'Licence Renewed' Book Review | John Gardner Takes Over 007

[@ParumPirum]

Fun fact: Saab actually built a real, working James Bond Saab 900 Silver Beast complete with all the gadgets. It was bullet proof, had smoke canisters, hidden gun compartment and much more. They used it as a publicity thing, on auto shows as a fun thing. It ended up broken down and very heavy in a garage somewhere, was on sale around 2013 I believe.

[@RetroCarsForever]

The Saab was an AWESOME car at the time. Nowadays not as fondly remembered, but back then, it was a very cool car bristling with new technology, perfect for Bond.

[@RighteousBrother]

This is true!

[@generalilbis]

I'm truly curious to hear what Calvin thinks of Bond getting a Rolls-Royce Mulsanne Turbo a couple of books later....Gardner had Bond in a banker's car long before the films did ;)

[@johnrigs6540]

This was a major event when this came out! It was the first real “reboot” of the novels since Fleming so the idea of an entirely new set of 007 adventures was incredibly exciting for every Bond fan. This was very similar to the films with a little hint of Fleming so I thought it was actually a lot of fun for what it was-not great but a good start! The Gardner novels varied wildly in quality going forward-some excellent and some not so good but the early ones are among his best. I think you’ll have a good time with the next few for sure!

[@menkomonty]

Fun fact: My old primary school did a summer play based on James Bond where they had three kids performing as three different Bond's and they did a scene where they met Q and his granddaughter who was called Bibi, but was referred to as B. B&Q

[@ninjabluefyre3815]

In Primary School? I guess Bond films were rated PG in America for a while, but that seems kinda young for a James Bond stageplay.

[@BenCol]

Funnily enough, my sixth-form revue was a Bond parody called “Skyfail” and we made that exact same joke (except it was Q’s assistant who was called B). We also gave M an assistant called S (M&S, get it?) Yeah, I co-wrote that play. I think my finest writing was ahead of me, but I was 17 so that’s to be expected.

[@menkomonty]

@@BenCol Cool. My school's play of Bond also had Moneypenny change her name for a pun. I can't recall what the name was turned into but I know it was a pun on Eminen.

[@menkomonty]

@@ninjabluefyre3815 If memory serves me correct, we did the play when Die Another Day came out or was being promoted. Bond films in Britian have been rated PG (or 8 and over) until Licence to Kill which was a 15. Funnily enough though Licence to Kill is often shown on TV at around 3pm in the afternoon with a few scenes omitted yet all of Brosnan's and Craig's films are all shown after 9pm.

[@jonathancampbell5231]

B & Q. Where the working man goes for his gadgets.

[@BigMack1959]

I read the book when it was first published and thought Gardner had wrote it with a following film adaptation in mind. I've never revisited it so can't really remember much about it except it was an easy read but just as easily forgotten.

[@bubblejazzmav7252]

Hi Calvin. Just recently joined your channel with being a big James Bond fan. From what I have seen you are doing a fantastic job! I discovered the John Gardner novels by pure accident one day whilst thumbing through an old bookstore in Manchester. Over the years, I have collected and read all his James Bond books. I agree with most of the reviews on here regarding his run on the character. "Licence Renewed" I did enjoy. The story was strong and brought me back to his Scottish roots. The book being set in a Scottish castle created an ominous setting and his main villain, Anton Murik certainly made his presence felt as the story progressed. I found Lavender Peacock to be a bit weak kneed and annoying sometimes as she was more of an hindrance than a help to Bond. The Highland games scene along with Bonds fight with Caber was gripping and intense! And his finale with the nuclear power stations kept me on edge! Gardner certainly established himself with this tale, introducing a new car and weapons. I heard that Gardner had studied the live weapons used in the field by the FBI, CIA, DEA, etc to prepare for this book as well as scouting the locations before he began writing his story. I suppose his idea was to inject more realism into James Bond. This process of development I can respect the author for. I'd say the book was a strong debut and I hope you enjoy reading the rest of his novels. Great review by the way! Did you know that when he was originally approached to write the James Bond books he respectfully declined, stating that he did not like writing about a fictional character he had not created as he did not feel comfortable with this. Obviously, his publisher convinced him otherwise and said he would be crazy to pass on this gig! lol. Thanks for listening.

[@StewyAdamRules]

Of course Bond has a personal life, but the idea of him spending a weekend at a little cottage in casual wear is just hilarious.

[@sgwh2002]

If Bond has a day off, I’m fairly sure it goes something like - Ice cold shower of no less than 4 minutes. Scrambled Eggs and Black Coffee prepared by May. A visit to Anthony Sinclair for a new suit and Morlands of Grosvenor Street for his Macedonian blend with the three gold rings. Stoke Park for a round of golf with Tanner followed by some Vespers in the bar. Dinner at Blades with a bottle of M’s Infuriator and a hand or two of bridge. Le Cercle at Les Ambassadeurs for some Baccarat and more Vespers. Then home with Sylvia Trench.

