James Bond, the Spy Who Loved Me

James Bond - Extended Series #17

by Christopher Wood

Vintage movie tie-in paperback

Genres: Fiction, Espionage, Thriller, Action, Spy Thriller, Media Tie In, Adventure

189 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Christopher Hovelle Wood was an English screenwriter and novelist, best known for the Confessions series of novels and films which he wrote as Timothy Lea. Under his own name, he adapted two James Bond novels for the screen: The Spy Who Loved Me (1977, with Richard Maibaum) and Moonraker (1979).
Wood's many novels divide into four groups: semi-autobiographical literary fiction, historical fiction, adventure novels, and pseudonymous humorous erotica.

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two armed nuclear submarines are missing, one is Russian, the other British. But who is the shared enemy? The Cold War thaws as the might of M15 (sic) joins with the cream of the KGB for one unique mission. Britain needs him: Commander James Bond, 007. Russia needs her: Major Anya Amatsova, Agent Tripe X. The world needs them both and in the most dangerous and complex assignment of their careers, they form an unholy, all-action and sometimes all-embacing alliance in a race against global destruction.
It’s well known that Ian Fleming refused to allow his novel of the same name to be used as the basis for a film, though EON were welcome to use the title, so Cubby Broccoli and his team created the story from scratch. The screenplay was by Christopher Wood and Richard Maibaum and Wood (as also happened with “Moonraker” two years later) was allowed to write a novelisation. I first tried to read this as a teen who happened to be a huge fan of the film and Roger Moore but hadn’t read any Fleming and, to be honest, I struggled. Now, nudging my fifties, I can see how perfectly Wood has put this together in that he’s essentially taken all the key set pieces of the Bond film and pared them right back to fit into a Fleming-like narrative. We therefore lose a lot of grandness, we lose most of the gadgets and jokes but we get the thread of the story in a much harsher, grittier fashion. Motives are explained, characters are defined, logic works and it runs really well (and this is coming from someone who ranks the film as the best of the series). There are a lot of changes - Gogol is called Nikitin and is a lecherous git, Stromberg is called Sigmund, rather than Karl (and he & Jaws both get unpleasant backstories), Naomi (the lovely Caroline Munro) doesn’t appear, Fekkesh’s mistress is explained, the Lotus Esprit is red, Q isn’t in Egypt, Jaws isn’t on the train, the ending is much more subtle - but all of them work, one way or another and serve to tell a tight story. To my mind, Wood did a cracking job with this and, if you like Fleming’s Bond or the film version, you’ll probably thoroughly enjoy this too. Very much recommended.

[Ira Livingston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christopher Wood is the second author to take on the Bond series, having to actually focus on the film novelized versions.

I usually dislike novelized film books, finding most of them miss directing either the back story additions, or creating more action than was in the movie.

However, Wood surprised me on several accounts, adding the history of the film's Bond villain JAWS into a believable history, while also comparing Anya the Russian spy to Bond's only true love in Fleming's series Tracy. This added a much more believable connection, then the film version - womanizing Bond that always gets his girl.

And the action descriptions all though cinematic, does give the reader flashes of the brutality and violence intended within Fleming's stories.

Overall this was a very good Bond book.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easily the best continuation novel from another author than Fleming. This book and its sister (the moonraker one) are often overlooked due to the cultstatus of the movies they are based upon. That said mr. Wood was in both cases responsible from the stories and screenplays. But both books are more and more considered by fans of the writing of Ian Fleming as the best there is after Fleming.

TSWLM is the movie told in far more detail, it also takes away some of the Roger Moorish fun in favor of a more Flemingesque approuch.

Ian Flemings book by the same name is a tale of a lady by the name of Vivienne who gets into trouble in a motel along the highway, trouble as in gangster trouble. And when the knight in shining armour enters in the person of a British 00 agent the gangsters find that they are the ones in trouble. It is a tale told from the perspective of the female character. When he sold the rights Fleming made sure they could only use the title and not the story.

When Cubby Broccoli continued the movie series of 007 solo after the departure of Salzman this was the movie with which he started. Christopher Wood was one of the writers brought in to write an original tale that would suit the then current reigning actor Roger Moore. It is the story of a wealthy man who loves the oceans and their contents and decides to eliminate the worlds population by starting a nuclear war with stolen submarines while he and some people he likes hide away under the sea. It is up to 007 to find the stolen submarine while his opponent agent triple X is hunting a stolen Russian sub. SHe is of course a gorgeous female and 007 = 007. As for who the spy in the title is watch the movie or read the book.

