Moonraker (James Bond, #3) in Espionage Aficionados

Mar 10, 2012 Dfordoom rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: spy-fiction

Moonraker was the fourth of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels, appearing in 1955. By that time Fleming had the formula well and truly nailed and the result is wonderful entertainment.

A mysterious businessman has announced plans to build a missile that will ensure Britain’s defences. He is prepared to finance the project himself as a kind of gift to the nation. The rocker, known as the Moonraker, will be able to reach any city in Europe (which in 1955 made it a super-weapon).

Sir Hugo Drax is very Moonraker was the fourth of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels, appearing in 1955. By that time Fleming had the formula well and truly nailed and the result is wonderful entertainment.

A mysterious businessman has announced plans to build a missile that will ensure Britain’s defences. He is prepared to finance the project himself as a kind of gift to the nation. The rocker, known as the Moonraker, will be able to reach any city in Europe (which in 1955 made it a super-weapon).

Sir Hugo Drax is very mysterious indeed. In fact no-one is absolutely certain of his identity. During the German breakthrough in the Ardennes in 1944 a British headquarters was destroyed, and a badly burned man was found among the wreckage claiming to have total amnesia. He was tentatively identified as a former dockworker from Liverpool. After the war this man made a fortune speculating on precious metals and by the early 50s he had been knighted and with the announcement of his Moonraker project had become a sort of national hero.

Sir Hugo Drax just happens to belong to the same club as M, the head of the British Secret Service, and M had noticed something peculiar and disturbing- Sir Hugo cheats at cards. It’s peculiar because he is so wealthy he has no need to do something so petty, and it’s disturbing because in 1955 being exposed a card cheat could still mean social ruin. So it has the potential to become a matter of national security and M asks James Bond as a personal favour to find out how he does it and find a way to cure him of this unfortunate habit before a scandal erupts.

This sets up the obligatory gambling scene without which no Bond novel would be complete. Fleming was fascinated by the dangerous glamour of high-stakes gambling and always liked to find a way not only to include such a scene but also to make it integral to the plot.

The very next day a double murder takes place at the headquarters of the Moonraker project and Bond finds himself working undercover as Drax’s chief of security. Naturally there’s a beautiful woman involved, in this case a policewoman from Special Branch also working undercover in Drax’s operation. Her name is Gala Brand. At this stage of course it is still assumed that Drax is a patriotic hero and that some outside group is trying to sabotage the Moonraker. Bond will soon discover there’s more to Sir Hugo Drax than meets the eye.

Fleming’s success with the Bond novels was based on making use the traditional ingredients of the spy thriller but adding extra sex and violence and most importantly, adding extra glamour. He more or less created the stereotypical secret agent as handsome, charming, sophisticated, witty, cultured and as an all-round bon vivant. Fleming loved to drop the names, not of famous people, but of famous and luxurious products. The pages of the Bond novels are littered with references to luxury products. He was sometimes mocked for this but on the whole it was a very effective technique. Spy thrillers are after all escapist fantasies so you might as well make the fantasy as exciting as possible.

Bond also differed from earlier heroes of this type such as Richard Hannay and Bulldog Drummond in being sexually amoral. Bond is as patriotic and as courageous as Hannay and Drummond but you can’t imagine those earlier spy heroes indulging in the sexual adventures that Bond gets up to.

Fleming’s Moonraker bears little resemblance to the outrageous 1979 Bond movie of the same name. By 1979 technology had moved on and the Moonraker rocket of the novel would have seemed very dated.

The novel is immense fun and if you’ve never sampled the delights of Fleming’s spy fiction it’s as good a place to start as anywhere since there’s no particular need to read the novels in sequence. Highly recommended. ...more

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Jan 07, 2013 Michael rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: thriller-spy

(Forget the movie.) Who is Hugo Drax? Is he a national hero or a world-class heel? Can anyone shed a light on his mysterious past? Does he cheat at cards? What's the real purpose of the Moonraker project? Can James get some answers within a week? Will Gala Brand warm up to the Bond charm? REad the book and find out. Well worth it. ...more

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Dec 18, 2008 Scott E rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-spy-thrillers

Bond works a murder mystery. Fleming does a very nice job with the card-playing section of this entry (which was lengthy), and showing Bond's thought processes. On the downside, the "immediacy" of the threat posed in Moonraker (Drax) was non-existent until the final few chapters. The first two entries in the series build with a steady progression which is missing here.

One thing that dawned on me with Moonraker is how scarred and mangled the book Bond must be from head to toe...especially remembe ...more

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May 09, 2013 BMK rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Really good and nothing like the movie (which was pretty rubbish). Shame Jaws isn't in it though... :) ...more

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Mar 09, 2008 John rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: bond, adventure-fiction, spy-fiction

Talk about a throwback to the pre-ballistic nuclear weapon days. This book was great on so many levels. The movie is really far off base with this one, so read the book instead.

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