I had no idea that this was a collection of four short stories but I sat down to read with some anticipation as I have enjoyed the other Ian Fleming Bond books. This is number 14 in the series according to Goodreads and this meant that I would be jumping from 7. I didn't think this would be an issue as all the Bond books can be read in any order and I was correct in this assumption.

There are four stories in this book, Octopussy, The Living Daylights, The Property of a Lady and 007 in New York. In truth, 007 in New York is only about 5 pages long and was published in a magazine so I wouldn't call it a short story really. 007 in New York is more of an aside and lets the book down a little bit as there is no tension built up. It's more like a bit of rant about why Fleming doesn't like New York.

The other three stories are great pieces of writing with The Property of a Lady being a particular favourite of mine. I think Fleming is at his best when writing about the Cold War and he slowly ratchets the tension up in this story. We also get to see the slightly softer side of Bond which is often overlooked, especially in the movies. I really enjoyed this collection of stories and it was ideal for a Sunday afternoon. ( )

It’s a mixed bag like any short story collection but I can’t give the book that contains “The Living Daylights” – one of the finest spy stories ever written – anything less than five stars. ( )

Yesterday I didn't need to go anywhere, but I did have loads of household stuff to get done, so it was the perfect time for donning the wireless headphones and listening to an audiobook (or two) while I went about my domestic goddess tasks. Since the AlphaKIT letters for March are F and I, an Ian Fleming novel makes for a perfect fit. In my James Bond reading, I was ready for book 14 in the series, and as luck would have it, this one is narrated by Tom Hiddleston. Did I mention Tom Hiddleston!!! LOVE him. He was a perfect fit. This one is a collection of short stories containing "Octopussy", "The Property of a Lady", "The Living Daylights" and "007 in New York". Although the stories were written previously, they were not compiled into this collection until after Fleming's death. The audiobook has Hiddleston reading the first three stories, followed by a short interview with him talking about loving these books when he discovered them as a teenager - so great! The final story is read by Lucy Fleming (Ian Fleming's niece), and she does a good job of introducing it and narrating it. I like the contrast we see of the Bond in the books as compared to the Bond of the films - he is less suave, less perfect, and he doesn't always get the girl. This collection is a nice entry in the series where we get to see Bond in an almost offhand manner - just going about his business as an employee of the Secret Service. ( )

Octopussy and The Living Daylights by Ian Fleming is the 14th novel featuring James Bond. This was the last published work that Ian Fleming wrote before other authors took to the series.

The book consists of four short stories:
Octopussy – told from the point of view of the villain, Major Smythe who found Nazi gold.
The Living Daylights – James Bond is on a sniper assignment in Berlin. The story concentrates on the boring aspect of being a secret agent
Property of a Lady – A double agent for the Soviet Union received a valuable Fabergé egg and is planning to auction it off.
007 in New York – Bond is sent to New York City to warn an MI6 employee that her new boyfriend is a KGB agent.

Octopussy and The Living Daylights by Ian Fleming is a collection of four short stories, each one featuring James Bond in some way. One of the theme running throughout these stories, and frankly through the series, is that James Bond doesn’t like killing, but is good at it. Bond struggles with cold blooded murder and even hopes the not completing the mission (by missing) will rid him of his double-0 status.

The character of James Bond does not fit into a short story narrative. Bond is a big character, with big, intercontinental adventures which the format of a short story simply does not play well into. The stories seemed like an outline to something much bigger and were predictable. The movies implemented these stories but they were short scenes, which says a lot.

But we got the recipe for how Bond likes his eggs – so that’s something.

It’s too bad that this book was the last one written by Ian Fleming. The novel is not that good, I simply feel that the James Bond series should have gotten a much stronger finish than two short stories and two outlines for short stories.

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I'm a casual James Bond fan. I'll always stop and watch a few minutes if I see one of the movies on. I came in during the Roger Moore era, so he is who I always picture first when Bond is mentioned, though I have seen some of the Sean Connery, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig movies, though none of the earlier ones than Connery. I like them all, it helps make Bond, 007 more of an idea than any one person.

This was the first time I had listened/read one of the actual Ian Fleming novels depicting Bond and he was very different from the dashing ladies man and spy I grew up with from the movies. There was no being trapped in underground lairs or jumping out of airplanes, and in fact Octopussy contained very little of Bond at all. It was more the story of a retired WWII Major whose past catches up with him. Bond is still the cool character we expect, but at times we gain more insight into his psyche and see that he is actually quite bothered by being a 00, licensed to kill, which makes him more real to me.

Hiddleston's narration was wonderful. He is expressive and enjoyable to listen to, and gives a short interview after his readings about his own Bond experience and his enjoyment of portraying different characters through their voices. Lucy Fleming, one of Ian's nieces, reads the 4th story of the collection, 007 in New York, which of the 4 was the most characteristic of my previous Bond experience, though it's a simple check in through customs, all the while we are with Bond's thoughts on the city and how things have changed over time, with the detailed observation of a trained spy on the people around him. It was nice to hear Lucy, an actual family member talk about her uncle and Bond with that reading.

Far from being disappointed with the tameness of the stories compared to the flashy and exciting movies I'm used to, I'm more intrigued to go back and watch those movies to look for the bits of the story that must be there, and to read the other novels and do the same with them. James Bond is such an icon and the embodiment of the cool, collected spy in our imaginations, few characters endure the test of time the way he has. ( )