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The Avengers #1
The Floating Game
While EMMA PEEL is preparing to depart for the United States as the bride of a gorgeous female Russian spy, JOHN STEED is tracking down the toughest Mafia gangster who ever graced the shores of Britain to overthrow Her Majesty's Government...
You see, someone is attempting to undermine the British government by means of a fiendish Oriental brainwashing technique on high-ranking civil servants, and Steed and Mrs. Peel find that all the clues lead to a joint Mafia-Russian plot, which, naturally, must be stopped at all costs!
You see, someone is attempting to undermine the British government by means of a fiendish Oriental brainwashing technique on high-ranking civil servants, and Steed and Mrs. Peel find that all the clues lead to a joint Mafia-Russian plot, which, naturally, must be stopped at all costs!
144 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1967
30 people want to read
About the author
John Garforth
38 books3 followersI spent thirty years as a local government officer – in libraries and the arts, beginning in London and ending up in Blackburn as a Principal Officer. Simultaneously earning more money from a career as a hack novelist and journalist to support a wife and three children.
I took early retirement in the 1980s and ran the Theatre of the Unemployed at Tamworth Arts Centre for the next seven years. This ended when my leading professional actor died (see the Sam Whitbread thread of my Ankerside novel).
It is a convention that local government officers cannot be active in local politics. My political activities of the 50s and 60s (CND, Committee of 100) had ceased, especially as I climbed the career ladder. But in the 1990s I resumed local politics, becoming first a borough councillor and then a county councillor. What might be called a gamekeeper turned poacher.
I wrote 16 hack novels – television spin-offs, ghosting and the like. I wrote 17 plays over the years but most of them for specific occasions or specific casts or to meet specific regional arts association criteria.
I took early retirement in the 1980s and ran the Theatre of the Unemployed at Tamworth Arts Centre for the next seven years. This ended when my leading professional actor died (see the Sam Whitbread thread of my Ankerside novel).
It is a convention that local government officers cannot be active in local politics. My political activities of the 50s and 60s (CND, Committee of 100) had ceased, especially as I climbed the career ladder. But in the 1990s I resumed local politics, becoming first a borough councillor and then a county councillor. What might be called a gamekeeper turned poacher.
I wrote 16 hack novels – television spin-offs, ghosting and the like. I wrote 17 plays over the years but most of them for specific occasions or specific casts or to meet specific regional arts association criteria.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 8, 2025
Compared to other similar books* — and one can really only compare these books to their TV tie-in siblings, or they would ALL be 1-star — this one was surprisingly well written. Garforth does a surprisingly good job capturing the personalities of Steed and Peel (to those few who remember them), and overall is a pretty decent writer, (especially since in his charming GR author bio he admits that "I spent thirty years as a local government officer…simultaneously earning more money from a career as a hack novelist and journalist to support a wife and three children…I wrote 16 hack novels – television spin-offs, ghosting and the like").
Plot-wise, this starts out well enough, but loses steam by the end, largely due the Peel and Steed becoming increasingly incompetent and depending on the help — if not outright rescuing — of others. And along the way, there is a surprising amount of gratuitous death, often of minor characters who Steed in particular abandons without much in the way of regret, (perhaps Garforth's subtle dig at British classism?). There's even a fairly overt nod to lesbian longing here, pretty surprising for its time and intended audience, (which I have to assume was teenage boys like me).
Still, a welcome surprise overall — again, mainly when compared to its fellow trash-mates — and a marked improvement over latter entries in the series (#'s 4-6), especially those written by the otherwise-respectable Keith Laumer, whose books here are not only badly written, silly and stupid, but surprisingly racist, ("No such ruck; this meeting pranned rong time ago. You farr for scheme rike big dumb-berr!").
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* A teenage me bought ALL these "Spy TV" tie-in books as they came out in the '60s — "Mission: Impossible," "I Spy," "Man/Girl from U.N.C.L.E.," "Secret Agent," "The Avengers"…even "Hawaii 5-0" and "The Mod Squad." And for some reason, when I moved away from home my parents never threw them out, but stashed them all away in the garage, only for me to rediscover them some 40 years later. And so I am now slloooowwly going through them as an EXTREMELY guilty pleasure…and am frequently surprised to learn that I'm not totally alone here, haha.
