Ranking the James Bond Novels

1992

Diamonds Are Forever opens, appropriately enough, with a diamond-smuggling operation in Sierra Leone. From there (like Live and Let Die), it's mostly contained to the United States as Bond goes undercover to suss out the smuggling hierarchy. Mud baths, jockey intimidation, and vintage train chases ensue. This book has some of the coolest setpieces yet, particularly scenes at the horse track and the surreal Spectreville. Also, Felix Leiter comes back, this time sporting a shiny new hook hand. Neat.

Ian Fleming, 2012

Fleming sends Bond back to Jamaica after he narrowly survived the events of From Russia, With Love (Bond, not Fleming). What M pitches as a recuperative vacation in the sun soon turns deadly (as these things do when you're 007). Meanwhile, the eponymous doctor rules over an isolated island kingdom and is rumored to have a dragon. When a couple representatives from the Audubon Society don't return from said island (this book's kind of all over the place once you see it typed out like this), Bond goes to investigate. Locale aside, Dr. No feels like a spiritual cousin of Moonraker, where it's mostly Bond trying to figure out just what the hell is going on with this enigmatic supervillain. The island scenes are imaginative and fun, if not particularly plausible (even by Bond standards).

Ian Fleming, 2023

From Russia, With Love feels both like the quintessential Bond book (so far) and weirdly disjointed. For the first time, the novel leads not with 007 but rather ten chapters from the villains' point of view. The protracted opening sees SMERSH planning to assassinate an English spy (guess who) via a reluctant honeypot. The structural changeup works well and it's nice to see Bond facing off with the Soviets after banishing them to the periphery in the last few books. But then the second act is Bond adventuring through Turkey, the SMERSH plot largely forgotten. Fleming eventually brings the two strands together, and the final showdown is probably his best yet (even if the clandestine train ride feels derivative of Live and Let Die). Notably, this was one of JFK's ten favorite books; I don't know what to do with that information either.

Ian Fleming, 2017

It's always interesting to see the genesis of such a legendary character, particularly in regard to the changes over the last 70+ years. The 007 in Casino Royale isn't jumping out of planes or punching out dudes atop trains, but he does drive a Bentley really fast. Le Chiffre is less theatrical than ensuing Bond villains (the movie tacks on a crying blood gimmick) but is suitably arrogant and hateable. We also get introduced to cool characters like M, Felix Leiter, Vesper Lynd, and Mathis. Plus, not for nothing, this book teaches you how to play baccarat.

Ian Fleming, 2024

The Man with the Golden Gun is the final Bond novel, published after Fleming's death in 1964. Technically it was released unfinished, in the sense that Fleming didn't have time to go back and fill in the meat on its bones so to speak, but the bones themselves are complete. As is, the novel is very short (about 43,000 words); only The Spy Who Loved Me is shorter and we know how that turned out. Still, I think it's better than its reputation would suggest. We open with a brainwashed Bond trying to assassinate M, proving Fleming still had a few new idea tricks up his sleeve. I also enjoyed the change of pace re: the villain here. Rather than another eccentric supergenius that strains the bounds of believability, Pistols Scaramanga is a simply bloodthirsty gunman straight out of real life. There is a grittiness here that you don't get when the antagonist's goal is to Take Over the World or Whatever. Scaramanga just really wants to kill Bond, and it works.

Ian Fleming, 1995

You Only Live Twice sees Fleming winding down the Bond franchise. Blofeld is back again as the villain and we get a couple cool new characters like Tiger Tanaka and Kissy Suzuki, but the overarching plot - madman super-villain holed up in a remote compound somewhere doing villainous stuff - is nothing we haven't seen a handful of times before. This time we're in Japan, and Fleming's affection for the country is evident. The reader joins 007 on a thorough tour of Japanese landmarks and customs, to the point that this reads more like a travel diary than a spy thriller for good chunks of the book. Eventually we get where we're going, and Bond infiltrates Blofeld's fortress. It's pretty predictable from there, in a way that is satisfactory if never quite rising to quintessential.

Ian Fleming, 2023

Goldfinger pairs one of Fleming's best first halves with one of his weakest second halves. We start much the way Moonraker did, as Bond has to catch a high-roller cheating at cards. From there, also like Moonraker, it's an ongoing battle of wits, this time between Bond and the evil Auric (really) Goldfinger. There's a great golf scene where they take turns cheating each other, and we eventually get wind of Goldfinger's plan: To steal all the gold in Fort Knox (really). These books have been trending towards self-parody for awhile now (maybe starting with Dr. No), but this one sets a new bar in that regard. Unfortunately, in the third act all this super genius' actions stop making any kind of sense. Without giving away the ending, Bond's victory comes less through his own cleverness and more through the villain turning into an idiot, which is disappointing. Also, Oddjob is in this book. N64-style!

Ian Fleming, 2018

Live and Let Die is Ian Fleming's second James Bond novel and, in some ways, feels a good degree James Bond-ier than its predecessor. While Casino Royale was confined to France, Live and Let Die sees Bond hopping around the globe a bit more, starting off in Harlem and ending up in Jamaica by way of Florida. Fleming gets more out there with his setpieces as well, so we get Bond foiling a train-assassination attempt (that's an attempt to assassinate Bond, not the train) plus some underwater stealth scuba adventures. Secret cave entrances, Captain Morgan's gold, boating hijinks, all that good stuff.

Ian Fleming, 2023

After seven Bond novels, Ian Fleming decided to change up the formula. To that end, The Spy Who Loved Me is written in first-person and largely focused on the narrator (Viv) growing up in Canada and England. Bond has very little to do in this book and Fleming spends a lot of time recapping Viv's love affairs. Eventually the two cross paths and Bond has to save her from some kidnappers, but the plotline feels like an afterthought. Readers hated the change-up and I have to agree. It's less of a Bond book and more of a romance between characters we don't really care about (Viv excepted, I guess). I genuinely don't know who this was for.