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Reply With QuoteYes there are several good military fiction writers out there. Depends what you are looking for of course.
His books use to be great, been average at best the last 4-5 years, is there anyone out there as good as he use to be?
Yes there are several good military fiction writers out there. Depends what you are looking for of course.
I've always had the feeling that his books started the downhill slide after he divorced his wife. Did she used to be his editor? Unfortunately I have not found another military writer as cogent and fresh as the early Clancy. Most books I've read have seemed hackneyed imitation of the original.
Who wouldn've thought that's what happens when you get rich and famous: Your books basically suck and you're joke compared to what you used to be.Originally Posted by BudW
You'll notice he hasn't released a "Study In Command" book 4 years, a novel in 5 years nor a "Guided Tour" book in 7 years.
I mean, if you want to retire, then tell your devoted fans (you know, the ones who assisted your change-over from insurance salesman to multi-millionaire) that you've decided to relax and take some time for yourself. You know, retire?
Could not agree more AND MY ABSOLUTE WORST are when other authors write books and they say : Tom Clancy and Joe Bloggs!
Garbage!
Bloggs wrote the crap and Clancy pockets royalties!
BTW Larry Bond and Patrick Larkin are the main driving force behind RED STORM RISING - Try them as well.
Red Storm Rising seemed a lot more like Larry Bond's work than it seemed like a Clancy novel... but once Larry Bond stopped looking at war and started focusing on terrorism and special operations I lost interest.
Vortex, Red Phoenix and Cauldron are all good books by Larry Bond if you want to check them out. Also, Barrett Tillman's The Sixth Battle is pretty good too.
Iwar : If you check you will see that RSR was more Pat Larkin than Bond - Try his latest under the "Robert Ludlum" banner.
Traps, if you stay poor your writing skills are less likely to deteriorate!
Semper in excretum. Solum profunda variat.
True but I bet they'd rather be rich crappy writers....
Ghost-written. Trading on the "name".
Several years back a good friend of mine bought me a "Tom Clancy" book. I had to regretfully explain to her that - while I really appreciated the thought - it was not a Tom Clancy novel.
Now it barely matters.
Are you entirely sure about Patrick Larkin?
I mean, I can practically spot Larry Bond's stuff in RSR with my eyes closed, mainly because he'd ram a certain writing technique* in the ground with his later books.
Not to mention his first 3 books ripped off RSR's ending...and then Clancy figured "why not be as lazy" and did the same for The Bear And The Dragon.
*Try to end every battle sequence with a dramatic one-line summation of the events.
It's neat when used sparingly. It's a tired cliché when you do it in practically every chapter.
Same here but I guess you can only do full-scale conventional war so many ways.
Vortex was...odd. Not to mention downright creepy in a few places.
Cauldron was very well done IMO...once you got beyond the utterly ridiculous premise. Of all of his books, I probably re-read that one most.
Just put that one on order, thanks for the recommendation
I would also suggest Eric L. Harry's Arc Light, Protect & Defend and Invasion. Also check out Joe Buff, Ralph Peters and Harold Coyle.
Buy the ticket, take the ride.
Thank you all! I have Larry Bond,Coyle,Brown, was wishing for a new young gun.
The whole "hitleresqe" style of government that Vorster put into place? Yeah, but South Africa has had a Nazi streak since before WWII.Vortex was...odd. Not to mention downright creepy in a few places.
When you think about it, if there had been another "great depression" after the end of the Cold War, it isn't so far fetched. Prosperity does tend to mitigate against large scale war while massive poverty brings out the violence.Cauldron was very well done IMO...once you got beyond the utterly ridiculous premise. Of all of his books, I probably re-read that one most.
Yeah, he isn't normally a novel writer (historian), but he did a pretty good job with this one. It is about South Africa, and is definitely alternate history (he has to go ahead about 10 years from where he was to where the Soviets had finally decided to build a carrier force in order to have a navy that could challenge ours).Just put that one on order, thanks for the recommendation
Another book that is pretty good that is done by him is called Warriors, and pretty much it posits that the Saudi's finally decide to build a force of about 120 F-5's that they can maintain independent of any one supplier of parts. They hire the best aviators money can buy from around the world to pick and train Saudi pilots (in order to avoid the nepotism and corruption so endemic in their armed forces). It ends with a bang (not like the Clancy or Bond novels at all) and is an interesting perspective on both the "simple is better" perspective in terms of equipment and the strength of air power in the desert.
Nah I meant that SA government guy who liked to take young boys to a hotel room, slug 'em in the face and you know the rest :(
Ugh...just ugh...
Yeah, I think that character was modeled on a combination of Herman Goering and Himmler. Pretty messed up.
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