In this article I will be reviewing the novel ”Licence Renewed”. It is written by John Gardner, and it was published in 1981. It was the first James Bond-novel since 1968 (Colonel Sun). John Gardner has written multiple Bond-novels during 1981-1996, and he is best known for them. Gardner got the copyrights to use James Bond as a character by Ian Fleming Publications, and he wrote fourteen continuation novels of the original James Bond-novels. So he sort of ”revived” the novel series after over ten years.
The character ”James Bond” was originally created by Ian Fleming in 1953 (Casino Royale). Fleming wrote a total of twelve novels featuring Bond. Fleming used himself and Hoagy Carmichael as the basis of the character. Bond is described as tall, dark and mysterious. He is a spy also known as 007, his code number. ”-That black hair falling down over the right eyebrow. Much the same bones. But there was something a bit cruel in the mouth, and the eyes were cold.” This is how Bond was described in ”Moonraker”. He’s quick thinking and strong gadgetry are some of the main characteristics of 007.
In this particular novel, Bond is making a return after fifteen years. The story is rather similar to the other novels. The world needs a saviour against evil, in this case two people: Nuclear physicist Anton Murik, and a terrorist called Franco. M, Bonds commander, assigns Bond to stop whatever it is they’re planning. The story stays interesting because of Bonds cool improvisation and jokes. Bond also has a woman in every novel, and his love-hate-relationship with M is fun to follow.
Towards the end of the novel, Bond finds out what Murik and Franco are planning; Murik wants to take over six nuclear plants around the world, and he wants Bond to kill Franco. Obviously that is not going to happen.
This novel was a pretty basic fiction novel, therefore it was not on my A-list. I would much rather read something real, from which I could learn something.