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'Seafire' | Book Review | John Gardner's Soft Bond Reboot?
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- čas přidán 2. 09. 2023
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Can't help but notice the increasing note of despair in Calvin's voice as he progresses through the numbers of Gardner's novels
It's bad enough just experiencing the summaries from Calvin. Most of Gardner's books sound like they were churned out to meet a contractual deadline. It might have been better to hire a writer for 5 books and allow him to do something explosive with the character/timeline. Then a different writer takes over and everything is reset for another 5 or so books.
@@CaminoAir At the time 'reboot's or multiple continuities weren't really a thing and it needed to tie into the film continuity for the novelisations [hence Felix infamously getting attacked by sharks again]. Gardner said he was explicitly told not to use Bond's child with Kissy Suzuki as it contradicted the films [I'm surprised he was able to get away Bond getting engaged in this book]. The publishes also seemed happy with an author who could churn out a book a year [16 with Gardner, 9 with Benson]. Shame as your proposal would have been a lot better and could have gone in some interesting directions.
It’s almost over. Hopefully he’ll soon be enjoying something better.
@@aperson22222 Only two to go-light at the end of the tunnel!
Here’s Idris Elba in Bond 26:
I missed your recent live stream because I was at a wedding in Croatia but I downloaded it and watched it during the flight home. That was my in-flight entertainment and made the flight go by fast.
hope you can make it to the next one :)
Ahhh happy to hear you enjoyed it, Damien! Hopefully catch you on the next one. In October I'm thinking about going another card-opening stream :)
I know I have read the book, but going into this video, I realised I had absolutely no recollection of the plot other than the title Seafire and the name Maxwell Tarn, so thank you for the refresher. One day I really must revisit the Gardner Bonds to see if my opinions of them have changed over the years.
I can assure you, reading the Raymond Benson novels is such a relief after the far fetched plots of Gardner.
I think your series of Gardner book reviews are my favorite videos of yours. Your reactions & feelings on these books mirrors my own and it’s quite entertaining feeling your pain at times. I mean that in the best possible way. Also I truly admire you reading these books. It’s easy being a fan of Bond movies but being a true Bond fan means experiencing the books and not everyone does, particularly the continuation novels. So cheers to you Mr. Dyson, I applaud your devotion. Keep up the good work & all the best to you.
Thank you so much! I mentioned this in another reply as well but I'm really happy to read comments like this as I appreciate the Gardner books are very niche in terms of Bond but I made it my mission some time ago to experience every official Bond story ever and he obviously kept literary Bond going for a decade and a half 😅 but thanks so much, really. Very much appreciate the kind words!
I'd love you to do a 'live stream' where you do a reading of some of these Bond passages. I have a grin on my face every time it goes black and white and you've got the book in your hand in these reviews! Your nearly done with Gardner and thanks for the entertainment.
I remember reading the Goldeneye novelization as a kid and really enjoying it. I thought it was a great translation of that film to the page; and I think the structure of the story lends itself better to Gardner’s style than most Bond films would. It’s been about 25 years since I read it though, so I could be remembering it through rose-colored glasses.
I also think you are going to enjoy Raymond Benson’s novels. He captures a lot more of the “Fleming” feel than Gardner did.
12:08 While Michael France's first draft for Goldeneye was written in August 1993 the project was in a bit of flux [with Dalton leaving in April 94 and Brosnan hired in June] while SeaFire was written. I presume with the casting change for Bond, Gardner was aware they'd be refreshing the MI6 crew but it wasn't confirmed what they'd be doing before he finished the book [as filming didn't start until January 95]. Bruce Feirstein claimed having a female M was cooked up by Martin Campbell+ himself and he came on after Jeffery Caine and the uncredited Kevin Wade had done revisions.
Goes to show how much creative input Martin Campbell had. I wonder if Cubby would have allowed such a thing, given it was mainly a Barbera and Michael production thing who really let directors have a go at the scripts.
11:22 interesting, we'll have to see about that in the next book.
Out of interest Calvin, have you read many other 'movie to book' novels at all? i like reading the 'starwars' ones as they contain many elements and scenes left out in the films.
