The Spy Who Loved Me [Movie Tie-In]

Few novelizations of scripts work as novels. There are exceptions and this novel is one of them. Christopher Wood, who also co-wrote the screenplay, takes one of the more fantastic Bond films and brings it down to Earth. The result is a tense and action packed Bond novel. Wood starts with James Bond himself. This 007 is smarter and more human then his counterpart in either the previous novels or in the film for that matter, He has one liners, but not many and does that appear in the novel actually work. Bond is not just a martini drinking secret agent, he is a thoughtful and intelligent man of action who kills to survive and also for Queen and country in an insane world. But Wood's Bond is just the icing on the cake. Wood takes the characters, often only one-dimensional in the film, and gives them flesh and blood. Anya isn't just the KGB equivalent to Bond. She's a professional spy with an almost childlike innocence that leaves her the prey to men around her. Her relationship with Bond makes up the central part of the novel, making it as much as drama as it is a thriller. Wood also brings humanity and realism to the villains. Sigmund (aka Karl) Stromberg becomes a man who takes his fascination with the sea to a terrifying conclusion. Jaws goes from one-dimensional henchman to a naturally violent man whom Stromberg has turned into a monster and sexual predator (with some shades of From Russia With Love's Red Grant). Each are more human and interesting then their film counterparts and make the novel all the more interesting. Wood also proves he's a writer of considerable talent. From the nods to Ian Flemings to touches of irony and a surprisingly somber ending, Wood shows that he knows what makes a good Bond novel. Wood wisely removes the outrageous sight gags and moments of the film in line with the darker and realistic tone of the novel. Wood also knows how to get an action sequence to work. These, especially the Lotus chase and the final fight in the sea lab, keep the novel going and supplement, but do not take away from, the drama and the heart of the novel. Not that the novel is perfect. Wood never makes the oil tanker - submarine hijacking plot seem any more real then it did in the film and this kills the realism for a couple of chapters. The downside to bringing flesh and blood to the characters is how Wood doe sit. For example, without any transition or reason Wood goes from Stromberg's meeting with two scientists to Stromberg's life story, which makes for awkward, but still good, reading. For all of Wood's excellent description, he does tend to get bogged down in it from time to time (chapters one and fourteen for example). These flaws make this second only to the Tomorrow Never Dies novelization for the best Bond film novelization. Yet for all its flaws, the novel works exceptionally well. From humanized characters to romantic moments and page turning action sequences, The Spy Who Loved Me novelization works not just as a nov