Casino Royale -Ian Fleming 1953
Live and Let Die -Ian Fleming 1954
Diamonds Are Forever -Ian Fleming 1956
From Russia With Love -Ian Fleming 1957
For Your Eyes Only -Ian Fleming 1960
The Spy Who Loved Me -Ian Fleming 1962
On Her Majesty's Secret Service -Ian Fleming 1963
You Only Live Twice -Ian Fleming 1964
OO7 In New York (A)-Ian Fleming 1964
The Man With the Golden Gun -Ian Fleming 1965
Octopussy and The Living Daylights (B)-Ian Fleming 1966
Per Fine Ounce (J)- Geoffrey Jenkins 1966
Colonel Sun (C) -Kingsley Amis 1968
James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007 -John Pearson 1973(D)
The Spy Who Loved Me (E)(F) -Christopher Wood 1977
Moonraker (E)(F) -Christopher Wood 1979
Licence Renewed -John Gardner 1981
For Special Services -John Gardner 1982
Role of Honour -John Gardner 1984
The Killing Zone (J)- James Hatfield 1985
Nobody Lives Forever -John Gardner 1986
No Deals, Mr. Bond -John Gardner 1987
Win, Lose Or Die -John Gardner 1989
Licence To Kill (E)-John Gardner 1990
The Man From Barbarossa -John Gardner 1991
Death Is Forever -John Gardner 1992
Never Send Flowers -John Gardner 1993
GoldenEye (E)-John Gardner 1995
Cold (Cold Fall in the U.S.) -John Gardner 1996
Blast From the Past (short story) (G) -Raymond Benson 1997
Zero Minus Ten -Raymond Benson 1997
Tomorrow Never Dies (E) -Raymond Benson 1997
The Facts of Death -Raymond Benson 1998
Midsummer Night's Doom (short Story) (H) -Raymond Benson 1999
High Time to Kill -Raymond Benson 1999
The World Is Not Enough (E)-Raymond Benson 1999
Live at Five (short story)(I)-Raymond Benson 1999
Doubleshot -Raymond Benson 2000
Never Dream of Dying -Raymond Benson 2001
The Man With the Red Tatoo- Raymond Benson 2002
Die Another Day (E)- Raymond Benson 2002
Silverfin - Charlie Higson 2005
The Moneypenny Diaries: Guardian Angel (K) - Samantha Weinberg 2005
BloodFever - Charlie Higson 2006 Moneypenny's First Date With Bond (L) - Samantha Weinberg 2006 For Your Eyes Only, James (M) - Samantha Weinberg 2006 The Moneypenny Diaries: Secret Servant (K) - Samantha Weinberg 2006 Moneypenny Diaries: Final Fling (K)- Samantha Weinberg 2008 Devil May Care (N) - Sebastian Faulks 2008
(A) This one only appears in American Editions of Fleming's "Thrilling Cities"
Everyone seems to have a different idea on this as well. The books follow a chronological sequence, and later books occasionally refer to other earlier books, but you can read most of them in any order you like. Although written much later, Higson's Young Bond books clearly take place chronologically before any of the other works. So, In a strict time-line, you would read those first. However, I am of the opinion, (and I think many Bond fans would agree with me) that you should read the Fleming novels first to get a feel for James Bond in his true, for, that of Double-oh agent for MI6. Then you can go back and have some fun learning about how he became that man.
To fully appreciate John Gardner's works, read his last three original books in order, "Never Send Flowers," "Seafire" and "Cold," as they are linked by a story arc. He also had his own SPECTRE trilogy with "For Special Services," "Role of Honour" and "Nobody Lives Forever."
It is worth mentioning that Fleming last worked on "The Man With the Golden Gun." "Octopussy" was released posthumously as well, but "Gun," which picks up directly from "You Only Live Twice," is the true swan song of Fleming's character. Gardner had to write the "GoldenEye" novelization prior to writing Sir Miles out of the M position, shown in "Cold," so reading them in reverse order of release makes sense.
Raymond Benson is using The Union as the villainous organization to form a continuing storyline. "High Time to Kill" saw their debut, with "Doubleshot" providing a second look. The arc is wrapped up in Never Dream of Dying. Benson's last novel is a novelization of Die Another Day. Lastly, Both Devil May Care takes place chronologically a few months after The Man With the Golden Gun, and the majority of the Moneypenny Diaries occur both a little before and a little after this book. The Moneypenny Diaries also go further, however, bringing the James Bond continuity all the way up to 2008, giving us glimpses of the "final" ends of several characters.
(B) Some versions of the book are simply titled "Octopussy," and often contain a third short story, titled "The Property Of A Lady."
(C) Under the pseudonym of Robert Markham
(D) John Pearson is not considered one of the four official Bond writers (Fleming, Amis, Gardner, Benson). His book is sort of an "unofficial official" Bond novel.
(E) A novelization of the film
(F) Christopher Wood is not considered on of the four official Bond authors. His novels are semi-official.
(G) Published in the January 1997 issue of "Playboy" magazine
(H) Published in the January 1999 issue of "Playboy" magazine
(I) Published in a November 1999 issue of "TV Guide" magazine
(J) Unofficial Novel
(K) This novel is purported to be "real", and to add to the illusion this book is supposedly Moneypenny's actual diary entries edited by her niece, Kate Westbrook.
(L) Published in a supplement to the November 11th 2006 issue of "The Spectator"
(M) Published in the November 2006 issue of "The Tatler"
(N) Sabastian Faulks is listed as "Writing as Ian Fleming"
However, for Ian Fleming's books it is highly recommended that you at least read "From Russia, With Love" before "Doctor No" and please be aware that "Thunderball," "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," "You Only Live Twice," and "The Man with The Golden Gun" form a 'quadrilogy' that should be read in order.