Yoda has BLUE SKIN and not green in the books???!!!!!
Funnily enough the Star Wars novelisations are the only other ones I've read! And that was many years ago now.
I enjoy all your reviews, but your book reviews are some of the most satisfying on Bond novels. I really cannot wait for your review on Cold. Will you be breaking out the Champagne?😂
I'm really happy to read that, thank you! These are admittedly quite niche in terms of the Bond canon so I'm happy that these reviews are still enjoyable to watch! And I wasn't going to but now that you mention it... A glass of Champagne with Cold sounds like a great idea!!
@@calvindysonDo you feel BOND 26 storyline should be based on Seafire Novel ?
Who should direct BOND 26?
Should Ludwig Goransson be the music composer of BOND 26?
Ah yes Felix's concern for Cedar working with Bond. Must be why he wrote him a letter saying "To an old friend, the gift of a daughter".
I have a soft spot for SeaFire. It was one of the few Gardner’s my library had so I read it numerous times as a kid. It is the most action driven Gardner novel in years and a welcome relief from his cliches if only for that aspect. I liked Flicka being a recurring character which hearkens back to Tiffany Case but didn’t like how her exit was handled though it was something that must happen.
Yes the book might still have some Gardner cliches and the overall plot idea is a bit simple but at least the story moves along without the baggage of previous Gardner novels. It’s still one of my favorites of his novels. Some of the moments are memorable and Bond feels more active.
I will conclude by saying: NOTHING prepares you for COLDFALL. NOTHING. It makes all of Gardner combined look not only preferable but completely without flaws. It is completely nuts and beyond perplexing that it’s as if you took random Gardner tropes, threw them into a blender and shoved the result into a multiple time period container that makes zero sense. Just keep in mind the UK version had a different title and was substantially cut down in page count.
Recently read this one. Liked the title and found it to be reasonably pacey. Main criticism: the plot of the seafire device thing at the end had no tangible bearing on the villain's fourth reich aspirations. Seemed utterly disconnected. Liked the villain's death though! Many thanks Calvin for your review! Nearly there!
I really enjoyed this book but I feel like you nailed it as the formula for what a bond tv show could look like in it episodic structure.
And surely _For Your Eyes Only_ had already done that better.
@@aperson22222 In fairness 'For Your Eyes Only' mostly consisted on single episode plots Fleming had cooked up for a Bond TV show which was never made [a couple ended up in the Anthony Horowitz novels] while this is more like a modern serialised streaming show with one long story over a few episodes.
It might not have been intentional (I think Gardner just wanted to bring in Microglobe 1, you'll see how succesful that idea was seen as being from how COLD works around it), but the next couple of books are an M transition period to reflect the films leading into Benson's "Write novelisations of unmade Brosnan films" remit.
Interestingly, I think you missed an even bigger intended cliffhanger at the end of this one than you did with the previous book, about the state of Flicka. That it might not be apparent it is a cliffhanger without knowledge of the next book probably says a lot as well.
Yeah, I see the Benson books that way too!
I do wonder if Gardner had to wrap things up the way he did partly to give Benson a fairly clean break or not to contradict the Goldeneye novelisation [I'd have loved Bond to turn Natalaya down at the end in Gardner's book saying 'I'm already spoken for'!].
I find it interesting that of the woman who Bond has a more serious relationship with-Vesper Lynd, Tiffany Case [novel], Tracy, Kissy Suzuki/Madeline Swan [the novel+ film mother of his child]-none are fellow agents or 'action characters' so it's interesting to see Bond as part of a 'Battle couple' [it reminded me of Ethan Hunt+Ilsa Faust in Mission Impossible or Sharpe's relationship with Teresa] although I agree her jealousy is overdone. I certainly think having more time over the two books made the relationship feel more genuine. It's a shame Gardner didn't introduce her a bit earlier in the run as how he wraps it up in Cold is...very disappointing
I have just read John Gardner's "Licence Renewed" many years ago (Twice) and I remember I enjoyed it a lot, and I would like to read more Bond novels from this author. Congratulations on your book and movie reviews Mr. Calvin Dyson. Greetings from Mexico 👏👏👍
I like your reviews of your James Bond books, you should do Young Bond for your review, because it focuses the origin of James Bond before World War II.
