bond
1988 – Scorpius
1989 – Win Lose or Die
1990 – Brokenclaw
1991 – The Man From Barbarossa
1992 – Death is Forever
1993 – Never Send Flowers
1994 – SeaFire
1995 – Cold (U.S. title: Cold Fire)
Raymond Benson
1997 – Zero Minus Ten
1998 – The Facts of Death
1999 – High Time to Kill
2000 – Doubleshot
2001 – Never Dream of Dying
2002 – The Man With The Red Tattoo
Plus short stories Blast from the Past (1997), Midsummer Night’s Doom (1998) and Live at Five (1999)
Film adaptations, released the year of the movie:
1977 – James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me by Christopher Wood
1979 – James Bond and Moonraker by Christopher Wood
1989 – Licence to Kill by John Gardner
1995 – GoldenEye by John Gardner
1997 – Tomorrow Never Dies by Raymond Benson
1999 – The World Is Not Enough by Raymond Benson
2002 – Die Another Day by Raymond Benson
Only you can decide which are your favourite books, but with the information within this series of articles, perhaps you will enjoy them all the more…
