Stories 202-215
Catching up again, and these will all be sort of short, since they're all the kind of stories where you don't really want to give anything away.
From Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories by Ian Fleming (Penguin edition):
Most of these Bond short stories are good, but most are also not what we think of as typical Bond.
202: A View To A Kill. Bond is called in to investigate the death of a motorbike courier on a back country road ... mostly to help M save face and keep one of their outposts active. Bond is at his "find the invisible man" best in this.
203: For Your Eyes Only. One of those stories in which we actually get a feel for how heavily running the 00 department weighs on M. There's someone who needs to be assassinated, but the matter is not really national security.
204: Quantum of Solace. Bond barely appears in this story, politely sitting and listening to a Caribbean governor who relates, through the story of a marriage, his theory of the "quantum of solace," that little bit of humanity that will prevent someone from doing the most evil things in the name of revenge.
205: Risico. The most traditional Bond story in the bunch. Double-crosses, lots of action, explosions, death traps. Fun read.
206: The Hildebrand Rarity. Bond does not quite match up to his famous countryman Sherlock Holmes in terms of solving mysteries, but he gives it a go on a yacht at sea in this story.
207: Octopussy. Another story in which Bond barely appears, although his arrival forces the main character to reminisce about the past as he scubas to find food for his favorite octopus.
208: The Property of A Lady. Bond at an auction seems more like a scene out of "North by Northwest," but it's a nice tense little story.
209: The Living Daylights. Bond is enlisted to match wits with a Russian sniper to protect an escaping informant.
210: 007 In New York. Bond is on a simple "tip off" assignment to the city that has everything ... except the one thing Bond needs most.
The next batch are from the June-Sept 2008 issue of The Strand Magazine:
211: Bryant & May In The Soup by Christopher Fowler. Takes place on December 5, 1952, during the worst smog experience London had seen to date. Was it the smog that killed the former cab-driver, or someone in the smog?
212: Debbie And Bernie and Belle by John M. Floyd. A young girl offers to be the intermediary between a lovelorn man on a park bench and the woman he loves ensconced in an exercise club. A very funny story about misunderstandings.
213: The Guide by Earl Hammer. This one didn't quite work for me; I was expecting more than what I got. Takes place on a fishing boat and in the main character's memories.
214: Do Have A Cup of Tea by Rhys Bowen. We've all received bad reviews in our time. Heck, I've written plenty. This is a story about revenge best served piping hot, and makes me hope I never meet some of the people I've given negative reviews to.
215: The Picture of Oscar Wilde by Michael Kurland. I love stories where real historical personages meet up with classic fictional characters of the same time period. There are plenty of stories linking the witty Wilde with the brilliant Sherlock Holmes. This isn't one of them, and poor Moriarity comes across like a real pushover.
From Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories by Ian Fleming (Penguin edition):
Most of these Bond short stories are good, but most are also not what we think of as typical Bond.
202: A View To A Kill. Bond is called in to investigate the death of a motorbike courier on a back country road ... mostly to help M save face and keep one of their outposts active. Bond is at his "find the invisible man" best in this.
203: For Your Eyes Only. One of those stories in which we actually get a feel for how heavily running the 00 department weighs on M. There's someone who needs to be assassinated, but the matter is not really national security.
204: Quantum of Solace. Bond barely appears in this story, politely sitting and listening to a Caribbean governor who relates, through the story of a marriage, his theory of the "quantum of solace," that little bit of humanity that will prevent someone from doing the most evil things in the name of revenge.
205: Risico. The most traditional Bond story in the bunch. Double-crosses, lots of action, explosions, death traps. Fun read.
206: The Hildebrand Rarity. Bond does not quite match up to his famous countryman Sherlock Holmes in terms of solving mysteries, but he gives it a go on a yacht at sea in this story.
207: Octopussy. Another story in which Bond barely appears, although his arrival forces the main character to reminisce about the past as he scubas to find food for his favorite octopus.
208: The Property of A Lady. Bond at an auction seems more like a scene out of "North by Northwest," but it's a nice tense little story.
209: The Living Daylights. Bond is enlisted to match wits with a Russian sniper to protect an escaping informant.
210: 007 In New York. Bond is on a simple "tip off" assignment to the city that has everything ... except the one thing Bond needs most.
The next batch are from the June-Sept 2008 issue of The Strand Magazine:
211: Bryant & May In The Soup by Christopher Fowler. Takes place on December 5, 1952, during the worst smog experience London had seen to date. Was it the smog that killed the former cab-driver, or someone in the smog?
212: Debbie And Bernie and Belle by John M. Floyd. A young girl offers to be the intermediary between a lovelorn man on a park bench and the woman he loves ensconced in an exercise club. A very funny story about misunderstandings.
213: The Guide by Earl Hammer. This one didn't quite work for me; I was expecting more than what I got. Takes place on a fishing boat and in the main character's memories.
214: Do Have A Cup of Tea by Rhys Bowen. We've all received bad reviews in our time. Heck, I've written plenty. This is a story about revenge best served piping hot, and makes me hope I never meet some of the people I've given negative reviews to.
215: The Picture of Oscar Wilde by Michael Kurland. I love stories where real historical personages meet up with classic fictional characters of the same time period. There are plenty of stories linking the witty Wilde with the brilliant Sherlock Holmes. This isn't one of them, and poor Moriarity comes across like a real pushover.