Calvin ,I recently watched the 1965 movie "the liquidator " its a bondeque spy comedy thriller. I think you should review it.
I had already been inclined to skip Gardner and move ahead to the recent authors and damn this review series has done nothing to make me reconsider that. Glad it’s almost over and our host can hopefully start experiencing something better.
I do look forward to these novel reviews hugely. Will you be continuing beyond Gardner?
I'm sure he's said he's planning on doing them all!
Certainly will! I already have the first few Benson's on my shelf and ready to go :D
Marvellous
I agree with you that SeaFire has a shake-up feel which I was very much ready for at this point. It did feel more energised, and it gave a bittersweet feeling: on the one hand I was glad to be enjoying myself with a Bond novel again, but on the other hand I knew it was the third-to-last Gardner book and the second-to-last original Gardner book - it just made me sad that it came so late in the day and we had to trek through so much dirge to get here. Just made me wish it had come a little sooner. I just had a feeling of "we've got some new energy at last! A pity it'll be gone so soon."
But yes, I love Flicka, and I love her dynamic with Bond. It has an air of Steed and Mrs. Peel about it, so as an Avengers fan maybe that's why I liked it so much. I know some fans might hate the idea of Bond now being part of a duo, but I thought it was an interesting shake-up and, hey, considering many of Gardner's more conventional Bond stories were kinda eh I was glad he was doing something unconventional. Again, I was happy to read it, but sad that it came so late in the day - I would've happily read more Bond & Flicka adventures.
Interesting you felt the book ended on a positive note regarding Flicka - I very much came away feeling she wasn't going to be OK. Rereading it, it definitely feels like Gardner left it open-ended so it could go either way - is Bond crying tears of sadness or joy?
I agree the MicroGlobe One stuff doesn't amount to much. It feels like Gardner just airing some gripes with bureucracy and corporate culture he had, and they get rather tedious considering Bond & Flicka have to report back after every part of the mission (which might explain why you felt the story felt so episodic). Indeed, the fact Bond & Flicka have to keep coming back to England instead of going from one location to the next ruined the globe-trotting feel of the story - it became more globe-toing-and-froing. I definitely got the feeling Gardner was gearing up for the new M that a GoldenEye novelisation would bring - I guess if EON knew they wanted GoldenEye novelised early on they would've kept him in the loop, they already had a relationship with him, after all.
My positive takeway regarding Bond and Flicka certainly left me a bit stumped when Gardner makes a veiled reference to her in GoldenEye! I spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about which Caribbean-based-Bond-Girl had been left without the use of her legs...!
@@calvindyson Come to think of it, I was originally sent an American edition when I bought a copy of SeaFire, which I eventually swapped for a UK edition so it would sit flush with the rest on my shelf. The American edition might have had a slightly altered ending, because I remember it being more definitive that Flicka wasn't OK. Then again, it was three years ago so maybe I'm misremembering, and since I traded it I can't go back and check. There's nothing about different versions online, but then the Gardner books don't have a huge amount of online coverage anyway.
Given Gardner likes to pair Bond either with an agent Bond girl or put him in a team it's a shame he finally found a good Bond Girl/Field partner for him when he was coming to an end [Bit like how Paloma was a fan favourite but turned up in Craig's final film so no room for a return]. You can tell this book was in the 'pre wide internet' stage as a lot of the 'back to London' bits could be done via computers and would have helped the pacing.
The music Calvin has playing here gives me Our Man Flint vibes. Makes me wish there was a Derek Flint book series.
Now that you're nearing the end of Gardner's run and heading into the Benson era, a heads up: definitely pick up the two omnibus editions of his books 'Choice of Weapons' and 'The Union Trilogy'. While a 800 page tome might be a bit unweildy for reading on the commute, I would recommend getting them as they are the only way to read the three short stories Benson wrote without having to track down decades old editions of Playboy and TV Guide.
