These sound like great James Bond parody novels. That "In specter" logic jump made me immediately think of Adam West's Batman.

RIP Honor Blackman

Hmmm Spectre in Louisiana? Could Sheriff Pepper be Blofeld perhaps?

This genuinely sounds like a Bond novel written by Alan Partridge

I'm still cracking up at the "Colin Blofeld" part of the video! 😂

I think Kevin Mcclory himself would roll his eyes at this one...

To quote ‘Thunderball’: “For the rest, [Blofeld] didn’t smoke or drink and he had never been known to sleep with a member of either sex.” Gardner really made the most of that “never been known” bit didn’t he? Saved his behind from accusations he wasn’t up on the canon he was continuing. The whole reveal reminded me of this exchange from ‘The Simpsons’ (I know it came 20 years after this book, but I only read it last year): “HOMER: Wait, Frank Grimes wasn’t married. How could he have a son? FRANK GRIMES JUNIOR: He happened to like hookers, OK?” Either way, the final reveal was ruined for me by the SPECTRE (the fictitious group, not the film) Wikipedia page. That’ll teach me for spending too much time on that website!

“For Special Sevices” sounds like an option at a Hotel.

"Gay Ben & Jerry" HA HA HA! :-D

When this book was released, the press did not know about Ronald Regan's "Star Wars" project, nor about the military complex at Cheyenne Mountain, subordinate to the North American Aerospace Defense Command. This is the most interesting part of the story.

I demand to see Colin Blofeld in a Bond film now 😂

If I wrote a Bond novel, it would be like this. Quick and crazy.

I'm not sure about y'all but mind-control ice cream is my favourite kind of ice cream.

I just remember the climax to this one featured a line that Gardner would go on to use in other Bond books: "Everything happened at once.'

I remember seeing this in the store when it came out and getting very excited simply by just seeing the names “Blofeld” and “Spectre” as part of a new Bond adventure! Very wacky but highly imaginative and completely entertaining and readable-it’s typical of these early Gardner novels. The later ones are sometimes tough to get through but he definitely brought alot of energy and excitement to those initial stories. Not anywhere near Fleming but they are mostly all fun and fast reads!

A Blofeld-less version of SPECTRE comes in later in the Gardner series.

Brilliant Calvin. Love it. Will you be doing a video, about Honor Blackman. I think there's some tie in between, her acting in James Bond, and her being in the avengers.

More acting scenes Calvin, please :D

Blofeld in this book reminds me of the rumour Monica Bellucci was going to be Blofeld in Spectre [would have been better than Christophe Waltz...]

And I thought the last act of the Dr. No novel was crazy....

Colin Blofeld - "The layer of all your carpets!"

One of my favorites. The couple of car sequences in this one are top notch writing. And you'll WISH for the silly bizarreness of this book when you get to the later Gardners, which are much more grounded/realistic!

Icebreaker and Nobody Lives Forever were the best of the Gardner novels. I'm actually going to stat a re-read of the entire novel series tomorrow. I loved all of Benson's stuff when I first read them.

Looking forward to the Icebreaker review. First Gardner book which I actually enjoyed.

Whilst I'm loving your Gardner reviews Calvin, you are no doubt spoiling my original enjoyment of the. I read all his JB books in the mid 90s. I guess I'll have to go back and reread them just to see if they are actually that bad! 😉

Long time since I read the Gardner books but I remember liking this one. Especially the great idea of a female Blofeld.

I started reading the John Gardner novels last summer and have just finished The Man from Barbarossa which is his eleventh. The books I have enjoyed most so far are Nobody Lives for Ever and No Deals, Mr. Bond. Next up is Death is Forever. A good review Calvin. A very enjoyable read it was.

Blimey, this one sounds bonkers. Let's see EON bring this to the screen.

Looking forward to your Icebreaker-review, which is IMO Gardners best and a very fun read. FSS is also among the best Gardners. It may be campy, but it`s not a repeat of the same premise like Gardner does in the later novels which were too repetetive and bland.

It's been close to 20 years since I last read FSS, but I remember enjoying it in spite of whacko-ness. Looking forward to your thoughts on Icebreaker, my favorite of the Gardner novels.

Will you be doing a video covering honor blackman?

That "giving Bond permission" letter...that really DOES sound creepy when you figure Felix KNOWS Bond's usual MO with women. It would be one thing if he felt Bond would love Cedar and commit to her...but I can't see many fathers who'd be thrilled about their daughters being with someone who's known for loving 'em and leaving 'em. And even if he DID feel that Bond would commit to Cedar as he was willing to do for Tracy...he would have KNOWN what happened to Tracy...

