Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good story, poorly written!, September 4, 1999
By A Customer
Although I must confess to having really enjoyed reading HTTK, it struck me that it was one of the worst written books ever. It reads like a teenager's english essay! Having said this it was probably the slickest, fastest moving, and most action packed Bond book of all time. This is proved by the fact that I finished it in just two sittings. All the essential bond elements were there but were overdone- the Jaguar's special 'extras' were ridiculous and the girls and fights were so frequent its a wonder Bond had any energy left for his mission! The story concerns itself mainly with introducing the Union(SPECTRE II!)in a way reminiscent of Flemings introduction to SMERSH in Casino Royale. The Union(with the help of an old rival of Bond's) have stolen an important British Military secret and Bond is sent to recover it. Overall Bensons latest effort pretty good but their is still much to be improved on!
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Benson's Bond Series Overview, August 25, 2001
By A Customer
As a long time 007 fan, I have just re-read all of Raymond Benson's Bond novels in the proper order and have some reflections on his entire series through "Never Dream of Dying." First of all, Benson is not Ian Fleming and readers should get past that expectation before beginning. He's not John Gardner, either (thank goodness!). That said, I believe Benson has come the closest to Ian Fleming of all the post-Fleming writers in that he has truly captured the essence of Bond's character and the universe in which 007 operates. It is a fantasy spy world, not based in reality, just as Fleming's was, but like Bond's creator, Benson keeps the main character very human. Benson's Bond makes mistakes, shows fear, feels pain, and is melancholy much of the time. At the same time, Benson has brought in many elements of the Bond film series (I have read an interview with him that states that he and the Ian Fleming Estate agreed that this would be the approach to take). Therefore, Benson's Bond is a mixture of the cinematic and literary Bonds, and for me, this works splendidly. I have seen some fans object to this or that but it seems to me that these fans are not getting past personal expectations. Bond is many things to many people. Benson, a long time Bond scholar and author of the excellent "James Bond Bedside Companion" knows his stuff. He has nailed the Bond character. Some have complained about his writing style. Benson is no Fleming, as stated earlier, but his style is succinct and easy to read. His books flow quickly and are highly entertaining. "ZERO MINUS TEN": Benson's first book has one of his best plots, but it suffers slightly from being a "first novel." His writing is at its weakest here, but that said, ZMT is a wonderful Bond story. It is very Fleming-esque with its Hong Kong location, characters like Guy Thackeray and T. Y. Woo and Li Xu Nan, and its descriptions of food, mahjong, and Triads. When reading ZMT, one is immediately aware that this is a harder-edged and darker Bond than perhaps what we are used to. For a first effort, it is very, very good. "THE FACTS OF DEATH": Benson's second book is more film-like, it feels like an EON Productions movie story. The plot is more "fantastic" in that it deals with a secret criminal organization called the Decada that is run by a crazy mastermind. The writing is improved, though, and in many ways this is a more entertaining book than ZMT. What is especially interesting is Benson's development of the "M" character and her relationship with Bond. "HIGH TIME TO KILL": My personal favorite of the bunch. This is a classic Bond novel in every sense of the word. The first half is fairly predictable cinematic-Bond stuff, except for a very Fleming-esque opening and 2nd chapter golf match. The second half, however, shows Benson hitting his stride and finding his own voice with a truly original departure from what is expected. As Bond and companions climb one of the highest peaks in the Himalayas, the action becomes more like an "Into Thin Air"-type story. It's authentic spy-stuff amidst an environment that is cruel and harsh. This is a thrilling, un-put-downable book. "DOUBLESHOT": Another departure from the norm, as Benson appears to be experimenting with the structure of a Bond novel with this one. The first chapter is the ending of the book told from the different perspectives of several characters. The rest of the story begins in the past and catches up to the ending, and by then we are hooked. In this story, Bond is not well, he is injured, he is not working at full capacity, and this is what is interesting. "Doubleshot" is the middle book of a loose trilogy (beginning with "High Time to Kill") and it is darker and more introspective than the others. Some fans apparently didn't get it, but in many ways, this is Benson's most courageous book. "NEVER DREAM OF DYING": Another great one, right up there with "High Time to Kill," in terms of glueing a reader to the page. It's an excellent plot, tying up the trilogy that Benson began in HTTK. In this book, one can see the blending of the cinematic and literary Bonds more than in any other entry-- a lot of the action is very movie-like, while the storyline and characterizations are more like the Fleming novels. The moods and settings are the best that Benson has done, and the love interest is perhaps his strongest. The real stroke of brilliance in the book is what the author has done with the character of Bond's father in law. A very engaging book. My five-star review is based on Benson's series as a whole. Each book may not be a 5-star book on its own, but I don't think any of them are less than 4. Benson has put his mark on the Bond literary series. Fans who don't like him tend to focus on one or two aspects of what he does-- his writing style, his dependence on the cinematic elements, whatever... I feel that they're not seeing the forest for the trees. In my humble opinion, Raymond Benson has brought new life to the series and I hope he continues the books a long, long time.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Bond keeps limping along..., June 21, 1999
By A Customer
I'm sorry, but one would have a difficult time convincing me that John Gardner was a worse Bond novelist than Raymond Benson. Gardner's best books--Death is Forever, Icebreaker, No Deals, Mr. Bond (in my humble opinion)--stand out from Benson's effort in a number of ways. Gardner admitted that he was more distant when he wrote Bond because it was not his character, and sometimes that wasn't bad. Some of the books were refreshing in that they were a kind of admission that Bond didn't have to save the world in every single book, but that he had missions where he was not central and where he questioned what he doing. Gardner's Bond seems weary in Death is Forever or in The Man from Barbarossa, and this is actually a good thing because it is believable. Benson clearly tries too hard to make us believe that he knows Fleming's Bond so well. He knows the books and the stories, but he cannot write Bond well at all. His prose is strictly amateur night, and he seems afraid to stray from anything Fleming did. Gardner was British, highly educated, he was an experienced and successful spy novelist and writer, he was even in the armed forces and knew some things about spies from the second world war. All of this is evident when you read him. He is way out of his league in terms of Bond and in terms of writing novels period. Gardner was far from perfect, most of his books were flawed, but he delivered smooth tales and he was a decent writer, which counts for something.
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