But they certainly went out with a bang! After skipping Nobody Lives Forever and shrinking down with No Deals, Mr. Bond, this Scorpius advert occupied as much page space as the earlier ads for For Special Services and Icebreaker. It's also kind of fun that the ad references the 1988 U.S. Olympic Team.
Hope you enjoyed my look back at these vintage John Gardner newspaper ads. If you know of any ad beyond Scorpius, I'd love to see and share it.
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I don’t even know the way I finished up right here, however I assumed this publish was great. I do not realize who you are but definitely you are going to be a well-known blogger in case you are not already. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteWell thank you, Keira. (Even if you're just a spam-bot). ;)
DeleteI want to read this again. I originally thought this book was a step back for Gardner. Isn't there a line in the book were M foresaw people being checked for security attending sporting events?
ReplyDeleteI always thought it was one of his weaker books.
DeleteI know this one's not regarded as one as JGs stronger efforts, but I like it. The Meek One are Gardner's most audacious "villain organization of the week", and I think he does an effective job making them a genuine threat. The carnage they cause, and the way the manage to infiltrate so many of the service's hideouts and safe-houses, Bond and M really find themselves on the backfoot, constantly having to regroup and reassess after each new strike. I also like the idea of handicapping Bond by having him start the mission dead tired (he's returning from a grueling training course - the same one mentioned at the beginning of ICEBREAKER, for all you continuity fans). True, it all fall away in the third act as it gets rather random and bizarre, and the pay off isn't worth all the build up. But oh, what build up.
DeleteI'll definitely snap you a picture of my Brokenclaw ad next time I'm back in Connecticut if it's indeed still pinned up inside my old closet door.
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, please do. That is actually a very important ad as I've just discovered it was the cause of "silhouette-gate." (I will update that article later today).
DeleteI also like that this ad mentions Ian Fleming again, even though the last couple left him off! The covers never did, though, back then. I always loved the US Gardner title treatments: "Ian Fleming's Master Spy James Bond in ... by John Gardner." Carte Blanche didn't mention Fleming at all, and DMC mentioned him in an insulting way, claiming that Faulks was writing AS him. Gardner was way too classy to attempt such a gimmick as that.
ReplyDelete