Tomorrow Never Dies

Yes I know everybody else has said the same thing but I'll say it again. The thing that makes this book work is the character development. Personally my favorite person in the movie was Stamper because he was sick and twisted and funny to watch. Well in the book he is even more sick and twisted, for example, instead of just giving the tape of the gunned down men from the devonshire to Elliot he actually gives a naration of it, and at one point he says "look at that one, he tried to get away,oop got 'em" Me and my friend joke about that all the time. well enough about Stamper. The book is a great addition to James Bond series, and an easy read for a plane ride or something. Definitly get this one!

This novel is based on the screenplay of he film, so the plot isn't going to stray to far from the movie (if you saw it). However, the novel contains one or two or more scenes in which the film didn't include. Such as: Wai Lin's mission briefing in China, Elliot Carver's history, etc. The book was good enough to read even after seeing the movie because it provided enough extras not in the film. They would tell you what each character was thinking, and would also elaborate more on Elliot Carver's past, Paris/Bond relationship, among other things not in the film. It is no going to be any kind of vocabulary quest, so it's a easy read, but if you like Bond, you'll probably like this book (even if you didn't like the film, as i didn't).

A man who can start a war anytime and anyplace-and profit from it-would be the most powerful man in the world. Elliot Carver knows this. And he has a plan to turn his media conglomerate into a true empire, exploiting global conflicts he creats with on-the-spot news coverage guaranteed to bring him the highest ratings in television history. It strats with a sudden mysterious skirmish that leaves two Chinese MiGs and a Royal Navy frigate at the bottom of the South China Sea. It could end with an all-out world war on live TV. But there is one man who can stop it... James Bond. Buy this book! It is for die heart 007 fans to read!

It is rare that a movie/novel tie-in matches the movie's quality. Action scenes don't usually translate well and obvious plot holes and inconsistencies become more apparent than ever. Raymond Benson's Tomorrow Never Dies adaptation is an exception. Using the framework scripted by Bruce Feirstein, Benson pulls off an in-depth, intriguing, action-packed novel that actually surpasses the movie it is based on. One of my main problems with the movie was the total lack of character development for the main characters. Stamper, Elliot Carver, Paris Carver, and Wai Lin all had little to no background which made them seem fake and uninteresting. With Benson's version, they all have detailed histories and are far more intriguing people to read about than they were to watch on the screen. Wai Lin, for instance, had an entire chapter devoted to her in the beginning. It detailed her involvement with the Chinese People's External Security Force, her training, her skills, and many other facets of her life that made her a real person. Her relationship with Bond is also much more realistic. From their first meeting at Carver's party, there is sexual tension between the two. Later in the novel, there is a mixture of mutual admiration and trust. Inevitably this leads to lust, but even that is done tastefully. Benson also fleshed out one of the biggest questions left in my mind after seeing Tomorrow Never Dies: just who was General Chang and what was his purpose. In the movie he was seen for about five seconds and talked about briefly. In the novel we learn that he was a high-ranking official who, before he defected, stole a large amount of stealth material. This is what Wai Lin was investigating when she went to Carver's party and met Bond. It was later revealed that he was working for Carver, not with. All these facts would have made the movie far more interesting. Another issue I had was in regards to Stamper. He came across as an inhuman freak that enjoyed pain. With no more background this seemed ridiculous; however, the novel reveals that his pain and pleasure sensors were actually reversed. As a boy, he was hired to kill Carver's real father whom he did with a sick pleasure. Ten years later he becomes Elliot's henchman and almost his child. Again, with more development, the character of Stamper works. By using the screenplay merely as an outline, Benson is able to create a novel that seems like it was never a movie. The plot is exactly the same as the movie, but much of the dialogue has been changed, as have the action scenes. The BMW car and motorcycle chases are still in there, but their content has been changed. Benson also took quite a few creative licenses and added fight sequences while cutting others; for example, Bond dukes it out with Stamper on top of the speeding Sea Dolphin II. Finally, the novel cuts out much of the in-poor-taste innuendoes that filled the movie. What results is a witty, well-paced novel with

Excellent!!!Benson did a very good job in keeping his "Bond" similar to Ian Fleming's "Bond". The book was writen in an excelent style, making the words turn to pictures in your mind. My only problem was I had to put the book down once in a while.