[@DamnFoolIdealisticCrusader]

Thank you for tackling Gardner. It’s rare that fans get into the continuation novels and even rarer that they get to the earlier books. Gardner has gotten a really bad rap in the fan community for many years without most people reading the books. Unfortunately over my yearly rereads the flaws and drawbacks become more apparent than they were as a kid. LR is perhaps the strongest Gardner novel overall and it is really true his first five are his best. For Special Services is probably his most well liked. With Icebreaker he introduced a more pure spy thriller style he would return to in certain books. Even in the not so good books there are some good passages and sequences. I do really enjoy how he tried to modernize and humanize Bond for the 80’s but it is very likely Glidrose insisted he include some of the film elements as they did with Benson years later. As it stands the best of Gardner is still some of the best Bond continuation novels. But the later books usually can cross over into head scratcher territory. Death is Forever is a surprising bounce back but then Never Send Flowers and especially Coldfall are just perplexing. Coldfall in particular is a perfect 10 on the WTF meter and your review will be absolutely hilarious because the book makes no sense. Lastly I do have to make a point about the Saab Silver Beast. It often gets derided but among real car enthusiasts the classic 900 turbo and the older 99 are quite revered as pure drivers machines. They had the first fitted turbochargers and are built like a tank so it would make sense Bond would choose one as a his vehicle of choice for missions and personal usage. Plus it actually fits into a civil servants pay and is an interesting upgrade over the classic Bentley. By his fourth book Gardner puts Bond in the new Bentley turbo minus gadgets and it never is the same. I’ve been in love with the silver beast since childhood and always have wanted one. Also the Saab you’re thinking of is likely one of the later models once GM bought the company and made them build off of preexisting GM vehicles.

[@robashlicarrafa4876]

I agree with you completely about Bond's Saab! I more or less mentioned the same thing in my comments above. I was fairly young in the 80's, but I do recall a time when people were excited about the Saab 900. They seemed to think it was a pretty damn cool. By comparison, a Buick has long been labeled a "grandparent's car." I have never heard anyone say, "Gee, I would love to own one of them!" lol. And you are correct - Bond works like the rest of us. So owning a Bentley would be a serious burden for his pocketbook haha. I read Cold Fall a couple weeks ago. It was the first Gardner/Bond novel I read and I'm with you - it was a little bizarre. I had heard that Gardner lived in Virginia at the time he wrote the novel, and the book was said to pre-date the Sept 11 terror attacks, or feature villains springing a similar attack in Washington DC. It kind of sent a chill down my spine when I heard that, and I was thinking "what did Gardner know back then?" Did he get some kind of inside information from someone when he was researching his book? It turns out that Cold Fall has nothing to do with 9/11. People probably made that assumption by looking at the cover of the paperback. It has an artistic rendering of a commercial airliner with what appears to be flames surrounding it, and then a picture of the White House. That is why you never just a book by it's cover! I don't know about you, but when Bond returns to the Tempesta's estate, and he encounters Brutus B. Clay for the second time, I couldn't stop laughing at Gardner's description of the General ha ha. Maybe I'm cruel, but trying to formulate an image in my head from the description he gives - of him trying to walk down the staircase with two prosthetic limbs, his mouth moving like a ventriloquist's dummy when he speaks. It was too much lol. (I kept picturing Mason Verger from the movie Hannibal ha ha). And then Clay calling 007 "James Von Richthoffen Bond," and playing ring of roses around the mountains in the helicopters. I was probably most disappointed with the book ending without Clay ever trying to torture or kill Bond. If there ever was an adversary who's out for revenge, it would have been Clay! Gardner plays him up as being sadistic and crazy, a man who will shoot you, rather than look at you. Then, in the end, he is more concerned about keeping Bond (and Beatrice) as hostages and never makes good on his promise of making Bond suffer a slow and agonizing death.

[@davidjames579]

First time I heard the title of this book I thought it was a book sequel to Licence To Kill. I didn't find out till later it was published in 1981.

[@davidbull7210]

I just finished reading this tonight. There are a few small things in this book that may have inspired scenes in AVTAK and TLD. We have a scene at a racecourse, Bond's car has a head-up display and a villain falls to his death from the ramp of a plane.

[@LeonWick526]

There's no need to thank me for watching all of your Bond novel videos. The pleasure is all mine. I was so happy to see you finally read and review all of the Fleming novels.

[@RedKingdomWarrior]

My local library in Arkansas has most of the Gardner run of 007 plus his adaptation of "License to Kill." I like Gardner's prose and the way he presents Bond. There is a feel of him having changed over the time since "The Man with the Golden Gun" but there are plenty of elements that are familiar that crop up as time goes on. The story I'm most curious about you talking about is the aforementioned "License to Kill" adaptation. Let's just say it's the most jarring but, I felt, enjoyable adaptation I've read because of what Gardener does with the storyline. As always, another great review and analysis, Calvin!

[@calvindyson]

I'm super curious to see how his style translates to novelizing Licence to Kill and GoldenEye, two very different films...

[@BenCol]

I’m jealous - I couldn’t find a library near me with any of Gardner’s books, so I’m having to buy all of them. Which is a bit annoying, because some of them aren’t that great and I’m never going to read them again, so it feels like a waste of money. I mean, I’m buying them 2nd hand used, of course (thank god for World of Books), but still, that’s £2 a book down the drain.

[@kirk1701]

@@BenCol You can't do a cross library loan? I don't know if you're in the US or not, but there are services where you can check out books from non-local libraries (e.g. Link+) so you won't have to spend money.

[@BenCol]

MrKirk2019 Hmm, maybe. That certainly was a thing I could do at Uni. But I live in a small/medium English town, not sure my library system is that advanced. We only got automated withdrawal machines a few months ago.

[@samuelrux3880]

This was the first James bond book I had ever read. This lead me to the original Fleming novels , been addicted ever since!!!!

