If there's one thing that Bond is particularly bad at it's being under cover.

I always thought that Silva's abandoned island in Skyfall was a subtle homage to the ghost town in Diamonds Are Forever.

Fleming seems to have been an ardent British imperialist who grieved over the decline of the Empire and deeply resented that America took over as the dominant power in the West. It also may have been the case that his sense of British reserve was offended by Americans' being extroverted , which he considered to be vulgarity.

Ah, wonderful to wake up to a new Calvin review!

I felt the same when just reading it. Live and let die I could get through, even with the problems. Moonraker was so great that I was like, “ ok I can get through diamonds because I like the last one.” It was a rough time to finish the book.

Super enjoying your book reviews, man! It's nice seeing them talked about in this kind of format too!

Diamonds is widely considered to be one of the weakest of the Fleming novels alongside The Spy Who Loved Me and The Man with the Golden Gun. I'd still take the book over the dreadful movie though.

This review of Diamonds Are Forever reminds me of my first time reading the novel, I did find it a bit of a slog. It was the last of the Flemings that I got round to reading and it didn't live up to the high expectations that most of the other Bond novels had set for me. However, I reread it a few months ago, and absolutely tore through it this time. In fact I finished it in a single day which is almost unheard of for me. I found the pace of the storytelling really good, some interesting scenes, and some good interaction between Bond and Tiffany as well as Felix. I'm looking forward to the From Russia With Love review - it is my favourite Bond novel!

Well, we disagree in this one, Cal. DAF is one of my fav Bond novels. Like the movie, it's just so bizarre in relation to the rest of the books that I love it. We agree that the ending is just made of awesome.

Hate to say it, but if Bond is in the US it tends to not be good.

Diamonds Are Forever Forever Forever Forever

I finished this one recently and it was actually one of my favourites, I like the diamond/smuggling plot, the vegas/western theme, and it gave me something I've been really wanting, Bond on a transatlantic liner!

Huh, I liked this one. Except the bit on the ocean liner. The dialogue was good, but the action was tedious and the lottery or whatever they were running was confusing and boring, and that's what stands out more for me. Tiffany was the saving grace for me. She's one of my favorite Bond girls. She's one of the only ones to get proper closure in the next book, even if it happens offstage.

D'you think you appreciate Dalton a bit more after reading book Bond?

I like the vivid descriptions in this novel and travellouge scenes and set pieces. One of the best from the first phase of the Bond novels. Fleming threw the kitchen sink in the writing of this but weak villains which I think he acknowledged later. Definitely worth a read because....well it was written by Ian Fleming.

Remember this book when the Thunderball lawsuits comes up.

Handsome as ever❤️🇫🇮 What comes to the novel, don't like it much but the movie is the absolute guilty pleasure of mine.

Watching past reviews from Calvin to find a new review... Shocking, positively shocking... In a good way, of course!

This book is proof that the films captured the essence of Ian Fleming. Mixing stories and giving a mix of action suspense with a tourist vision. And with decorative women in the plot. Still, I think Ian Fleming understands more about women than any other James Bond writer or screenwriter.

Hi calvin , some of your review such as for your eyes only and live and let die are gone , what happened to them ? Anyway love your videos and keep up the good work

The book wasn't great, but the movie was SO much worse. Tiffany was a good character in the book, she was one of the absolute worst movie girls.

Another wonderful video, really enjoying these book reviews. I look forward to your review of From Russia With Love, maybe re-reading it will shift your opinion of the film a bit. Also surprised to hear that was your first Bond novel, what led you to start with that one?

I first read DAF about five years ago and I struggled through it as well. I always thought it was a competency issue but I’m glad it wasn’t just me. I finished Dr. No a few months ago and it was very enjoyable experience reading it - so it’ll be interesting if you think the same.

