From Russia with Love vs Thunderball: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: James Bond, Intelligence officers, Intelligence service, British, Great Britain, Spy Fiction
From Russia with Love
James Bond is marked for death by the Soviet counterintelligence agency SMERSH in Ian Fleming’s masterful spy thriller, and the novel that President John F. Kennedy named one of his favourite books of all time. SMERSH…
1 film adaptation
vs
Thunderball
“It was one of those days when it seemed to James Bond that all life, as someone put it, was nothing but a heap of six to four against.”
"When a stranger arrives in the Bahamas, the locals barely turn their heads, seeing another ex-pat with money to burn at the casino tables. But James Bond has more than money on his mind; he's got less than a week to…
1 film adaptation
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- From Russia with Love is the quickest read — about 3 hours vs 6 for Thunderball.
- Thunderball has the widest readership — 19211 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| From Russia with Love | Thunderball | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.9 (2011) | 3.8 (19211) |
| Hardcover | 3.7 (117) | 3.7 (65) |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (41) | 4.5 (32) |
Reception
| From Russia with Love | Thunderball | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 2011 | 19211 |
| Editions | 150 | 94 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 16256 | 10161 |
| Reading it now | 8 | 647 |
| Written reviews | 2011 | 1139 |
| Wikipedia attention | 4710 | 7632 |
| Pages | 187 | 344 |