Saw this new book in the Jack Ryan series in Waterstones the other day, and had a bit of a look inside. It refers to ex-loyalists of Saddam Hussein's regime currently fighting US forces in Iraq, but isn't this a bit of a discontinuity with one of his earlier Ryanverse novels (forget which one) where Saddam was assassinated in the 1990s and history went a different course?
Tom Clancy's "Dead Or Alive" question
- Thread starter EJA
- Start date
yes.
Saddam was offed in Executive Orders, leading to the brief formation of the United Islamic Republic which was Iran and Iraq.
Saddam was offed in Executive Orders, leading to the brief formation of the United Islamic Republic which was Iran and Iraq.
beats me.
how does he have GHWB as President when the apparent President at the time would've been Fowler?
how does he have GHWB as President when the apparent President at the time would've been Fowler?
Every author who writes contemporary political fiction runs into that problem sooner or later. Of course it's a discontinuity, but what do you expect? He wants to stay as close as possible to current political situations and wants to extrapolate a close possible fictional future from that. A writer can't do that if he insists on letting his own universe turn more and more into Fantasy Land.
never stopped Dale Brown...
Yeah, I thought that was strange as well. He names Reagan and Bush I as presidents, but it would certainly appear that the events of "Red October" and all books previous to "Sum Of All Fears" takes place during the aforementioned presidencies. "Sum" appears to take place in 1994 or 1995, so it is conceivable that it could have gone Reagan-Bush-Fowler, but I'm a little fuzzy on how Fowler got into office...didn't Ryan testify and basically bring down the President BEFORE Fowler?
We are talking about the Clancyverse were a kamikaze took out the President and much of the government and the Super Bowl got nuked aren't we
IIRC the president who precedent Folwer and was in office for the events of Clear and Present Danger threw the election (ran a bad campaign, fired his campaign manager etc) which was mentioned in Sum Of All Fears were they are talking about how Fowler won the election.
Can't remember if Ryan did testify or threaten to - haven't read the book in years (it didn't survive being loaned to my brother).
i think he threatened to. he certainly ran a piss-poor campaign.
i think it's Reagan-Bush-Fowler-Durling-Ryan-Kealty.
i think it's Reagan-Bush-Fowler-Durling-Ryan-Kealty.
We are talking about the Clancyverse were a kamikaze took out the President and much of the government and the Super Bowl got nuked aren't we
Still calling kamikaze attacks with passenger planes on buildings fantasy? Where have you been in the last years?
Ignoring that a huge part of US armed forces are in Iraq and Afghanistan right now would be like he had totally ignored the Cold War in his earlier novels.
I used to really like Clancy but found teeth of the tiger a bit dull. I think creating your own universe is fine, starting in reality and diverging, but to then somehow try and bring it back to the reality again...seems wrong somehow. Why not just write a novel unconnected to the Ryan books? (possibly cos it wouldnt sell as well he says cynically!)
We are talking about the Clancyverse were a kamikaze took out the President and much of the government and the Super Bowl got nuked aren't we
Still calling kamikaze attacks with passenger planes on buildings fantasy? Where have you been in the last years?
Ignoring that a huge part of US armed forces are in Iraq and Afghanistan right now would be like he had totally ignored the Cold War in his earlier novels.
If the Japanese did it as part of a secret war with Japan and India then Osama's real attack would not have been as traumatic. Just saying the world is sufficiently different that Saddam doesn't have to be mentioned in a novel years after he was hanged. Especially in a fictional universe much more dangerous then the one we actually live in
Nardpuncher
Rear Admiral
I've only read 2 or 3 Clancy books but there's something familiar about this...seriously, where a writer (maybe it was on a TV show or in a movie) had fictionalized something but later went with real-world events when talking about the past in one of their later works.
Does anyone know what I'm talking about?!
Does anyone know what I'm talking about?!
I think Magnum PI was a TV show on Simon and Simon then they did crossover episodes placing them in the same fictional universe.
Edit to add. Many shows as they pick up acclaim get cameos from real people playing themselves after they have had fictional characters in the famous person's position
Edit to add. Many shows as they pick up acclaim get cameos from real people playing themselves after they have had fictional characters in the famous person's position
A quarter if the way through it seems as if the Clancyverse has seen a major retcon. 9/11 is the worst thing that ever happened leading to a ten year and counting war. Jack Ryan became president by an unamed tragic event. There is nothing to make you think Russia smacked down China.
Pure Clancy in form, a third of the beginning is an extended Rainbow 6 cameo with every man in uniform no matter what nation looking at the unit as if they were Superman and rock stars.
Pure Clancy in form, a third of the beginning is an extended Rainbow 6 cameo with every man in uniform no matter what nation looking at the unit as if they were Superman and rock stars.