[@ThornOfSociety]

The chapter 2 description of Bond makes it feel like Gardner turned Bond into Bilbo Baggins. Also as you described the villain I pictured John Thaw(Morse) in the role.

[@argento2665]

Great video. I've read all of the continuation novels to date and although I haven't read the Gardners since the 90's, my perception is pretty much the same as yours. Gardner was a very workmanlike writer, without all of the literary flourishes of Fleming. They're not dull but most don't grab you like the Flemings. When you get to the Raymond Benson books (16 books from now ;) ), the writing takes a definite step up.

[@micahfarrington7116]

I read Licence Renewed as I tried to get into the post-Fleming Bond Books but the ones I’ve found that I can get into the best are the ones that are strong pastiches or uncanny imitations of the legend himself: Fleming. These books I’m referring to are of course: Colonel Sun by Kingsley Amis, Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks, Solo by William Boyd, Trigger Mortis and Forever and a Day by Anthony Horowitz. Raymond Benson I believe does a much better job of continuing from Ian Fleming than John Gardner who makes Bond totally his own. However that isn’t so bad: I’ve read parts of For Special Services and Icebreaker, I love the reintroduction of SMERSH and SPECTRE like the Daleks and Cybermen in Doctor Who.

[@shanebrunner4448]

I have read this book as well as almost all the Gardner books, halfway through Scorpious at this moment. Never talked with anyone else who has read them so it's great to hear someone's elses take. Your review and thoughts are exactly my own. I won't spoil my thoughts on how I think you are going to enjoy the series moving forward. Happy to hear I am not the only one who hates the name Q'ute, and trust me it will appear again.

[@holyagape]

Great review! I read this book a few years ago. It's a fun read, not amazing but a good reboot of the book series. It seemed to me that Gardner took Fleming's Bond and placed him in the parodic fantasy film world of Moore's Bond so both realities kind of collide, I guess to appeal to as many audiences and literary critics as possible. I'd imagine this means Gardner pushes the Fleming era missions forward in time from the settings of the 50s & 60s so that they can take place from mid 60s to 70s instead, if you grasp what I mean? So Bond has aged but not drastically.

[@edwardlane6361]

Very good review Calvin. I binge read the Fleming Bonds between Oct 2021 to January 2022. Finished the Gardner book this afternoon and agree with you that is is hopefully a bar setter. I liked the afore - shadowing similarities to A View To A Kill and the end fight on the huge plane had me thinking about Die Another Day even!! Felt he was a fairly faithful representation of Fleming's Bond too - just felt the book lacked a killer, fist pump the air quality. Still it's great to be reading Bond again.

[@Tracks777]

lovely content

[@scottbbt81]

So glad you’re covering the Gardner books, Calvin! As others have said, he is very hit or miss, but there are some gems in there - particularly the next book, For Special Services. License Renewed is serviceable but it does have s great title, one which I keep hoping EON will use as a new actor’s first title. Looking forward to the rest of these reviews!

[@davidkoukol6099]

I like the Gardner Bonds overall. I bought each one as it was published, and, like any creator's work, you will find the quality varies a bit here and there according to individual tastes. His first effort is not the strongest, but there are some excellent books later on. You will also find some story threads that continue from one book to the next as the series progresses, even though they are standalone adventures (much like Fleming). It will be interesting to see how you feel about subsequent volumes! Keep up the good work!

[@Matt.Pattinson]

Just finished reading it. I liked it a lot. It moved at a fast enough pace and kept me hooked throughout and I thought Murik was a pretty decent villain.

[@phazonlord0098]

Yeah, it's a Saab, but it's a freaking 900 Turbo, so I'm cool with bond owning this kind of Saab.

[@clifffor1179]

That's like having a jet engine on a Reliant Robin.

[@lifeschool]

Funnily, the Saab 900 had a much faster 0-60 time than the original S1 Lotus Esprit.

[@jakobholgersson4400]

@@clifffor1179 Not really. Saab was a very sporty and high-tech brand. They had won rally championships etc. The main issue is that they were forced to stick with FWD. It was high tech in the late 40's, but became a hinderance by the late 80's.

[@StewyAdamRules]

To be fair, he only drives sporty cars when they’re provided to him on missions and he probably isn’t making mega bucks. That’s my reasoning for anyone who thinks the Saab is weird.

[@Bond8789]

I like the Gardner books his first 3 are his best, and honestly, I prefer them to *some* of the Fleming books (Goldfinger and Diamonds Are Forever to name two).

[@EthanKnight97]

As one whose read all of the continuation novels. One has to accept there's only one Ian Fleming. With LR I enjoyed it, as it's easy read. I like the plot, Murik is like hybrid of Drax and Blofeld in OHMSS (as in proving he was a Count subplot) With the movie connections they will be surprising few of them despite Michael G Wilson saying otherwise. For example in SeaFire Bond is attacked by Parahawks and climax is in a sub TWINE anyone. The first few Gardners are the best though.

[@davidjames579]

Has Michael G Wilson said the Gardner books have influenced the films?

[@EthanKnight97]

@@davidjames579 The opposite, Wilson disliked them. But a lot what happens in Gardners books later appear in the movies, one has to consider this not to be a coinsidence.

[@RayBlake]

Agree the first few are better. You get the feeling that Gardner comes to dislike the project - and the character - after a while. And the Goldeneye novelisation is just dreadful; it's not just that his heart's not in it, but he seems to be actively trying to sabotage the work.

