or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
59 used & new from £0.01
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Moonraker (Penguin Viking Lit Fiction)
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book

Moonraker (Penguin Viking Lit Fiction) (Paperback)

by Ian Fleming (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
RRP: £6.99
Price: £4.49 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £2.50 (36%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Want guaranteed delivery by Wednesday, November 11? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
42 new from £0.47 17 used from £0.01

Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with Casino Royale (Penguin Viking Lit Fiction) by Ian Fleming

Moonraker (Penguin Viking Lit Fiction) + Casino Royale (Penguin Viking Lit Fiction)
Price For Both: £9.47

Show availability and shipping details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Diamonds are Forever (Penguin Viking Lit Fiction)

Diamonds are Forever (Penguin Viking Lit Fiction)

by Ian Fleming
4.5 out of 5 stars (2) 
Live and Let Die (Penguin Viking Lit Fiction)

Live and Let Die (Penguin Viking Lit Fiction)

by Ian Fleming
3.3 out of 5 stars (7) 
From Russia with Love (Penguin Viking Lit Fiction)

From Russia with Love (Penguin Viking Lit Fiction)

by Ian Fleming
5.0 out of 5 stars (2) 
Casino Royale (Penguin Viking Lit Fiction)

Casino Royale (Penguin Viking Lit Fiction)

by Ian Fleming
3.9 out of 5 stars (11)  £4.98
Dr No (Penguin Viking Lit Fiction)

Dr No (Penguin Viking Lit Fiction)

by Ian Fleming
4.5 out of 5 stars (2)  £4.48
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin; New Ed edition (26 Oct 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0141028335
  • ISBN-13: 978-0141028330
  • Product Dimensions: 18.8 x 11 x 2.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 10,316 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #2 in  Books > Crime, Thrillers & Mystery > Authors, A-Z > F > Fleming, Ian
    #26 in  Books > Crime, Thrillers & Mystery > Thrillers > Spy Stories

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

Product Description

At M’s request, Bond has gone up against Sir Hugo Drax at the card table, on a mission to teach the millionaire and head of the Moonraker project a lesson he won’t forget, and prevent a scandal engulfing Britain’s latest defence system. But there is more to the mysterious Drax than simply cheating at cards. And once Bond delves deeper into goings on at the Moonraker base he discovers that both the project and its leader are something other than they pretend to be …


From the Publisher

With a new introduction by Michael Dibdin.
See all Product Description
Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(2)
(1)
(1)
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Moonraker (Penguin Viking Lit Fiction)
81% buy the item featured on this page:
Moonraker (Penguin Viking Lit Fiction) 4.0 out of 5 stars (3)
£4.49
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
5% buy
On Her Majesty's Secret Service 4.0 out of 5 stars (1)
£5.22
Live and Let Die (Penguin Viking Lit Fiction)
5% buy
Live and Let Die (Penguin Viking Lit Fiction) 3.3 out of 5 stars (7)
You Only Live Twice
5% buy
You Only Live Twice 5.0 out of 5 stars (2)
£6.29
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Moonraker - A Five Star James Bond Novel, 20 Jan 2007
A true masterpiece from the creator himself. I've always loved Moonraker, but this reading, like all other previous ones, just got more enjoyable. I find the main location of this novel, and the only location, England to perfectly suit the dark and nasty story that lurks in this book, the pure mind of the villain, Drax, is clearly shown in Chapter 22, Pandora's Box, and it is shown off to a good extent. This story works with just one location, because it allows everything else to take first place in the story with great emphasis, namely the characters and the plot, which are key in Moonraker.

Yes, it's interesting to note minimal references to Die Another Day --

He suddenly decided to be ruthless. "I'm told that Five and Five is your limit. Let's play for that. -Moonraker, Chapter 6.

Let's play for this. I picked it up in Cuba, I believe it's one of yours. -Die Another Day

The character of "good old" Sir Hugo Drax is one of Fleming's best villains ever, pure mania driving his obsession with fury and his loyalty to the Moonraker project, and any scene with Bond antagonizing him is done very, very well. The description he gets during the card scene, and how Bond uses his deformities to anger him during his telling of his true identity is very effective.

