Where's Bond? Where Could He Be? Quiz

Answer: Somewhere Else

Ian Fleming wrote his first book featuring James Bond while at his Jamaican estate, Goldeneye. The plot was inspired by his experiences during World War II. His idea for James Bond was to make him "an extremely dull, uninteresting man to whom things happened", and many of the character's traits were based on Fleming himself. This novel introduced many of his trademark idiosyncrasies, including that famous martini, which should contain "three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel." The skill at gambling, however, was added because Fleming saw it as adding a touch of sophistication.

We meet Bond in a French casino, where he is playing baccarat against a man known as Le Chiffre who works for SMERSH (a real Russian intelligence organisation). His cover is that of a wealthy Jamaican playboy; his mission is to bankrupt Le Chiffre. He takes Le Chiffre for 80 million francs of SMERSH money, which precipitates more violent action. Bond survives, a number of other characters do not.

'Casino Royale' was adapted into a television series called 'Climax!' in 1954, starring Barry Nelson as James Bond, who was turned into an American. In 1967 a film adaptation, only loosely based on the book, returned Bond to his English roots, with David Niven as Sir James Bond. In 2006 Daniel Craig starred as James Bond in one of the 'official' series of films from Eon Productions.

Answer: Jamaica

'Live and Let Die' (1954) was the second Bond book to be published, this time set in the USA and Jamaica. The villain is Mr Big (the imaginative nickname used by Buonaparte Ignace Gallia), an American criminal with widespread domestic connections, as well as with SMERSH. Bond initially goes to New York City to investigate 17th-century gold coins that have been turning up and sold to raise money for nefarious purposes. He meets up again with Felix Leiter (who had lent him money on behalf of the US government during his gambling contest with Le Chiffre in 'Casino Royale'), and when they are captured by Mr Big, they recruit one of his employees, a fortune teller named Solitaire, to assist them.

After a few more adventures in New York, they travel to Florida, where Leiter loses an arm and a leg. Bond and Solitaire continue to follow the trail to Jamaica, where they eventually triumph.

In 1973 Roger Moore portrayed James Bond in a film adaptation that was only loosely based on the novel, with the focus on heroin rather than fish smuggling and stolen pirate treasure. Some major scenes, such as Felix Leiter being fed to a shark, were used in later Bond films.

Answer: Somewhere Else

For his third Bond novel, published in 1955, Fleming took the action to England, which earned some complaints about the lack of an exotic location. Bond is working on the staff of Hugo Drax, who has a contract to build a nuclear missile (the Moonraker) as part of Great Britain's defence. Turns out that Drax is actually Hugo von der Drache, a Nazi saboteur who had been injured in a bombing that went wrong, and assumed a new identity during recovery in an English hospital. Now working for the USSR, he plans to build the missile, then turn it on London. Bond, working with a beautiful Special Forces agent named Gala Brand, foils the plot.

While there was a film of this title released in 1979, featuring Roger Moore as Bond, it only used a few elements of the novel, and added significant extra plot material involving space shuttles and confrontation with a henchman known as Jaws (played by Richard Kiel).

Answer: Somewhere Else

'Diamonds are Forever' (1956) was inspired by a newspaper story about diamond smuggling in Sierra Leone. His subsequent research into what looked like a possible basis for a novel led him to write both this book and the non-fiction 'The Diamond Smugglers' (1957).

Bond is asked to infiltrate a smuggling ring operating in Sierra Leone (at the time, a Crown colony), where he meets Tiffany Case, a disenchanted member of the gang. Following the trail to the US, he meets up with Felix Leiter (retired, now a private eye for Pinkertons) at Saratoga racetrack and follows the money to Las Vegas, where Tiffany reappears. Lots of action ensues before the smuggling ring is eradicated (with the head killing off his minions before Bond shoots down his helicopter), and Tiffany moves into Bond's London flat.

The 1971 movie using this title starred Sean Connery as Bond, and added a number of elements to the diamond smuggling concept, including making Ernst Stavro Blofeld (not the Spang brothers) the head of the smuggling gang - giving Bond a chance to get revenge for the death of his wife Tracy in the previous film, 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service'.

Answer: Somewhere Else

This fifth James bond book was published in 1957, and Fleming expected it to be his last, having lost inspiration for the character. In fact, writing to a friend about his previous Bond book, he had said that he thought he had already come up with every conceivable suspenseful situation and daring escape. 'From Russia With Love' finished with Bond being poisoned, apparently about to die.

Bond's previous success against SMERSH agents (Le Chiffre in 'Casino Royale', Mr Big in 'Live and Let Die' and Hugo Drax in 'Moonraker') has made him the target for elimination. The trap is set by offering a potential defector, the beautiful Tatiana Romanova, who will bring with her a decoding device called Spektor, if and only if James Bond comes to Istanbul to collect her. Much of the action takes place on the Orient Express as they travel from Istanbul to Paris. There Bond confronts Rosa Kleb, SMERSH Head of Operations, who stabs him with a poisoned blade hidden in her shoe.

The 1963 film adaptation of this novel (the second film, after 'Dr. No', with Sean Connery reprising the role of James Bond) was fairly faithful to the novel. SMERSH was changed to the fictional SPECTRE, and (of course) the ending did not leave us in suspense as to whether Bond survived - this was only the start of the franchise.

