Customer Reviews

Man from Barbarossa (Windsor Selections)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

John Gardner's Bond novels received pretty mixed reactions from Bond fans, and I can understand people's disappointment if they read his books expecting a big adventure like the Bond movies or the original Fleming novels. The majority of Gardner's novels don't follow the standard Bond formula. Rather than have Bond investigate some billionaire whose planning something evil, Gardner frequently has Bond embroiled in complex espionage plots and pitted against assorted communist agents and terrorists. And instead of describing food and locations in minute detail, Gardner gives details of real-life intelligence agencies, weapons, tradecraft, and the political climate of the time.

All of these elements are especially evident in The Man From Barbarossa. Bond is reluctantly assigned to an operation run by the KGB, along with Israeli and French agents. Posing as a camera crew set to film a mock war crimes trial, their mission is to infiltrate of the high echelons of the Scales of Justice, an underground group responsible for spreading a wave of terrorism across the crumbling Soviet Union. Of course, not is all as it seems, and Bond unravels a plot by a rogue Russian general to seize power in the Kremlin and supply Iraq with nuclear weapons on the eve of the First Persian Gulf War, as well as wipe out Washington, DC. Along the way, Bond confronts traitors on his team and a battalion of Russian spetsnaz.

There's very little action in this book, and it all comes at the end of the book. But Gardner still weaves a complex and intriguing plot that slowly unravels and reveals itself through the three hundred pages. While holding the reader's attention, you'll also never really be quite sure where the story is going next and will keep turning the pages to find out what happens next.

On the downside, the characters are not particularly well drawn out. The problem is that there are probably too many characters crammed into too small a book. Most characters simply aren't given enough time to develop or stand out. This is due mostly to the structure of the story. characters come in for a section of the book, then disappear for a large chunk of it, before being re-introduced.

Don't read this book if you're expecting an action-packed James Bond adventure. You will be disappointed. However, if you want a complex Cold War espionage/political thriller (which happens to have a character named James Bond) along the lines of Craig Thomas, then you can do a lot worse than The Man From Barbarossa. Icebreaker; No Deals, Mr Bond; Win, Loose, or Die; and Death is Forever, also by John Gardner, are also worth checking out if you like that type of thing. For more traditional Bond stories, stick to License Renewed and For Special Services.

Let me just start by saying that I'm a big James Bond fan. I generally enjoy the movies, and I've read all of Ian Fleming's original novels. So when John Gardner started writing James Bond novels, I was thrilled. However, they never quite held my interest the same way Fleming's stories did. After reading the first few of Gardner's contributions, I simply stopped reading James Bond novels. So, when this book came to me, I decided it might be worth taking another look at Gardner's version of 007.

Unfortunately, The Man from Barbarossa left me with a continued lukewarm feeling. This book is long on exposition, and more than a little short on action. Bond remains passive through much of the book, while the events unfold around him. While the ultimate crisis described in this story certainly has potential as a first class thriller, the initial elements surrounding the kidnapping of the war criminal and the operations directed towards uncovering the "Scales of Justice" simply don't build up sufficient suspense to move the story along. While the plot might make for an intellectually challenging puzzle, that's not what I expect from a James Bond story, and so I'm left feeling a bit disappointed.

Amazing! THE MAN FROM BARBAROSSA is full of wild action-packed stunts and action. James Bond is forced to fight against a secret group called The Scales of Justice who want to control Russia and wish to film an legal trial of a spy. If you're searching for thrills, this is the book for you. It is fulled of action, and the besat part is when James Bond fights the men in the house. Disagree with the one and two stars and go for the five, You will be happy with results if you read John Gardner's best. Others best include the action-fulled ICEBREAKER, NO DWEALKS MR BOND and COLD FALL and BROKEN CLAWS.

I have no complaints about this transaction whatsoever! Arrived on-time and as advertised online! I would purchase again from this seller!