Christopher Wood did write two novelisations (TSWLM and James Bond and the Moonraker) both movies he was involved in. And somehow he managed to write in my humble opinion the best post Fleming books with 007 in the leading role. Too bad he will never write a non-novelisation of 007 that would be something to savor.

[Thomas Stroemquist · Rating 3 out of 5]

After many years of wanting to, I finally got to read this one and I did enjoy it. It’s like an alternate retelling of the film and that was fun for someone who knows that version by heart. It was my second James Bond film ever, following Goldfinger the same week after my mom snuck me and my friend into both during a James Bond marathon at the local cinema. I was 12 and TSWLM scared me a bit (Goldfinger didn’t). Returning home I recited the movies - the full movies - to my younger sister. I expect my version of this one was in parts similar to Wood’s writing.

It’s grittier than the movie, plenty of gore and more disturbing violence (a torture scene thrown in for good measure in homage to Casino Royale, I’m sure). More sex, more misogyny and a creepy lecherous Bond. If I were to take this close to serious, I’d have dropped it in disgust, but for the reasons in the first paragraph, I didn’t, but blocked it out of my mind.

Some hilariously funny details is that Stromberg is Swedish! (From a small town/village in Sweden with a name that means absolutely nothing in Swedish, but rather has a sequence of letters that simply do not form a word…). He’s also not Karl, but Sigmund. Jaws is pretty scary in the book (12 year old me thought he was pretty scary in the movie as well…).

[Thor Twinkle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bond fans always talk positively about this book, so I felt like checking it out. I'll have to join the choir now because I definitely agree.
The story is the same as the movie, with just a few scenes added here in there. The author also has the opportunity to go more in-depth with some characters. It results in us getting some interesting backstories for Jaws and Stromberg, but, especially, a better developed Anya. I never cared for her in the movie, but here I could believe she was the KFG's highest-ranking spy.
It's also a fun read because Wood tries to mimic Fleming's writing style by stripping down all the more "silly moments" and adding a little more gravitas to the character of Bond. This way, it really feels like reading another adventure written by Fleming... With the only exception that Wood's style is 10 times better (I'm sorry, but I had to say it!).

[Fred Klein · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a surprisingly good novelization of the James Bond film, which the author also wrote. Wood does not effect a transfer of the screenplay to book form. Instead, he adopts the writing style of Ian Fleming, omits some of the humor and gadgets of the film, and makes Bond the more cruel Bond of the Fleming novels rather than that portrayed by Roger Moore. Not all of the dialogue and action in the movie are the same as in this novel.

I found some parts confusing, notably the battle on the tanker and the final confrontation on Atlantis, but I presume that most people who read this will have seen the movie, so it won't be much of a problem.

I recommend this for all James Bond fans, especially if you are a fan of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels.

[KEVIN · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the first and still very best of the Bond continuation novels. Even hampered by the unenviable chore of having to turn a frivolous film script into a novel Christopher Wood manages to evoke Fleming as no-one else ever has. He went on to repeat this amazing feat a few years later in the Moonraker film/novel tie-in. Alas there are no more and Christopher Wood was only commissioned by the film companies to produce these because he was employed as a writer on both movies. If only the keepers of the Bond literary rights had recognized these works as the triumphs they undoubtedly are then we may have had more. But they dropped the ball and it's been bouncing away from them ever since.

[Richard Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review was originally written for The Reel Bits as part of my 007 Case Files.

Wait, haven’t we already been through this? Didn’t Ian Fleming release this back in 1962? The answers are “kind of” and “yes” respectively, although this book is a beast far removed from the often controversial The Spy Who Loved Me .

You might recall that Fleming’s novel of a similar name was unique among his Bond releases: it was told from the perspective of a woman, and barely featured 007 at all. So disappointed was Fleming with the results and criticisms that he tried to halt future releases of it. The 1977 film is an adaptation in name only, with co-screenwriter Christopher Wood novelising his screenplay (with Richard Maibaum) for mass publication. Hence, this is called JAMES BOND, THE SPY WHO LOVED ME to differentiate it from the original.

Still with me? The short version is that this follows the plot of the Lewis Gilbert film, starring Roger Moore in his third (and arguably best) outing as James Bond. It concerns the villain Karl Stromberg (alliteratively called Sigmund Stromberg here) wanting to destroy the world and start a new civilisation…under the sea (where there’s no accusations, just friendly crustaceans). Bond must team up with the unsurprisingly attractive Russian agent, Anya Amasova, to stop the ingenious ichthyophiliac.

As the first regular Bond novel since Kingsley Amis’ Colonel Sun , the fictional 1973 “autobiography” notwithstanding, Wood adopts a lot of Fleming’s literary tics, from the preciseness of ordering a martini, to Bond’s obsession with scrambled eggs, and even his ability to withstand genital torture. In fact, he really wants us to know he’s done his homework, directly referencing Casino Royale , On Her Majesty’s Secret Service , From Russia With Love , and many others. Yet Fleming was never quite as flamboyant with his words as Wood. From the opening pages, covering the “pre-credits” content of the film, Wood makes it clear that he’s more of a fan of purple prose than his predecessors.

The Spy Who Loved Me was Fleming’s most sexually explicit book he’d written at the time of release, but Wood amps this up significantly from the first page. The then-unnamed “girl” looks down at the “innocent swelling of her breasts beneath the sheets” and becomes ashamed when she “felt herself becoming hot and moist…because she was not a promiscuous girl.” Women in casinos, we are told, are either “straightforward whores or have run out of money,” and one such woman has a “dark gypsy slutishness tamed into sophistication.” A sex positive book this is not.

In the innocent/“whore” dichotomy of Wood’s world, women are a sum of their ornately described body parts, with Wood having a strange fixation on nipples: they are usually hard, erect or simply “jutting out from the arrogant breasts” (and sometimes just “jutted out proudly” or “expectantly” at other moments). Who knew nipples were so emotional? Other breasts are “firm and ripe” with nipples like “plump, juicy antennae.” Are we sure Wood wasn’t just taking notes in a supermarket?

Yet as a companion to the film, there’s a lot of fun to be had here. Stromberg’s past and motivations get a lot more fleshed out than in the film, and SMERSH is a lot more present here than in the film. (One argument for this is that the producers were conscious of ensuring nothing SPECTRE related was present, given the relative recency of Kevin McClory’s Thunderball case). Most fascinating is the entire backstory for fan-favourite villain (and later anti-hero) Jaws, whose real name turns out to be Zbigniew Krycsiwiki, the product of a union between a circus strong man and the Chief Warden at a Women’s Prison. In a single page, the character becomes richer – we know he played basketball, was arrested by the secret police, and his jaw destroyed and rebuilt.

Up until this point, nobody did it better than Fleming when it came to pure blunt-force Bond. Yet Wood’s take on the character is one of the best since Fleming’s death, and arguably better than anything Fleming did in his declining years.

James Bond will return in James Bond and Moonraker (redux)…

[Druss · Rating 4 out of 5]

James Bond Radio podcast create an audiobook of this one. A good listen. Different to the movie, greater depth and background

[Talie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Buckle up, because this ride is going to get bumpy.

Bond is tasked with finding out what has happened to a missing nuclear submarine and finds Major Anya Amatsova, a Russian spy, investigating the disappearance of a Soviet sub. Sharing the the same goal of uncovering who is behind the disappearances they form an uneasy alliance as they uncover a deadly plot to destroy the world.

Seeing as this book is based on the 1977 film 'The Spy Who Loved Me', which itself is based on the original book by Fleming, I already had pretty low expectations. They should have been lower.

Of course I would expect misogyny from Fleming's work as well, but Wood pushes beyond vanilla misogyny and into the realm of soft porn. He constantly sexualises women's bodies and imbues individual body parts with human emotions (e.g. breasts are 'proud' or 'arrogant'), often spending entire paragraphs on these descriptions that are utterly irrelevant to the plot. In chapter 14 Wood dedicates almost an entire page to an obscure description that turns out to be Anya applying suntan lotion to her naked body, only to have her wash it all off minutes later!

Here's one example of his sexist and confusing descriptions:

"Her green almond eyes...sheltered between a foliage of long untidy lashes which looked as if she had just washed them and found them impossible to manage."



I hate it when I wash my eyelashes and can't style them afterwards, amiright ladies?