Answer: Jamaica

Ian Fleming decided not to let James Bond die after his poisoning by Rosa Kleb at the end of 'From Russia with Live', so after an appropriate recovery period Bond is sent to Jamaica to investigate the disappearance of two MI6 agents. Their latest investigation had been into Doctor Julius No (a Chinese-German character inspired by the fictional character of Fu Manchu), who turns out to be working for the Russians to sabotage US space launches from Cape Canaveral. He gets his comeuppance, and Bond gets the girl.

When 'Dr. No' was published in 1957, it was the first Bond novel to receive widespread criticism for what Paul Johnson summarised in the 'New Statesman' as its 'Sex, Snobbery and Sadism'. American reception was more favorable, and despite the critics (or possibly because of them), Fleming's sixth James Bond book was selected to be the first filmed by Eon Productions. Sean Connery created the first screen version of the super spy in the 1962 film, Dr. No being part of a fictional international criminal organisation known as SPECTRE. The film was for the most part faithful to the novel.

Answer: Somewhere Else

If you remember that the seventh James Bond novel involves an investigation into a gold-smuggling operation headed by Auric Goldfinger which uncovers an even more sinister plan - they steal the US gold reserves from Fort Knox, you will probably guess that the climax takes place in the United States. The pair first encounter each other in Miami, where Bond reveals that Goldfinger is cheating at canasta. On his return to London, he is tasked with investigating Goldfinger, who is (correctly) suspected of being connected to SMERSH. The trail goes to Switzerland, where the smuggling ring is exposed, but Bond is captured - and agrees to work for Goldfinger in order to avoid being cut in two by a circular saw. At Goldfinger's New York headquarters Bond uncovers the plans for Operation Grand Slam, which he foils with the help of Felix Leiter. However, it is not all over, as Goldfinger and his assistant Oddjob escape, then kidnap Bond and attempt to kill him during a flight back to England. They lose.

In the 1964 film based on this book, Sean Connery portrayed James Bond for the third consecutive time. The plot to attack Fort Knox was changed from stealing the gold to irradiating it with a dirty bomb, and the circular saw became a laser beam.

Answer: Jamaica

Following the publication of 'Goldfinger' in 1959, Ian Fleming told several friends that he thought that was going to be the final full-length James Bond novel, as he had exhausted the potential for a full-length work, but suggested that he might work up some short stories. In 1960 he published 'For Your Eyes Only', a collection of short stories. The title story is partially set in Jamaica, the others elsewhere: 'From a View to a Kill' takes place in France, 'Quantum of Solace' in Nassau, 'Risico' in Italy, and 'The Hildebrand Rarity' in the Seychelles.

In the short story 'For Your Eyes Only', M asks Bond to find and assassinate the man responsible for the deaths in Jamaica of the Havelocks, an English couple who were close friends of M. The confrontation between Bond and Hammerstein, the Havelocks' neighbour who had them killed because they wouldn't sell him their property, takes place in Vermont. Hammerstein is actually killed by the Havelocks' daughter, who exacts her own revenge by shooting him with a bow and arrow as he is diving into the lake. Bond uses his gun to take care of the three hitmen who had actually killed the Havelocks. Short and sweet.

The 1981 film 'For Your Eyes Only', starring Roger Moore in his fifth go at playing James Bond, used some of the plot of that story, and a few from other stories in the collection - as well as from other Bond novels. This story was chosen as the source material to allow a return to down-to-earth action, and more realism than had been seen in 1979's 'Moonraker'.

Answer: Jamaica

At the end of 'You Only Live Twice' (published in 1964, and set in Japan, but not included in this quiz for reasons of space), James Bond was believed dead. In fact, he recovered, but with a head injury that led to a loss of memory. He determined that he needed to travel to Vladivostok to find out who he was. 'The Man with the Golden Gun' was published in 1965, eight months after Fleming's death while the editing process was still underway. Since he never wrote a second draft, the book was perceived by critics as being rough around the edges, but still sold well.

In 'The Man with the Golden Gun', Bond arrives in London after having been brainwashed by the Russians into attempting to assassinate M. Fortunately, he fails; after rehabilitation he is sent to Jamaica to kill Francisco Scaramanga, a Cuban assassin who has killed multiple MI6 operatives by shooting them with a gold-plated gun. Before he kills Scaramanga, he is assisted by Felix Leiter as he foils the plot between the KGB and a group of American gangsters to destabilise the Caribbean and enrich themselves.

The 1974 film moved the action from Jamaica to the Far East, and changed to plot from destabilising the region politically and economically to the control of a machine that would solve the energy crisis experienced in the 1970s by a Middle East oil embargo. This was the second film to feature Roger Moore as James Bond.

Answer: Jamaica

The short story collection 'Octopussy and the Living Daylights', published in 1966, contained the two stories in the title when first published. A later edition added 'The Property of a Lady' (set in London) and then '007 in New York'. 'The Living Daylights' is set in Berlin, and 'Octopussy' in Jamaica.

Bond is not actually a major character in 'Octopussy' - he travels to Jamaica to interview Major Dexter Smythe about the murder of a mountaineering guide fifteen years earlier. The bulk of the story is Smythe's recounting of those events, before we return to the present, when Bond lets Smythe know that he will be facing a court martial. Smythe's subsequent death after being stung by a scorpion fish while hunting for food for his pet octopus may have been suicide to avoid disgrace, or it may have been accidental.

The 1983 film 'Octopussy' took elements from both that story (which provided the background for the character named Octopussy) and 'The Property of a Lady', but bore little more resemblance to the story.