Plot-wise, this starts out well enough, but loses steam by the end, largely due the Peel and Steed becoming increasingly incompetent and depending on the help — if not outright rescuing — of others. And along the way, there is a surprising amount of gratuitous death, often of minor characters who Steed in particular abandons without much in the way of regret, (perhaps Garforth's subtle dig at British classism?). There's even a fairly overt nod to lesbian longing here, pretty surprising for its time and intended audience, (which I have to assume was teenage boys like me).
Still, a welcome surprise overall — again, mainly when compared to its fellow trash-mates — and a marked improvement over latter entries in the series (#'s 4-6), especially those written by the otherwise-respectable Keith Laumer, whose books here are not only badly written, silly and stupid, but surprisingly racist, ("No such ruck; this meeting pranned rong time ago. You farr for scheme rike big dumb-berr!").
____________________________________
* A teenage me bought ALL these "Spy TV" tie-in books as they came out in the '60s — "Mission: Impossible," "I Spy," "Man/Girl from U.N.C.L.E.," "Secret Agent," "The Avengers"…even "Hawaii 5-0" and "The Mod Squad." And for some reason, when I moved away from home my parents never threw them out, but stashed them all away in the garage, only for me to rediscover them some 40 years later. And so I am now slloooowwly going through them as an EXTREMELY guilty pleasure…and am frequently surprised to learn that I'm not totally alone here, haha.
May 11, 2015
This was the first of the original novels based on the television series. It has a very dated vibe of sexism, racism, and violence, but that's offset by the peculiarly British humor and observations of politics. Readers familiar with the show in its historical context should enjoy it.
January 7, 2016
The latest in my occasional project to read some of the old TV novelisations and original TV tie-ins that have sat unread on my shelves for years.
This is actually the second original novel based on the Avengers TV series. The TV series had changed so much between the first Avengers book--The Avengers--and this new 'first' book that it was virtually a different show. And that first book was never going to be reprinted. So restarting the series at '#1' makes sense.
At the time this was published, the TV series had a fairly distinctive style, far from realism. The book captures well the way the main characters speak, but it's entirely different from the flavour of the series. The author was probably intentionally taking the opportunity offered by a book to put the characters into situations that couldn't be shown on television. There's rape and torture and a sadistic cross-dressing lesbian. Emma stands by while terrible things are done to people, to preserve her cover. It's a bit nasty.
The humour works well, on the brief occasions it appears, especially during the scenes where Steed campaigns for a parliamentary election.
It's a page-turner and there are moments of writing flair.
There are several severe miscalculations.
Firstly, in the earlier chapters we are privy to Steed's thoughts. They are not thoughts I could imagine him having, nor want to imagine him having. It is always a problem with novels about larger than life TV characters: by the time the audience picks up the book, they probably have an idea of who the character is from watching him on TV, an idea that may substantially differ from the author's. So it was for me in this case. In such cases I believe that if we must know the character's thoughts, let them be practical observations and speculations regarding the plot at hand, nothing more.
Secondly, the ending is all wrong.
This is actually the second original novel based on the Avengers TV series. The TV series had changed so much between the first Avengers book--The Avengers--and this new 'first' book that it was virtually a different show. And that first book was never going to be reprinted. So restarting the series at '#1' makes sense.
At the time this was published, the TV series had a fairly distinctive style, far from realism. The book captures well the way the main characters speak, but it's entirely different from the flavour of the series. The author was probably intentionally taking the opportunity offered by a book to put the characters into situations that couldn't be shown on television. There's rape and torture and a sadistic cross-dressing lesbian. Emma stands by while terrible things are done to people, to preserve her cover. It's a bit nasty.
The humour works well, on the brief occasions it appears, especially during the scenes where Steed campaigns for a parliamentary election.
It's a page-turner and there are moments of writing flair.
There are several severe miscalculations.
