Customer Reviews

License Renewed

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

 

 

John Gardner's first James Bond novel is outstanding, a magnificent achievement!

He has completely revitalized Bond. The worldly agent that Ian Fleming created is back here to stay. Bond is an even more dangerous and brilliant on these page than he ever was! He puts his life on the line and lets it role!

The villain, Anton Murik Laird of Murcaldy, is an enduring version of the classic Fleming scoundrel. He is a worthy opponent, for the new daring do Bond.

Gardner definitely has something of substance to add to the Fleming library.

James Bond enters the eighties in "License Renewed", John Gardner's first Bond book. Although Gardner's novels have had a fair share of criticism, "License Renewed" is a good read and fairly exciting, as Bond goes up against a madman who also happens to be a nuclear physicist. Although not a perfect book (the requisite Bond girl is a little bland), it is a good one, and a wonderful way to pass the time while waiting for the next James Bond movie to come out.

The literary James Bond (who is, by the way, VERY DIFFERENT than the celluloid Bond) had not made an appearance since 1968's 'Colonel Sun' (the only Bond title written by Kinsley Amis who took over for Ian Fleming's master spy). Fleming created Bond and wrote 14 novels (his last: 'Octopussy & The Living Daylights') was published in 1966.

Much had changed since 1968, and the 80's brought upon a cultural revolution of chemical excess and sexual conservatism. How would Bond fare now - how would he evolve and reappear in 1981?

I'm glad to report that 007 makes a very solid debut!

English author John Gardner was given the torch and he certainly showed that he could carry it, and then some. His writing style is very similar to Fleming's with his description of Bond's adversaries, character development and own cultural revelations (i.e. dress, food, etc.): subjects Fleming wrote about in earnest. Sure Bond doesn't party like he used to, but his relationships with women hadn't changed. Fleming's Bond was not the master conquestor that he is in the films, and he's not here either.

This is quite surprising as the film Bond was all about overblown and overproduced missions, gadgets and locations.

The story centers around nuclear holocaust, and the main antagonists are Dr. Anton Murik (a nuclear physicist), Caber (Murik's bodyguard), Mary Jane Mashkin (Anton's mistress), Franco (a hitman), and Lavender Peacock (who may or may not be on Bond's side).

The closest this Bond comes to the theatrical one, is in his love for cars and gadgets. This Bond is much more gadget-friendly than the 60's Bond.

I'm not too sure why this book gets ripped on here at Amazon, but Fleming was not a fast-paced writer and nor is Gardner. They both are more interested in solid character development and don't procure too many crazy stunts or situations which are plentiful in the movies.

There are many "can't put it down moments" in this one such as the passages where 007 wrestles Caber, Bond's stay in Murik's castle, the fashion show, and the plane ride near the end.

I found the book to be very enjoyable, and Gardner did a great job of taking Bond into the 80's while still maintaining continuity (grammatical and narrative) to the 60's novels by Fleming.

Welcome back 007...we missed you!!

Previous book in the series: COLONEL SUN - 1968.

Following book in the series: FOR SPECIAL SERVICES - 1982.

The Fleming estate milking Bond for all he's worth. It should tell you something the Eon Productions owns the film rights to these books but has never used a one of them. Want a new Bond novel? Sorry, the only guy who knew how died 47 years ago.

In 1980 John Gardner was commisioned to take over the James Bond series after the famous spy was in a 12 year hiatus. The result was published the following year called Licence Renewed; The title couldn't have been further from the truth. Gardner was reluctant from day one to even take on James Bond; A series he thought simply stuck to rigid formula. This sorry excuse of thriller brings James Bond into the 80's by completely discarding Fleming's character entirely.

James Bond in this and all of Gardner's books shares nothing in common with Iam Fleming's Bond; He spouts one-liners in the vein of Roger Moore's Bond but the novels seem to have more in common with Timothy Dalton's tenure. However regarding this specific novel, his life style changes are rather irksome. His health consciousness takes away from his character as man who has vices in order to relieve himself from the harsh reality of his work. Another unfortunate sign of the films creeping into the books is lame suduction of the girls he encounters, they are as hollow as Roger Moore films with a variety of stupid names.

The main plot of this trite novel centers around a nuclear physicist Dr. Anton Murik. His motivations are entirely inane. He wants to prove that current nuclear reactors are unsafe by publicly hijaking them so they can meltdown so everyone could adopt his "Ultra-Safe" reactor. So what could he be proving other then possible lax security standards ? There is also some boring side plot involing his ward, Lavender Peacock, and his title as Laird of Murcaldy. Murik suffers the same problem of the later day James Bond film villians, they have no motivations the audience could sympathesize with. Fleming's best villians were driven by motivations anyone could see was important to said character, Auric Goldfinger's near sexual infatuation with gold and Sir Hugo Drax's disgust of English people. Anton Murik is simply a cookie cutter character with a lame motivation; He wants to have safe nuclear power plants around the world, so what ?