A great way to start the morning

This strikes me as a pretty reasonable review. I had similar ironic thoughts when Bond starts getting impatient with the story he's stuck in, and I think I remember laughing and saying something like, "Sorry James; blame Flemming for this one." On a technical level it is astoundingly problematic to draw attention of readers to the shortcomings of the story they are reading. I liked the unconventional structure of the story, and I didn't even realize that Flemming was encouraged to finish the story he thought was finished, with everything after the train chase. That's an interesting bit of trivia I'm interested to learn more about, how did you find that out if you don't mind my asking? The mud bath sequence was the worst for me, I was baffled about why Bond would let Felix talk him into going to that rendezvous. It was Felix's thing to follow up on! I loved the Ghost town and train sequences, too. Flemming constructs this set piece well; and I really loved the imagery he details where Bond positions himself along the tracks like a duelist, with only a couple of bullets left in his gun to make the shot. I also enjoyed much of the post-train chase material. The sequence where Bond rescues Tiffany from Wint and Kidd was a great suspenseful bit of writing. One thing that was a nice surprise was seeing how Bond deals with a kill in a public location; I did not expect that he would make an effort to stage the scene to look like a murder-suicide, to pass a casual inspection until he's off the ship. It's quite different from how the movie Bond kills left, right and center all the time in public without worrying about secrecy. Overall it's an uneven book, with a lot of random stuff thrown in. I kind of had fun with how random some of it is, I laughed and shook my head a lot; so I enjoyed the worst parts in that way.

I got an ad for diamonds before this video

Can you do a skyfall part 2 reupload? It is not on your channel and I'd love to see it!

What Calvin finds boring about Ian Fleming's books is what makes them better than the movies. They are much more real and make you feel like you are traveling without the risks of James Bond.

These reviews are getting me really pumped to read the books. By the way, one thing you didn't mention is why Bond was on this USA mission this time. Did the gang steal diamonds from the British or something? Just kinda curious. I'm just picturing Daniel Craig fiddling around with an oxygen mask like a kitten with a ball of yarn right now.

How much you like this book is how I feel about this movie

There's an odd similarity between the betting scene on the boat and the 1952 Roald Dahl short story A Dip in the Pool (later adapted for Tales of the Unexpected). I wonder if there's a connection?

Write What You Know: Ian Fleming's voyage on the Queen Elizabeth provided background information for the final four chapters.

This video is my most rewatched Calvin Dyson video and I don’t know why 😆

I'm excited to see that you are reviewing the Fleming novels. Even though diamonds are forever is not my favorite book, I'm a big fan of a literary Bond. I'm looking forward to your review of From Russia with Love witch is a favorite of mine, and is considered by many to be Fleming's best

James Bond was created in the era of the cold war in the fifties. To judge him by today standard is unfair. But I agree it is a very unequal book.

It reads better than it lives....

Yo Calvin are you planning on reviewing any of the continuation novels once your done with the Fleming books? Personally I recommend Solo by William Boyd.

It is tricky for me to watch these book reviews. I read all the Fleming novels when I was a teenager - which was a while ago. I sometimes think I will reread them - so I am trying to avoid spoilers for books I have already read.

As far as James Bond in America goes, the short story For Your Eyes Only was pretty good. A fun one-sitting read. EDIT: Octopussy was in the OTHER must-read short story collection. Sorry!

I couldn't get through Live and Let Die, but enjoyed Diamonds are Forever. Moonraker on the other hand was fantastic as you know.

Dammit, Calvin, I was about to go to bed. Oh well, worse things to lose sleep over.

FINALLY!!..........even if it was disappointing

How did they get from las vegas to new york, after fighting out side of las vegas

The film's starts off as this book's story, with Bond being put on to a small mission, akin to something Customs And Excise should be investigating. But then turns it into a proper Bond mission when it just so happens the villainy behind the diamond smuggling is Blofeld and his plan to threaten the world again. Interesting that book Bond himself has complaints, and so the screenwriter resolved this problem! Fleming's thoughts on American food were never good. He has Bond make the comment that most American food is worthless, due to it being overcooked to the point of burning! Although I can't remember if it's this book or Live And Let Die that he has Bond eat a Hamburger!

I'm curious. What would you give each book out of ten so far?

One thing I do find very good about this book is the opening scene, with the scorpion.

Yes listing audiobook it's starts off morning.

Hi Calvin can your next video please be a re ranking of the bond films?

Actors I imagine in for some characters in this novel: Bond - Timothy Dalton Tiffany - Jill St. John Felix - Bernie Casey Sarrafimo - Marc Lawrence Jack - Sid Haig Mr. Wint - Bruce Glover Mr. Kidd - Putter Smith

So, which Bond actor do you imagine as you read?

Could you do a licence to kill film review because I couldn't find it on the channel and it seems to be a hit or miss with many bond fans

Regarding the book vs film part of the review, there's an aspect I'm surprised you didn't comment on. Reading the chapter with the rigged horse race, I got flashbacks to the subplot in _A View To a Kill_ with Max Zorin cheating at horse races. The main difference of course is that Shady Tree has substituted a deceased horse with one with a matching coat and much better odds of winning (even going so far as to graft the deceased horse's identification marking onto the substituted horse), while Zorin uses a surgically administered steroid to boost the horse's adrenaline during the race. Fleming's version seems rather foreshadowing. Those of us familiar with Australian horse racing well remember the _Fine Cotton_ substitute scandal of the 1980s.

Well now I know why I can hardly remember anything about this one... I couldn't even have said what the villains were called.

What do you think of Bond's morbid fear of flying?

I really enjoy DAF... FRWL is probably the very best, however, so I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts there...

Are you uploading today?

I have the audiobook and I can concur that the major bulk of the book is not that interesting - however, I just *love* Bonds and Tiffanies escape from that ghosttown and in especially the scene, when Bond starts to hear the cannonball. I'm a sucker for scenes, in which you can see the doom-bringing thing from a far coming closer and closer to you. That's why I liked the scene in the first part of the second "Goliath"-two parter in Knight Rider, when you see the truck "Goliath" as a tiny spot in the desert, rapidly approaching. or the scene in "The Empire strikes back", when you see the AT-AT-Walkers as tiny dots in the distance. Or in "Winnetou 3", when the apache-chief is telling the protagonist, that he spotted "viele Punkte am Himmel" (many dots in the sky", and identified them as birds, who were following their enemies.

The both Spang brothers really should have been just one Spang .

Tiffany Case is my favorite Bond girl from the books which is ironic considering she's one of my least favorite from the movies.

dIDNT A VERSION OF THE GHOST TOWN APPEAR FLEETINGLY IN MWTGG?

Yea I have to agree, I found myself sort of bored when listening to the Audible version, the last half was better then the first half, I did enjoy seeing some recognisable names in the supporting cast, and yes Tiffany Case is the biggest stand out this time. I hope From Russia with Love is better.

I’m actually reading this one right now and I’m surprised how much I’m enjoying it. But so far my ranking for the Bond novels is Casino Royale, Moonraker, Diamonds are forever and Live and Let Die

I'll choose the book over the movie any day, at least it doesn't feature a elephant gambling.

Such a key down after Moonraker book and film

The Bond book covers make them look like pulp fiction.

Some of Fleming's novels did not age well and in some cases weren't all that great to begin with, and this entry exemplifies that. Then again, not everything can be as good as Moonraker or From Russia With Love.

What I find disappointing about the book is that the gangsters have no plan about those diamonds, just selling it , no goal behind that, I kept hoping for something to come up , it felt like Bond didn't really discover anything more than what M told him at the begining of the book. And he just confirmed everything by killing everyone haha. I liked the ghost city part (it somehow made me think of scaramanga's lair with the saloon) and the train action sequence and I could see Wint and Kidd from the movie in that book, physically at least . And I like the friendship between Bond and Leiter, the horse race part didn't bother me, It was nice to imagine these two trolling the bad guy about the race.

I really like this book, I have to say. Particularly the horse rigging scene and Bond's preliminary meeting with Tiffany at the London hotel, during which there is a nice call-back to Vesper in Casino Royale when Bond skips La Vie en Rose on the record player. Bond going by his own name, I think, makes much more sense, as it might have been difficult for MI6 to issue a passport in Peter Franks' name for him at such short notice, and he does explain to Tiffany that his real name is James Bond because Peter Franks is an alias used to fool the authorities, so that his real name won't have a criminal record associated with it. Also, they already call him a limey, so trying to change his personality wouldn't have worked. I do agree that there was a bit too much character hopping. Probably the villains who receive the most attention are the henchmen, Wint and Kidd. You talk about certain interesting elements of Bond's character being revealed, in which you mention his views on marriage, and I think Bond talking about how he'd only have children once he retires from the 00 Section because it would be unfair on them (being away for periods of time on any of his three yearly assignments and because of the low life expectancy for 00 agents) otherwise is also very telling. My favourite part of the novel is when Bond, having thought little of the Spangled Mob, seeing them as inferior and less respectable compared to previous enemies like SMERSH, quickly changes his mind when he sees Wint and Kidd torturing the jockey. Also, Wint and Kidd were the two American businessmen on Bond's flight to New York. You've got to look at Bond busting up the drug smuggling ring in the context that it poses as a sizeable threat to Britain's economic welfare.

Once again Calvin, I tend to agree with you about this book review! For me, the movie is far superior to the book! Of course I REALLY LOVE Jill St. John as Tiffany Case, then who wouldn't! The Spang bros. compared to Blofeld and his outrageous plot of the diamond laser, just aren’t there! But the thing I enjoyed most about the film which for me didn’t come over in the book is the fabulous murderous double character of Wint and Kidd who are inverted in the film! Their dry sense of humour and presence thanks to two great actors, Bruce Glover and Putter Smith, who incidentally is a great jazz drummer, really brought out the best and worst - in a certain way - in these two characters! In the book, it just doesn’t do it for me! But in the movie, they are beautifully written and immensely well played! And right the very end when Bond grabs Wint’s arm pulling it up against his balls and Wint oohs with pleasure as Bond puts the bomb in his hand and whirls him into the ocean! For me, they are the top characters in the movie! Pity they don’t come up to scratch in the book!

Hey, the books are sometimes a drag. I really felt better listening to them as audiobooks. It also works very well since it's a very action based narrative. Maybe you should consider it.

I definitely prefer the movie version of this one. I think the first half of this book is fairly dull. The best stuff in the first half is James' and Felix's conversations. I really like the Felix Leiter character in the books, and I still don't really feel like the movies have ever done him justice. I think the biggest problem with this book is the lack of a real villain. Bond has nothing to do in the first half of the book until Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd attack the jockey at the mud bath. And then Spang, the main villain of the book, is introduced 2/3 of the way through the book, and Bond kills him one chapter later. Just not a super interesting villain in this book. It's an especially glaring problem coming off the heels of Drax in Moonraker.

The book is my favorite Bond novel sequel because it is showing James at his most human here.

I’ve just finished reading this book and unless I missed something there was no mention or hint at all that Mr Wint and Mr Kidd are gay, they obviously are in the film but I didn’t get any hint that the characters in the book were at all.

You are very bright. I just don't agree with you. I just read it and I really loved it. Tiffany Case should have been portrayed more like this in the movie...as a survivor rather than a victim. Please don't take this wrong as I am really going the distance here as to not sound like a KZfaq nasty. I am glad you appreciated Tiffany Case's strength however and I also agree that I too would have loved to have seen a whole another book about Bond and Tiffany. I read this after reading Thunderball which I loved, but it lacked a warmth that DAF contained. I know that this might anger a lot of Bond fans but when I read these books, it is George Lazenby that I picture in my head. Well done...but I guess my age allows me to enjoy some of those seedy Vegas scenes. You are absolutely correct on the weakness of the villain here. Good job Calvin. I certainly respect your ideas which are intelligent. All the best.

Not a bad book really. Somewhat different plot, from the movie. Just a thought, in The Ian Fleming books, Felix Lieter was from Texas. I wonder if Jimmy Dean (Who played Willard Whyte) in movie version of "Diamond's Are Forever", could have played Felix Leiter. Jimmy Dean is also from Texas, and sounds to me like he has a similar personality to Felix Leiter.

Without giving you the plots, the only novels I liked we're From Russia With Love, Dr. No, and Thunderball.

I'm loving these reviews. It's great to read someone else's perspective when they don't have an axe to grind. The xenophobia, misogyny and homophobia are deservedly unpalatable to the modern sensibility, but there was clearly an underlying entertainment to the character which endures. I was allowed to go to the cinema to watch my first James Bond film on my own when I was 13 as The Spy Who Loved Me had an 'A' certificate. However, owing to a quirk of the way British libraries worked then I could check out the books from the adult section when I was 12, so I knew the literary Bond way before the cinematic. Bonus points when you get to review TSWLM if you spot the only detail that made it from book to film!