Firstly, in the earlier chapters we are privy to Steed's thoughts. They are not thoughts I could imagine him having, nor want to imagine him having. It is always a problem with novels about larger than life TV characters: by the time the audience picks up the book, they probably have an idea of who the character is from watching him on TV, an idea that may substantially differ from the author's. So it was for me in this case. In such cases I believe that if we must know the character's thoughts, let them be practical observations and speculations regarding the plot at hand, nothing more.
Secondly, the ending is all wrong.
August 3, 2008
Someone is using a brainwashing technique on British civil servants in an effort to bring down the British government. Steed and Mrs. Peel are sent to investigate.
October 27, 2017
Television had a huge impact on me and my friends as we grew up in the 1960’s. Our heroes had names like James West, Napoleon Solo, Lucas McCain (The Rifleman) and James Bond. Mine was John Steed. I never missed THE AVENGERS.
Seeing THE FLOATING GAME with its yellowing pages in my stack of unread paperbacks brought a wave of nostalgia. That was a time when television shows often had “tie-in” novelizations. I’m guessing that DARK SHADOWS had the largest number of original books for a series. THE AVENGERS (and later, THE NEW AVENGERS in the 1970’s) had theirs, too. THE FLOATING GAME was the first one released.
If you are unfamiliar with THE AVENGERS, there is no sense in reading this book. The story is a bit more contrived than some of the more outlandish episodes in the series with the Russian government teaming with the Mafia to bring down members of the British government. Steed is asked to run for election in the place of one of the victims, while Emma Peel (his partner and of particular interest to me as a regular viewer) infiltrates a gambling casino as a dealer. Logical and nuanced plotting are both cast aside in favor of scenes recalling how the characters behaved onscreen in their more endearing moments. (When the plot is revealed to Steed that he will be running for office, a government official asks the dreaded question, “You aren’t a Liberal, are you?” Steed returns a reassuring look of horror, complete with a raised eyebrow.)
The idea in the paperbacks was that they could get away with including more mature moments than were permitted on television. Occasionally, this might involve an occurrence that was a bit more violent than we were accustomed to seeing, but it usually meant that the sexual innuendos were a tad more graphic. They are very mild today, but a fan of the series would have finished a chapter with a “I knew it” smirk on the face.
THE FLOATING GAME did bring to mind much of the interplay that I enjoyed watching in THE AVENGERS, and there were a couple of times when the memory caused me to laugh out loud. Like the original DARK SHADOWS books, though, it was no substitute for the real thing.
Seeing THE FLOATING GAME with its yellowing pages in my stack of unread paperbacks brought a wave of nostalgia. That was a time when television shows often had “tie-in” novelizations. I’m guessing that DARK SHADOWS had the largest number of original books for a series. THE AVENGERS (and later, THE NEW AVENGERS in the 1970’s) had theirs, too. THE FLOATING GAME was the first one released.
If you are unfamiliar with THE AVENGERS, there is no sense in reading this book. The story is a bit more contrived than some of the more outlandish episodes in the series with the Russian government teaming with the Mafia to bring down members of the British government. Steed is asked to run for election in the place of one of the victims, while Emma Peel (his partner and of particular interest to me as a regular viewer) infiltrates a gambling casino as a dealer. Logical and nuanced plotting are both cast aside in favor of scenes recalling how the characters behaved onscreen in their more endearing moments. (When the plot is revealed to Steed that he will be running for office, a government official asks the dreaded question, “You aren’t a Liberal, are you?” Steed returns a reassuring look of horror, complete with a raised eyebrow.)
The idea in the paperbacks was that they could get away with including more mature moments than were permitted on television. Occasionally, this might involve an occurrence that was a bit more violent than we were accustomed to seeing, but it usually meant that the sexual innuendos were a tad more graphic. They are very mild today, but a fan of the series would have finished a chapter with a “I knew it” smirk on the face.
THE FLOATING GAME did bring to mind much of the interplay that I enjoyed watching in THE AVENGERS, and there were a couple of times when the memory caused me to laugh out loud. Like the original DARK SHADOWS books, though, it was no substitute for the real thing.
