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The Literary Bond Trivia Quiz

Ian Fleming's Bond books have been the source of inspiration for a large proportion of the 20+ Bond films that have been made over the last 40 or so years. But how much do you know about the books?

A multiple-choice quiz by Cyclic. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
Cyclic

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
114,909

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
15

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
9 / 15

Plays
595

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 15

1. In 'Casino Royale' Bond encounters a SMERSH assassin, who doesn't acknowledge him as a target. What did the assassin do? Hint

Decided that he wasn't worth killing

Sent a message to SMERSH headquarters with his description

Etched a letter into Bond's hand

Took a photograph of him

NEXT>

Question 2 of 15

2. In the book 'Live and Let Die', Bond first encounters his friend Felix Leiter. Leiter is later sent back as a message by the villain Mr. Big, with a note attached, saying "He disagreed with something that ate him".

In which Bond film did this line appear? Hint

Live and Let Die

Licence to Kill

Diamonds Are Forever

The Spy Who Loved Me

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Question 3 of 15

3. In the third Bond book, 'Moonraker', Bond first confirms suspicions about the villain, Hugo Drax, over a game of cards. Which card game were they playing? Hint

Baccarat

Poker

Bridge

Canasta

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Question 4 of 15

4. Book number four was 'Diamonds Are Forever'. What was the name of the Bond girl? Hint

Tiffany Case

Holly Goodhead

Pussy Galore

Shy Smile

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Question 5 of 15

5. Possibly the finest of the books was 'From Russia With Love'. On the Orient Express, Bond meets Captain Nash, the MI6 man in Trieste.

Of which British regiment does Nash wear the tie? Hint

Royal Corps of Signals

Royal Engineers

Special Air Service

Royal Welch Fusiliers

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Question 6 of 15

6. The sixth book, 'Thunderball' introduces Bond's arch-enemy, Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Other villains from the books included Auric Goldfinger, Hugo Drax and Francisco Scaramanga.

What was different about Blofeld, compared to this trio? Hint

They were all left handed

They were all born in America, whereas Blofeld was European

The trio all had red / ginger hair

Blofeld was a Russian agent

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Question 7 of 15

7. Whilst playing golf with Goldfinger, Bond turns to his caddie and asks the immortal question, "Is my good friend in the bunker, or is the bastard on the green?".

At which famous British course were they playing golf? Hint

St. Andrews

Sandwich

Sunningdale

The Belfry

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Question 8 of 15

8. The first Bond Girl in the movies was Ursula Andress as Honeychile Ryder in 'Doctor No'. In the book the character is introduced in a chapter titled 'The Elegant Venus'. However, the literary character is disfigured by a physical flaw.

What is it? Hint

A very sharp, pointy nose

Scar tissue from burns on her leg

An unset, badly broken nose

Ginger hair

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Question 9 of 15

9. 'For Your Eyes Only' was the first book of short stories, with five short Bond stories. The character Milton Krest in 'The Hildebrand Rarity' was later included in a film. Which film? Hint

Licence to Kill

The World Is Not Enough

Octopussy

The Living Daylights

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Question 10 of 15

10. What was unusual about 'The Spy Who Loved Me', compared to other Bond books? Hint

It is the shortest of all the Bond stories

It was never released in hardback

Ian Fleming didn't write it all himself - an unattributed writer finished it

It is written from the perspective of someone else

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Question 11 of 15

11. 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' has the return of Blofeld, and carries it towards the conclusion of the series of novels. In the book, Bond, in disguise as Sir Hilary Bray, is hired to trace Blofeld's genealogy.
Where was Blofeld born? Hint

It is never made clear

Gdansk, Poland

Gdynia, Poland

Stockholm, Sweden

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Question 12 of 15

12. In 'You Only Live Twice', Bond is sent to Japan to track down Blofeld. Bond uses a cover identity. What is it? Hint

A civil servant from the Minstry of Agriculture and Fisheries ('The Man from Ag. and Fish.')

An Olympic Biathlon Champion

A representative of Universal Import / Export

A coal miner from Fukuoka

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Question 13 of 15

13. 'The Man With the Golden Gun' was Ian Fleming's last Bond novel. Which gun does Francisco Scaramanga use as his trademark in the book? Hint

A custom-made pistol assembled from a pen, a lighter and a cigarette case

A gold-plated, long-barrelled, single-action Colt .45

A gold-plated Colt Python revolver

A gold-plated Walther PPK

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Question 14 of 15

14. The last Bond book is comprised of three short stories, 'Octopussy' 'The Property of a Lady' and 'The Living Daylights'.

Which of these stories were used as the subject for films? Hint

'Octopussy' and 'The Living Daylights'

None of them

'Octopussy' and 'The Property of a Lady'

All three

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Question 15 of 15

15. The literary Bond's preferred gun was always the Walther PPK.

True

False

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. In 'Casino Royale' Bond encounters a SMERSH assassin, who doesn't acknowledge him as a target. What did the assassin do?

Answer: Etched a letter into Bond's hand

The assassin knew that Bond was a spy, but didn't have any orders to kill him specifically. So he carved a winged M into Bond's hand, equivalent to the Russian letter 'sch', the first letter of 'schpion' the Russian word for spy, ensuring that he would be marked in the future.

