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At age 66 this pivotal multi media and publishing power house has passed away. His fictional literature shaped the media I grew up with fostering an entire genre of video games, (tac sims) to popular prevalence. I can't imagine how different the media in my life would have been without him. I know he sold his name and all to ubi soft a few years ago but still the passing of this man, visionary, powerhouse... it will leave a hole that won't soon be filled. 30 years of influence in the way that type of literature/film/games could reach/influence/be made...

He has one written book waiting to be published.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/02/us/tom-clancy-obit/

1) Wrong section.
2) All caps in the subject? Really?

Maybe now that he's gone, editors can go back in and remove the unnecessary 300 or so pages from each of his later novels.

Moved to the 'Porch.

Well that sucks. RIP.

Also, it's sad how bad fact-checking is these days. "Clancy's 1984 novel "The Hunt for Red October" propelled him to fame, fortune and status as a favorite storyteller of the American military. Sean Connery and Harrison Ford brought the Cold War drama to life in the big screen in 1990."

Really? Harrison Ford wasn't in The Hunt for Red October and never co-starred in any Tom Clancy movie with Sean Connery.


Red Storm Rising is still one of my favorite "WW3" books I've ever read. Without Remorse was great as well.

He wrote one good novel, a few decent ones and a lot of crappy ones. I mean, RIP and all that but good lord. From Executive Orders on his books got bigger and (at least until Rainbow Six when I quit reading him) his books needed better editing and to have bout 1/5 of them cut.

oh. wow...This just ruins my day. I grew up reading Tom Clancy and he was the sole reason I developed my love of reading (of course, university is the sole reason I no longer read). I found his books to be so engaging and detailed, but his last couple of Jack Ryan books were clearly written by ghost writers and got such negative reviews I didn't bother even reading them.

But Tom Clancy, when he was writing his own stuff, was an amazing author. I will miss him.

paulWTAMU wrote:

He wrote one good novel, a few decent ones and a lot of crappy ones. I mean, RIP and all that but good lord. From Executive Orders on his books got bigger and (at least until Rainbow Six when I quit reading him) his books needed better editing and to have bout 1/5 of them cut.

I certainly agree that his books got huge, but that was one of the things I loved, was his detail to EVERYTHING.

.

clone wrote:

back in the day I thought both were awesome in their own way, it was only until much later that I revisited the book and realized that it had none of the tension the movie offered.... that's not to say it was a bad book but that it was one of those rare instances where the movie was better than the book.

The opposite is true of the rest of them...the books are all far better than the movies.

paulWTAMU wrote:

He wrote one good novel, a few decent ones and a lot of crappy ones.

Which is his one good novel? I haven't read any of his books yet.

I am curious how he died because 66 seems young. Some kind of fast cancer perhaps?

Dang. His later books suffered the problem of the editors fearing to cut half the book out but Without Remorse, Red Storm Rising and The Hunt for the Red October were really good. 66 seems really young.

RIP ._.

I thought all of his novels up to 1998 were quite good and, except for the new ghost-written ones, I wouldn't want to see abridged editions. I own multiple copies of the following:

The Hunt for Red October (1984), Red Storm Rising (1986), Patriot Games (1987), The Cardinal of the Kremlin (1988), Clear and Present Danger (1989), The Sum of All Fears (1991), Without Remorse (1993), Debt of Honor (1994), Executive Orders (1996), and Rainbow Six (1998).

It wasn't the same afterward.

I LOVED Red Storm Rising, and have read it multiple times. For those who aren't familiar, this is a stand-alone novel (not part of the Jack Ryan series) that Clancy wrote in collaboration with Larry Bond. It was a fascinating book when it was released, and still holds up well going on three decades later.

I've also read most of Clancy's other works (aside from the Rainbow Six series), and my favorites were The Hunt For Red October (main character Jack Ryan) and Without Remorse (main character John Kelly).

On a side note, I seem to recall that there was a movement afoot for a while to make a movie based on Without Remorse, and that Keanu Reeves was going to play John Kelly.

http://www.ibtimes.com/meet-alexandra-m ... st-1413756

Interesting article about his widow, who he married when he was 53 and she was 3121. I guess she's quite rich now, but might have been wealthy anyway looking at her parents.

Lucky Jack Aubrey wrote:

On a side note, I seem to recall that there was a movement afoot for a while to make a movie based on Without Remorse, and that Keanu Reeves was going to play John Kelly.

That would... so not fit my image of Mr. Clark. I'm not even a Keanu Reeves hater, it just doesn't seem to fit.

ChronoReverse wrote:

That would... so not fit my image of Mr. Clark. I'm not even a Keanu Reeves hater, it just doesn't seem to fit.

Hmm, Mr. Clark. I think a 40-something Harvey Keitel would have been perfect.

I guess I'll go on the recommendations and pick up Red Storm Rising this weekend. I need a new book.

bthylafh wrote:

1) Wrong section.
2) All caps in the subject? Really?

Sorry and Sorry, I came to originally know him through his games so that is why I posted here. As for caps, what can I say I draft in caps and do lots of stuff in caps most of the day feeding that bad habit.

Captain Ned wrote:

Maybe now that he's gone, editors can go back in and remove the unnecessary 300 or so pages from each of his later novels.

Moved to the 'Porch.

Thanks for the move. I haven't read a ton of his literature, just a few. But it has a very clearly defined style. He sure does love his detail that's for sure, but that is what I found so great about his work. Much like the late Michael Criton, they wallowed in the details.

