#27 in Spy & espionage
You Only Live Twice
- 240
- Pages
- about 4.5 h
- Reading time
- Film 2021 +1
- On screen
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Our view
“You Only Live Twice” is the last Bond novel Ian Fleming published in his lifetime, an atmospheric farewell steeped in his knowledge of Japan. Some readers find the first half slow before the story speeds into a classic Bond finish; others value it most for its portrait of a shaken hero and of Britain’s fading power after the war. Fleming drew on two journeys to Japan for the setting.
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
You Only Live Twice is the eleventh novel and twelfth book in Ian Fleming's James Bond series. It was first published by Jonathan Cape in the United Kingdom on 26 March 1964 and quickly sold out. It was the last novel Fleming published in his lifetime. He based his book in Japan after a stay in 1959 as part of a trip around the world that he published as Thrilling Cities. He returned to Japan in 1962 and spent twelve days exploring the country and its culture.
Reading order · list of James Bond novels and short stories
Full order & progress →- You Only Live TwiceThis book
7.47.4 / 10 - Trigger MortisTrigger Mortis–Not ranked yet
On screen
This book has been adapted for the screen 2 times — from 1967 to 2021.
Adaptation data: Wikidata · On screen →
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.1 across 66 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 31% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Spy & espionage average of 7.6. That is how 7.4 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.0 | 10 | 15% |
| Google Books | 8.0 | 5 | 8% |
| Hardcover | 6.9 | 51 | 77% |
Frequently asked
How long is You Only Live Twice?
It has 240 pages — shorter than 99% of the ranked books in Spy & espionage.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Spy & espionage — with scores between 7.3 and 7.6, closest to this book.
