For Your Eyes Only: A James Bond Adventure Audiobook

" A strong collection of some of Fleming's Bond short stories. A good time for all. "

" A couple of movies are based in these short stories, including Octopussy. Easy reader. "

" Sheds new light on Bond and more importantly on Fleming as a writer. "

" Quantum of Solace is the best story in this book. "

" A collection of short stories that has, so far, provided the titles to three films - the plots of which, of course, bear no resemblance to the plots of the stories whose titles they share. 'A View to a Kill' sees Bond helping out NATO in France (before France left the organisation), when a dispatch rider carrying secret documents is found murdered. It's all a cunning ploy by Soviet spies, who have set up a secret post in a nearby wood. Fleming apparently has a problem with acronyms: he thinks SHAPE stands for Supreme Headquarters Allied Forces Europe. Er no, that would be SHAFE. The title story opens in Jamaica with the murder of a wealthy British landowner and his wife, and then abruptly shifts to London, where M reluctantly admits to Bond that the murdered couple had been good friends of his and that he knew where the killer was hiding out. So Bond jets off to Canada for a spot of revenge, treks south through the woods, stumbles across the dead couple's daughter doing the same thing. They team up and kill the murderer, and Bond gets the girl. 'Quantum of Solace' has Bond being told a story by the Bahamian Governor after a dinner party about a young man and his wife of the Governor's past acquaintance. Don't read it unless you think women belong in the kitchen. In 'Risico', Bond is in Italy, loaned out to International Opium Control to kill a known drug lord. But the villain turns out to only be a smuggler, and a good chap, so Bond doesn't kill him. Finally, 'The Hildebrand Rarity' has a cartoon rich American visit the Seychelles in his huge yacht, ostensibly to look for some rare animal specimens, including the titular fish. Bond is also on the Seychelles and agrees to act as "underwater ace" for the millionaire. Except the American is a nasty piece of work and beats his wife... and is then mysteriously, and poetically, murdered. The introduction to this collection is by someone called Barry Eisler, who I've never heard of. But when he writes of Bond's "refreshingly antiquated view of women", I think I'll never bother finding out who he is or what he has written. There is nothing "refreshing" in chauvinism, and never will be. It continues to astonish me - and I've read nine of the 007 books so far - that Fleming is so well-regarded. Bond may be a more rounded character in the books than he is in the films, but that's not exactly saying much. The stories are not very clever, Fleming's prose is serviceable at best, and the sensibilities embedded in the stories are offensive - sexism, racism, homophobia... it's all in there, and quite blatantly too. "

" Quantum of Solace was easily my favorite short in this book. I can't explain why. It's got nothing to do with espionage. The story and the moral really stuck with me. "

" Fun short stories that expand on the Bond character and universe. Be sure to check this one out before Daniel Craig's next outing as the legendary spy. "

" Hmmm, Bond short stories? Not so sure really. Mind you the stories themselves were pretty good, but they all kind of left me wanting more - what happened next, etc. Good, but not brilliant. "

" Just a fun, escapist book of Bond stories. "

" This is a collection of stories, one I had read before (A Quantum of Solace) and not at all like the movies. More serious and thoughtful, I really enjoyed them. "

" The title story is probably the strongest one in this collection, but they're all good short pieces for our favorite spy to swoop in and save the day. "

" Bond. James Bond. This is the series of books that launched the classic movies. However, the books are quite different than the movies and certainly not politically correct. Fleming wrote these books in the '50's, and Bond reflects that in his character. "

" Great trashy read. It's 5 short stories (instead of one longer tale, like the rest of the books), and the local color can't be beat. Even if it is very pre Post-Colonialism. "

" I think this is the last one. I did read all of them. Date read is a guess. "

" A set of short stories with James Bond as the main character. The title story is about a Bermuda colonial administrator who has a beautiful, but cheating and deceitful wife. "

" nice collection of Bond stories. "

" I'd never read Ian Fleming before, and this was a fun introduction to his work. For some reason (maybe due to the title), I pictured Roger Moore as Bond in all of the stories. This collection was entertaining enough that I'll probably pickup a James Bond novel or two. "

" The first collection of short stories in the James Bond series. A mixed bag of stories....all of good quality but just jarringly different in mood from one another. Ian Fleming was still a tremendous writer. "

" As a collection of James Bond short stories, this book rocks. Though not quite the same as full-length novel, it is filled adventure and amorousness that has made the series popular since Casino Royale. This is not a must for Bond fans, but it is certainly worth the read. "

" One of the better Bond books - maybe he works better in short stories. I'm curious now to see Quantum of Solace, I'm sure the movie has nothing to do with the short story, which basically involved Bond only as a listener to the story. "

" I was a bit confused when I picked up this book - I didn't realise it was a book of short stories at first and when I got to the end of the first story I was disappointed. But then, once I'd realised, I quite enjoyed the stories. Fleming is a great author. "

" I'd never read Ian Fleming before, and this was a fun introduction to his work. For some reason (maybe due to the title), I pictured Roger Moore as Bond in all of the stories. This collection was entertaining enough that I'll probably pickup a James Bond novel or two. "

" Clever, well-expressed short stories. Fast-paced. Classic Bond. Last story - The Hildebrand Rarity - especially worthwhile. "

" interesting how Ian Flemming's stories are totally different from the Bond movies, but necessarily in a bad way. this book not only includes For Your Eyes Only, but other short stories, such as A View to a Kill and Quantum of Solace. "

" I just don't think Fleming is a very good writer. He's one of those whose books are better as films. "

" A couple of movies are based in these short stories, including Octopussy. Easy reader. "

" 007 in his original form. "

" A mixed bag of stories, "Quantum of Solace" being the best of the five, and that, nothwithstanding Bond not playing any role in it other than that of a willing listener. "Risico" and "The Hildebrand Rarity" are OK. "