[@SuperWolsey]

@@EthanKnight97 Funny enough the books Gardner wrote come off stronger compared to the likes of Spectre and what to expect from No Time To Die

[@EthanKnight97]

@@SuperWolsey I'm have to agree...

[@michaelwright664]

Great work Calvin, looking forward to hearing you go through the rest of Gardner’s Bond books, I am still after a few ( so haven’t read all of them ) but Gardner did write a few good ones ( and of course a few clunkers ) keep it up 👍🏻 Mike from Tasmania 😀

[@dudleymq]

I read this when it first came out and also thought it bore more similarity to the films than Fleming. Coinciding as they did with Moore's aging Bond, I thought the Gardner books' portrayal of an older 007 worked nicely.

[@grantdavis5945]

I love Ian Fleming. I really enjoyed Colonel Sun it would rather read that then some of Fleming's weaker novels. I've also generally enjoyed the recent Bond novels from Anthony Horowitz. I'm really looking forward to hearing your opinion of the Gardner and Raymond Benson books. I've never read any of them. Based on what I've heard about some of the choices made, I don't think I would enjoy them that much. I'm curious to hear your thoughts and see if you can talk me into checking any of them out.

[@clsekkhs]

Thank you for this review. I grew up in the 80's when Gardner was writing the Bond books and I have always assumed they were good. But when I found a copy earlier this year and read it I was quite underwhelmed. I thought it was just me. I has not inspired me to read more of his Bond books. Looking forward to your reviews to see if they improved. Am on my 2nd Benson book and am finding them much much more enjoyable and Bondian.

[@derekmcintosh6925]

As a Bond fan and a firearm enthusiast, one of the things I did enjoy about Gardner overall was his attempt to not only modernize Bonds carry gun but also touched on Bond's military background and ties. I know it's a blasphemy for Bond to carry anything other then a PPK but if you know guns, the PPK would have been a poor carry choice for anyone in Bonds profession. I know Raymond Benson somewhat retconned this in his books but he did at least have a good reason. The PPK for covert carry and the Walther P99 for overt carry. I can wrap my head around that more then the PPK being Bonds primary gun no matter the situation. It's also something that boggles my mind about Craig's Bond as he started with the P99 and regressed to the PPK. I do think that Gardner eventually got it right with the ASP 9mm. That gun epitomizes Bond more then the PPK from a practical standpoint and I wish it would have caught on. I'm also of the opinion though that Fleming should have given Bond a Airweight 38 revolver like the real life Boothroyrd suggested though.

[@aperson22222]

I haven’t read any since _Colonel Sun,_ but I have been doing a little research to decide which books if any I still want to read. It seems Gardner, like many continuation authors, “updated” Bond for a new era. No thanks. I like the Cold War setting and intend only to read those set in that period. That means _Devil May Care, Solo, Trigger Mortis_ and _Forever and a Day._ I’m really looking forward to _Forever and a Day._

[@brenoramosmosso]

This book was written 4 years before the Chernobyl accident. The bandit's plan was to build an ultra-safe, accident-proof plant. These details make Jhon Gardner better than Fleming when it comes to research.

[@HandofOmega]

I still remember being so excited getting a copy of For Special Services...I was 10! 🤣

[@cvbelmont4766]

I've only read Icebreaker, Gardner's 3rd novel. It's probably my favourite continuation so far (only checked out Icebreaker, Zero Minus Ten and Trigger Mortis as far as post Fleming stuff) It's pretty gripping, constantly ending chapters with you on the edge of your seat. Hopefully you will get more out of it than License Renewed.

[@iandouglas805]

Good points about the lack of location description & excessive tech details!

[@garrick3727]

I remember my school teacher had a Saab when I was 10. It was a very distinctive and ugly car, and we had never even heard of Saab at the time. It came across as a very school teacher-y car. However, Saab's really tried to change their image, sort of going the BMW route. They had some damn fine cars. I bought this book, somewhat reluctantly. It was very readable, but I did not like it. I did not read any more Bond books after this.

[@jamesatkinsonja]

8:50 this is a reoccuring problem with Gardner's work. While Fleming is cinematic, Gardner is very TV and by-the-numbers unfortunatly for me

[@ravingrays248]

I love the novels I laughed that you regard the Saab as an old man's car here in america the Saab 900 was expensive even used ones nearly 40 years old still cost a pretty penny.

[@golrush007]

I've enjoyed all of Gardner's novel, but his first two have never been amongst my favourites. I think it was with Icebreaker that Gardner hit his stride, and had a very good run with the next few books that came after that, with Nobody Lives Forever and No Deals, Mr Bond probably being my two favourite Gardners.

[@skylongskylong1982]

John Gardner, best character is Boyse Oaks, which are a fantastic read. If you like a some humour in your spy books.

[@thebookbond]

I read all the Gardners as they were released. Reading License Renewed in 1981 was one of the things that made me a James Bond super fan. I just loved it. And would you believe me if I told you I bought a Saab 900 Turbo a few years later? Well I did. Best car ever.

[@vinex19]

As somebody who read all the currently published books, I would recommend The Union Trilogy, best works besides Fleming I think.