I mean, 'Midsummer Night's Doom' and 'Live at Five' are, even by Benson's own admission, more lighthearted comedy pieces than serious thrillers (the former has Bond meeting Hugh Hefner at the Playboy Mansion, the latter has Bond getting it off with real life Chicago talk-show host Janet Davies). But are you a mad completitionist or not? Now that I've made you aware of the Bond short stories where he meets Hugh Hefner and where he gets it off with real life Chicago talk-show host Janet Davies, do you not feel compelled to seek them out?
For the record, the other short story, 'Blast from the Past', isn't a comedy bit, and is actually pretty decent. It serves as a sequel to 'You Only Live Twice' and does not feature Bond interacting with any real life figures. Also the version of BFTP in the 'The Union Trilogy' omnibus is the full version - when it appeared in Playboy they cut it for space.
Thanks for the heads up, BenCol! I indeed already have 'The Union Trilogy' and will scope of 'Choice of Weapons' next. They are quite the tomes for a commute but I suppose my calves will get a good work out after I lug them around for a number of months! 😂
@@calvindyson The Benson era is pretty good and IMO more solid then Gardner’s, but in hindsight they are, IMO, a small detour to what comes after which is Bond finally going back to the Fleming timeline.
@@spaceodds1985 Yeah, Benson's stories, while good, do feel more like he was writing Brosnan films in book form - even when they weren't literally Brosnan films in book form. The decision to take literary Bond back to the 50s/60s was a good one.
@@calvindyson Glad you got the omnibus for both the short stories and to save a few quid-you've spent enough on these books!
@@BenCol I do view Benson as 'Brosnan expanded universe' [helped by Benson writing those books for splinter cell etc] and it's fitting that the 'Die Another Day' novelisation was his swan song. They fit in better than Gardner's Bond with the film series [I can't picture Moore or Dalton fitting with 'his' Bond] but Benson also had to tie in his books with Fleming's canon [which by that time was 30-40 years prior] which is where they fall down for me and they made the right choice cutting the link between novels+ movies [only having Fleming's novels as canon] but can't wait for Calvin to get to them. 2024: The year of Benson!
I consider Sea of Fire as title for Bond 26. NTTD have Sea of Fire scene. Group aspect what i liked from QOS and i liked to see Greene and Camile return.
Max discripted as sort le chieve from CR and Dominic Greene. Greene was already sort of Ohmss Blofeld, Zorin, Graves and Carver.
Calvin, I have just read the Clive Cussler novel "Night Probe" - If you haven't read it, you Really should !!! I will not say why, but I think you'll enjoy it !!
1:46 “So he does have an Icebreaker with Tarn, I suppose” - better than having a No Deals, Mr Bond with Tarn, I guess
Sad to reach the end of the John Gardner books. We imagine Bond marries Flicka and when M passes he becomes head of MI6/MicroGlobe1
If Gardner didn't have to tie into the film series and could just end his canon before Benson rebooted it, that would have been a nice ending.
Calvin, thank you for reviewing the Gardener books so I don’t have to read them 😂. Love it he Goldeneye N64 soundtrack in the background too.
I find it funny that Flicker is jealous of Bond talking to other women. Wonder if we'll ever get a Bond girl who ends up becoming a yandere and she ends up being the true villain of the story
I've always found the ending to this somewhat uncomfortable.
Next up, the second and final Bond movie novelization by John Gardner: *"GoldenEye".*
God bless Calvin for reading these so we don’t have to!
5:00 Counterpoint- it's James Bond.
Of course he might sleep with any woman he lays eyes on.
The Bond-Silvia Trench relationship is implied to be casual [as she slips a wedding ring off in Dr No] but it is amusing that Bond goes from a date with her to immediately forgetting about her the second he's show Tatiana's picture! [In the book M asks if Bond is single before mentioning her but not in the film version!].
@@jamesatkinsonja Hi James. I must have missed that. Could you tell me where in Dr No she slips her Wedding Ring off?
