- Hardcover: 222 pages
- Publisher: Jonathan Cape Ltd; First Edition edition (4 Oct 1984)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0224029738
- ISBN-13: 978-0224029735
- Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 13 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,365,598 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Role of Honour (James Bond)
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Product Description
Book Description
Official, original James Bond from a writer described by Len Deighton as a 'master storyteller'.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
'People notice things and word around Whitehall is that Commander Bond is living a shade dangerously - gambling, the new Bentley, er ... ladies, money changing hands ...' Following scandal and his shock resignation from Britain's Secret Intelligence Service James Bond becomes a gun for hire; able, and willing, to sell his lethal skills to the highest bidder. And SPECTRE, it seems, are eager to have the disgraced British super spy on their payroll. But before he can be fully embraced by his new employer - and deadliest enemy - 007 must first prove his loyalty. And in doing so he must threaten with nuclear annihilation everything he has fought his whole life to defend. Until honour is fully restored ¿ Gardner's stunning reinvention of Bond secured critical acclaim and blockbusting sales around the world. Role of Honour, the fourth book in the series, kept 007 at No.1.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
bought one of every colour of these albums and will be coming back for five more soon. that says everything surely?!
Format:Hardcover
In an interview with 1990s Bond author Raymond Benson, Gardner stated that this was the one that gave him writers' block. In spite -or perhaps because- of this, Gardner powered through by reverting to a strong de facto depiction of Bond in the sort of early computer age thriller with which the writer was at home.
Story: 8/10. After the valliant misfire of Icebreaker, it's understandable but nonetheless laudable that Gardner throws so many Fleming nods into the mix on this outing. His contact at Saab had moved to Bentley, so the Mulsanne Turbo makes its debut. After thoroughly impressing to date the Silver Beast and its realistic gadgets are a miss, but Bond in a Bentley in Monte Carlo is an irresistable lure. Though you suspect not Gardner's first love, the casino stuff is classily handled; there's another twist in SPECTRE's story and a feel for the 1st time that Gardner's really got a grip on Bond.
Moreover, Gardner's own innovations are great: the mature plot gambit of putting Bond out in the cold and having him recruited by the enemy to commit cyber terrorism really works. The ASP is an inspired choice of firearm for Bond: he sticks with it for the rest of the Gardner books and you feel Fleming would've loved its idiosyncracies. The girls are convincing too, ably in control of their own destiny.
There are problems: even Fleming could grow languorous in extended briefing sequences and the computer stuff here particularly falls foul. Worse, it became so quickly outdated you were probably playing the war games at home by 1997 ("Command & Conquer" anyone?). Notoriously Gardner was banned from such a battle royale in the Bunker's Hill chapter in case of impinging on the feeble computer version in the film Never Say Never Again [DVD] [1983].
However, this doesn't diminish a strong entry in the series that earned itself a direct sequel.
Story: 8/10. After the valliant misfire of Icebreaker, it's understandable but nonetheless laudable that Gardner throws so many Fleming nods into the mix on this outing. His contact at Saab had moved to Bentley, so the Mulsanne Turbo makes its debut. After thoroughly impressing to date the Silver Beast and its realistic gadgets are a miss, but Bond in a Bentley in Monte Carlo is an irresistable lure. Though you suspect not Gardner's first love, the casino stuff is classily handled; there's another twist in SPECTRE's story and a feel for the 1st time that Gardner's really got a grip on Bond.
Moreover, Gardner's own innovations are great: the mature plot gambit of putting Bond out in the cold and having him recruited by the enemy to commit cyber terrorism really works. The ASP is an inspired choice of firearm for Bond: he sticks with it for the rest of the Gardner books and you feel Fleming would've loved its idiosyncracies. The girls are convincing too, ably in control of their own destiny.
There are problems: even Fleming could grow languorous in extended briefing sequences and the computer stuff here particularly falls foul. Worse, it became so quickly outdated you were probably playing the war games at home by 1997 ("Command & Conquer" anyone?). Notoriously Gardner was banned from such a battle royale in the Bunker's Hill chapter in case of impinging on the feeble computer version in the film Never Say Never Again [DVD] [1983].
However, this doesn't diminish a strong entry in the series that earned itself a direct sequel.
Format:Paperback
I'm currently reading all of the James Bond novels by John Gardner, and Role of Honour is certainly the best of the first four books (Licence Renewed, For Special Services and Icebreaker are the others). According to Gardner, he was ill when he wrote this and felt he had let himself down - I, on the other hand, happen to this it is a gripping read and I read it within 24 hours. The first hundred eighty or so pages are a bit slow, granted, with Bond being given a tutorial in computers. This being 1984, personal computers are called "micros". Without giving too much away, this novel sees Bond resigning from SIS, getting kidnapped and finding himself in many tight situations. The terrorist training camp in the middle of the book is a notable highlight. Mainly set in Oxfordshire, this is a terrific adventure novel and the late John Gardner wrote it - as ever - brilliantly.
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