Bond and Bourne Book series.

I read the second bourne book and I was less then impressed. But on the plus side it's completely different from the movie, so it's not really spoiled at all if you've watched the movie.

I've read a few of the bond books. Interesting stuff but I hate reading in general, even if its a subject I like...so they were boring.

I've read them all. The Bourne Identity is a great book and very different from the movie. Much more explanation about Bourne's backstory and the efforts to catch The Jackal (Carlos Illitch Ramirez, I believe). Lots of good action and spy stuff - one of my favorite action novels. As for the other Bourne books, I have read them but they were forgettable. My rule of thumb is that I don't recommend any Robert Ludlum sequels. If you want exciting action, spy novels check out his early works like The Holcroft Covenant, The Osterman Weekend, The Road to Gandolfo, The Chancellor Manuscript and The Scarlatti Inheritance. The problem is that once he built his reputation, he basically sold out and let the publishers put out a lot of crap using his name. In fact its unclear if he actually wrote many of the later novels. I did actually read the new Bourne novel by Eric Von Lustbader recently, The Bourne Betrayal, but it was only because it was the best looking book I could find in the airport bookshop. As for the Ian Fleming Bond novels, they are really only similar to the first few movies, Dr. No, Goldfinger and From Russia with Love. Beyond that the movies and the books diverge dramatically. While they are fun, the books are quite dated and you have to keep in mind the time frame and background in which they were written. Beyond the Fleming novels, there is a whole series by John Gardner which attempted to bring Bond more into modern times. Those are hit and miss and I don't remember enough about them to recommend titles. I also recently read the latest Bond novel, Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks. It was OK, but only because it was James Bond. If it were the beginning of a new series or character, I doubt it would have seemed as interesting.

I only made it through the first couple of chapters of the first Bourne novel. The writing was weak and the voice seemed completely wrong (compared to the movie).

If you want spy thriller, look to John Le Carre. Hmm... maybe I'll see if they've got anything from him at the airport tomorrow. I could go for a little Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

The book and the Matt Damon movie are very different. There's actually a 1988 television movie starring Richard Chamberlain that is much more true to the book... The Bourne Identity - 1988 version

I have read all the bourne, and a lot of the bond. RL is a great writer, but the books are very long and a bit convoluted. I read anything and everything and read very fast, but I had a hard time getting through some of them. On the other hand, the bond books are like short stories to me. I like to read several in one sitting as I can read one in about 30 minutes. They are very dissimilar to the movies, plot points, characters are the same in the older ones, but stylistically they are different. Everything you have heard about bond being dark and brooding, almost depressive in the books is true. the Daniel Craig bonds are much closer to the Bond I see in the books.

me too. I thought it sucked.

I recently read the Bourne Sanction which was pretty good. If you love spy novels, the Gabriel Allon series by Daniel Silva is great. Two other great action books (not necessarily spy related) are the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child and the Bob Lee Swagger series by Stephen Hunter.

Eric Ambler pwns all, but not in the adolescent style this thread is going for.

The Bourne books are, IMO, pretty bad. Plodding writing, ridiculously complicated, just really bad, especially later in the series.

I've read all the Fleming and Gardner Bond books. Pretty good reads.

For spy novels in the gritty series genre, I would recommend the Quiller series over either Bond or Bourne.

interesting. I am a shallow reader, so these things appeal. Recommended first book?

The Gardner Bond books aren't very good, and get progressively worse as they go along. Bond, especially in the beginning, is a hybrid of the book and movie characters, and I remember being struck that Gardner puts him in a denim jacket. I read several of them as a young teenager, and I can't say I plan to revisit them.

Fleming is enjoyable if only for his idiosynchrasies. The writing style's very distinct. Bond's recipe for scrambled eggs is good, too.

I haven't read any of the other modern Bond books, except for making a short stab at one of the Raymond Benson novels. I suspect he was picked more for his Bond knowledge than his writing skills.

Colonel Sun, by Kingsley Amis, is one of the better books in the now vast Bond series.