Review: Brilliant historic take on Bond
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 25, 2013
"The Ian Fleming Files: Operation Armada" by Damian Stevenson is based on a simple but brilliant idea: To use the creator of the James Bond series and make him the hero in his own James-Bond-style adventure.Set in 1940 it shows Fleming as a Naval commander who is on a secret mission in France regarding the French Navy.As Fleming used to be an navy officer in real life this has an excellent real feel to it, an idea so simple and genius, you wonder why nobody has thought of doing it before Many have written James-Bond style books, but few have thought of going to the root of the creation itself.Very authentically written the story has everything that you would expect from a James Bond story: thrilling action scenes, gadgets, women and cars.I am a big fan of history and absolutely loved the idea of bringing Bond into the past rather than the future. For me James Bond is a cult figure and I find that the recent film instalments with the ever increasing pyrotechnics and technology advances take the fun out of the original idea.Stevenson has done a fantastic job at extracting the essence of Bond and choosing an excellent setting for his novel.I hate to use this phrase in reviews but I really am looking forward to a series of these books.