There's also a constant emphasis on brand names that was almost at a Jurassic World level. Bond doesn't drive a car, he drives a Lotus Esprit. He doesn't wear a watch, he wears a Rolex Perpetual. Even marmalade doesn't escape the consumerist treatment (Bond eats Cooper's Vintage Oxford, if you were wondering). I wouldn't have been surprised if the publisher had included a Sky Mall catalogue as an epilogue. It was so on the nose I started keeping a tally, and by the end brand names had been mentioned SEVENTY-EIGHT times, including repetitions but not including gun names.

Bond, James Bond is known for his style and class, and using the odd French phrase is certainly in-keeping with that image. I'm a Francophile, and having studied it for years I can admit I'm snobby enough to shudder when someone mispronounces 'croissant'- but even for me there was an oversaturation of French in this book. Why say "contracté" when "tense" would do? Why bother with "corbeaux" when "vultures" would be more widely understood? Wood ends up coming off as an arrogant prat, and further confuses a reader still trying to work out why that girl would wash her eyelashes.

I have to grudgingly admit that the action sequences were written quite well, even if he goes into levels of gore that remind me of scenes in Ellis' American Psycho. He also displays an impressive vocabulary, which is surprising from an author who refers to nipples as "plump, juicy antennae", so with these positive elements in mind I felt compelled to award this book 2 stars.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

"You've shot your bolt Stromberg. Now it's my turn."

"All these feathers and he still can't fly."

James Bond is back again and his new mission is to find out how a Royal Navy Polaris submarine holding sixteen nuclear warheads simply disappeared while on patrol. Bond joins Major Anya Amasova and takes on a a web-handed mastermind, known as Karl Stromberg, as well as his henchman Jaws, who has a mouthful of metal teeth. Bond must track down the location of the missing submarine before the warheads are fired.

Stromberg and Jaws were great villains. There are cool action scenes, and there's great acting, like always. There's a minimum of slapstick humor (yes, really). The sets of the submarines are awesome, as they eventually inspired Das Boot, The Hunt for Red October, and U-571. The pacing, however, is a bit slow in places. Also, one scene involves Bond interrogating a henchman for information and even though he gives him what he needs to know and is defenseless, he still lets him fall to his death.

Nobody does it better than Mr. Bond here. NOBODY!

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

The disappearance of two nuclear submarines causes James Bond to join forces with a Russian spy to thwart the designs of a scientist bent on global destruction.

A decent novelisation of the film, with some interesting callbacks to the source novels.

[Richard Hiron · Rating 4 out of 5]

James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me ⛷🪂🦈🐪😬🌊🚢 is the first novelisation of a Bond film.

Written by Christopher Wood, it follows the screenplay of the 1977 film, The Spy Who Loved Me by Wood and Richard Maibaum quite closely, because Ian Fleming only allowed the title of his 1962 novel to be used in a film adaptation.

Wood is partially successful at imitating Fleming’s written style, even though this confuses the continuity between the books and the films.

James Bond shares his literary counterpart’s characteristics, right down to his cruel appearance and his Scottish housekeeper, May. The book could also function as a sequel to the 1957 Bond novel, From Russia, with Love, as SMERSH is still after 007 and Colonel-General Nikitin (a character from that novel who substitutes for the film’s more likeable General Gogol) deviously tries to manipulate Major Anya Amasova into killing 007 during their mission. There is also a torture sequence reminiscent of Bond’s ordeal at the hands of Le Chiffre in the 1953 adventure, Casino Royale.

Nevertheless, the much more outlandish onscreen world of 007 (i.e. submersible sports cars, vast underwater lairs and submarine-swallowing supertankers) takes over in the end. Sadly, in the struggle between the two formats, the villain’s lair resembles an oil rig (likely inspired by Aquapolis from Expo ‘75, which was briefly considered for the film), whilst Caroline Munro’s murderous helicopter pilot, Naomi is omitted altogether.

Anya is given her own backstory, as are Sigmund Stromberg and his hulking henchman, Zbigniew Krycsiwiki, nicknamed Jaws, who are horrifying characters, even by Bond villain standards. Stromberg is a truly disturbing psychopath who built his fortune through a combination of grave robbing and industrial sabotage. His murder of his assistant, whilst harrowing in the film, is sickening in the book and seems to have been inspired by Peter Benchley’s 1974 novel, Jaws.

That said, the novelisation is a fantastic read and carries some great nuggets of information that just couldn’t be conveyed onscreen.

