Casino Royale is awesome. And I was also very surprised that the movie kept a lot of the plot.
The books start getting real bad at some point. I had a feeling it was because Flemming was writing them just as movie fodder, though I never checked the chronology.
It’s interesting, Casino Royale and Live and Let Die were the first two published in 1953 and 1954, then the first adaptation was Casino Royale as a 1 hour drama for television in 1954.
Moonraker - 1955
Diamonds are Forever - 1956
From Russia, With Love - 1957
Doctor No - 1958
Goldfinger - 1959
For Your Eyes Only - 1960
Thunderball - 1961
The Spy Who Loved Me - 1962
All of that would be done before the first film, Doctor No, in 1962. Filming was January to March and it released in October.
The Spy Who Loved Me released one month after filming completed but before the premiere.
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service - 1963
You Only Live Twice - 1964
Posthumous publications, Fleming died in August, 1964:
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - 1964
The Man With The Golden Gun - 1965
Octopussy and the Living Daylights - 1966
The first book is interesting… it has the typical Bond setup… here’s your mission, your exotic location, and your beautiful assistant… and Bond goes:
“A woman? What are you sending a woman for, she’ll only get in the way.”
(!)
I was surprised!
Book Bond is a much more textured and vulnerable character than movie Bond is generally allowed to be.
He’s also much more of an utter prick.
Casino Royale is awesome. And I was also very surprised that the movie kept a lot of the plot.
The books start getting real bad at some point. I had a feeling it was because Flemming was writing them just as movie fodder, though I never checked the chronology.
Wasn’t Casino Royale the first novel to be published? It might have just been that he was new to writing, and not thinking about movie rights.
I meant that the first book and at least some more were great. Then the quality of the writing did a nosedive for whatever reason.
I highly recommend reading Casino, though not the full book series.
Ahh I misread, my bad. Does the book also have the parkour chase sequence?
It’s interesting, Casino Royale and Live and Let Die were the first two published in 1953 and 1954, then the first adaptation was Casino Royale as a 1 hour drama for television in 1954.
Moonraker - 1955
Diamonds are Forever - 1956
From Russia, With Love - 1957
Doctor No - 1958
Goldfinger - 1959
For Your Eyes Only - 1960
Thunderball - 1961
The Spy Who Loved Me - 1962
All of that would be done before the first film, Doctor No, in 1962. Filming was January to March and it released in October.
The Spy Who Loved Me released one month after filming completed but before the premiere.
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service - 1963
You Only Live Twice - 1964
Posthumous publications, Fleming died in August, 1964:
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - 1964
The Man With The Golden Gun - 1965
Octopussy and the Living Daylights - 1966