May 16, 2021
This is the first book in a series of books based on the British show The Avengers. This is one with Mrs. Peel (Diana Rigg) paired with Steed. The plot involves gamblers, MI5, Russian spies, brainwashing, car crashing, stereotyped Chinese women fighters, stereotyped attitudes about American women and British politics.
The Russian and gambling aspects come in early on. Why Steed is standing for political office doesn't make much sense to me since, with the types of things he does, I would think the more logical approach would be to keep him out of the eye of the public as much as possible.
Mrs. Peel is involved in learning about a group of gamblers and how this ties in to everything else. This is the part where the Chinese girls and the brainwashing come in.
The thing is the book is from 1967 and the attitudes towards women were not exactly as they are now (with, thankfully, at least a little bit of progress being mad since then.) For example: 'That's the trouble with young women, he thought wearily, they need looking after.'
Another interesting quote: 'Orientals don't smile much.' The three Chinese girls are all pure evil and even come close to breaking Steed.
Then there's a spot where two people are given LSD, put into a car and the car is driven so that it will collide with a wall and break into flame.
For the time it was written, I guess, the book would have been okay. In today's world, though, it isn't. I'll give it a four star rating as if it were 1967, but if this book had come out this year I would only give it two stars at most.
The Russian and gambling aspects come in early on. Why Steed is standing for political office doesn't make much sense to me since, with the types of things he does, I would think the more logical approach would be to keep him out of the eye of the public as much as possible.
Mrs. Peel is involved in learning about a group of gamblers and how this ties in to everything else. This is the part where the Chinese girls and the brainwashing come in.
The thing is the book is from 1967 and the attitudes towards women were not exactly as they are now (with, thankfully, at least a little bit of progress being mad since then.) For example: 'That's the trouble with young women, he thought wearily, they need looking after.'
Another interesting quote: 'Orientals don't smile much.' The three Chinese girls are all pure evil and even come close to breaking Steed.
Then there's a spot where two people are given LSD, put into a car and the car is driven so that it will collide with a wall and break into flame.
For the time it was written, I guess, the book would have been okay. In today's world, though, it isn't. I'll give it a four star rating as if it were 1967, but if this book had come out this year I would only give it two stars at most.
August 27, 2017
Much fun! Witty banter and repartee, brainwashing, caning, lesbianism, LSD-addiction, gambling, ugly Americans, the Mafia, English politics. Reveals (in passing) that Emma's husband was killed in an airplane crash and she is living off an inheritance from her father. I don't think these things were ever mentioned in the TV show. A good time for all! Recommended.
June 8, 2021
That was pretty bad. I know it was of its time (the 60's) but it was not the Steed and Peel that I know from the show. Steed was unlikable and Emma Peel, well, clearly the guy writing the book had fantasies about her.
March 30, 2025
Entretenida novela de la franquicia, que no evita el lado más crudo e implacable del espionaje pese a abordar personajes de fantasía.
January 4, 2018
Very odd book, in that it captures the feel of an Avengers story while having an undercurrent of edginess that feels very off.
The mix of harsh violence and the quaint quirkiness can be jarring.
The two leads sound right and the bad guys are suitably odd and evil, but there are moments where the writer seems to be seeing what he can get away with.
The mix of harsh violence and the quaint quirkiness can be jarring.
The two leads sound right and the bad guys are suitably odd and evil, but there are moments where the writer seems to be seeing what he can get away with.
January 11, 2024
I so wanted to be Emma Peel in my younger days! ( Actually, I still do!) Spending time with a favorite couple was fun, but the story is incredibly sexist and dated.
A powerful politician gets involved with gambling and commits suicide. Then another one dies. Steed is ordered to run for a government office, which is fairly amusing. However, the interactions between gangs/agencies are cliched.
A powerful politician gets involved with gambling and commits suicide. Then another one dies. Steed is ordered to run for a government office, which is fairly amusing. However, the interactions between gangs/agencies are cliched.
February 20, 2014
a good diversion, that mimics the tv show. it has a bit more of the Ian Fleming element, but not bad.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews