After reading Kim Sherwood’s expansion of the Bond novels, I’ve decided to read all the original Ian Fleming novels in order while I wait for the third book in her trilogy to come out.
The first is Casino Royale. Weighing in at less than 50,000 words, by some standards it could be considered a novella. Characters who were to become mainstays of the Bond universe feature very quickly: Moneypenny, M, Bill Tanner and Felix Leiter. The plot is fairly basic. There’s a lengthy sequence around a baccarat table in a casino, an explosion, a car chase, an inventive torture scene, a lengthy convalescence, a love story and a famous final line that shows Bond’s cruelty, which is also told to us by the author (but not shown) at the end of the first chapter. In many ways, it’s Bond’s origin story, showing us how he became the flawed, yet lethal agent we know and love. There’s a great line towards the end, when he is warned to surround himself with humans, not principles because humans are easier to fight for.
All in all, it’s extremely readable (I finished it in a day), although with some attitudes towards women that are very outdated. A very decent start to the series.
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