John Gardner - Licence Renewed

I will be honest. The only reason I picked up Licence Renewed was that I was ill and needed something easy. John Gardner was the author picked by Ian Fleming's estate and tasked with continuing the adventures of James Bond after Fleming's death. Gardner explains in the introduction that he wanted to bring Bond into the 1980s, and adds later that "everything provided by Q branch in this story is genuine". Readers might think this claim is rather laughable, particularly given Bond's reference to the "advanced Detectorscope" in the novel. A J-200 no less.

This comedy aside, the real reason for mentioning this is that the gadgets Bond uses, are constantly referenced by Gardner. Every few lines there's some clunky mention of a brand name, a model or some contemporary designer. One of Fleming's talents was that he could put Bond in an exotic environment and make him stylish, with oblique references and comments. Gardner lays it on with a trowel and it reads like an advertisment in the colour supplements.

Of course, this is the 1980s. And this, Gardner's first of the new Bonds, was on a mission in the shadow of Chernobyl, so his enemy is a nuclear scientist gone rogue. The fear of nuclear accident hangs heavy over this book, though the plot and the outcome is paper thin. Bond's love interest, the laughably named Lavendar Peacock is a stand in for every other Bond "girl". She's described as a young looking Lauren Bacall, which gives you some idea of Gardner's talents.

This Bond, greying at the temples, gadget rich and with a laughable enemy and ridiculously wooden henchmen is perhaps ideal for the 1980s. It was, however lapped up. Gardner's sequels were very popular - I know, I first read this as a teenager borrowed from Dad's shelf and loved it at the age of 12. Though oddly they have dated more than the originals. In this, Bond drives a Saab 900 Turbo - just Google a picture. The novels don't stand the test of time at all. Don't bother.

Related Reviews

O'Donnell - Modesty Blaise
le Carré - The Looking Glass War
le Carré - The Spy Who Came in from the Cold