Licence Renewed [Hardcover]

Orion's 2012 reissue of Gardner's 14 continuation Bond novels (and 2 novelisations) is a great opportunity for fans who've only read Fleming (or maybe just Faulks or Deaver) to delve further into the back catalogue. I've taken the opportunity to re-read all of them and see how they measure up to memory. For those who don't know, after Fleming's death, the 60s saw Kingsley Amis excellent but poorly publicised Colonel Sun: A James Bond Adventure; the 70s had pulp author Christopher Wood's surprisingly good novelisations of 2 Roger Moore films and John Pearson's weird and wonderful James Bond: The Authorised Biography.

In 1981, Ian Fleming's estate decided Bond needed a big literary return. Gardner was a man with as fascinating a background as Fleming: theatre critic, stage magician and WW2 service as a Royal Marines officer specialising in explosives. He'd started writing swinging 60s Bond parodies but moved towards LeCarre-esque Cold War thrillers. If you think Faulks and Deaver were given big publicity, Gardner seemed to be everywhere: articles in The TLS and photoshoots with guns and cars apparently paid off, as the book spent months atop bestseller lists. Did it deserve it?

Score: 8/10. At risk of damning it with faint praise, it's solid: a 1980's take on Moonraker or Goldfinger with Bond insinuating himself into the plans of a UK based supervillain, Anton Murik. The plot is strong and stands up well (governments held to ransom when terrorists capture Nuclear powerplants), the execution as terrifyingly plausible as Thunderball. The Saab 900 (replacing the Bentley Mark II Continental) wins you over as a serious driver's car, with enough gadgets to make the battles interesting without giving Bond a get-out-of-jail-free. The OTT henchman, Ascot, MI5, plus books on disguise and pickpocketing are very Fleming.

Bond's updating isn't bad: in Gardner's early books he still smokes (bespoke low tar Morelands), while the Dom Perignon '55, Rolex and Sea Island cotton shirt all ring true. Despite claims to the contrary, Bond is portrayed as older (maybe late 40s?) and wiser; less cold but more full of himself; more of a professional spy than a blunt instrument. Gardner confessed later he never really cared for the character but here he takes the trouble to get right the self discipline, breakfast routine, exercise regime, love of particularity and old school manners.

It's not perfect. Gardner's a compelling storyteller but he doesn't have Fleming's raconteur voice, so longer descriptive passages can become bogged down in minutiae rather than salient detail. The plain speak dialogue and dry humour of old are lost for broader characterisation and flippancy that hit the SIS staff especially. The less said about Q'ute the better, while the emphasis on realism puts a disconcerting end to the Double 0 Section and the Walther PPK. A few elements are simply under powered: the drab opening, the insipid love interest, a villain who's a paler version of predecessors, and we spend too much time on Bond's comings and goings in the castle.

However there's lots to like here, with some great set pieces: the horse racing, night time car chase and the fight on the plane all appeared in the films. Action scenes, technology and locations are obvious strengths of Gardner's, while the prose in the later section in France is much better. Overall, a strong mission statement: not a Fleming pastiche but an entertaining page turner and a welcome return for our hero. His next, For Special Services (James Bond 2) was even better!

A lot of credit is given to Ian Fleming, creator and original writer of the famed super-spy of literary and cinematic espionage, but not much retrospective praise is lauded upon John Gardner, who wrote more James Bond novels than Fleming did between 1981 and 1996, and is in this reader's opinion, a superior writer.

Penning a continuation 007 novel must be just as daunting as any mission the world's least secret agent tackles himself, but Gardner wasn't completely without experience when he was asked to write the second Bond continuation novel (after "Colonel Sun", by Kingsley Amis a.k.a Robert Markham in 1969). He was into middle-age and a had wealth of published and acclaimed novels in his own right, most notably the Moriarty books, a trilogy of novels composed from the perspective of Sherlock Holmes's formidable nemesis.

On a strictly aesthetic level, Gardner had a much more relaxed style of writing. His Bond novels are still brimming with action, but there is a richer vocabulary there, a greater understanding of how language works, and a reader can languorously unwind in the certainty that they are in the company of a master storyteller.
"Licence Renewed" brings James Bond firmly into the 80s, but as per Gardner's original vision, the character hasn't aged much - despite a few grey hairs, perhaps placing him in his early forties - but has lived through the seventies and is a subject of the sociological advancements of that tumultuous decade.

Bond is faced with a worthy adversary in the shape of Scottish laird Dr Anton Murik, and his love interest is Lavender Peacock, but I will not give too much away. Needless to say, it sees Bond in Scotland, away from the more exotic nirvana of, say, the Bahamas, and the action is mostly set at Murik's castle, a menacing tower of bleakness. It's a terrific start to Gardner's series, a fine novel in its own right, and a thoroughly entertaining read.

Bond is back and at his woman-having, gun toating, experiencing torture best. There is all the usual things you expect from Bond, including odd looking villain, pretty girl in distress, etc etc. This is actually rather more action packed than I would normally like. Bond barely seems to pause for breath, but it is very well written and enjoyable to read. It follows on well from the Ian Fleming novels, so if you really liked them, I would recommend giving this one a try. Cor!