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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
A thoroughly satisfying throwback that is once again relevant, as it is about, in part, a conventional ground war in Central Europe where both sides are attempting to avoid escalation to nuclear exchanges.
This is a peak-Cold-War book about WWIII. Yes, as in other Clancy books, the characters are subsidiary to the lovingly-detailed, highly-technical descriptions of military equipment in the air, sea, and on the ground. There are long, tense passages of surface ships and helicopters playing cat-and-mouse with submarines. Thousands of unnamed people die in various military conflicts. The pages fly by as Clancy moves expertly from various battles in the air, at sea, and in Europe. The close of the book comes faster than you expect--even at 724 pages (in this edition).
Sometimes lost in hang-ups about "good" literature is the truth that sometimes some of the world's most popular books are popular for a reason. Clancy is generally deemed low-brow, Fox News Dad fare. And that's certainly not wrong, in terms of the general audience. But Clancy didn't become so popular simply because of a loyal, politically-like-minded audience. Like Stephen King, Clancy had a special skill: He's able to grab a reader's attention and hold it. The ability to create and sustain real tension is a special skill, no less valuable or important than the ability of any given graduate of the Iowa Writer's Workshop to describe a quietly crumbling marriage in a college town in Connecticut.
Clancy is also able to effectively describe complicated scenarios and battlefields in a comprehensible way, so that potentially abstruse or obscure military strategy becomes clear to the reader. His ability to translate relatively insidery lingo and details is not too different than John Le Carre's, though they're obviously very different authors.
The sympathetic take on the POV of many of the Russian characters may surprise those who come in expecting a strictly black-and-white, good-versus-evil Cold War tale. It is that, sure, in many ways, but the book also works hard to explain the motivations of the Soviets, the war from their perspective, etc.
This is the best and most thoughtfully-visualized depiction of a conventional-war WWIII that I've come across, and it's my opinion that almost anyone would profit from giving it a read.
This is a peak-Cold-War book about WWIII. Yes, as in other Clancy books, the characters are subsidiary to the lovingly-detailed, highly-technical descriptions of military equipment in the air, sea, and on the ground. There are long, tense passages of surface ships and helicopters playing cat-and-mouse with submarines. Thousands of unnamed people die in various military conflicts. The pages fly by as Clancy moves expertly from various battles in the air, at sea, and in Europe. The close of the book comes faster than you expect--even at 724 pages (in this edition).
Sometimes lost in hang-ups about "good" literature is the truth that sometimes some of the world's most popular books are popular for a reason. Clancy is generally deemed low-brow, Fox News Dad fare. And that's certainly not wrong, in terms of the general audience. But Clancy didn't become so popular simply because of a loyal, politically-like-minded audience. Like Stephen King, Clancy had a special skill: He's able to grab a reader's attention and hold it. The ability to create and sustain real tension is a special skill, no less valuable or important than the ability of any given graduate of the Iowa Writer's Workshop to describe a quietly crumbling marriage in a college town in Connecticut.
Clancy is also able to effectively describe complicated scenarios and battlefields in a comprehensible way, so that potentially abstruse or obscure military strategy becomes clear to the reader. His ability to translate relatively insidery lingo and details is not too different than John Le Carre's, though they're obviously very different authors.
The sympathetic take on the POV of many of the Russian characters may surprise those who come in expecting a strictly black-and-white, good-versus-evil Cold War tale. It is that, sure, in many ways, but the book also works hard to explain the motivations of the Soviets, the war from their perspective, etc.
This is the best and most thoughtfully-visualized depiction of a conventional-war WWIII that I've come across, and it's my opinion that almost anyone would profit from giving it a read.
adventurous
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
In my opinion, the best book written by the late, great Mr. Clancy.
When I first started this Russia had just invaded Ukraine under false pretenses so it was kinda spooky reading a book about the same thing. In the beginning it was interesting because we found out what their motives were and what the plan of attack was. Basically break up NATO and secure more resources for their shitty economy. But then the book became 600 more pages of super specific submarine sonar tactics with a few airplane radar shenanigans to spice it up. There's not a lot of human element or interesting thoughts. The main character is the sonobuoy. Probably made a better board game than a book.
adventurous
dark
hopeful
informative
inspiring
relaxing
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
My favorite book of all time. Have read it probably 20 times now over the years. Never disappoints!
Tom Clancy movie adaptations: thrilling, engrossing
Tom Clancy books: OMG so boring, DNF
Tom Clancy books: OMG so boring, DNF
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is a long book that goes into detail as how WW III might play out. It describes the air war, the Naval War and the ground war.
slow-paced
adventurous
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:
Complicated
A 1980s World War 3 told in excruciating detail. Some parts are more excruciating than others, but it all mostly works.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Rape, Blood, Pregnancy, War, Injury/Injury detail