[@jamesatkinsonja]

11:28 lol, never expected him to come up unless you decied to review 'Never say Alan Again'

[@donaldwolpert6356]

I have read this hard cover and several of the following Gardner-written Bond novels. It received a LOT of coverage in the several periodicals, producing great anticipation for a new Bond adventure after so many years. I went through the book with a feeling of nostalgia as when reading a Fleming novel I haven't read before. Bond had the vertical scar on his right cheek, comma of hair over his right eye brow, and a scar on the back of his hand received during the "Casino Royale" story. The several books following, they no longer mentions these characteristics of Bond. I felt that Gardner was playing a little "safe" in his first Bond project, to see what form of reception it will have. (Gardner does try to "stretch his legs" more in later stories. The Saab most likely was a response to the "oil crisis" which was about to end at that time (1981). There was a campaign against smoking and "Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD)". So Bond was slowly being weaned of both vices. Overall, I did enjoy this novel. It was pretty straight forward, not venturing into the bizarre.

[@brenoramosmosso007]

I think this is the best book. Sounds like the start of Mission Impossible 2.

[@DrMattaconda]

I read a number of the Gardner books about 15-20 years ago. I mostly enjoyed them for what they were, but I definitely recall this first one being on the bland side and difficult to get through. I also found it difficult to not picture Roger Moore's Bond in my head while reading Gardner. He seems to like writing Bond with a more humorous bent.

[@billlucas4675]

Murik and Mary Jane Maskin were not married. She was his "assistant" Licensed Renewed was published years before "A View to A Kill' and The World is Not Enough" premiered.

[@MovieGuy1998]

Licence Renewed was pretty boring. Anton Murik was a good villain, but as you said: too silly! i don‘t care much about him driving a Saab, because even Brosnan was driving a BMW in most of his movies. Now i‘m reading For Special Services and the book started very well!

[@michaelsterckx4120]

Remember the book was written in the early 80s , by a writer in older middle age, and his observations of a middle aged Bond were humorously intended. I remember reading it at the time, enjoying it as a throwaway , but that was all.

[@Tadicuslegion78]

I've read the few my library system had in stock, overall I think Gardner was clearly writing James Bond with Roger Moore in mind/trying to balance the Ian Fleming grit with the movie camp. And, at least for a couple I think he managed to have a Bond that fit well into the 1980s. Honestly if I was someone who was going to be making Bond Films after Daniel Craig, I'd consider at least scanning the post fleming novels from Gardner, Benson, etc just to find ideas that could be updated into a 2020s James Bond because Gardner and some of those other authors did come up with decent ideas that could be fleshed out.

[@markjone671]

I recall being really excited back in the day at the news that there was going to be a brand new Bond novel after so long and I have to admit, I quite enjoyed it. No, it wasn't quite Fleming and it was nowhere near as good as Colonel Sun but I did have fun with it. You could see what Gardner was trying to do and over 14 novels, he was very hit and miss. My absolute favourite out of the 14 was Icebreaker but by Scorpius he did appear to be running out of ideas. You will find as you go through the series that Licence Renewed wasn't the only Gardner book the films seemed to lift ideas from. Gardner receives a lot of negative criticism but I do have to say in his defence that in comparison to later literary contributors to the Bond legacy, Gardner's take on the Bond villains is the most Flemingesque of all the writers that came after him. I would be hard pressed to remember the names of the main bad guys in any of the more recent Bond novels but Gardner's villains I can remember, Marcus Bismarquer and Count Von Gloda etc, wonderful megalomaniacs one and all. The Gardner novels do vary wildly in quality, particularly toward the end of the run but there are some good and entertaining ones in amongst them. Hope you find something in there to enjoy Calvin.

[@PungiFungi]

I often think Elektra King had shades of Nena Bismarquer..

[@jimthar17]

Love the poster in the back. The movie posters one. Just added it to my Amazon list. The one WITHOUT NTTD on it.

[@Octopussyist]

I am back to reading the novels again and have just proceeded to read the continuation by John Gardner. I think it is great how he is also brought ahead in time - a dull more anonomys car, OO agents not politically correct any more etc. In some of the first Ian Fleming Bond stories he is in fact a quite inconspicuous person.

[@NelsonStJames]

Can't wait till you get to the James Bond comics that Dynamite is doing, because some of these are actually very good.

[@TrocaTheNero]

As a Swede I'm forced to like the fact that Bond drives a Saab.

[@DoctorQuackenbush]

I read it and had it until we has a house fire. I had forgotten about the Gardner novels. I did enjoy your Colonel Sun review. I had that as well.

[@terrancelayhew5931]

I’ve read a couple of the Gardner novels (not this one), and wasn’t terribly impressed. Looking forward to the reviews of the series, maybe it will spark interest in picking up one or two of them again.

[@colinlaws8399]

I read this book in the 1980's and it worked, however I am gearing up for a re read/listen from Casino Royale onwards. . . .

[@jordanlee5445]

Can you do a review of the Bond books by Anthony Horowitz?

[@MrHEC381991]

Hey, at least her name wasn't Dixie Normous.

