Licens fornyet (1981)

John Gardner

Danish first edition
Original: License Renewed (Jonathan Cape 1981)
Publisher: Merveds forlag
Translator: Mogens Boisen
Cover design: Verner Merved

In 1979, Glidrose Productions (the executors of the Ian Fleming estate) appointed the English thriller writer John Edmund Gardner to be the next official author of James Bond 007 continuation novels, following Kingsley Amis (writing as Robert Markham).

John Gardner's first Bond novel, "License Renewed", was published in Danish in 1981, shortly after the English first edition. Gardner updated the literary James Bond 007 character for the 1980's and equipped him with, among other things, a new car from the Swedish company SAAB.

From 1981 to 1996, John Gardner wrote sixteen James Bond 007 novels, including two film novelizations based on existing screenplays. The following eight were issued in Danish:

● Licens fornyet (License Renewed, Merveds forlag 1981)
● 007 nr. 1 – med ret til at dræbe (Licence to Kill - film novelization, Winthers forlag 1989)
● 007 nr. 2 – i særlig tjeneste (For Special Services, Winthers forlag 1989)
● 007 nr. 3 – mislykket operation (No Deals, Mr. Bond, Winthers forlag 1990)
● 007 nr. 4 – ingen lever evigt (Nobody Lives Forever, Winthers forlag 1990)
● 007 nr. 5 – vinderen lever farligt (Win, Lose or Die, Winthers forlag 1990)
● 007 nr. 6 – Scorpius (Scorpius, Winthers forlag 1990)
● 007 nr. 7 – i ondskabens kløer (Brokenclaw, Winthers forlag 1991)

John Gardner retired as James Bond 007 author in 1996 and was succeeded by American writer Raymond Benson . Gardner died in 2007 at the age of 80.