1977 Triad/Panther British paperback edition

James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me is the official novelisation of the EON film, The Spy who Loved Me.

Background

When Ian Fleming sold the film rights to the James Bond novels to Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli, he only gave permission for the title The Spy Who Loved Me to be used. Since the screenplay for the film had nothing to do with Fleming's original novel, Glidrose Publications, for the first time, authorised that a novelisation be written based upon the script. Ian Fleming Publications is the production company formerly known as both Glidrose Productions Limited and Glidrose Publications Limited named after its founders A novelization is a Novel that is written based on some other media story form rather than as an original work This would also be the first regular Bond novel published since Colonel Sun nearly a decade earlier. Colonel Sun (1968 by Robert Markham, is the first James Bond continuation novel published after Ian Fleming's death in 1964 Glidrose Productions Christopher Wood, who co-authored the screenplay with Richard Maibaum, was commissioned to write the book, which was given the title James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me. For other people by this name see Chris Wood. Christopher Wood ( November 5, 1935 in London) is an English Richard Maibaum ( May 26, 1909 - January 4, 1991) was an American Film producer, Playwright and Screenwriter Wood would also novelise the screenplay for the next Bond film, Moonraker in 1979. Moonraker, released in 1979, is the eleventh film in the James Bond series and the fourth to star Roger Moore as the fictional

Differences between novelisation and screenplay

The novelisation and the screenplay, although both written by Wood, are somewhat different. In the novelisation SMERSH is still active and still after James Bond. SMERSH (in capitalised letters is a Soviet Counterintelligence agency featured in Ian Fleming 's early James Bond novels and films as agent 007's Their part in the novelisation begins during the "pre-title credits" sequence in which Bond is escaping from a cabin on the top of Aiguille du Mort, a mountain near the town of Chamonix. Chamonix-Mont-Blanc or more commonly Chamonix (ʃamɔni in French is a Town and commune in eastern France, in the Haute-Savoie After the mysterious death of Fekkish, SMERSH appears yet again, this time capturing and torturing Bond for the whereabouts of the microfilm that retains plans for a submarine tracking system (Bond escapes after killing two of the interrogators). The appearance of SMERSH conflicts with a number of Bond stories, including the film The Living Daylights (1987), in which a character remarks that SMERSH has been defunct for over 20 years. The Living Daylights, released in 1987 is the fifteenth Spy film of the James Bond series, and the first to star Timothy Dalton Events January 31 - The Cure for Insomnia premieres at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago Illinois, to It also differs from the latter half of Fleming's Bond novels in which SMERSH is mentioned to have been put out of operation. Members of SMERSH from the novelization include the Bond girl Anya Amasova and her lover Sergei Borzov as well as Colonel-General Niktin, a character from Fleming's novel From Russia with Love who has since become the head of SMERSH.

Other differences include the villain, Karl Stromberg, being renamed as Sigmund Stromberg. Karl Stromberg is a Fictional character and the main antagonist in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me. The change of Stromberg's given name as well as the existence of SMERSH may be in some way due to the controversy over Thunderball, in which Kevin McClory was made aware of certain plot points of the film The Spy Who Loved Me. Thunderball is the ninth novel by Ian Fleming based on the fictional British Secret Service agent Commander James Bond. Kevin O'Donovan McClory ( 8 June 1926 - 20 November 2006) was an Irish Screenwriter, producer, and At one point the villain of the film was to be Ernst Stavro Blofeld and his organization SPECTRE; however, this was changed to avoid a possible lawsuit over the rights to this character, which originated from the novel Thunderball. A spectre or specter is a (usually terrifying phantom, Apparition, or Ghost, or an unreal appearance Thunderball is the ninth novel by Ian Fleming based on the fictional British Secret Service agent Commander James Bond.

Reception

That said, fan reaction to the novelization has been largely positive with many fans claiming it to be one of the better James Bond continuation novels. ^[1]

References