THUNDERBALL: there were a few too many scenes where Bond was acting as a cypher for Fleming's disgust with "hippies," here. Also, the level of sexism was pretty over the top. Overall, the book felt way too exposition heavy, and far too much about the tech specifications of boats and submarines. BTW, the sex scene comes literally out of nowhere. 3/5
ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE: While the lineage detail is interesting, this book is glacially slow. The problem is that the eventual plan to go after Blofeld takes place extremely quickly. Ultimately, though, the novel is saved by the sweetness of the ending. It's a shame we never really get to know Tracy--she seemed very complex. 3.5/5 (interesting side note: Bret Easton Elis' novel, Glamorama, is a kind of retelling of the modifications that they made to this novel's plot for the film)
YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE: Fleming is at his best when Bond is talking to a character who is spouting all of Fleming's research as exposition. This novel absolutely works in the section where Bond and Tanaka are together. Everything after becomes mostly anticlimactic. The 5 or 6 paragraphs of "final battle" is hardly worth the 200 pages to get there. The end really shines, though. I can imagine how shocking it must have been when first published. Overall, interesting in the moments that push Bond in to new places, but the central plot is flimsy and doesn't deliver. 2.5/5 ( )

A delightful trip back in time, to an age when sexism, racism and homophobia were rampant. I say "delightful", because reading this rather dated work is like an anthropological experiment, watching a culture that's interesting - but you wouldn't want to live there. Of course the stories are well written and tightly crafted, so they're a good read, and a must for Bond fans. ( )