“Casino Royale” is a short, tense spy novel that introduces James Bond over a game of baccarat. The duel at the casino is the best of it; some readers find the final stretch flat or predictable after that. Some are also put off by the way Bond regards women. Worth reading to see, in under two hundred pages, where the character began.

The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.

About the book

Casino Royale is the first novel by the British author Ian Fleming. Published in 1953, it is the first James Bond book, and it paved the way for a further eleven novels and two short story collections by Fleming, followed by numerous continuation Bond novels by other authors.

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Reading order · James Bond

Full order & progress →

On screen

This book has been adapted for the screen 3 times — from 1954 to 2006.

FilmCasino Royale2006dir. Martin CampbellIMDb
FilmCasino Royale1967dir. John HustonIMDb
TV filmCasino Royale1954dir. William H. Brown Jr.IMDb

Adaptation data: Wikidata · On screen →

Where the score comes from

The sources average 7.3 across 434 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 75% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Spy & espionage average of 7.6. That is how 7.3 comes out.