At the start of the second book, 'Live and Let Die', Bond has recently had cosmetic surgery to disguise the mark.

Answer: Licence to Kill

Leiter had been eaten by sharks, which is where he exchanged his right hand for a hook. This was a feature of the books but not the films.

3. In the third Bond book, 'Moonraker', Bond first confirms suspicions about the villain, Hugo Drax, over a game of cards. Which card game were they playing?

Answer: Bridge

The literary Bond is a big card player. In 'Casino Royale' he played Baccarat against Le Chiffre; in 'Goldfinger' he played two-handed Canasta against Auric Goldfinger. However, he never really showed a great interest for the rather uncouth Poker.

4. Book number four was 'Diamonds Are Forever'. What was the name of the Bond girl?

Answer: Tiffany Case

The name of the girl in the film was the same.
Pussy Galore was in 'Goldfinger', and Holly Goodhead was in the film 'Moonraker'.

Shy Smile was the name of the horse who was the 'ringer' at Saratoga Springs! Quite a philly though nonetheless ...

5. Possibly the finest of the books was 'From Russia With Love'. On the Orient Express, Bond meets Captain Nash, the MI6 man in Trieste. Of which British regiment does Nash wear the tie?

Answer: Royal Engineers

Nash wears his tie in a Windsor Knot, which particularly galls Bond because of the vanity he believes it displays.

In contrast Bond later meets Paul Sender from the Royal Corps of Signals in the short story 'The Living Daylights'

The SAS aren't renowned for their wearing of ties.

6. The sixth book, 'Thunderball' introduces Bond's arch-enemy, Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Other villains from the books included Auric Goldfinger, Hugo Drax and Francisco Scaramanga. What was different about Blofeld, compared to this trio?

Answer: The trio all had red / ginger hair

This is a curious common trait between the three. Other Bond villains with red hair were Donnovan 'Red' Grant and Rosa Klebb in 'From Russia With Love'.

7. Whilst playing golf with Goldfinger, Bond turns to his caddie and asks the immortal question, "Is my good friend in the bunker, or is the bastard on the green?". At which famous British course were they playing golf?

Answer: Sandwich

Strangely enough, they omitted this brilliant line from the film. Probably too risque, even for 1964!

Bond tells Goldfinger that he has a handicap of nine at Huntercombe, although he also has the same handicap at Sunningdale, purely because Huntercombe was an easier course and he didn't want to intimidate him.

Answer: An unset, badly broken nose

Honey's nose was broken whilst resisting the advances of an unwanted suitor, although it doesn't stop Bond finding her attractive!

Ursula Andress of course had / has no such flaw, and also went on to be in the spoof Bond film 'Casino Royale' with David Niven.

9. 'For Your Eyes Only' was the first book of short stories, with five short Bond stories. The character Milton Krest in 'The Hildebrand Rarity' was later included in a film. Which film?

Answer: Licence to Kill

Krest was the man chasing the Hildebrand Rarity. The same character was the boat owner in 'Licence to Kill'.

10. What was unusual about 'The Spy Who Loved Me', compared to other Bond books?

Answer: It is written from the perspective of someone else

The entire book is written from the perspective of Vivienne Michel. Essentially, it's a short story strung out to novel length, but good stuff nonetheless.

Answer: Gdynia, Poland

Blofeld was born in the Polish port of Gdynia in the inter-war period.

As a separate note, Gdynia was established as a naval base for the Polish Navy in the 1920s to counter the importance of Gdansk / Danzig, which was a free port at the time.

12. In 'You Only Live Twice', Bond is sent to Japan to track down Blofeld. Bond uses a cover identity. What is it?

Answer: A coal miner from Fukuoka

Bond was disguised as a deaf and dumb miner to camouflage his inability to speak Japanese. However, in the film, Sean Connery insisted that Bond "took a first in Oriental Languages at Cambridge". What a load of tosh.

13. 'The Man With the Golden Gun' was Ian Fleming's last Bond novel. Which gun does Francisco Scaramanga use as his trademark in the book?

Answer: A gold-plated, long-barrelled, single-action Colt .45

Scaramanga is a circus performer and trick-shot artist who uses the famous Colt .45. In the film, Christopher Lee used a custom-made weapon assembled from a pen a lighter and a cigarette case.

14. The last Bond book is comprised of three short stories, 'Octopussy' 'The Property of a Lady' and 'The Living Daylights'. Which of these stories were used as the subject for films?

Answer: All three

'Octopussy' was used for the title of the 1983 Roger Moore Bond film of the same name. It featured a Faberge egg, which was the subject of the short story 'The Property of a Lady'. 'The Living Daylights' was Timothy Dalton's first Bond film, and featured a scene from the story where Bond shoots a KGB sniper in pre-wall Berlin.

15. The literary Bond's preferred gun was always the Walther PPK.

Answer: False

Bond actually used a Beretta .25 with a skeleton grip. In the book 'Dr. No', the Armourer (Major Boothroyd) was dismissive of the Beretta and recommended that Bond use the PPK, along with the Smith and Wesson Centennial Airweight.

Source: Author Cyclic

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Bruyere before going online.
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