@@davidjames579 I was going off Calvin mentioning it in the Dr No crossover with Bond experience but having rewatched the clips a slight correction-she doesn't slip it off on screen but you can spot it on her left hand when she's facing Bond at the table. She then tries hides it behind her coat and purse when chatting to him as he leaves the casino and isn't wearing it when she's playing golf in his apartment!
@@jamesatkinsonja Aw, thanks for looking into that! That's an amazing detail. It is interesting that he calls her Miss when he asks her name. But Bond def would have spotted the ring, which is a nice acknowledgement of his semi-permanent London entanglements only being married women. As they don't want anything more than an affair and don't make demands on Bond's all over the place schedule.
@@davidjames579 It is a good link back to the books in that regard. It was nice to have her in again to show 'Bond's home life' but they probably made the right decision dropping her after that and leaving the flirting to Moneypenny. There are a few reasons why I don't like the 'make Paris Carver instead Silvia Trench' fan idea [too niche and long ago to mean much to most of the audience, different actors] but it's such a casual relationship it doesn't really fit. Instead, you can easily see it burning out and both moving on after FRWL without either thinking about the other too much.
Hey Calvin, have you seen the Hello! story about how the late queen loved bond?
still here pierce!
I watched The Quiller Memorandum last night, would be interested to know your thoughts on it.
Awesome review
'...She thinks that Bond is going to cheat with literally any female that he comes across..." wherever could she have gotten that idea ?
We've gone from doublecrossers to doublecross-dressers... Yeah, always though this was one of the better ones. We're getting real close to the Benson novels now, and those are so much better
These reviews aren't inspiring me to read the Gardener James Bond novels!
Step 1: Provoke oil spill in the Caribbean.
Step 2: Set fire to oil.
Step 3: Put the fire out.
Step 4: ???
Step 5: Become leader of Germany.
Bond files usually describes Gardner's villain motivations/plans as 'for reasons that remain maddenly unclear'...
Germans love fires being put out?
Reichstag fire, but turned up to 11?
@@ofmanynicknames 9/11 x 1000
How about the Nick Carter books.
Ha-ha! You are in for a couple of surprises in COLD😀
Colonel Sun was peak continuation
Can someone give me a list of novels....and maybe Calvin could do a video of the best Bond novels to read that weren't written by Fleming? I have read some of the more recent one and would like to know which are worth reading. (I have read the Fleming books and Trigger Mortis, Solo, Carte Blanche, Devil may care, Forever and a Day.) I would like to read the older novels as well is just there are so many (like 60) that I would like to know which are the ones that I should read.
For me the only older non-Fleming book that's essential 'Colonel Sun' by Kingsley Amis.
The novelisations are mostly interesting from the differences between the film and the script if that interests you.
My general advice for the 'series' [Gardner, Benson, Young Bond etc] is check out the first one to see if you like them and if you do, continue until you give up! Maybe people more versed in those series can recommend specific entries. Calvin's review will probably be a better alternative to reading the Gardner ones! Hope that helps.
Did Calvin purchase a Pierce Brosnan Cameo appearance or was that just a random clip from an interview?
It's a clip from Esquire used to great humourous effect.
It's from a 'Goldeneye' watch along Brosnan did in early 2020 [during the initial Covid lock downs]. Calvin talks about it in a 'recapping 2020' video.
Interesting in SeaFire, Bond is on a submarine and kills Tarn in a Parahawk. TWINE anyone?
Be interesting for you to review COLD as it's story is set before Never Send Flowers and after SeaFire.
You've also got the villain's trophy wife who is killed like TND.
This might have nothing to do with the video but have you seen the new Fnaf movie trailer?
I loved seafire
Seafire is the only good Gardener title.
Sadly, I really feel the actual Bond movies have been turned into just a money-spinning anything-for-profit brand. Kitchen sink drama, every movie like a run-on episode, everyone gets killed off and classic main characters suddenly related to each other as if it's Neighbours not official Bond movies. Yes, profits have increased since the 90s but that is nothing to do with the writing and craft of these movies, it's purely the way the industry now works. Everyone I know went to see "Spectre" and "No, Time to Die" and they made vast profits...but not one of those people liked them, in fact nearly everyone i know hates those movies with a passion, even people who are just casual Bond movie goers.