The rest of the characters in the book are right out of a bad Bond script. The henchman Caber is another muscle thug. The old Fleming regulars are mere shells of what they used to be, no longer leaving an impersination on you but just boring extras in the 007 universe. Gardner dosen't even get the girls right. A new character is introduced named "Q'ute", the female equivilent of Q from the films except that she is a nerd and entirely forgetable. Anton Murik's wife Mary Jane Mashkin is the only character that actually shines, especially during that high-frequency torture scene, but is quickly killed after revealing her true colors. The main Bond girl with the idiotic name of Lavender Peacock shares little chemistry or time with Bond but nevertheless, Gardner made sure to do the Bond checklist without regarding character.

Kingsley Amis, John Gardner, and Raymond Benson were all poor substitutes. Stick to Fleming's work.

John Gardner's first James Bond novel, "License Renewed" is outstanding, a magnificent achievement which reinvents and updates the incredible literary world created by Ian Fleming. John Gardner has completely re-postured Bond for a much tougher world. The worldly agent that Ian Fleming created is back here to stay. Bond's adversaries are even more dangerous and brilliantly evil as inspired by Fleming's earlier works. Bond in response to these evil doers puts his life on the line and lets it role! The villain, Anton Murik Laird of Murcaldy, is an enduring version of the classic Fleming scoundrel. He is a worthy opponent, for the new daring do Bond.

This book ranks high and even higher than some Ian Fleming novels. 007 battles the Laird of Murcaldy with the help of his girl and Q'ute. A novel that can't be missed. John Gardner succeeded with this book.

First off, I appreciate how this book came about. The films were in the middle of the Roger Moore era, which was the most lucrative to date. The clamor for "MORE BOND" was never higher. And I believe John Gardner was a true fan, not just of Bond but of original author Ian Fleming. But man, did this effort take a left turn into sheer silliness.

Understand this, if you are a fan of the original James Bond book series, starting with Casino Royale (James Bond Novels) and ending with The Man with the Golden Gun (James Bond Novels) then do not read this book. You will be sadly disappointed. The James Bomd that Gardner writes about has no resemblance to the Ian Fleming character. However, if you are a fan of the Roger Moore version of JB, and assuming you actually read books, then you will probably love this effort. I'm in the first group. I loved the Fleming novels (except "The Spy Who Loved Me" which I still have no idea what Fleming was trying to accomplish with that one). The JB he wrote about was a sullen, brutal, and tragic character who was one of Her Majesty's Secret Service's best assassins. Starting with Casino Royal we see him always successful but almost always having to pay a personal price for that success, whether it's the suicide of Vesper in "Casino Royal", the killing of his new wife at the end of "Her Majesty's Secret Service", or even his sanity at the end of "You Only Live Twice." And guess what, he never wisecracked or depended on gadgets. The series was a true literary classic.

Gardner's character, as I mention before, seemed to have been written to match the Roger Moore version. Although maybe less flippent, still too refined, and two dependent on gadgets. The plot here in this book actually isn't too bad for a cold war spy novel. A little above average. But it's not to be confused with Fleming's Bond by any stretch of the imagination.

Again, I would only recommend this to those who think the Moore era of Bond flicks was the best. The rest of us, stay away, way away!

Action and adventure are the factors that make the James Bond franchise so successful. In License Renewed, John Gardner has created an original novel that combines all the essential James Bond elements, including an abundance of action and adventure, into one exciting story. The actual plot of the novel has enough exciting twists to keep the reader interested, while the characters are very well crafted in order to convey a sense of realism. The villains in particular are effective in involving the reader in the story. Also, the fact that the character of James Bond is portrayed so effectively adds tremendous support to the action packed storyline. With License Renewed, John Gardner has succeeded in translating one of film's greatest franchises into an equally exciting novel.

John Gardner's first James Bond novel is a complete failure on all fronts.

He has completely taken all the life out of Bond. The worldly agent that Ian Fleming created is nowhere to be found in this novel. The nauseating scent of smoke and sweat of the casino are absent. Bond is reduced to drinking Perrier water!

The villain, Anton Murik Laird of Murcaldy, is a weak version of Hugo Drax. He is an unworthy opponent, even for a watered down Bond.

Gardner's style as a writer is about as dry as a billiards table. Being dry isn't necessarily a bad thing. He's just plain flat-out boring and stating that he even has style is a bit of a compliment.

Gardner is no Ian Fleming. That statement goes without question in my mind. However, it is an unfair comparison. If he had copied Fleming's style everyone would shout, "copycat!" If only Gardner had come up with something innovative yet retained the qualities that Fleming had endowed on his character and injected into his "world of 007."

The only successful successor to Fleming was the late Kingsly Amis with his only Bond novel "Colonel Sun." He could have been called a "copycat" of the Fleming style. Amis however, was a fervent Fleming aficionado and his novel was more in homage to the author.

Gardner just does not have the Fleming connection and that will work against any author who tries to pick up where Fleming left off.