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thelasteffect 's review for:
The Hunt for Red October
by Tom Clancy
This book was sold to me as a story about spies and politics as much as submarines. I'm not a fan of vehicles (not sure if that's the best way to describe it?? Cars, planes, boats etc all bore me to death) but intrigue is defo up my alley, so I gave it a go.
I was expecting to find it boring (and I definitely did for some parts) but to my surprise I did enjoy the story overall.
**SPOILER** Within the first few chapters I was gripped by the political officer's swift, brutal murder and the mind games that followed **/SPOILER**. The characters were engaging - I loved the moments focused on them and their interactions, especially when it was between the Russians and the Americans.
The constant Navy jargon and boat names were pretty painful. I'm sure he did explain what all of them were at some point in the book but it was pretty difficult to remember them all. Not to mention the the paragraphs upon paragraphs of orders to being given to the different crews, (which honestly sounded like random alternations of numbers and the words "left", "right", and "rudder" - I'm sure it made sense to Naval warfare fanatics, but it was impossible for me to visualise anything).
It did make me appreciate how insane submarines are though. It's amazing how we managed to create drivable underwater tubes and can navigate them with nothing but sonar. And I did really enjoy the brief moments explaining the supercomputers and tech being used.
My rating for this book is probably unfair. I don't really think I'm the target audience for it. However, I always rate books based on my enjoyment of them at the time - and although i did enjoy it overall, based on that criteria this book defo doesn't deserve a 4.
I was expecting to find it boring (and I definitely did for some parts) but to my surprise I did enjoy the story overall.
**SPOILER** Within the first few chapters I was gripped by the political officer's swift, brutal murder and the mind games that followed **/SPOILER**. The characters were engaging - I loved the moments focused on them and their interactions, especially when it was between the Russians and the Americans.
The constant Navy jargon and boat names were pretty painful. I'm sure he did explain what all of them were at some point in the book but it was pretty difficult to remember them all. Not to mention the the paragraphs upon paragraphs of orders to being given to the different crews, (which honestly sounded like random alternations of numbers and the words "left", "right", and "rudder" - I'm sure it made sense to Naval warfare fanatics, but it was impossible for me to visualise anything).
It did make me appreciate how insane submarines are though. It's amazing how we managed to create drivable underwater tubes and can navigate them with nothing but sonar. And I did really enjoy the brief moments explaining the supercomputers and tech being used.
My rating for this book is probably unfair. I don't really think I'm the target audience for it. However, I always rate books based on my enjoyment of them at the time - and although i did enjoy it overall, based on that criteria this book defo doesn't deserve a 4.