Rank the James Bond books

I'll rank only the ones I've read in preference order.

Casino Royale
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
You Only Live Twice
Dr. No
The Spy Who Loved Me
Goldfinger
Carte Blanche
Live & Let Die
For Your Eyes Only
Thunderball
Octopussy
The World Is Not Enough
The Man With The Golden Gun
Moonraker
Diamonds Are Forever
Tomorrow Never Dies
Die Another Day
Licence To Kill
The Spy Who Loved Me (Wood)
Moonraker (Wood)

Haven't done a Fleming ranking in years!

1. From Russia with Love
2. Casino Royale
3. Dr. No
4. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
5. Moonraker
6. You Only Live Twice
7. Thunderball
8. Live and Let Die
9. Goldfinger
10. For Your Eyes Only
11. Octopussy
12. The Man with the Golden Gun
13. Diamonds are Forever

Haven't read The Spy Who Loved Me. And from the other authors:

1. Colonel Sun
2. Zero Minus Ten
3. Carte Blanche

GeneralGogol wrote:

Haven't read The Spy Who Loved Me.

It doesn't remotly feel like a Bond book. A good book, but not Bond's.

IF:
Goldfinger
FRWL
LALD
OHMSS
DN
CR
Moonraker
TB
DAF
FYEO
YOLT
TSWLM
TMWTGG
Octopussy/TLD

Gardner:
For Special Services
Licence Renewed
Nobody Lives Forever
Role of Honor
Icebreaker
Death is Forever
No Deals, Mr. Bond
Scorpius
Win, Lose or Die
Brokenclaw
The Man From Barbarossa
Seafire
Never Send Flowers
Coldfall

Benson:
Facts of Death
High Time to Kill
Never Dream of Dying
Zero Minus Ten
Doubleshot
Man With the Red Tattoo

Devil May Care and Colonel Sun slot in somewhere in the midst of the Gardners. I enjoy Benson far more than Gardner now, though I've always liked the early 80's novels. No Deals onwards they get just plain bad, save Death is Forever.

MR
FRWL
OHMSS
YOLT (I like reading about broken Bond)
TB
GF
OP (for TLD story)
DN
CR (for the nature of evil stuff, otherwise lower)
DAF
FYEO
L&LD
GOLDEN GUN (is it even really Fleming?)

Just finished TSWLM and onto OHMSS, but:

1. From Russia With Love
2. Moonraker
3. Casino Royale
4. Doctor No
5. Diamonds Are Forever
6. For Your Eyes Only
7. Thunderball
8. Goldfinger
9. The Spy Who Loved Me
10. Live and Let Die

I've been going through the audiobooks that Lucy Fleming produced this time. Currently listening to FYEO, so this is how I'd rank em in this year's run.

1. Casino Royale
2. Moonraker
3. From Russia with Love
4. Dr. No
5. Goldfinger
6. Live and Let Die
7. Diamonds Are Forever

I can't formally rank them from 1-14, but I can say that my favorite Flemings are his first four (CR, LALD, MR & DAF) and his last three (OHMSS, YOLT & TMWTGG).

With Gardner it's his odd-numbered ones from the first six (LR, IB & NLF) and the next three in a row (S, WLoD & BC).

Benson: ZMT & HTTK).

Been a while since I read some, but:

1. From Russia With Love
2. You Only Live Twice
3. Moonraker
4. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
5. Casino Royale
6. Dr. No
7. Goldfinger
8. Thunderball
9. Diamonds Are Forever
10. Live and Let Die
11. The Spy Who Loved Me

While I have read the odd one since I con only recall going through the lot some time in the later 70's, yes I am that old....The only non Fleming Books I have read are the two Christopher Wood movie novels TSWLM and MR and the 'not quite right' Col. Sun.

My top 5 probably
1. Moonraker
2. Casino Royale
3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
4. From Russia with Love
5. Goldfinger.

My rankings on the Fleming novels:
1. You Only Live Twice
2. Live and Let Die
3. Casino Royale
4. Doctor No
5. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
6. From Russia, With Love
7. Diamonds Are Forever
8. The Man With the Golden Gun
9. Thunderball
10. Moonraker
11. Goldfinger
12. The Spy Who Loved Me

Hard to rank where the short story collections would go due to the varied quality of the stories so here's my rankings of the short stories by themselves:
1. For Your Eyes Only
2. Risico
3. The Living Daylights
4. The Hildebrande Rarity
5. Octopussy
6. From A View to a Kill
7. Property of a Lady
8. Quantum of Solace
9. 007 in New York

Glad to see YOLT in the first spot. Was such a page turner IMO.

1.) YOLT
2.) LALD
3.) TB
4.) OHMSS
5.) CR
6.) DN
7.) GF
8.) MR
9.) DAF
10.) TMWTGG
11.) TSWLM
12.) FRWL

-----

1.) TLD
2.) R
3.) OP
4.) HR
5.) FYEO
6.) POAL
7.) 007INY
8.) QOS
9.) FAVTAK

I'd have to say my old ranks are pretty much the same, save for High Time To Kill now is my Benson no.1 probably. I should do a ranking of all the continuations after I do another readthrough.

1. CR
2. DN
3. FRWL
4. MR
5. OHMSS
6. LALD
7. TB
8. YOLT
9. GF
10. TSWLM
11. DAF
12. TMWTGG

I find the novels trickier to rank than the films because, in my view, the quality remains reasonably consistent barring the unfinished final novel.

Agreed. 

1. FRWL
2. YOLT
3. MR 
4. CR
5. DN
6. GF
7. OHMSS 
8. DAF
9. LALD
10. TB
11. TWMTGG
12. TSWLM

1 and 2 are interchangeable, as are 11 and 12.

CJB wrote:

I find the novels trickier to rank than the films because, in my view, the quality remains reasonably consistent barring the unfinished final novel.

Yes, that's true. And I love all of them.

I only dislike the lack of suspense in FRWL. We are told at the beginning what will happen and then it does happen. It strikes me as unusual for a Bond novel. Well, except for the ending, which was a bit....surprising...."Has Bond just kicked the bucket?" That's when you re-read it and go for the affirmative.
Well, then that gypsy women fight is a bit too much for my taste and I so hate it that Bond has Kerim killed by his stupidity and vanity.
That's Bond at his worst, considering his ability to judge his surroundings. But Fleming wanted to get rid of him because he felt disenchanted with him; so it is probably not surprising.