Purvis and Wade should have been booted after TWINE, let alone DAD. Not a single clue why the producers seem to think they are good at all, let alone treating them, apparently, as if they're the finest bond writers ever. Total hacks who rely on the cheapest of the cheap tricks to get bums on seats and the franchise has clearly massively suffered creatively from them. Profits would probably have been even more eye-wateringly high had they got an actual good, creative writer in who really understands bond. P&W do not understand the character at all, they are so superficial and dumbed down soap opera-esque even when trying to do all this unnecessarily, drearily "dark and gritty" bs. Why has James Bond turned into scene after scene after scene of heavy exposition dialogue, repetitive speeches, bond behaving like a total loonatic who can never keep his cool (a basic component of the character!) and everyone's just visiting each other's houses like it's a lame tv show and not official James Bond movies dealing with the British Secret Service...they also seem to have forgotten than MI6 is a vast organization with thousands of employees, not just a little cheap drama between a handful of people who apparently do everything. It feels so small and weird and, ironically, more unrealistic than even some of the sillier stuff!
Purvis and Wade's main job on the Bond films is to get the story going for others to re-write them which is something Richard Maibaum and Bruce Fernsten did in the past. When they have got other script writers involved like Peter Morgan [Skyfall] and John Hodge [NTTD], they've not produced suitable scripts and John Logan ran into difficulties so Purvis and Wade had to be brought back in to put the projects back on course so there clearly trusted to put a workable script together before handing it over to other writers [in NTTD's case 4 other writers, 2 uncredited, worked on it after P+W drafts]. Given the script has many contributors [including actors preferences, ad libs on the day etc] I find it hard to pin blame/phrase on individuals without seeing there drafts unless they tell us specifics [P+W for example said there version of Paloma in NTTD had about 2 lines in there script]. The recent films have also gone back to the books and that often doesn't mesh with the classic film portrayal [the novel version of Bond after his wife's death has a breakdown for example].
Bond has always been a money spinner. Cubby took the series into space solely to cash in on Star Wars and that was a massive hit and while divisive the recent Bond's usually out earn the contemporary Mission Impossible film [This summers MI film earned much less than NTTD did]. I think the casual audience who aren't online all the time are often ignored in generalised statements as they watch the film once or twice and move on considering millions of people who saw the films in the cinema's/home media as negative comments tend to be the loudest and there is plenty of variety if you look [I heard a podcast recently where Bond came up and the presenter said he only liked the Craig films and disliked anything else while 'James Bond Radio' preferred Spectre to Skyfall].
Does Gardner just forget to mention Tracy?
After he's proposed Bond says Tracy was the only other woman he wanted to marry...before going through the other memorable Bond loves!
@@jamesatkinsonjaAh okay, thanks
@@jamesatkinsonja I hope he didn't say that to Flicka. "You're the only woman for me Flicka. But here's some of my Greatest Hits".
Spoiler alert, but this is the END of this Bond continuity. With the next two books, Goldeneye is out of continuity and Cold/Coldfall takes place before Never Send Flowers, the ending of Seafire is the finale.
The second half of COLD takes place after SeaFire - the injuries Flicka sustained during SeaFire are a huge part of the second part of COLD.
@@BenCol It's quite unique in being two parts set in different periods-maybe Gardner was inspired by Goldeneye's prologue being set 9 years before the main story!
@@BenCol ah ok, that makes a little more sense
we need to rescue calvin from john gardner
👍🏻
And the John Gardner novels continue to sound uninteresting....lol
Were they even interesting in the first place?😂
Goldeneye is so terribly written. There are parts where it feels like he has just copied and pasted chunks of the script whenever he got bored.
This book is very worrying for the future of Bond … a whole section about how much Bond hates Viktor Orban and is worried about the ‘far right’ absolute drivel …
Why bring up modern politics on a review of a book from 1994?
Is this the leftarded new James Bond novel that sees him as a tool of modern fascists?
Once again thank you for your service Calvin 😂