A study guide to the popular novel offers a plot summary, a review quiz, and an examaination of important quotations, along with analysis of the key themes, motifs, characters, and symbols in the work.
John Gardner, one of the authors of the well-known James Bond stories, was born in Northumberland, England on November 20, 1926. He attended Cambridge University and was a member of the Royal Marines. He became a journalist and a critic after leaving the service. Gardner's first novel was "The Liquidator" (1964) and it introduced the character Boysie Oakes. In the 1970's, he wrote a series of novels known as the Moriarty Journals, which brought back Professor Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes' nemesis. In the 1980's, the holders of the James Bond copyright commissioned him to begin a new series with 007. The first Bond novel written by Gardner was "License Renewed" (1981), which was a success. From that point on, Gardner produced a new Bond novel every year, with the exception of 1985, until he retired from the series in 1996. The Bond titles that followed were "For Special Services" (1982), "Icebreaker" (1983), "Role of Honour" (1984), "Nobody Lives Forever" (1986), "No Deals, Mr. Bond" (1987), "Scorpius" (1988), "Win, Lose, or Die" (1989), "Brokenclaw" (1990), "The Man from Barbarossa" (1991), "Death is Forever" (1992), "Never Send Flowers" (1993), "Seafire" (1994), and "Cold" (aka Cold Fall) (1996).