[Stuart Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

A workup of the movie, not the Ian Fleming novel. For the best because it is the strangest of all James Bond novels, with Bond not even being the main character. It is at this point in the James Bond Extended Series that we make the first serious break from the serious, professional spy written by Fleming and jump to the wry, sentimental Roger Moore Bond with his collection of ridiculous Q gadgets and an over the top nemesis to go with it. It's not a direct script of the movie and actually reads well as a novel, as long as you're prepared for the silliness of Jaws and Wet Nellie.

This book sets the tone right off, with some nonsense concerning a rocket propelled ski pole and a Union Jacked parachute. One of Her Majesty's nucular submarines has gone missing and someone is willing to sell some info concerning that which sends James Bond to Cairo. There he finds that the guy he is to meet has also caught the attention of a beautiful Soviet spy and a giant with metal teeth. Eventually the trail leads to Stromberg, a shipping magnate who really likes fish. Like any self respecting Dark Overlord he has a secret lair in a hollowed out volcano and a serious Captain Nemo inspired plan. SPOILER ALERT! Stromberg wins, Bond fails and is turned into a merman. I may have made that last part up.

It's a well written book, sticks close to the plot of the movie and expands upon it with some detail. Most of Roger Moore's lame dad jokes are left out and so is all the goofiness that accompanied Jaws in the movie. We even learn Jaws' real name, which is Polish so it has a bunch of Z's and W's and a long string of letters without any vowels. He is not at all loveable in the book the way he was in the movie. This book is a fairly serious attempt to keep James Bond grounded as a real spy series while the villain has morphed into a Flash Gordon level character. It's done well considering the requirements to keep aligned with the movie script.

[Blake Plummer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this because the screenwriter for the movie also wrote this novelization and I wanted to see if this held any insights to an early script, and it kinda does! I took lots of notes that I won’t post here. Was definitely a fascinating read.

Mostly the same as the movie, but it’s clear that Christopher Wood wrote a “Fleming Bond” in the script and Roger Moore gave it his own spin. The James Bond in this book is much harder edged than in the movie which was a nice change but at times it was hard to imagine Moore delivering some of these lines. In general, this is a bit darker than the movie. The movie is a favorite of mine from the series because it balances the camp with the serious, something this does less so. Stromberg is more ruthless and insane, Jaws gets a backstory (that boy was hooping before he was a goon apparently?), the opening now involves a woman having been butchered so an assassin can take her place to kill Bond, etc.

I enjoyed this quite a bit despite some strange sexual passages about Anya from the thoughts of both her boss and Bond. Roger Moore’s Bond may have said countless silly sexual innuendos but the Bond in this book was a freakazoid sometimes. Also, this includes a scene the movie left out; James Bond getting his two bits electrocuted by a car battery. Probably for the best that they didn’t make Roger Moore act that out.

[Roopkumar Balachandran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roger Moore acted as James Bond in seven movies, of this I liked Live And Let Die, The Spy Who Loved Me and For Your Eyes Only. When I saw The Spy Who Loved Me book, I grabbed without hesitation.

There are some differences between the movie and the book. Most of the gadgets and jokes are missing in the book, character names changed, such as Karl Stromberg as Sigmund Stromberg. SMERSH attacking James Bond, which scenario removed from the movie.

The author Christopher Wood's book follows the plot of the movie and also the author added descriptive backstory for the two main characters Jaws and Stromberg. Christopher Wood pulled out some of the cinematic moments such as Lotus Esprit car chasing scene, fight scene with Jaws on the train, water scooter in the climax, and have replaced with a darker and more realistic tone for the novel.

This book is excellent and has the touch of Fleming novels.

For more of this review with images visit the below link.

http://www.chromaring.com/2020/07/rev...

[Eric Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exciting read if you enjoyed the movie as well. Some changes between book and film. Stromberg's name was Karl in the movie, Stromberg's assassin, Naomi, is absent from the book and Gen. Gogol (a staple in the Bond films) is Gen. Nikitin here, who is a pervert and tries to seduce Anya early on. Some of the humor from the movie is missing here. Christopher Wood cowrote the movie so this version seems like the way he originally wanted it, then changes were made down the pipeline. Other changes are minor like the Lotus being red here (white in the movie but a red one did show up in For Your Eyes Only), certain action scenes differ, how Anya discovers Bond killed her boyfriend is different and Bond's trip to Stromberg's laboratory in the end is less entertaining (Q's portable jet ski isn't around here). Still, it's an entertaining read even if the author seems to be obsessed with breasts.

