Probably my favorite Bond book so far. This novel is more of a prototype for the movies than the previous volumes. Ironically, this was also the first novel to be loosely adapted into a movie.

We have all the Bond tropes here: exotic locations, exotic beautiful women, a nefarious bad guy almost too evil to be believed, deadly traps and plenty of action. It was a little short on gadgets which were always my favorite part of the movies, but I suppose that was more the movies than novels.

We get deadly centipedes, tarantulas, even a giant squid before it's all said and done. Fans of the more serious Bond fare may find this one a little too sci-fi and pulpish for their tastes, but if you loved the "over the topness" of the movies, you'll love this one.

I doubt any real spy has ever really had an adventure quite like this one, but what a great read.

I've got to wonder if Fleming was getting tired of Bond about now. The earlier books are so much less ridiculous. Dr No, like the last installment (From Russia With Love), much more like the movies. This is not a good thing.

Fleming returns to his Live and Let Die setting of the Caribbean. (It's likely Fleming just wanted to go there again for a holiday and used the old 'research' excuse.) Even more cliche, it's set on the island lair of the villain.

On the island, the baddies don't only use guns and flame throwers, they also try and get rid of Bond with 'killer' centipedes, tarantulas, crabs and, what for it...kraken. To keep with the theme, I definitely thought Fleming jumped the shark with that last one.

And I won't even go into Bond meeting his female leading lady as she collected shells in the nude... As you do...

I think I, like Fleming at this stage, need a bit of a break from the world's most famous spy.

2 1/2 out of 5

I am pleasantly surprised. Based on the one Bond movie I've seen (Skyfall), I really didn't think this was going to be my cup of tea. I was prepared for relentless action scenes and little plot, but this really had more of a detective vibe to it. Of course, the end was filled with overly dramatic action scenes which I snoozed through and that is why this does not get a higher rating from me. What followed before his dramatic escape, was, however, quite enjoyable. The portrayal of Honey, the love interest, bothered me a great deal (I mean, the fact that she is called Honey pretty much says it), but other than that, a pretty decent read.

fun to read while actually in Jamaica, as long as your vacation plans avoid dragons and giant piles of bird dung

3'5.

Primera novela de James Bond que leo, por la universidad. Es como lo esperaba y al mismo tiempo no. Si no he visto todas las películas de Jams Bond cerca he estado, así que sabía de sobra como iba a funcionar: Bond tiene un caso, investiga, se infiltra, conoce a una chica, se enfrenta al malo que le pone en un gran peligro y al final él consigue escaparse y salvar a la chica. Siempre el mismo patrón. Y el libro, como es obvio, lo sigue.

Leer la novela era casi como ver una película. Las descripción, los diálogos, las escenas de acción parece que fueron escritas para ser adaptadas al cine. No cuesta apenas nada sumergirte en la historia y seguir los pasos de Bond. La escena final, en la Bond sobrevive a todo lo que se le pone por delante, es un no parar.

Eso sí, he tenido ciertos problemas con la relación Bond-chica Bond. Me lo esperaba, porque al parecer Bond sin una mujer a la que salvar no es Bond; pero había momentos en los que no podía evitar poner los ojos en blanco. Demasiado obvio, demasiado estúpido. Me pone muy de los nervios que cada mujer que aparece parezca derretirse con él.

Salvo eso, la novela en general me ha gustado y me ha entretenido. Ha sido divertido leer una novela del Agente 007, jamás pensé que lo haría, y para pasar el rato la recomiendo. Además me ha venido estupendamente porque no me apetecía leer el mismo tipo de libro que leo siempre, me ha sacado de la rutina.

More fun with James Bond. Fans of the movies will especially enjoy this one because it was the basis of the first James Bond film, and the film was pretty faithful to the source, although the film-makers wisely took out some goofy stuff, like a certain animal kept by the villain which makes no sense.

Addendum: I'm going to add one more thing. One great thing about this novel is that it shows that James Bond is not always so sure of himself. He beats himself up a lot about certain decisions and screw-ups, and the novel even begins with M not being too happy with Bond for almost getting himself killed at the end of "From Russia, With Love".

7/20/2023: Upon rereading, this excellent adventure still holds up. The movie, however, is even better.

Ah, at last the bad guys are really starting to turn into the caricatures I know and love from their movie versions. Metal claws for hands is an awesome touch (no pun intended...well, maybe a little). Doctor No's overly detailed explanation of his operation, as well as his super elaborate method of execution is hilarious. The movies really took that aspect and ran with it. Kudos to them!