I really like the book. Love Fleming's travalogue. The mud bath scene is good as are the bits in 'Spectreville'

Neither the book or the movie are very good in this case. You like Tiffany more then I do . I do agree that the train chase is the best part of the book and part of me wishes that they did a version of it in place of the Moon Buggy scene we got in the movie .

I think the only Fleming novel left which largely takes place in the US is Goldfinger, unless I'm forgetting one. So chin up Calvin!

If you ever are suffering from a really bad hangover , a few breaths of pure oxygen really, really helps. Maybe Bond was suffering from a really bad hangover ! I am now tea total , it’s so hard to lug around 50 LB Oxygen bottle after a night on the tiles.

It’s not in my top 5.The main villains are boring but I like Wint and Kidd.I hated the movie.

I'm thinking of other Bond visits to the US remaining to you: The final third of _Goldfinger,_ the final third of _The Spy Who Loved Me,_ and "007 in New York." And a little bit at the beginning of _Goldfinger_ that's independent of what comes later. Yeah, they range from meh to bad. _Diamonds_ is the best of them (including _Live and Let Die)._

007 in America is often a slog, book & film alike.

Hope you do Man With the Golden Gun soon

This is def one of the strangest Bond Books. Bond going against the American Mob could b real interesting to. Shame we didn’t get a more serious one.

Diamonds takes forever

Ah well ... the next three are classics.

I think this is one of the weakest books, but the Sarotoga Mud Baths incident is one of the best scenes of any of the books, in my opinion.

I just finished this one. It was okay, better than Thunderball, but not better than Goldfinger

Bond goes to villains base of western ghost town in the end of the man with the golden gun .. and another character in pre credit sequence..

I rather enjoy Diamonds Are Forever. Nuances and all!

This is probably my least favorite of the Bond books I have read along with Goldfinger (I'm still missing The Spy Who Loved Me and The Man With the Golden Gun). It does pick up near the end but it has no solid main villain and the plot for the most part is very drawn and meandering at times. By the way, the last chapter reminds me of the end of Die Hard 3. In both cases our heroes have to finish off the main villain after the story has peaked and, what a coincidence, they both shoot down a helicopter and that's the end.

I've read Live and Let die, From Russia with Love and Diamonds are forever so far. Diamonds is the weakest of those, and From Russia the best one so far. I'm keen to read the whole Ian Fleming's series

This one is the most comic of the series, and is why the movie is goofy, because the book is... but I really love it for being so breezy in its tone. This is one I keep so I can pick it up and read a few pages if I'm waiting for a bus or something. Most of the time, Bond feels no real threat and his objective is simply getting Tiffany Case. But its a HOOT! There should be a Spectreville sequence somewhere in the films, as silly as it is, maybe as a cold open. Christoph Waltz' Blofeld could be weirdly obsessed with cowboys and trains, once we realize that no one died in the last Bond movie, No Time To Die was an acid dream and Daniel Craig returns... or adapt the sequence with no connection to previous film arch, just go real weird with it. DAF is a palette cleanser.

One of my favorites of the movie series. Probably one of the goofiest of them all, but nevertheless a classic in my opinion!

I liked this novel for the most part, but i agree that the Spang Brothers were lame villans. Btw Calvin, look out in the Blofeld Trilogy is a sort of "Meta Cameo Joke thing" about Fleming himself and his books. Hope you will notice it.

Ting a Ling Bell 😂

I disagree. I actually preferred this one to Moonraker. Admittedly it is certainly not the best Bond book, but to be honest I think it does start out well. It just gets less inspired and more outlandish towards the end. I thought Bond switching the train tracks was a ridiculous and uninspired ending to an otherwise suspensful sequence.

The novel is good but slow in pace. It really layed the ground for an adaptation that could have been better than the book (Much like Casino Royale), but the scriptwriters messed that up completely. Surely they needed to do some changes, but the film is way too light, the villains are not sinister enough, and the ending with the sattelite and the fight on the oil rig has little excitement and the effects are quite bad - even for its time. Less is more as they say. I hope that the Spang Brothers will appear as villains some day in a film. I loved their hideout. The horse race thing must have been the inspiration for A View To A Kill 1985. Well the old western like train I guess inspired the train chases on the old train in Octopussy. Bond derailing a train with a vehicle ended up in GoldenEye, so we have seen something a little like it.