Granted, a Bond movie can give you only so much characterization, but Benson's book makes much more sense in the characters' backgrounds and motivations. Benson also has a far better handle on the Bond character that was lacking from John Gardner's efforts. Benson manages to reintroduce you into the elements of Fleming's Bond world without attempting to copy Fleming's writing style. Given the terrific results of Zero Minus Ten and Tomorrow Never Dies, I'm eagerly awaiting The Facts of Death.

Raymond Benson really makes the story and characters of "Tomorrow Never Dies" his own in this adaptation of the script. He adds tons of background information on the rather thin characters from the movie, including a wonderful chapter introducing Wai Lin, the Michelle Yeoh character. (It makes you wish EON would let him write a novel just about her!) Compare this book to "Goldeneye," a novelization written by John Gardner. Gardner just went through the motions, didn't inject any style or substance into the script, did your basic awful movie adaptation. Benson, on the other hand, goes above and beyond and makes a wonderful book out of the script. In my opinion, very few novelizations are worth reading. This one is an exception. It adds to and embellishes on the movie. Read it!

It is rare that a movie/novel tie-in matches the movie's quality. Action scenes don't usually translate well and obvious plot holes and inconsistencies become more apparent than ever. Raymond Benson's Tomorrow Never Dies adaptation is an exception. Using the framework scripted by Bruce Feirstein, Benson pulls off an in-depth, intriguing, action-packed novel that actually surpasses the movie it is based on. One of my main problems with the movie was the total lack of character development for the main characters. Stamper, Elliot Carver, Paris Carver, and Wai Lin all had little to no background which made them seem fake and uninteresting. With Benson's version, they all have detailed histories and are far more intriguing people to read about than they were to watch on the screen. Wai Lin, for instance, had an entire chapter devoted to her in the beginning. It detailed her involvement with the Chinese People's External Security Force, her training, her skills, and many other facets of her life that made her a real person. Her relationship with Bond is also much more realistic. From their first meeting at Carver's party, there is sexual tension between the two. Later in the novel, there is a mixture of mutual admiration and trust. Inevitably this leads to lust, but even that is done tastefully. Benson also fleshed out one of the biggest questions left in my mind after seeing Tomorrow Never Dies: just who was General Chang and what was his purpose. In the movie he was seen for about five seconds and talked about briefly. In the novel we learn that he was a high-ranking official who, before he defected, stole a large amount of stealth material. This is what Wai Lin was investigating when she went to Carver's party and met Bond. It was later revealed that he was working for Carver, not with. All these facts would have made the movie far more interesting. Another issue I had was in regards to Stamper. He came across as an inhuman freak that enjoyed pain. With no more background this seemed ridiculous; however, the novel reveals that his pain and pleasure sensors were actually reversed. As a boy, he was hired to kill Carver's real father whom he did with a sick pleasure. Ten years later he becomes Elliot's henchman and almost his child. Again, with more development, the character of Stamper works. By using the screenplay merely as an outline, Benson is able to create a novel that seems like it was never a movie. The plot is exactly the same as the movie, but much of the dialogue has been changed, as have the action scenes. The BMW car and motorcycle chases are still in there, but their content has been changed. Benson also took quite a few creative licenses and added fight sequences while cutting others; for example, Bond dukes it out with Stamper on top of the speeding Sea Dolphin II. Finally, the novel cuts out much of the in-poor-taste innuendoes that filled the movie. What results is a witty, well-paced novel with far sharper dialogue than its cinematic counterpart. Very well done! Power to the Bond fans!!!!!!!!