Tomorrow Never Dies

The story, without spoilers

A media organisation is at the centre of a plot whose consequences reach far beyond a newspaper headline. Bond investigates the threat and works with Chinese agent Wai Lin. The mission turns the connection between manufactured news and international conflict into a Bond adventure.

This is Benson's novelisation of the 1997 film. It is a route back into that screen story in prose, rather than the second instalment of the original sequence begun by Zero Minus Ten. Keep the two kinds of book separate when choosing a reading order.

Can I start here?

Yes, especially if the film is what brought you here. No earlier Benson novel is required for a screen-story novelisation. Start with Zero Minus Ten if you want his original literary Bond adventures.

What stands out

The media-led threat distinguishes the story from an ordinary stolen-weapon plot. The useful comparison is with its own film, while Benson's original novels offer a separate route through his continuation work.

Who wrote it

Benson wrote The James Bond Bedside Companion before becoming the first American commissioned to write Bond; his official work includes Tomorrow Never Dies. He wrote six original Bond novels and three film novelisations.

Where it fits in Bond’s life

Tomorrow Never Dies follows its film’s story and screen continuity. Read this author’s film adaptations separately from Fleming’s originals.

Content notes

Adult readers. Threatened war, killings, political manipulation and adult action violence.

Setting

• The film’s international espionage settings

Main characters

James Bond, Wai Lin, Elliot Carver.