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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
You will learn more about submarines than you ever want to. Slow pacing made this book a challenge to read.
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book was a letdown unfortunately. I expected a thrilling book but it was incredibly boring.
The two main characters are Jack Ryan and Marko Ramius but they are barely in the book. A lot of time is spent with other characters who are sadly interchangeable and one-dimensional. We spend some time with a sonar guy of which we get a little backstory, then we spend some time with a CIA guy with an little backstory, then we spend some time with a Russian bureaucrat with a little backstory etc, etc...
This is not thrilling at all. The book is full of military and techno babble which gives the book a lot of authenticity, but does not make for compelling reading when you do this too much, and Clancy does it too much.
When the final showdown finally begins you notice that you don't really care because you don't know any of these people and are not invested.
The two main characters are Jack Ryan and Marko Ramius but they are barely in the book. A lot of time is spent with other characters who are sadly interchangeable and one-dimensional. We spend some time with a sonar guy of which we get a little backstory, then we spend some time with a CIA guy with an little backstory, then we spend some time with a Russian bureaucrat with a little backstory etc, etc...
This is not thrilling at all. The book is full of military and techno babble which gives the book a lot of authenticity, but does not make for compelling reading when you do this too much, and Clancy does it too much.
When the final showdown finally begins you notice that you don't really care because you don't know any of these people and are not invested.
adventurous
informative
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
informative
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Painfully slow moving and too many intricate details about submarines. Good overall plot, but Tom Clancy’s writing style is just not for me.
Tom Clancy's brilliant debut is strong in all the right places - clever plot, competent and compelling characters, a page-turning sense of urgency. I acknowledge that I, as a teenage girl, am not the target audience for this book; I just believe it could have reached more people had it used more accessible language. Though it was dense, it was because of the sheer volume of research Clancy clearly conducted on the subject, and this is a very intelligent book because of it. Bravo, Clancy - just how much you poured into this book is evident.
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
My first Tom Clancy! Quite entertaining. There is a lot of detail that bogged things down for me at times, but that’s also a testament to the research done. I’ll definitely check out another Jack Ryan.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It took me 4 months to read an it was amazing altogether. I should have read this in a couple of sittings but alas life is that way. Don't know why but sometimes , even If I am loving a book I start another and another...
This book is probably one of the most know from him... it's a tale about a submarine called Red October who is quite knew to URSS navy but just on her maiden voyage it tries to defect to USA. Within are a lot of characters that you get to know, probably the better one is Ramius (captain). On the other side you got Jack Ryan a CIA operative , the head of CIA, of FBI, The president among countless other characters. Most of them probably won't appear on later books (exception being the president and top ones). It's a tale of cat and mouse and it's a very entertaining and interesting story. If you go there in a spirit of learning you get to learn a lot about the navy , about stuff that I didn't even knew it existed and you get a lot of navy, army jargon. I bet this book is a wet dream for military people. Another thing that comes to mind is that this book was written in 1984. Cold War was ongoing and so , reading this book back in the day should have been amazing. Another thing that I have to give credits is that, today if I want to write a espionage, navy book I google stuff. But in 1984 you didn't had the internet so people , to write had to go to library, have experience or books about it. Nowadays I bet most authors don't read history books to inspire and such. They go to wiki, see something cool and write it something. (I am not removing credits for authors of nowadays - I giving praise to this author who with so many detailed information must had experience/study hard).
It's a good thriller, good military fiction focus on subs and espionage. It's political games.. I Am going to read more in the near future , no doubt. 9/10
This book is probably one of the most know from him... it's a tale about a submarine called Red October who is quite knew to URSS navy but just on her maiden voyage it tries to defect to USA. Within are a lot of characters that you get to know, probably the better one is Ramius (captain). On the other side you got Jack Ryan a CIA operative , the head of CIA, of FBI, The president among countless other characters. Most of them probably won't appear on later books (exception being the president and top ones). It's a tale of cat and mouse and it's a very entertaining and interesting story. If you go there in a spirit of learning you get to learn a lot about the navy , about stuff that I didn't even knew it existed and you get a lot of navy, army jargon. I bet this book is a wet dream for military people. Another thing that comes to mind is that this book was written in 1984. Cold War was ongoing and so , reading this book back in the day should have been amazing. Another thing that I have to give credits is that, today if I want to write a espionage, navy book I google stuff. But in 1984 you didn't had the internet so people , to write had to go to library, have experience or books about it. Nowadays I bet most authors don't read history books to inspire and such. They go to wiki, see something cool and write it something. (I am not removing credits for authors of nowadays - I giving praise to this author who with so many detailed information must had experience/study hard).
It's a good thriller, good military fiction focus on subs and espionage. It's political games.. I Am going to read more in the near future , no doubt. 9/10