Intelligence And Nature

Poul Anderson: Terran Naval Intelligence.
Ian Fleming: British Intelligence.
SM Stirling: OSS operations against the Draka.
All three authors: beautiful descriptions of natural scenery.

"Behind them the sky was ablaze with red and gold streaked across aquamarine."
-Ian Fleming, "The Hildebrand Rarity" IN Fleming, For Your Eyes Only (London, 1964), pp. 150-191 AT p. 187.

I reread some Fleming in order to compare Bond with Flandry but found much else of interest. Fleming is to be commended for his descriptive passages and his social commentary.

One footnote to literary history: we all know of SMERSH and SPECTRE but there are a few other recurring collective villains in the Bond canon, e.g., Russian Army Intelligence, GRU, runs two of the operations thwarted by Bond.

And classic villains are one other theme common to Anderson, Fleming and Stirling.