[@BenCol]

Been waiting for this one! • First off: I don’t mind Bond wearing casual trousers - I’m not expecting him to always be in a suit or tux. But please, Gardner, use the word “trousers”. Don’t use “slacks”. Ugh, I just hate that word - it just sounds so uncool, nobody can be stylish wearing “slacks”, and Bond’s supposed to be stylish, damn it! • While I’m only up to ‘Death is Forever’ with Gardner, from my experience his best and worst Bond days are beyond ‘Licence Renewed’ (‘Nobody Lives For Ever’ and ‘Scorpius’ respectively, IMO). But then his best days are akin to an average day with Fleming at best. • Gardner’s Bond lives in a strange halfway house between Fleming’s Bond and film Bond: sometimes he has that Fleming toughness, but other times he becomes a rather genial fellow and it feels rather pastiche. For instance: there’s a bit where he’s at Ascot, see’s the royal family, and is “stirred, as ever, by the inspiring sight of tradition”. Like, Fleming’s Bond is patriotic of course, but that’s layering it a bit thick. Similarly, when Bond sees his bed at Murik’s house, he instantly recognises it as a “Slumberland 2002 Sleepcentre”, and is inthralled with all its high-tech bells and whistles, and it just doesn’t ring true as a thing Bond would care so much about. Worth noting is that, before this, Gardner’s main claim to fame was a character called Boysie Oakes, who was a comic Bond send-up in that everyone around him thinks he’s a tough Bond-like action man, but is actually a cowardly, coddled mother’s boy (or so I’ve gathered - never actually read it, or seen the film adaptation with Rod Taylor and Jill St. John, but that’s the general gist I’ve gathered from reading the Wikipedia page). • So, final thoughts: perfunctory start for Gardner, there’s some exciting action (the escape from the castle and the bit in the Spanish town are notable highlights) but really nothing more than perfunctory. Interesting to read as a curio, but probably not one I’ll be returning to.

[@EthanKnight97]

Your on Death is Forever. Got the spider sandwich part yet?

[@BenCol]

William Southall Nope, only three chapters in.

[@EthanKnight97]

@@BenCol Oh...I won't say more on that then. Which Gardner book is your favourite so far?

[@BenCol]

William Southall Don’t worry - Orion Publishing’s token object on the cover already told me spiders were involved somehow! As for my favourite, I’d have to pick ‘Nobody Lives For Ever’ - the SPECTRE manhunt game is a neat idea that allows for a lot of nice suspense and tension. ‘Icebreaker’ and ‘No Deals, Mr Bond’ I thought were pretty good too. Least favourite has to be ‘Scorpious’. It’s fine for the most part, but the ending was just so rushed and unnecessarily bleak, it annoyed me that I had wasted my time reading it. Yourself?

[@EthanKnight97]

@@BenCol I mentioned before the first few Gardners are the best ones. My favourite is Nobody Lives Forever too, closely followed by Icebreaker. The NLF plot I really like, and could of been if they wanted be the plot of No Time to Die and Rami Malek fits the description of Tamil Rahani. I do also like Scorpius with the crazy Meek Ones cult, but I agree the ending was weak. Least favourite The Man from Barbarossa that's so BORING!!

[@boblowes]

A Laird is pretty much a Lord of the Manor. It's also hereditary. Chances are, given the size of the Bond family home in Skyfall, that 007 is a Laird himself.

[@johnmoore2910]

It’s been over two decades since I read this. I’d be curious to go back.

[@iamskyfall]

I'm currently reading Licence Renewed. I've read 2 Gardner novels previously, For Special Services (which I hated) and Icebreaker (which was okay). I'm more or less neutral on LR at this point, but I also hate the name Q'ute. Just embarrassing.

[@Niala8419]

Many of Gardner's choices were very odd. The SaaB, the tetchy relationship with M, M being childish etc, M was never like that, Cute (Ann Reilly). The nomenclature for criminal organisations! The Meek Ones in Scorpius. Bonds alias of Jacko B. in No Deals, Mr Bond. The over description of meals. Fleming did make a literary fuss over Bonds food, but Gardner took it to ridiculous levels! I could go on... In fact when I read all the Alan Partridge books and Podcasts I can't help think that Steve Coogan and the brothers Gibb have read a lot of Gardner. The way that Gardner repeats things when describing them can be excruciating at times. And if I had a pound for every time Gardner used the phrase, 'voice cracked like a whip', well I'd have a few quid. Fleming uses this phrase a couple of times but JG seems to use it in every book! Your comment about ITV here is spot on. JG was total ITV drama. He needed someone to proof read and revise in a much stronger way than he had. So he was let down by his publishers IMO. Another point to note is that he was up against Fredrick Forsyth during his period of writing. FF was a much better thriller writer IMO. But I'd also state some of his books have not dated well. Maybe the lesson learned is don't employ fuss pot right leaning Tories as novelists! Another thing both these authors used to make their characters bang on about was using public phones and the fact that=t they weren't vandalised!

[@jonathancampbell5231]

The fight on the plane sounds like it might have influenced Die Another Day and The Living Daylights, the latter particularly since even though the bad guys' plan is foiled Bond still infiltrates his home to take him out afterwards.

[@JGordonAuthor]

Gardner set his timeline as if Casino Royale and the rest of Fleming was set in 1960’s-1970’s instead of their original setting; the same for Benson moving the Fleming timeline to 70’s-80’s.

[@ErikHollander]

Hey Calvin, love watching your ranking videos. I am a graphic designer, and huge Bond fan. Have you ever considered doing a ranking of the bond movie title font treatments? (Branding) I’d love to see that, if you do. Thanks!