Gala Brand, the woman who is just as apt as James Bond, a true heroine who fights the whole way with Bond for the cause, and whose frosty exterior quickly melts away as soon as she gets to know Bond, without the watchful eye of Drax, Krebs, and Walter. I find their golden day encounter to be a very effective chapter, with the swimming, bleeding flowers, and the cliff accident, that is exciting.

The card scene is pure magnificence, and is quite gripping to the the reader, seeing the tension building up throughout the entire game, especially as Drax realizes that perhaps Bond does indeed have an interesting hand. True villainy as Drax spats orders and insults at his partner, and gets his comment cut short as he loses. A very fine scene.

Overall, I think I enjoy the first two-thirds of Moonraker slightly more than the final third because I think it reads a bit more exciting for me, but the final third is still quite fantastic, such as the waiting for the pressure hose to finally reach Bond and Gala, and the countdown to the launch, all well written.

A true 5 star novel.

commanderbond.net
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
4.0 out of 5 stars Classic Bond if not simply the best..., 30 Jan 2009
By C. Green "happily low brow" (Faringdon, Oxon, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
Moonraker was the third Bond novel published and as I'm reading them in order its therefore also the third I have read. After Casino Royale and Live & Let Die I am starting to get used to the literary Bond as compared to his cinematic counterpart. Reading Moonraker I found that I no longer pictured Connery, Moore or any of the other actors who played the role as the Bond on the page. I also found this historial setting and associated anachronisms less jarring; I now subconsciously accept that these are period novels and have to be read in those terms. As a result Moonraker was a far more comfortable read for me, if that is the right expression to use, than either of its predecessors.

In terms of the story however, I found it less satisfying than either Casino Royale or Live and Let Die. After a bavura opening third that includes a fantastic scene involving Bond, M, Drax and a game of Bridge that is of a sort tha no contemporary author would even contemplate attempting, I found the rest of Moonraker to be just a tad predictable.

The fact that as readers we know ahead of time that Drax, despite his initial status as a national hero, is in fact a bad'un removes some of suspense from events. Even excluding that however, I found myself guessing the precise mechanics of the plot Bond eventually uncovers down to pretty much every detail well ahead of the characters on the page. The obvious nature of the hidden threat not only makes the story far less exciting but it also results in both Bond and Gala Brand appearing somewhat slow on the uptake, reducing their appeal as capable characters.

Add into the mix some events that stretch credulity even for a Bond novel (I'm thinking of how Bond and Brand almost come a cropper on the beach, which has to be the convoluted and potentially unreliable method of attempted murder I've come across in a while) and as a whole the middle third of Moonraker doesn't manage to suspend the reader's disbelief to the necessary extent. It isn't until the final act, when Drax's duplicity has been uncovered and the story can reach its explosive (if again predictable and a tad unbelievable) climax that the furious pace of events begins to make up for deficiencies in the plot.

So not the best of the three Bonds I have read so far but by no means a dud either. Despite some dodgy plotting the book has many strong elements. Fleming's gift for characterisation and description is very much on display. Recurring characters such as M, previously little more than sketches, are fleshed out in far greater detail. We are also allowed far greater insight into the life of a Double-O away from the individual missions he undertakes. Finally in Gala Brand Fleming comes up with a strong female foil for Bond and their relationship feels satisfyingly real even as events around them sometimes stretch credibility to breaking point.

I can therefore recommend Moonraker, and not just for Bond completists either. It may not hit the highs of some of the other Bond novels but it is still a great read and moreover will dispell any lingering memories of the sub-standard film of the same name.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars A bit disappointing, 15 Aug 2008
This is only the second Bond book I've read recently, the other being Doctor No (James Bond Novels) (Although I've read one, One Her Majestys' secret Service, I think, many years ago). It didn't live up to my expectations. It's a short novel, but the pace is still slow, and not until the last third or so does it become suspenseful. I liked Dr. No better than this one and I would guess there are other better Bond novels.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject











i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.