This book is a departure that I think failed. It is a Bond story with very littl action and lots and lots of boring dialog. If this was your first exposure to a Bond novel, don't give up. Read some of the original Ian Fleming books and have a ball.

If you want to read a good book, do not read this. All James Bond does in it is walk around Russia wearing Mukluks. The book could have been made a lot better if it had some decent action scenes in it to sustain it, but all it has is a part where James Bond rolls over the bonnet of a car and stuffs up his shoulder, a short gun battle at a chalet in Russia which is hardly worth mentioning and a final skirmish in my home town of Baku, which is at least some violent relief for us. The plot makes no sense, as do some characters that change sides later on in the story. Why? Why?

Why did John Gardner bother to write this book? There are only 2 action bits that I can think of, one an extermely filmsy one where a guy tries to run him over, and the final skirmish in Baku. Apart from those the rest is just boring. Anyone who reads this would probably be put off reading James Bond for life when there are much better ones by Ian Fleming and Raymond Benson. The only Bond book that might be worse is Ice Breaker. Do yourself a favour by not reading this.

Reading this book was a long haul. There wasn't much action until the last 50 pages or so. I think this tale would have been better served as a short story. As a novel, there was a lot of unnessessary padding in order to streach it out to 300 pages. The villian was introduced late in the game and was a bit underdeveloped. A plot thread that was introduced at the last few pages would have made a better book that the plot Gardner presented. I did find it interesting that the story was tied to the Persian Gulf War. It was neat to learn what Bond was up to at that time. Gardner has done better with OO7. This is a book that will be read by compleatists who must read every Bond book. Everyone else can skip it.

Following the very disappointing BROKENCLAW, here Gardner gives us a different Bond story--one with very little action, lots of plot, and yet, a real page turner. This is certainly one of the most political Bond stories, and it is concerned with issues in the headlines at the moment (or from 1991), namely the Gulf War and also the shaky state of the former Soviet Union. The story concerns a free-lance terrorist group--The Scales of Justice--demanding the trial of a former Nazi SS officer largely responsible for a massacre of Russian Jews in Barbarossa during WWII. They claim to have the real man, but meanwhile the French Secret Service have captured another man whom they believe is the criminal. An agent of Mossad--the Israeli Secret Service, a Russian KGB official, James Bond, the French Secret Service, and various other spies all engage in a plot to unravel The Scales of Justice. What they uncover is an ambitious Russian general with plans to sabotage the crisis in the Gulf War by sending a nuclear strike among other things to the United States. There is a lot of plot and very little action--pretty much all in the next to last chapter or so. And yet it is very carefully laid out by Gardner, who doesn't give us an unbelievable love story nor a completely ridiculous ending as he did in the preceding clinker BROKENCLAW. In BARBAROSSA Bond finds himself confused about his role in the mission, and he also finds that a number of the people around him are not who they seem. One of the best elements is the way Gardner weaves an exciting tale involving elements from real-life modern stories and situations in the world--the Gulf crisis and impending war, the state of post-Communist Russia and quests for power. There are a number of intriguing characters and some great scenes, such as M receiving the news that 007 has been killed. Bond is not the central figure all of the time--he finds himself neck-deep in a complicated web of intrigue. The writing is certianly an improvement over BROKENCLAW, as! is Bond's relationships with the opposite sex here. Some may be disappointed by the greater presence of story and by the fact that action takes a backseat, but give BARBAROSSA a chance indeed. It is very well written, tightly plotted, and frankly very exciting. Do not disparage the name Gardner when it comes to Bond. Although this is more of a solid thriller and less of your typical BOND story, it is a welcome addition to the canon.

In this action and intrigue packed adventure Bond works with a Mossad officer, K.G.B. officers, and a sexy French D.G.S.E officer to stop a Communist hardliner from taking power in Moscow and helping Iraq during the Gulf War just before coalition forces are about to move on Iraq.