Me. Dyson, the next book in the John Gardner series is “IceBreaker”. This was the first Bond novel I read as a kid and in my humble opinion, the best one; aside from the novelization of License to Kill and Goldeneye. I highly recommend this novel to you.

Something about this one just seems so funny. I’m not even reading it but I’m laughing at all his descriptions of the plot. Bond pretending to be an old man or being in love with his Saab.

Ugh, thanks to you i now have the image stuck in my head of Donald Pleasence's Blofeld sat in his big black commander chair with a cornetto in his hand!

Been decades since I read For Special Services. I remember loving it's over the top style and easily picturing Octopussy era Roger as Bond here. I thought it was a lot of fun. Nice title as well.

U should rank all the FIRST time Bond Films. Like Dr No and Living Daylights and Goldeneye. Etc. that would be awesome

Couple of other things used in the films, is the airport steps vehicle used to jump the fence (LIVING DAYLIGHTS) & the attack on Mrs. Bismark while out skiing as a way of deflecting his suspicions from the female villain (WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH)

It’s been YEARS since I’ve read this. I’ve been tempted to read the Gardner novels again. Although I hated his last. Cold Fall

The "a view to a kill" connection - i felt that too during parts of "license renewed" ... odd

Oh, now I remember this one. The baddy had a big painting of the Sand Creek Massacre he was really proud of. I loved it when I was 13 but it probably won't stand up to a reread.

It has been so long since I read this that I forgot most of the plot. I wonder if the ice cream mind control inspired the Pinky & the Brain episode "Das Mouse" where the brain puts a hypnotic food additive in pancakes.

I thought the Dorset Blofelds ran a chain of delicatessens

4:23 don't worry Bond switches from the SAAB Silver Beast back to his old girl Aston Martin.

Killer ants? *vietnam flashbacks to certain film

These are great reviews Calvin. I totally agree with your observations. I think any Bond fan should read / listen to the Gardner novels. They are hugely of their time and completely ridiculous. But a bit like some of the Moore films, you just have to get on with them.

I find that for special services. Was the best book from John gardener. Most of the other I can either take or leave them. Especially the later books he done.

My favourite Gardner/Bond book was Icebreaker.

I'd love it if in a future film Bond has to commandeer a civilian's Saab 900 Turbo with the license plate "S1LV3R B3AST" only for it to be wrecked as the chase progresses, like the sequence in Paris during A View to a Kill.

This is where I gave up on Gardener . . . Abut I did read the novelisation of Licence To Kill, frickin’ hilarious!

For Special Services is nothing if not an entertaining read. I certainly enjoyed it more than Licence Renewed - evident by the fact that I've gone back and reread FSS, but never given LR a second reading. I look forward to the next few Gardner reviews, the four novels from Icebreaker to No Deals, Mr Bond are my favourite segment of the John Gardner series.

So this book was a precursor to Strange Brew with ice cream instead of beer

...for special services is... special for sure!

I feel like they picked Gardener to write Bond novels because he had a stack of unpublished spy novels he could adapt to Bond. Both this story and License Renewed sound like they were written with a different protagonist. He even probably was older and had a Saab, so Gardener just changed Bond rather than the story.

The difference between Fleming and Gardner is that Fleming started his career writing travelogues and Gardner started his writing potboiler thrillers. That's why Fleming is so much better at evoking a place.

Oopsie. Calvin I just saw this on your main page - In-depth James Bond Film Reviews Play all Ongoing series in which Calvin Dyson reviews all the films in the James Bonnd 007 series. Double N in Bond?

The weirdest part is growing up with Gardner’s tenure and not realizing how insane some of them get until many years later...FSS is along with Licence Renewed and Icebreaker generally considered to be his finest Bond novels and is the one with the most action/over the top ness of those first three. While each year rereading I find the Gardner’s less and less good-they do have their moments and memorable sequences. I agree the relationship with the friends daughter aspect is really horribly awkward but at least Cedar does have personality as a character minus the pouting jealousy. The consistent misdirections as to the villain’s identity is very nice but becomes much more telegraphed on rereads. Nowadays I find FSS to go on a bit too much in certain passages but it still works well. Just wait until you get to the later novels-oh dear you’re in for it...especially the mentioning of former/deceased loves...😂 Lastly while the notion of a Saab has always been controversial-the classic 900 turbo is a real driver’s car and the Grand Prix of this novel is probably the best action sequence Gardner wrote. Fans of the book Bond, myself included, adore the silver beast and lament how it was dropped for a plain unremarkable Bentley mulsanne turbo in Role of Honor.

Even if it is a bit wacky and weird (I haven’t read it lol) I do like that gala brand is mentioned (I know she doesn’t actually appear in it and is my favourite Bond girl) to have kept in touch with bond and they exchange Christmas cards and is married with 3 children despite not meeting ever since moonraker

Funny sketch man.

