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"Tom Clancy novels - what's the fuss?"

I've read three of his novels now, among them Rainbox Six. Already they are terribly repetitive and follow the basic formula - long paragraphs at the start, slowly increase tension, short sharp paragraphs at the end to rivet it up.
Good side always wins, bad side always loses and suffers poetic justice. Example - the terrorist who kills the fat young girl who is in a wheelchair and suffers from cancer (Well done on the sympathy bonus there Tom) gets shot in the groin by Homer "unsexual" Johnston, who is apparently making a "statement".
Right.

Anyway, once you cut down the hype surrounding Clancy you see his novels aren't really anything special. As thick as a phone book maybe, but nothing special.

I've read three of his novels now, among them Rainbox Six. Already they are terribly repetitive and follow the basic formula - long paragraphs at the start, slowly increase tension, short sharp paragraphs at the end to rivet it up.
Good side always wins, bad side always loses and suffers poetic justice. Example - the terrorist who kills the fat young girl who is in a wheelchair and suffers from cancer (Well done on the sympathy bonus there Tom) gets shot in the groin by Homer "unsexual" Johnston, who is apparently making a "statement".
Right.

Anyway, once you cut down the hype surrounding Clancy you see his novels aren't really anything special. As thick as a phone book maybe, but nothing special.

True, they all smell and aren't 'tense' or anything, because you know good guy Joe USA will win. They suck.

They covert into a mint game, though.

I've never read a Clancy novel.

Actually, I don't I've read 'a' novel...damn.

Maybe his next novel shoul be entilted 'Splinter my cell' where he 'the good guy' attempts to be Sam Fisher and fails miserbaly, then is tortued for 3/4 of the book via cringing methods (pulling his nostil hairs out).

Then he dies of a bad cold, and the terrorists hide his body so that the shadow meter reads 'zero'. Then Lambert is killed and the world blows up.

The End.

I would read something like that :)

You can read the shorter ones in one sitting, usually good for reading whilst on a holday trip to some resort when you don't want anything complicated but just want something to kill the time.

That's about it.

Although Red Storm Rising was quite interesting in that it involved the hypothetical situation of Russia invading Europe. That one was actually quite good.

I read most of Rainbow Six. I didn't finish it as it was boring me to death. I prefer the likes of Chris Ryan for those sort of novels.

Yeah.

"John Clark, the clean cut macho yet sensitive guy that excels in everything except politics coz he's not that sort of guy, you know, he's clean cut, he's not sleazy, broke the dirty Irish terrorists arm (who was fortunately called Paddy O'Sterotypicalirishdude) while simuletaneously saving a baby from a dirty Muslim, probably related to Osama Bin Laden and has sympathy with Commies!!111"

They make me sick in an unliteral sense.

ßora† §agdiyeV wrote:
> I prefer the likes of Chris Ryan

Good lad.
And Andy McNab, presumably?

Not read any of his yet, although there are a few on my amazon wishlist.

I bought and read The Hunt For Red October. Too many characters who show up for a few paragraphs, tell you their life story, most of whom are all generals (making it even more confusing) then disappear a few pages later never to be mentioned again.

And by God did it drag... they worked out what was going on... then talked about it for another few hundred pages before doing anything.

Still pretty decent, mind, and the film is great.