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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
Closer to a novelized after-action report on a wargame than a novel, occasional moments of character development aside; and if that's what you're looking for: cool! I mean that seriously: for what it is, Red Storm Rising is very good; it's better than a lot of Clancy's more recent fiction, in part because it sets aside politics and diplomacy to focus on what is surely his more focused interest of wars actually being fought. For a seven-hundred-page paperback, it remains surprisingly narrow in scope - to its credit.
Red Storm Rising falls into the zone of books that I have trouble reviewing and recommending, because its reception will depend on what you want to get out of it - if what you want is a tightly-paced and plotted war drama that errs heavily on the abstract side of strategy and tactics (circa the late 1980s), revels in competent men (and all the characters bar two, only one of whom gets point-of-view passages, are men) doing things competently, and stereotypical people doing things stereotypically, then this is unquestionably well worth reading. I read this, originally, in the early '90s, and its concerns seemed more present then; today, it's hyper-focus on technology and war-planning over politics and characters means it hasn't aged as well as it might, as those technological peaks have since been eclipsed, but the political questions it dodges remain rather live -- for example, the decision of several NATO states to ignore their Article 5 commitments gets barely half a paragraph, while we get pages and pages of detailed sonar charts. Where it delves into the personal stress of commanding a submarine, when it takes its time to touch on the PTSD that would surely affect those on the front lines, when it turns its scope more towards the human element it has held up better. But those moments are all too few.
Despite that, it's a page-turner (yes, even the sonar charts), and you can see, particularly in its earlier chapters detailing the slow build-up to war, why Clancy has managed to gain so many readers; and you can also see why his appeal has not broadened outside of his niche.
It's okay. But it's the sort of high-variance 'okay' that some people will find amazing, and others will find unreadable.
Red Storm Rising falls into the zone of books that I have trouble reviewing and recommending, because its reception will depend on what you want to get out of it - if what you want is a tightly-paced and plotted war drama that errs heavily on the abstract side of strategy and tactics (circa the late 1980s), revels in competent men (and all the characters bar two, only one of whom gets point-of-view passages, are men) doing things competently, and stereotypical people doing things stereotypically, then this is unquestionably well worth reading. I read this, originally, in the early '90s, and its concerns seemed more present then; today, it's hyper-focus on technology and war-planning over politics and characters means it hasn't aged as well as it might, as those technological peaks have since been eclipsed, but the political questions it dodges remain rather live -- for example, the decision of several NATO states to ignore their Article 5 commitments gets barely half a paragraph, while we get pages and pages of detailed sonar charts. Where it delves into the personal stress of commanding a submarine, when it takes its time to touch on the PTSD that would surely affect those on the front lines, when it turns its scope more towards the human element it has held up better. But those moments are all too few.
Despite that, it's a page-turner (yes, even the sonar charts), and you can see, particularly in its earlier chapters detailing the slow build-up to war, why Clancy has managed to gain so many readers; and you can also see why his appeal has not broadened outside of his niche.
It's okay. But it's the sort of high-variance 'okay' that some people will find amazing, and others will find unreadable.
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I believe this was my least liked of the Tom Clancy books I have read - it dragged on in a few sections, and the military maneuver details were overdone to my taste. However, since it was the second one I read and the first was really good, I kept going, and was glad I did.
I wanted to revisit this ever since the 2022 Russia - Ukraine conflict started. The second reading (actually listening to an audiobook) after a couple of decades was as good as the first. Tom Clancy really did a good job on this one. Even though the events are 35 years in the past, and the world has changed unrecognisably, this is a good story that is well told. I would still recommend this to anyone who is interested in post WWII, "Cold War" history. This could have happened.
challenging
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
NATO v Warsaw Pact without much in the way of characters or subtlety. Mostly told from over the US Navy's shoulders although there are other, smaller plots. Good page-turning Reagan porn if you're into it.