The Tom Clancy Thread

[USS Utah]

Tom Clancy, whose complex, adrenaline-fueled military novels made him one of the world’s best-selling and best-known authors, died on Tuesday in a hospital in Baltimore. He was 66.

Link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/03/books/tom-clancy-best-selling-novelist-of-military-thrillers-dies-at-66.html?_r=0

[USS Utah]

Some 23 years ago, when I returned from my LDS mission, I learned that a movie based on Tom Clancy's "The Hunt for Red October" was soon to be released. So I bought the book and read it.

I have since read all of Clancy's books -- except for "Against All Enemies", but nobody believes he actually wrote that one. It was a long wait between "The Teeth of the Tiger" and "Dead or Alive" (7 years), but each of the last three has been better than the one before. Here's hoping he goes out strong with "Command Authority" in December.

After "Red October" I read "Red Storm Rising" and really enjoyed it, then "Patriot Games" which I struggled a bit with -- at least the first half after Ryan breaks up the attack in London, then the attack on the highway in Maryland propelled me through the rest of the book. I waited awhile before reading "Cardinal of the Kremlin" and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I didn't like "Clear and Present Danger" as much and "The Sum of All Fears" took a long time to get to the action. But I really enjoyed "Debt of Honor" and "Executive Orders".

Clancy was one of the best, he will be missed.

[LA Ute]

I loved Executive Orders. At one point I was standing up while reading it because I was too mesmerized to sit down.

[USS Utah]

Two things really impressed me about Clancy. First, there would be times when I would stop reading just to marvel at how good his writing was -- I haven't had one of those moments when reading his last three, however. Second, his LDS characters, though usually minor, were real people rather than charactures. In "Clear and Present Danger" as Ryan is struggling to decide what to do about the illegal secret mission in Columbia, he is driving along the beltway and sees the Washington Temple, which leads him to recall members of the church in government who have acted with integrity. In "Without Remorse" the F-105 pilot shot down and captured by the North Vietnamese was LDS, and I could find no fault with how Clancy developed the character or how he presented LDS beliefs.

[wuapinmon]

In Without Remorse, the pilot even taps out "all is well; all is well" in Morse code to another prisoner. I enjoyed the Cardinal in the Kremlin and Red Storm Rising. The Hunt for Red October was the best film made from his novels.

[chrisrenrut]

Without Remorse is my second favorite fiction of all time, behind To Kill A Mockingbird (My tastes aren't high-brow, I like to be entertained when I read).

I could never ever get into the books after Executive Orders. I heard that he stopped including Jack Ryan in most of the books after his divorce, because his wife got half of the rights to any book with Jack Ryan in it, and he didn't want to split the royalties.

[USS Utah]

Rainbow Six followed Executive Orders and didn't have Ryan in it. But Ryan is in the next book The Bear and the Dragon. The Red Rabbit also has a younger Jack Ryan with a story predating The Hunt for Red October. With The Teeth of the Tiger, Clancy introduced Jack Ryan Jr who would become a major character in his next three books (after a 7 year wait). Ryan Sr. makes the decision in Dead or Alive to run for a non-consecutive term as president, he campaigns and wins in Locked On, and is president in Threat Vector and the upcoming Command Authority. I don't want to say Ryan Sr. is a minor charcter in the last three books, but he does have a lower profile compared to his son, Clark and Chavez.

If you enjoyed Without Remorse, I think you would enjoy Rainbow Six in which Clark leads a NATO fast response anti-terrorism team. The Bear and the Dragon is similar to Executive Orders with Ryan Sr. facing a new international crisis. The Red Rabbit might be one of Clancy's best books with an excellent portrayal of life in the Soviet Union. The Teeth of the Tiger is a good vehicle for introducing Ryan Jr. Dead or Alive was good, certainly after a 7 year wait, Locked On was better, and Threat Vector was fantastic.

[USS Utah]

Longtime friend of Tom Clancy and co-author of Red Storm Rising Larry Bond spoke with USNI News last week shortly after Clancy’s death. Bond spoke about how Clancy did his research, the origin of “Harpoon,” and why Clancy’s novels helped define the Cold War for a generation of Americans.

See more at: http://news.usni.org/2013/10/08/interview-larry-bond-tom-clancy?fb_source=pubv1#sthash.JnLmIc4g.dpuf