I have several copies of this book in my cupboard both HC and PB, which happens if you are fan of the writer Ian Fleming. In essence I had read all of his books before I discovered that there was actually a series of movies with the same character. However I first saw Moonraker which puzzled me to no end as the book and the movie had nothing in common but some of the character names.
With Doctor No however there is no such a problem the movie is indeed almost identical with the movie. Except for the protrayal of Sean Connery whose James Bond is more a cross between Leslie Charteris's Simon Templar & Ian Flemings' James Bond, and Then I mean the literary creations.

Doctor No while being the first story to be filmed was actually the sixth novel in the series.

James Bond is send to Jamaica to investigate the disappearance of a stationhead together with his secretary. In his investigation he uncovers that John Strangways was interested in an island that is the property of some mysterious benefactor/industrialist who does no like uninvited visitors. Dr. No, a Chinese operator of a guano mine on the Caribbean island of Crab Key. Bond travels to the island to investigate further. 007 goes there and charters his old friend Quarrel. It is on Crab Key that Bond first finds Honeychile Rider and then Dr. No himself.
Bond does excape from enprisonment only to discover that he is in an obstacle course within the ventilation system. He even fights a giant squid and survives of course to take down Dr. No and save Honeychile Rider.

While the book might be somewhat dated it is actually a very spectacular written spy-action thriller with plenty of well written observations on the food, the local culture and people (admittingly not always as PC as we would expect these days, but that also gives the mood of the '50's when the book was actually written.
Mr Fleming is still easily in my view one of the better writers of spy fiction and much copied by lesser writers today. His skill as writer can be observed in the recent attempts of Sebastian Faulks, Jeffrey Deaver & William Boyd who all failed to match Flemings skill to excite the reader about his adventures.

Wow. I did not expect that I would actually love this the most of all the Bond stories so far.

The premise is basic, the grand scheme is no rocket science and as for the 1962 film, it was definitely good but only for laying down the groundwork of the series to continue. But the novel 'Dr.No' reminded me, above all things, just what a criminally underrated storyteller Ian Fleming is. People end up noticing only the somewhat dated attitudes that his books represent and his relentless taste for pulp, action, grand villainy and sexuality and yet they never ever talk about how masterfully he blends all these ingredients into such a delectable whole that it feels totally worth the indulgence. And 'Dr. No' is perhaps the finest, smoothest cocktail that he could have ever brewed.

Taking off from where 'From Russia With Love' ended, we find James Bond being handed out an assignment that his boss 'M' considers as something of a holiday in the sunshine. Two intelligence operatives in Jamaica have gone missing AWOL and it is up to oo7 to figure out just what the hell happened out there. Sounds pretty much like standard issue detective stuff, doesn't it?

Of course, once Fleming scoots us off from the Universal Export office at Regent's Park to the sun-kissed and sultry streets of Jamaica, we know that the plot will thicken with murder, femme fatales, murderous henchmen and grand, plotting villains all threw in healthy doses. The writer packs in all of that and yet the book feels genuinely suspenseful and exciting and even though I had watched the movie before, the book holds some sensational surprises and thrills and spills that I simply could not see coming.

Fleming's mastery of describing action has been lauded elsewhere but it is worth noting that in 'Dr. No', the action and peril are not just the typical bang-bang, shoot-shoot standoffs that we normally find in most of the spy action novels; rather, it is tense, terse and often terrifying in its vivid detail. I would hate to reveal anything here; suffice to say that if you thought that the tarantula scene in the movie was unbearable enough, you would change your mind once you are done with the book. The plot is packed with danger and while some of it made it admirably into the film, a lot of it is much more exhilarating than any film to do justice to it.

Balancing the constant air of menace and dread, which soon overwhelms the pages in the final act filled with fear and frenzy of one trial by death after another, is the writer's candid eye and ear for flavor, wry humor and warm camaraderie. Most of these wonderful things are felt palpably in the book's picturesque, almost wistfully affectionate description of Jamaica at the wee-end of the Empire; novices would be best advised to keep away their opinions on imperialism and for good reason because Fleming does not seem to celebrate the same; he merely keeps a casual stance and his gaze at the Caribbean is as innocent and wide-eyed as that of nostalgia rather than of critique. There is also the stirring friendship between Bond and Quarrel, which flourishes irrespective of their racial differences and the latter comes across as more than just the servile Man Friday that the film made him out to be: here, he is resourceful, cool-headed and a man of initiative and action.

