Note that I didn't read the full collection of short stories, but rather an abridged version comprising only of 'Octopussy' and '007 in New York'. It was a free promotional thing that The Times newspaper did back in 2008 for the release of the Bond novel Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks, and I found it today whilst I was digging through some old boxes in the loft. It was only 57 pages long, so I decided to read it.

Even though I have an interest in espionage and intelligence (even studying the topic at university), I've strangely never really had an interest in spy fiction. And though I like the James Bond films (some more than others, of course), I've never really taken to the Bond that Ian Fleming writes about. The literary 007 just seems dour, charmless and snobby. Fleming has always seemed to me to be more interested in explaining in great detail the right way to mix a martini or the merits of the poshest hotel in a city, and there always seems to be an element of upper-class toffery which makes me queasy.

Unfortunately, the two short stories offered here only served to confirm this view. The second, '007 in New York' was just an account of Fleming visiting New York, but with 'Bond' inserted in place of 'I'. There's one or two attempts to justify the trip as Bond on a secret mission, but it's rather clumsy and inconsequential. Fleming does, however, give a detailed recipe for scrambled eggs, so if that's the sort of thing you look for in your spy fiction then you're onto a winner.

The first story, 'Octopussy', had a bit more about it, even if a lot of it was literally about an octopus. Bond was barely in this one, though the story does perk up a little bit when it gets round to dealing with the theft of Nazi gold in the immediate post-WWII period. This is an interesting topic but Fleming doesn't really do much with it, and the end is anti-climactic.

Overall, this probably wasn't the best introduction I could have had to the James Bond literary canon, something which, as I explained above, I've never really been sold on anyway. Maybe I'll try reading something like Casino Royale one day, but this just wasn't much cop. Disappointingly, in neither of the two stories on offer does 'Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' engage in any action, whether with guns or with his other *ahem* weapon. In fact, the only Bond-ish thing about it was the front cover, which showed a leggy blonde toting an AK-47. It says a lot that I found that to be the highlight of the book. ( )