[R.R. Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full disclosure, I did not read this so much as have it read to me by Dan and Tom on the James Radio Podcast. They covered it over four episodes, doing a fantastic job. I've never been able to get my hands on a physical copy, so this was a great alternative. I was very pleased by the book, and with Wood's approach to the story. While the film (which the book is based upon) is a little more silly and over the top, Wood sets this squarely, as best he can, in the universe of Fleming's Bond novels. The Bond character is true to that and much of the narrative captures the essence of the original novels. Very well done and enjoyable!

[Jack McLean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easily one of the best post Ian Fleming James Bond novels. It's written by Christopher Wood, who also scripted the film on which it's based. The film was film was big and the epitome of the Roger Moore Bond era with puns, gadgets and excess everywhere. It's great fun. The novelization tells the same story but does it in a far more serious manner, reading like a very good, straight James Bond thriller. The characterization is flawless and the style is similar to Fleming but feels natural to Wood. This could be the best post-Fleming Bond novel. It's definitely in the top few.

[Jonny Bland · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a lot of fun, I normally stay clear of film novel tie ins but had heard this was worth my time. It felt like Flemings Bond to me more than Roger Moores interpretation which is interesting almost giving us a what if/multiverse version! Some nice back stories to Jaws and Stromberg which I don’t think we get in the film either and an incredibly tense torture scene similar to Casino Royale! The intimate scenes are a little more explicit than Fleming and this might be because the authors day job was scripting ‘Sex comedies’ which were very popular in seventies Britain!

[Trae Stratton · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the RARE novelizations of a Bond film. This one does not disappoint, and has a real feel tie back to Fleming’s style and craft. Unlike so many generic novelizations, this one actually offers insight into the psyche of the main characters (Bond, Anya and Stromberg)- most likely because the author had real ties to the film and was not just a hired gun.

If you’ve read everything Bond but have so far skipped this, you won’t be disappointed- more likely, you’ll nurture a greater appreciation for the film.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Novelization of the Movie that shares only a name with the Fleming novel. This novelization actually had more of a Fleming feel than the movie with its version of Bond being more brutal and less funny and charming than Roger Moore's portrayal in the movie. The author was also a screenwriter for the movie and demonstrated a great feel for the characters both in the books and movies. A fun read for a fan of all things Bond.

[Tony Drummond · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this book via the James Bond Radio podcast and would highly recommend it. Not only do you get the audiobook but the team provide analysis; background detail and look at how the author wrote the screenplay. They have also done an audiobook of Moonraker which is worth a listen.

The book itself is far more dark than the film and we get added back stories to the characters. Much better than the subsequent Bond novelisations which are a simple summary of the films.

[Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

this one was interesting. Some of the story has been changed from the film version. Having the Russians be smersh was interesting and unexpected. Bond is clearly the Fleming version and not based on Roger Moores portrayal. I actually really enjoyed the novelisation of The Spy Who Loved Me, it feels like this is what they originally wanted to do with the film but was probably not allowed too?

[Jeff Mayo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novel was a tie-in with the 1977 movie, “The Spy Who Loved Me.” The title was taken from the worst of all of the Bond novels, but, as usual, the movie had nothing to do with the source material. This follows the preposterous movie, which makes for a better read than the original novel of the same name.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember loving this is a kid.

(1) Secret agent Anya Amasova

(2) Stromberg, in his creepy undersea lair with his creepy plans for world domination.

Also, I just realized today (November 25, 2018) discovered that this story was NOT written by Ian Fleming!

[Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A basic "beach read" that is a littler steamier than the Fleming originals (in a super cheesy way, too) and manages to be quite different from the film even though the screenwriter is also the author.

[Dave Humphrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

The movie is probably my least favourite in the series but this novelization is far better written than I expected. Wood captures the Fleming style and manages to make the idiocy of the movie plot a bit less silly and more readable.

[Andrew Percoco · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, although it follows the plot of the 1977 movie, is also rather independent with descriptive backstory of Jaws and of Stromberg. An excellent read, very comparative to the Fleming novels. I just wish it was available as an audiobook or Kindle e-book.

[Phoebe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, but it took a bit for me to get into it. The suspense was there but it was a lot of description that made it a bit difficult to get through. The ending was good and left some suspense but it was a bit too open at times.