There is Bond himself, who endears as a genuinely heroic, if a still bit flawed, character this time around. We see little of his snobbery and his casual misogyny and here, he is mostly an observer in the first half, almost given a routine detective task to clean up. Once he starts getting his hands dirty, however, he reveals just what he is capable of. However, and this is a crucial thing, Bond comes across here less of the pompous, boisterous boy of the other books and more of a rugged, even romantic and chivalrous action hero and Fleming takes him to hellishly thrilling scenes that make us root for him to an even greater level. He is also refreshingly vulnerable and tender and that balances out the ruthless grit with which he dispatches his enemies.

And that brings me to the one person, for whom this book become really, really special- HONEYCHILE RIDER

Most of the leading ladies in Bond films get a bad reputation for being there only to turn up the heat rather than be genuinely interesting or intelligent characters on their own. In the books, the ladies fare better but still could do with more meat. It is therefore a bit rare to find a Bond girl who fills up the pages with her own delightful, almost deliciously irresistible beauty and wit and personality and Honey Rider is just that girl. Everything, from Fleming's poetic description of her raw beauty and rippling sexuality to the way he builds both her intelligence and naivete, her pluck and her vulnerability and her seductive charms and honesty, is top-notch. This is not a bimbo, this is a character full of flesh and blood and charisma and cool grace and she is quite frankly a knockout and Bond agrees to that as well. His relationship with her is almost wonderful in its subtlety and sublime romance; instead of just treating her as a liability, he actually does care for her and this is most refreshing indeed.

A pity then that after reading the book, I become aware of just how more dated the film starts feeling. Rumor has it that Julie Christie was about to get the role of Honeychile Ryder and I marvel at the thought of seeing that spirited screen sensation, one of the finest British actresses and counter-culture symbols of all time, as Ryder, originally a character deserving of a performance of real smarts and sensuality. Instead, we got Ursula Andress, very much a looker, sure, but hardly what you call an actress.

Nevertheless, a fascinating, fantastic read all the way. Thanks a lot, fellow Fleming reader for this splendid recommendation.

This was one of the better Bond books I have read so far. The creep factor with creepy crawlers was there, and I felt like Honey was one of the stronger "Bond Girls", and that ending was action packed. Overall, I am more looking forward to the rest of the series now.

Doctor No is the first James Bond 007 novel I have read written by the original author, Ian Fleming. He was highly regarded in his day, a friend of the great Raymond Chandler, no less. You can find an often cranky interview Fleming had with Chandler on YouTube. The writer Fleming had at least three strengths: lush settings, imaginative action sequences (despite the liberal use of exclamation marks), and marvelously beautiful ladies. James is dispatched to Jamaica to deal with a minor problem of one of their colleagues having skipped off with his attractive assistant with no word. Of course, things turn out more complicated once James arrives in Jamaica. When I was introduced to Doctor No, I realized Fleming was also effective at portraying his colorful, complex villains. I have not seen the Dr. No film, so I didn't have any preconceptions before reading the book. Nonetheless, I believe Sean Connery remains the best 007 actor. Ursula Andress played Honeychile Ryder, the Bond girl he meets on Doctor No's remote island. I liked the witty humor, especially in the early going. James also proves himself to be quite resourceful when the chips are down. I may read further into Fleming's series at some point, but in the meantime I enjoyed taking this ride with him.

My ratings for original James Bond books seem to be stuck on 3, may be they are old and need to be updated to be rid of all the misogynistic, racist, and otherwise dated talk. Let's ignore that, this is of course the 6th book which became the first ever Bond movie and I remember watching the movie few years back and liked it good enough. The issue is that even though these are smaller books nothing much happens in these, Also my God Bond drinks and smokes like anybody. It was nice and again had a nice villain who is introduced early but doesn't show up till after half of the book and then you know in typical Bond fashion would be spoiler so not saying anything. I like these good enough but none of the 6 books so far have gripped me completely.

So have a wholesome fun and follow the Bond's journey with me and then Keep on Reading.

People who don't read generally ask me my reasons for reading. Simply put I just love reading and so to that end I have made it my motto to just Keep on Reading. I love to read everything except for Self Help books but even those once in a while. I read almost all the genre but YA, Fantasy, Biographies are the most. My favorite series is, of course, Harry Potter but then there are many more books that I just adore. I have bookcases filled with books which are waiting to be read so can't stay and spend more time in this review, so remember I loved reading this and love reading more, you should also read what you love and then just Keep on Reading.