Tom Clancy
- Thread starter Sh0rtbUs
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Larry Bond could kick Clancycorp's ass any day, as could Harold Coyle, Ken Follet, and a bunch of others in the genre.
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KatStevens,
What do you think of Dale Brown then? ???
What do you think of Dale Brown then? ???
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Not familiar with him, I'm afraid. My recreational reading has been neglected the last few years due to the work load of single daddery. I just got tired quite early of Clancy's "look how much UFI I can cram into one book, aren't I smart" style.
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I liked his books a lot as a kid, but I eventually wised up to Clancy's hack-e-ness.
Red Storm Rising was my first and still favourite, but of course it's all predicated on the notion that the Soviet Union would, in order to gain control of the Middle East (something smart), pre-emptively attack NATO in Europe!! (something very very dumb!!!) WHY NOT JUST INVADE THE MIDDLE EAST!?!?!
aside// I've since read (forget where) a brilliant and infinitely more plausible and chilling alt-history scenario where the Soviets win the Cold War in the '80s by first dismembering Pakistan in concert with India: carving out a greater Afghanistan and independent Balochistan, leaving a cowed Pakistani rump. Assuming the West acquiesces to this fait accompli (not unlikely, particularly with the West blatantly arming the Afghan' mujahideen via Pakistan) the next step is attacking Islamic Iran on the pretext of Iraqi, Azerbaijani, and Baluch irredentist claims. Again, assuming the West doesn't come to the aid of the Ayatollah (that would be pretty difficult!!!), the Soviets are now in effective control of Iraqi and Iranian oil supplies, with the Gulf States likely to fall in line with a Soviet-dominated Middle East. The Soviets can now set the global oil price arbitrarily, and institute a Western oil embargo any time they want, and in so doing have effectively won the Cold War.
I also read most of the Ryan-verse books (Sum of All Fears, Executive Orders, Debt of Honour...) but they all blend together. I remember, in high school, when someone first mentioned a jet liner crashing into a building the morning on 9/11, I asked if they weren't thinking of a Clancy book (the one where the Japanese pilot crashes into the US Capitol; spooky in retrospect).
The last book I read was Rainbow Six, and I stopped reading Clancy book because it was so terrible. It made NO SENSE WHATSOEVER that the eco-terrorists would WANT TO ATTRACT ATTENTION TO THEMSELVES when nothing about their plan required it!!!!! (Just spray the god-damn people with the god-damn virus and be done with it!!!!)
My god, that's without a doubt the dumbest book I ever finished.
Red Storm Rising was my first and still favourite, but of course it's all predicated on the notion that the Soviet Union would, in order to gain control of the Middle East (something smart), pre-emptively attack NATO in Europe!! (something very very dumb!!!) WHY NOT JUST INVADE THE MIDDLE EAST!?!?!
aside// I've since read (forget where) a brilliant and infinitely more plausible and chilling alt-history scenario where the Soviets win the Cold War in the '80s by first dismembering Pakistan in concert with India: carving out a greater Afghanistan and independent Balochistan, leaving a cowed Pakistani rump. Assuming the West acquiesces to this fait accompli (not unlikely, particularly with the West blatantly arming the Afghan' mujahideen via Pakistan) the next step is attacking Islamic Iran on the pretext of Iraqi, Azerbaijani, and Baluch irredentist claims. Again, assuming the West doesn't come to the aid of the Ayatollah (that would be pretty difficult!!!), the Soviets are now in effective control of Iraqi and Iranian oil supplies, with the Gulf States likely to fall in line with a Soviet-dominated Middle East. The Soviets can now set the global oil price arbitrarily, and institute a Western oil embargo any time they want, and in so doing have effectively won the Cold War.
I also read most of the Ryan-verse books (Sum of All Fears, Executive Orders, Debt of Honour...) but they all blend together. I remember, in high school, when someone first mentioned a jet liner crashing into a building the morning on 9/11, I asked if they weren't thinking of a Clancy book (the one where the Japanese pilot crashes into the US Capitol; spooky in retrospect).
The last book I read was Rainbow Six, and I stopped reading Clancy book because it was so terrible. It made NO SENSE WHATSOEVER that the eco-terrorists would WANT TO ATTRACT ATTENTION TO THEMSELVES when nothing about their plan required it!!!!! (Just spray the god-damn people with the god-damn virus and be done with it!!!!)
My god, that's without a doubt the dumbest book I ever finished.
A
aesop081
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stewacide said:
Did you even read the book ?
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CDN Aviator said:
The better part of 15 years ago
As I recall Islamic terrorists ruined their oil industry, so to keep from having to beg the West for grain they decide to take Middle Eastern oil, but because they figure that will prompt a response from NATO, they attack NATO pre-emptively and start WW3!!!
So, in this scenario, the Soviets start out with a shitty but surmountable problem - having to show some weakness and go cap-in-hand to the West - then 'trade up' through steps to the absolutely APOCALYPTIC prospect of a war with NATO!!! Clearly someone forgot to inform the Soviet leadership (read: Clancy) that the 'game' is to get the most you can SHORT OF WW3!!!
This is like playing chicken by shooting yourself in the head!
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