Book Review: Moonraker by Ian Fleming

About:

Moonraker by Ian Fleming is the third book in the James Bond series. The book was published in 1954 and resemble very little to the movie with the same title.

• 257 pages
• Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1612185452

My rating for Moonraker – 5
Buy Moonraker from Amazon.com*
Books by Ian Fleming*

Thoughts:

Moonraker by Ian Fleming is not a space opera take off of Star Wars, like the 1979 movie by the same name. The novel, even though farfetched, is about a person who could be real, with no heroic powers or lightsabers, who is simply doing his job.

This is one of the better Bond books I’ve read, in Moonraker the secret agent is a three dimensional character who trains hard to keep fit and does paperwork while thinking about the things he can buy from his winnings in the casino. Bond also doubts himself, does whatever he can to accomplish his goals and even fails to get the girl.

This is a well written, post World War II spy drama which moves forward the character of Bond and enhances the notion of the gritty world he lives in.

This is a skillfully written, well-paced novel. Even though the plot is not very believable, it is still exciting and not as ridiculous as the movie (which I still enjoyed very much as an impressionable pre-teen).

Synopsis:

Hugo Drax is a self made British millionaire who was severely wounded in battle during World War II. Drax is building a missile to protect England from the Russians. When M notices his unusual winning streak at the casino he asks James Bond to investigate.

Bond discovers that Drax is actually an ex-Naxi, working for Russia, and bent on sending a nuclear missile on London.

Buy Moonraker from Amazon.com*
Books by Ian Fleming*

Zohar — Man of la Book
Dis­claimer: I got this book as a gift.
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account