Wait until you get to never send flowers...

Definitely a book I can sum up with, turn your brain off and embrace the camp. I did find the Blofeld twist decent if cliched now.

The writer could have had Bond be an "honourary" Sky Marshal as he's travelling home from some mission and they grant him sky marshal status so he can keep his side arm on him as he's a passenger on the plane. The terrorist hijacking shouldn't be ENTIRELY coincidental but somehow related to the mission Bond was just returning from, like how Bond was participating in a training op to plan for a specific airline hijacking threat.

In spector..... Know me Alan Partridge knowing you James Bond AHH HAA

Bond declared he had the best chicken pie ever! Cedar declared Bond must try the Apple Jonathon! You really couldn't make it up. I'm sure JG was on the champers while writing these books!

John Gardner’s Bond novel’s obviously took their inspiration from the films. They all read like the screenplay to a Bond film with its over the the top villain, henchmen and multi-girl formula.

I actualy do like the first few Gardner books.

So would it be fair to call this one So Bad it's Good?

Mind controlling ice cream sounds like something out of MI High.

So...the villain is Blue Bell?

6:29-6:34 Mayhem and nonsense sums up many of these Gardner plots!

read Roulette by Jaime Mason

I hope Bond doesn’t go anywhere near Lords or the Oval in case he bumps into Henry Blofeld in the car park.

12:30 Lmao😂

Colin Blofeld of the Dorset Blofelds... Ha ha!

Just finished this tonight. I also found it more readable than his first, although it was very OTT and the end is hugely rushed and ridiculous. Actually the whole plot is batshit crazy. Btw I found the Nitevision headset reminiscent of TLD.

I just pissed myself laughing at your I’m on a roll pun

I bought a SAAB 900 because of these books!

Twine ps1 & n64 plzzzz🙏🙏😭😭😭

For Special Services, like the movie A View to a Kill as utterly bizarre as it is, it's a guilty pleasure for me. But Leiter giving permission for Bond to bang his own daughter is the most cringeworthy in all of Bond.

Good timing! I just finished _Never Send Flowers_ which probably equals this one on the camp level, climaxing as it does with Bond stopping a deranged actor at Disneyland Paris (far from being put-off by the childishness or the gaudiness, Bond has a fucking whale of a time). Anyway, _For Special Services_ - yeah, the plot is bizarre and just a little bit silly, and the whole Cedar Leiter thing is a bit creepy. But hey! At least the plot and the leading lady stick in the brain! Having blitzed through most of Gardner’s ouvre last year (just three more to go, thank Cubby) there are quite a few where I’m like: “what was that about again? And what was the woman called in that one?” Because how did John Gardner write? Mostly with the CTRL+C and CTRL+V keys. OK, maybe that’s a bit harsh. To be fair, as I recall the car chase was taut and well-written, as was the lift scene.

Review Death is Forever :)

And here was me thinking that Austin Powers was a completely original spoof.

Did Nina's mom happen to be named Chloe with webbed feet?

Hey now, if I had money and land I would have a monorail. Nothing dodgy about that.

Cedar is a wood ...

Ever noticed how most Bond girls have some sort of defect! A broken nose, a limp, one leg being shorter than the other, one breast, purple eyes etc. ! Mind you, even the villains have them ! Look at Scaramanga, Blofeld, Drax and so on ! But it’s interesting!

Mind control ice cream. This is what we're missing from Daniel Craig.

Inspectre.

Comes to something when Casino Royale '67 had a more sane plot than this.

It is too obvious that you are reading some notes and peeking at them every two seconds. I like your channel, but looking at some teleprompt is disturbing IMHO. About the book : I agree with you at aound 90%. Good job ! Cheers.🍸

I've got all of these novels and I wouldn't give them up for anything...

Look up Batmanmarch. You won’t be disappointed

Again I will give Gardner credit for trying to update Bonds Firearm but the VP70 is such a terrible choice. Way too big for how Bond carrys it and worst trigger on a handgun ever. Btw the next two novels were real slog fests. Role of Honour was absolutely terrible, even though that's the novel Bond finally gets his ASP 9MM.

This one is just weird

This is funnier than Austin Powers.

It was okay but didn't inspire me to read the other books

Blofeld was celibate . . .

This has long been my least favorite Bond novel. It has all of the Gardner tropes that make me dislike this era of Bond.

The new number of new job number of the number is in a new home and the new job is to get the job to get me to the job tomorrow I’ll get back

😹 gay Ben & Jerry! I haven’t read that book and I doubt it could ever be as entertaining as your observations of its absurdity