Classic Bond - the blueprint for all the Bond movies and subsequent parodies. Good plot well presented, classic villian and Bond girl. Great stuff - tremendously entertaining. ( )

Following the Bond series has been enjoyable largely because Fleming's writing is quick and entertainingly descriptive. Doctor No made for an interesting villain and had me flying through pages to see how Bond would transcend all odds to stay alive and save the girl. ( )

Another Bond book that shows so much more than the cartoonish movies. James Craig appears more Bondish than Connery. So much more real in the books. ( )

I've never seen the film adaptation and so I felt I was coming to the book fresh, without any baggage. I was amazed at how this story took me in - what a ride! It was so visceral in places and beautifully lyrical in others. I was not prepared for that at all. I started to mark a passage to quote and had to stop because I had accumulated too many places! And I absolutely adored Dr. Julius No. Every passage of his dialogue was satisfying, he was just the perfect adversary. I think that's probably because many of the villians I was exposed to at a young age were somewhat dirivative of Dr. No (Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget, was the first to come to mind). I felt the portrayal of Bond was balanced, he's not the glib, uber-capable agent he became during some of the early movie portrayals. He's vulnerable and taxed to his limits, so you're able to sympathize with him. It's very satisfying when he succeeds. The girl, Honeychile, was weak, emotionally, yet was capable of her own self-defense. I liked the dynamic between her and Bond and I enjoyed the traits she brought out in him. I was disappointed in Fleming for naming her as he did, that annoyed me to no end. I still can't get over how much I enjoyed this book. I look forward to reading the rest of the series. ( )

Who knew that the forbidding Doctor No was rich because of ... guano? And that James Bond was originally called to go after him because he made the mistake of knocking off two agents of the National Audubon Society? That cognitive dissonance, after picking it up casually, started me off reading the Bond books. After most of them, I think that this is one of the best. ( )