James Bond Series of Novels

No other entertainment industry has worked more on the legendary character of James Bond than the technologically advanced and U.S based Hollywood industry. Many of you might remember him as a pure fashion geek due to Daniel Craig’s 2 Piece James Bond Spectre Ivory White Tuxedo. However, the character is often regarded as an action-loving man who takes a keen interest in dealing with the bad guys in a nontraditional manner.

Enrolled in the Secret Intelligence Services (MI6), Bond operates on an international level in the defense of the United Kingdom. The threats posing a risk to the integrity of the country forces the young spy to launch deadly missions for the sake of the fellow countrymen. Unlike what has been shown in Hollywood movies, the literary version of Bond’s character is more like a man with a serious attitude towards achieving his goals and conducting the missions successfully.

James Bond first rose to fame when the novel Casino Royale became accessible to the general public paving the way for the long term presence of the fictional spy in the world of novels. With several films, spin-offs, novels, and novelizations, James Bond is one of the most-popular literacy characters in the English literature.

Interested in golf and gambling, the member of MI6 is depicted as the greatest asset of the UK’s military intelligence in responding to the global threats challenging the World Order. In short, it wouldn’t be unfair to consider him the ” One Man Army ” for participation in various missions without external support.

The Man Behind the Creation of the Character

Ian Fleming, the British journalist, and novelist is the mastermind who wrote the exceptionally amazing yet unforgettable character of Mister Bond in 1953. Appearing first in Casino Royale, Bond attracted the British readers to the extent that Fleming had to write a number of novels about Bond.

Mentioning the Notable Novels

According to the Fandom.com, there are 39 books associated with James Bond written by six different writers. The notable literary work of these writers include Casino Royale, Diamonds Are Forever, Goldfinger, Thunderball, The Spy Who Loved Me, You Only Live Twice, The Man with the Golden Gun and For Special Services. Written between 1953 to 1982, these books have more or less extended the life of Bond in the literature while the character had already made it to the cinematic world with the release of Dr, NO.

John Gardener in the Post-Fleming Era

Starting from License Renewed, John Gardener played a huge role in bringing us the modern version of James Bond. Gardener’s period proved to of vital importance for the growth of the spy character who had been quite a great sensation for the novel readers. John Gardener strived hard to voice Bond in the form of popular novels such as Ice Breaker, Scorpius, Brokenclaw, The Man from Barbarossa, Seafire, Cold, Never Send Flowers and Death is forever.

Raymond Benson’s Services in Keeping the Character Alive

After Gardener stopped spending time writing for Bond, Benson took the charge and gave a new shape to the 1990s version of Bond. Benson was highly responsible for maintaining the presence of Bond in the world of novels as the favorite spy. Starting from 1997, Benson originally wrote books revolving around Boned like High Time to Kill, Double shot, Never Dream of Dying and The Man with the Red Tattoo.

The post-Fleming writers wrote more than Fleming himself but Ian Fleming’s novels couldn’t be outclassed by the writers who gave a new identity to Bond after the death of the said author. Despite their best efforts and affection with the character, masterpieces written by Fleming could never be replaced by the newer versions of the novel.

Surprisingly, when we talk of the films, Daniel Craig played a similar role as Fleming to popularize the character. In fact, to date, his wardrobe selection in the James Bond film series certainly the James Bond Spectre Navy Blue Coat has greatly represented the taste of fashion of the Londoner. While we talk a look at the novelizations, we get to find Goldeneye, The World is not Enough, Die another Day and License to Kill doing a lot better than the novels themselves.