Red Storm Rising is EXCELLENT and is super easy for anyone to read since it is a stand alone book.

Next favorites are Debt of Honor and Executive Orders and I feel you don't really have to read their predecessors. I have read that pair 2 or 3 times now (and you have to read DoH followed by EO...HAVE TO!!!)

Ironically, I literally finished Rainbow Six for the first time today on my lunch break, just before I heard the sad news.

Well, time for the next book (working my way through the series).

RIP

I remember reading Without Remorse, and Rainbow Six. I enjoyed the movies, and a couple of the games inspired by his stuff.

It's sad that he's no longer around to write neat stuff. The Red October/Jack Ryan series was great up until Debt of Honor ended in a surreal alternate universe. I really immersed myself in Red Storm Rising. The only other military fiction equalling it in scope and detail was "The Third World War" by Sir John Hackett, but Clancy was by far the better writer.

RIP Mr. Clancy.

Hawkwing74 wrote:

I guess I'll go on the recommendations and pick up Red Storm Rising this weekend. I need a new book.

My favorite book, by far. Like others have said, it's a complete stand alone book (and I'm not spoiling anything here, so don't worry), but it's essentially World War III.

*IF* you do start reading his main series, don't read them in order they were written as he bounces around a lot. (For example, Red Rabbit was one of his later written books, but was one of the first events for Jack Ryan). Here's a good list of comparison between publication date and Jack Ryan timeline:

Stay away from any of the Netforce, Power Play, Net Force or Splinter Cell books, those are ghost written and are, well, bad. The authors don't even try to write like Clancy (his level of detail or story).

Hawkwing74 wrote:

paulWTAMU wrote:

He wrote one good novel, a few decent ones and a lot of crappy ones.

Which is his one good novel? I haven't read any of his books yet.

I am curious how he died because 66 seems young. Some kind of fast cancer perhaps?

RIP Tom,you were very good once.
My personal favorite is Red Storm Rising....a real techno thriller epic.
They need to do a 3 part LOTR version of it.

trackerben wrote:

It's sad that he's no longer around to write neat stuff. The Red October/Jack Ryan series was great up until Debt of Honor ended in a surreal alternate universe. I really immersed myself in Red Storm Rising. The only other military fiction equalling it in scope and detail was "The Third World War" by Sir John Hackett, but Clancy was by far the better writer.

RIP Mr. Clancy.

I've read both of Hackett's Third World War books.
They were fairly dry in comparison and a far cry from Clancy's vivid prose...probably more suited to real war/techno geeks.
I enjoyed them both.

Another great techno thriller from that era was "Flight of the Old Dog" by Dale Brown.

I often wondered why they never made a movie of that one.

Dashak wrote:

I thought all of his novels up to 1998 were quite good and, except for the new ghost-written ones, I wouldn't want to see abridged editions. I own multiple copies of the following:

The Hunt for Red October (1984), Red Storm Rising (1986), Patriot Games (1987), The Cardinal of the Kremlin (1988), Clear and Present Danger (1989), The Sum of All Fears (1991), Without Remorse (1993), Debt of Honor (1994), Executive Orders (1996), and Rainbow Six (1998).

It wasn't the same afterward.

RIP

One of my favorite authors. I too also own all these books in Hardback. THfRO I bought in a second hand store and when I opened it up it was actually a signed copy of the book by Clancy himself! (Although I have to admit I have never had it authenticated, but but cursory looks on the internet it 'looks' legit to be his own signature)

As for Mr. Clark I always imagined Liam Neeson or even Eric Bana.

My favorite book was Armored Cav . And you guessed it, it made me want to be a tanker.

Fighterpilot wrote:

Another great techno thriller from that era was "Flight of the Old Dog" by Dale Brown.

This is an awesome book, I enjoyed it immensely. I also wonder why it never made it into movie form...

Made me very sad yesterday. I have 2 shelves in our library devoted to Clancy and have every single one of the novels all but 1 of the non-fiction. He will always be my tied with Crichton as my #1 author. I guess my first edition Hunt for Red October that I found at Goodwill for $1.50 much more valuable.

Sargent Duck wrote:

Hawkwing74 wrote:

Stay away from any of the Netforce, Power Play, Net Force or Splinter Cell books, those are ghost written and are, well, bad. The authors don't even try to write like Clancy (his level of detail or story).

I like these. They are a good 2-3 hour read that leave me fulfilled. They are not the same as his real novels, but you don't go into them expecting much.

Waco wrote:

Fighterpilot wrote:

Another great techno thriller from that era was "Flight of the Old Dog" by Dale Brown.

This is an awesome book, I enjoyed it immensely. I also wonder why it never made it into movie form...

I'd also highly recommend "Cauldron" and "Vortex" by Larry Bond.
Both are brilliant techno thrillers with an epic "big" storyline.

Fighterpilot wrote:

I've read both of Hackett's Third World War books.
They were fairly dry in comparison and a far cry from Clancy's vivid prose...probably more suited to real war/techno geeks.
I enjoyed them both.

Another great techno thriller from that era was "Flight of the Old Dog" by Dale Brown.

I often wondered why they never made a movie of that one.

Hackett's contention was that unless NATO improved its defenses, a surprise Pact assault would see the Red Army reaching the Rhine in 72 hours and crossing the US nuclear response threshold. Oh yeah, it was real war policy geek stuff

I will have to look up Dale Brown...