[@robashlicarrafa4876]

I thought License Renewed was a decent novel. I had previously only read two other Gardner Bond novels (Golden Eye & Cold Fall), so, in comparison to those, I thought it was a very thorough and well-researched book. I really can't offer an opinion on how well Gardner's work stands up against Fleming's, as I've only read a couple of Ian's novels. But I enjoyed License Renewed. I thought giving Bond the Saab was a bold move, and it worked. For a personal automobile, I think it is way more practical than a Bentley or an Aston Martin lol. After all, Bond is a working man like the rest of us and a Saab was more in his price range. And, you have to keep in mind, the Saab 900 was a trendy car in 1981. It certainly wasn't a grandpa car back then (I'm not sure how many turbo charged vehicles are haha). So, Bond owning a Saab in 1981 makes sense. Plus, Gardener had to put a bit of his personal touch on the 007 character, just as he did by retiring the Walther PPK. It sounded like Bond chose to have his Saab modified because the shake up in the intelligence service - such as the elimination of the Double O agent and the license to kill - put an end to Q Branch providing field agents with their famous tricked out spy cars. And I don't think Bond officially became 007 again in the book. The government had officially abolished that role in the early 80's (according to Gardner). M referred to Bond as 007 off the record, and Bond was never officially reinstated. M chose to use his own discretion to decide when a situation required a "blunt instrument" to be inserted in the field. I'm not sure why Bond owning a cottage didn't set well with you. I mean, we're talking about a grown man (and a batchelor, to boot) who still has a housekeeper lol. I think Gardner added the cottage to give readers the impression that Bond was maturing a but. Getting older. Laird is basically lord, pronounced with a Scottish accent. The two words are interchangeable, except laird isn't a title of nobility. It just signifies the owner of a large estate in Scotland. Speaking of accents, I loved the dialogue Gardner gave Murik's main henchman Caber haha. He sounded like a total rube lol but, as far as henchman go, I thought he was one of the more formidable and intimidating ones that Bond has faced, both in novel and film. One critique I have is that I wished Gardner would have had Bond beat Caber fair and square when Murik had the two square off at his version of the Highland games. Bond should have had some kind of special training in martial arts or hand to hand combat that would have prepared him to defeat a foe who relied on brute force, as Caber did. You are incorrect about Mary Jane Mashkin - she was not Anton Murik's wife. The actual relationship they shared wasn't very clear at MI6 and it was never truly revealed in the book. Murik referred to her a couple times as a close associate, and they may have had a friends with benefits situation going on, but she was clearly inferior to him. I had a hard time picturing Murik in my head while I was reading the book. Since he was supposed to be Scottish and he was egotistical, ambitious, and ruthless in nature (and Gardner mentioned him having bird-like movements several times), I envisioned him as the human embodiment of Flintheart Glumgold lol. The main adversary and business rival of Disney's Scrooge McDuck lol.

[@Rmlohner]

I read the first three Gardner books in high school, after being a huge fan of the movies (at that time, The World is Not Enough was the latest one). I really enjoyed them all, but I do wonder how much of that was due to just being a dumb kid, as I've definitely gotten more discerning and critical since then.

[@JohnStanworth]

I'm enjoying your reviews. Can I suggest one of Never Send Flowers?

[@JAMES49442]

I read the novel and just thought no one can write a Bond novel except Ian Fleming.I skipped most of these reboot novels. It's not James Bond.

[@neiljones1938]

Anthony Horowitz's recent 2 Bond books are rather good. He's doing a 3rd.

[@andrewstorm8240]

What car would Bond drive today?

[@pauljohnson271]

Keep up the good work! I loved the Horowitz books and look forward to hearing what you think.

[@bryan-po8dn]

I remember reading this when I was a teenager thinking that a Saab was not a very Bond car.

[@advancedrebel]

I'm not as familiar with the Gardner novels as I am with Fleming's. But Murik's does talk about an inevitable nuclear catastrophic event. In a way. Gardner through his creation anticipated ne Tchernobyl disaster. Good luck with the next one.

[@jonathontrejo5427]

License Renewed is interesting if not a bit off kilter. Oddly enough it does remind me of a Hayao Miyazaki 1970s Red Jacket Lupin the Third plot even The Castle of Cagliostro with Lavender Peacock being a secret rightful heiress and the villain knowing all the long trope.

[@NASCAR511]

Imagine how good of a game 007 Racing would've been if it included Bond's Saab

[@chrisnorman9980]

I slogged through a lot of Gsrdner Bond books starting with the newly released License Renewed hardback in the early 80s. Made it through six or seven (?) of them - hoping they’d improve - but - alas - they really never did. I guess it’s like with multiple marriages - “the triumph of hope over experience”. Leaden and over-complicated.

[@SuperGrumpyDaddy]

Great review. I gave up with Gardner after the second book, For Special Services, ugh! Didn’t like they way he tried to have literary and cinematic Bond in his books, just didn’t work. And those names! Oh god! Q’ute 😳🤢🤮. Looking forward to your next review - oh and wait till you get to the novelisation of Licence To Kill 🤯 WTF! SAAB actually made up a car for this book, which I actually saw at our local Fair Week . . . but an effing SAAB?!

[@SuperWolsey]

Though Bond was in his early to mid 40s by the time of MWTGG, Octopussy/Living Daylights, and Colonel Sun

[@andrewpragasam]

Excellent video as always Calvin. Quick question: are you planning to review The Rhythm Section. Seeing as it is a rare non-Bond production from EON?

[@andrewpragasam]

@Abc Def Yes it was. But it could still make for an interesting video. Examining why EON chose that particular script for their first non-James Bond venture since Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Were they hoping to launch a franchise? Did Barbara Broccoli just really like the story? There are some interesting questions that could be tied to the Bond films.

[@BenCol]

Andrew Pragasam Don’t forget ‘Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool’ that was also an EON Productions production. Came out in 2016 I believe.

