It sort of summarises the novel series. At the start is a pretty interesting and compelling idea but ultimately it ends with a whimper. It does feel incredibly rushed and incomplete but considering Flemming died before this was finished it feels a bit unfair to criticise this novel too much, but alas I can only critique the book that exists than a hypothetical one.<br><br>I do like the opening but after Bond is taken out of M's office it gets a bit dull. It's set in a location that was explored better in previous books. Scaramanga isn't a compelling villain and there isn't a lot of tension. In On Her Majesty's Secret Service there was a tension as to whether or not Bond would be caught, but in this there's a frustration that Bond just doesn't compete his mission and kill Scaramanga across the many opportunities he has to do so. We also don't have the personal stakes that previous books had too. Not the worst novel of the franchise but still a non event.
