Any Tom Clancy fans?

[SoloFlyer]

So I'll start off by saying I like the Jack Ryan character as depicted in most of the movies and the amazon series. I thought I'd give the books a go. I typically enjoy books that are part of a series in any event and I like to read them in chronological order according to the storyline, not the publication date. I read Patriot Games and thought it was ok, not spectacular but I figure its Clancy's early work so it'll probably improve as I move forward. Then I started Red Rabbit which is next in the story but written about 15 years later. I think I got about a quarter of the way into it and was trying to force myself to keep reading. I don't know, somehow the book seems to be frustratingly vague at points and insult your intelligence at other times. It came across as repetitive, chauvinistic, and cliched. And to top it off it was just plain boring. Has anyone who has read the Jack Ryan books found that they improve at some point or should I cut my losses now?

 

[Sraika]

i liked his other books a lot better.
Take that as you will

 

[Doggen]

I only read rainbow six and splinter cell and I enjoyed them for what they were. I also get waaay to excited when I see the character John Clark in movies or series.

 

[Trinarius]

I'm sure that if you had started reading his books back when they were first released, and long before they were made into movies, internet "television" series, and before he took on a co-writer (before his death), they fit it well with the cold war-era mentality that was so pervasive at the time. While I liked Patriot Games, my favorite is still Clear and Present Danger; Sum of All Fears is also pretty high on the list. The difficult part is balancing Jack Ryan with some of the other key characters Clancy had created that most people sweep under the rug. When it comes down to it, modern society is all about the immersive, audio-visual experience and taking everything for exactly what they see and hear; books have to rely upon the reader investing with their imagination, sometimes reading things into the words that the words may not actually say.

 

[Phil]

Liked the movies, didn't like the Amazon series, I couldn't accept the guy they got to play the Admiral, he was dropping F-bombs left and right and running around with a gun but the guy was fat as hell, he was the sole reason I stopped watching the series.

 

[Bambooza]

Liked the movies, didn't like the Amazon series, I couldn't accept the guy they got to play the Admiral, he was dropping F-bombs left and right and running around with a gun but the guy was fat as hell, he was the sole reason I stopped watching the series.

Ya, the Amazon series is not great. It's a shame as it has lots of potentials but the char writing, especially for jack, seems flat.

 

[SoloFlyer]

I'm sure that if you had started reading his books back when they were first released, and long before they were made into movies, internet "television" series, and before he took on a co-writer (before his death), they fit it well with the cold war-era mentality that was so pervasive at the time. While I liked Patriot Games, my favorite is still Clear and Present Danger; Sum of All Fears is also pretty high on the list. The difficult part is balancing Jack Ryan with some of the other key characters Clancy had created that most people sweep under the rug. When it comes down to it, modern society is all about the immersive, audio-visual experience and taking everything for exactly what they see and hear; books have to rely upon the reader investing with their imagination, sometimes reading things into the words that the words may not actually say.

I don't know, I'm definitely in the category of "books are better than screen adaptations" for just about everything except for fight club. My imagination when it comes to what I'm reading usually surpasses what I see on a screen. As far as relying on the reader, with Red Rabbit, there seemed to be numerous parts where he interrupted a character's inner monologue or in the middle of the conversation to insert his own personal views on a character's motivations or what he felt was wrong with their position instead of letting the reader come to the conclusion themselves. And the way he would switch between one character's thoughts to another's even mid paragraph just felt jarring.

 

[atpbx]

Only the books, the little group he did in the late 80s to mid 90s Debt of Honour, Sum of all Fears, Clear and Present danger etc, are exceptional books.

The films and TV series.... not so much.

I did enjoy the very first Rainbow Six PC game, that was pretty cool.

 

[Dalarast]

I actually love all the books, some of the movies (well liked them all - but cause I liked the books and saw most of them so young I didn’t know better, and the amazon tv show.
The older books - once you get pass Tom Clancy’s long winded talks about airlines and military specs the character and build up is amazing. Mentioned above about John Clark - without remorse is one of my top 5 books of all time.
Rainbow 6, Red October, clear and present danger, cardina..... well damn. There are a lot of good books. Clancy’s later books are more political dealings - if your not a fan of that than it will then you off. Basically watch west wing tv series and combine that with 24. If ya like it... try it.
The jack ryan JR books..... loved them. Some are harder to get through but I do love the more action that these offer (despite being unbelievable). Those are closer to the amazon tv show. So if you like the tv show and want that.... read those books. Not really Tom Clancy; but inspired and in that world.

Yes I could talk about this more than I could talk about Star Citizen.

 

[SanPatricio]

Started reading him at a young age, first with Red Storm Rising (which he cowrote with Larry Bond) and followed the books for a long time. I'm not sure if his writing got worse, or if i just grew up, but i definitely noticed a downward trend in the quality of writing so to speak. I basically checked out when he started all the spin-offs and having ghostwriters churn out stuff.

 

[Dalarast]

Started reading him at a young age, first with Red Storm Rising (which he cowrote with Larry Bond) and followed the books for a long time. I'm not sure if his writing got worse, or if i just grew up, but i definitely noticed a downward trend in the quality of writing so to speak. I basically checked out when he started all the spin-offs and having ghostwriters churn out stuff.

Red Storm Rising was a great book too!

i don’t think his writing got worse as Jack Ryan grew. But it was that Jack Ryan Sr got to big. Like a damn sky walker. And Clancy seemed to want to impress upon us of the inner workings of a passenger airliner for 5 pages while some supporting characters got no plot development in 400 pages.....