[@trevor-johnsen]

I really enjoyed the book and a lot of Gardner's stuff. They do feel repetitive by the end of Garner's tenure. The Saab, i can only assume - was somewhat considered to be a marvel of automotive engineering at the time, so he probably thought it was a whitty choice. I thought it was a cheesy idea at first, but the saab has grown on me...

[@joeyfiuza]

5:49 Mary-Jane Mashkin is not the wife of Anton Murik. She's maybe his mistress and it is a big "maybe", even though wikipedia affirms it, you'd be hard-pressed to fidn a positive proof of it. When Murik talks about her, it is to say that she is a capable scientist who has worked with him for a long time. So, she is something between a henchwoman and a colleague. Just read it and in my view, it is an average book. Bond is also described as a "staunch monarchist", which seems strange to me because I cannot recall Fleming being so clear-cut about his character. The other thing I noticed, is that Bond is debriefed. Again, I cannot recall a time where it happens in Fleming's books and even if it does, it must not be that significant as I cannot remember it. The last chapter is awful. We are told that Bond thinks Lavender is "Quite a Lady". Why ? As it is said in this video, she is random and almost bland character. And this story about giving the land to the right heir and such, it is just so not Bond. Why would he cares about other people properties or money ? And I do agree with you about the "inheritance subplot". Furthermore it has no impact on the story as a hole. The interesting points though are all the ideas that have been borrowed by the films, notably by A View To a Kill, The Living Daylights and maybe even, The World Is Not Enough. But in the last case, it is a bit pushing, I reckon.

[@MrSuperphil]

Been years since i read all the Gardner novels. Remember this one being one of the worst. They get better and more interesting as they go on.

[@BenCol]

Yeah, I’ve found the more interesting his main plot hook, the better the book (for instance, SPECTRE’s organised manhunt game in ‘Nobody Lives For Ever’ is a great hook and leads to one of his best books). His attempts to write conventional Bond stories often fall flat.

[@MrSuperphil]

BenCol yeah think that one was maybe his best.

[@king60142]

Your opinions on gardeners bond novels will be interesting to know Raymond Benson bond novels are very good

[@Betta66]

13:53 The start of the film?

[@bartman999]

2:40 He drives his Saab to his cottage and puts on sandals? Does he wear them over his socks with shorts???

[@sandr6769]

Ironically, the SAAB being a stereotypical, boring old man's car is a great idea for Bond. Whenever you'd see Bentley or Aston Martin, you turn your eyes, but Saab is just somewhat low profile with the muscle, good car for a spy. When I think about it, I would see Bond in a Ford Sierra Cosworth.

[@ricardocantoral7672]

Gardner's books are only good for toilet paper. His stuff can't even be called a poor imitation of Fleming. More like weak Tom Clancy.

[@deanpurdie4010]

Just finished reading Licence Renewed and am planning to read or re-read all the Gardner books since my first run in my teens a couple of decades ago. It does feel a bit bland and underwhelming. The resolution to the terrorist crisis is "offscreen" with only M's exposition and guess as to what happened. That's a very odd dramatic choice. Quite why Murik was doing what he was doing was never satisfactorily explained - the book hints at him proving the other experts wrong for intellectual vanity but then he just wants ransom. We did not get enough of Bond's inner monologue for my liking. So a mediocre start but, from memory, there are a few better ones to come from Gardner - but also a few duds too. It will be interesting for me to see whether my memory of the good, bad and indifferent Gardner books holds. My general recollection is that Gardner's default was mediocre and his set pieces rarely stuck in the mind.

[@Jnensrevenge]

Speaking of goofy 80's tech stuff; In Role of Honour Bond has to learn how to code BASIC. The whole book is very cringy, espacially because it's predecessor and follow-up are kick-ass adventures.

[@RonanLynch]

Two words: Lavendel Peacock. And now I'll watch the video.

[@kirk1701]

The only one I've read from Gardner was "Brokenclaw," and I found it lacking...a lot. Overall, I haven't heard good things about the Gardner run.

[@kirk1701]

@Abc Def Thanks, and edited! Yes, you're correct. (It's early in the morning, heading to work on the train. I'm still waking up...lol) Too, I must have had donuts on the mind, or the KFC donut chicken sandwich I had yesterday that I won't be having again.

[@MarvellousLookingBeggar]

I'm surprised by how positive you are towards Gardner on your first introduction, although I don't think that positivity will last. For me Gardner was the writer who never met a plot contrivance he didn't like. As the series went on the plots became very formulaic to the extent that I can't remember what happened in some books, any of the characters or what scene came which novel, a problem I never had with Fleming. As others have said Gardner is very up and down in his quality.

[@BenCol]

Yes, I got to the point reading them where, whenever I began one of his books, I would ask myself: “So, which good guy is really a bad guy, and which bad guy is really a good guy?” Because those are the only two twists he knows.

[@kyletitterton]

Man it sounds really silly. I liked Devil May Care. Only non Fleming book I ever read.

[@adoptedlobster9900]

Do you like Alan partridge

[@jamesatkinsonja]

Gardner did gender swapping characters before the film series did! Though we've had a female M and a 'de facto' male Moneypenny [Villiers in Casino Royale] but not a female Q as yet [though Black Panther's Shuri is like a female Q].

[@dannymacgyver]

I disliked early Gardner to be honest though I got into bond novels through Benson ironically enough