John Gardner's Role of Honour

The latest Bond novel that I have read is John Gardner’s fourth book, Role of Honour. I will start out by saying that the novel was a typically entertaining read. But, I will add that it is not the most memorable of Gardner’s books that I have read so far. It is now a couple of months since I finished it, and already my memories of the novel are quite vague.

It starts with Bond resigning from SIS in order to allow him to get closer to the enemy by infiltrating their camp. The enemy in the novel turns out to be SPECTRE once again. I found the first half of the novel quite slow moving – the opening chapter is an exception, which features an exciting heist. Bond then spends a great deal of the first half of the novel learning to be a computer games programmer!

The second half of the novel features some exciting action. Apparently Bond and one of the villains were supposed to have a computer gaming match against each other but this was changed because the film Never Say Never Again had already used this idea. The finale takes place on an airship, and the climax of the novel is quite good.

Ultimately this novel goes down as simply a bit of fun, but nothing too significant in the literary 007’s history. The focus on technology and computers make this 1980s novel seem very dated, but for me that is half the fun of reading older novels. Definitely not the worst of Gardner’s books and worth a glance, Role of Honour should entertain you if you enjoy Gardner’s Bond, but don’t expect it to blow your socks off!

'No Deals' is a Good Deal from Gardner

After having read John Gardner's first Bond novel, which was a typical formula Bond story, I proceeded with 'No Deals, Mr Bond'. I had read that this was a less 'typical' Bond story, and according to a review on www.universalexports.net, this story would appeal to those who enjoy Ian Fleming's 'From Russia With Love'. As FRWL is my favourite Fleming novel I eagerly began NDMB while on a flight from Durban to Cape Town.

From the outset I found this to be a novel which didn't stick so much to the formula and delivered more surprises than most of Gardner's novels that I have read. This is one of those Bond stories where some of the people you think are the allies are actually villainous and vice-versa.

This novel is also one quite realistic by Bondian standards, and reads more like a serious spy thriller, than the more overblown, film-inspired novels that Gardner and others have written. The fact that the villains of this novel work for the organisation that used to be called 'SMERSH', gives this a nice link to the earlier work of Fleming.

Proabably the best, and most tense scene in the novel comes when the villain has Bond pursued by so-called 'Robinsons' (live targets used in training exercises) in the pitch black as a sort of training exercise for the 'Robinsons', and an exercise in survival for Bond. Armed with such gruesome weapons as a fighting mace, the 'Robinsons' prove to be no match for Bond. The only complaint that I have with this scene is that Bond's survival is due more to his gadgets than him outwitting the 'Robinsons'.

All in all, a good solid spy thriller which kept me eagerly reading to the very end. In fact, of the Gardner novels that I have read so far, this is my favourite. Just for clarification so far I have read, Licence Renewed, No Deals Mr Bond, Scorpius, The Man From Barbarossa, Goldeneye, COLD.

Just before reading NDMB, I read Gardner's novelisation of the 1995 film, 'Goldeneye', which I enjoyed merely because the film is one of my favourites. But Gardner doesn't bring anything new to the story - he merely adds a thin layer of backstory to the characters, and equips Bond with an ASP 9mm pistol with Glaser ammunition. Aside from that there was nothing unique to the story. For me, the best James Bond novelisations are the ones which use the screenplay as a basis for the story and then create something more literary than just a straight rehash of the film. Christopher Wood's novelisations of The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker are good examples.

007 has his 'Licence Renewed' by John Gardner

Until very recently my experience of John Gardner's Bond novels was restricted the latter half of his tenure has a continuation author. Having stumbled across some of his earlier novels in a charity shop, I have begun to explore his earlier work, starting at the beginning with 'Licence Renewed', published in 1981.

I won't go into the obvious changes that were made by Gardner when trnsporting Bond into the 80s without the man ageing, rather I would just like to say how that I enjoyed the novel very much. It worked well as a Bond thriller, with interesting characters such as Caber the Scottish henchman. The scene at Ascot racecourse I particularly enjoyed - it seemed quite Fleming-uesque. However, I never really liked the character of Lavender 'Dilly' Peacock - I guess it was because I felt that since this was the 80s Bond must be a fairly veteran character by now, and Dilly seemed a bit young for somebody of Bond's 'experience'. Perhaps, I should instead regard Bond as a 'timeless' character in future, but it did seem a bit like Roger Moore and Lynn Holly Johnson in 'For Your Eyes Only' (interestingly, released the same year as Licence Renewed was published - perhaps that sort of thing was in fashion that year?)

The plot of the novel is not particularly inspired or original, but the story still works well thanks to the quality of Gardner's writing, and it appears that he was a little more enthusiastic here than he was in his later Bond novels. I certainly enjoyed this more than the later Gardner novels that I have read previously. Although this novel was never made into a film by EON productions, they do appear to have lifted a couple of scenes from this novel and used them in later Bond movies.

I am currently half way through 'No Deals, Mr Bond', and I shall post my analysis when I am finished. So far - I have enjoyed the tale immensely, it seems a more down to earth spy thriller which appeals to me more than the over the top Bond adventures.