Clancy goes prequel route for latest RYAN book

Cinescape ^ | May 2, 2002 | CHRISTOPHER ALLAN SMITH

[TD911]

Book News
Clancy goes prequel route for latest RYAN book

Shortcuts dramatic corner he painted Ryan into by making him president

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Dateline: Thursday, May 2, 2002

By: CHRISTOPHER ALLAN SMITH

By: News Editor

Source: Putnam Publishing

The release date has been set for Tom Clancy’s latest in the JACK RYAN series.

Having written himself into a bit of a dramatic corner by making his hero the President of the United States in the last two books, is going the prequel route with RED RABBIT.

RABBIT tells the story of an attempt by Yuri Andropov’s attempt to assassinate Pope John Paul II in the early 1980s, and young CIA analyst Ryan’s work to stop him.

The book is coming to stores in August.

[TD911]

The sellout continues!!!

[StAthanasiustheGreat]

I agree, that Clancy has sold out in the Movie version of Sum of All fears. How is this a sellout, he is merely writing a prequel, that is what Patriot Games was, written after Hunt for Red October, but set prior to those events.

[ChicagoRepublican]

Maybe writing a prequel will help get his writing back on track. The Bear and the Dragon was horrible. This book sounds like it has the potential for a great plot.

[motexva]

What was the problem with Bear and Dragon? I didn't read it, haven't read a Clancy book since Debt of Honor. All his books are overwritten. Too long, not enough action, just not compelling. I think his last decent book was Sum of All Fears which I remember being unable to put down. It's amazing they've removed the Arab terrorists from the book, it was the whole point.

[TD911]

It's a sellout because he's now writing books for the movies.

Since Ben Affleck is now portraying Ryan, they are going to need storylines/scripts with Ryan as a young neophyte agent.

Prequels are OK, however, it seems Clancy is going to try and re-invent the Ryan series and bring us back to square one.

Like you wrote, Patriot Games did that already. We don't need to whole series to go "Back In Time."

Maybe I'm completely wrong and Clancy just has Cold War Envy.

I just don't want to see the "But I'm just and analyst, not a field agent" over and over!

[Benson_Carter]

I just don't want to see the "But I'm just and analyst, not a field agent" over and over!

exactly. that was Patriot Games, let's move on.

[steamroller]

You hit on something-writing books for movies-I've seen two writers I used to enjoy go that route in recent years.Robert Parker's "Spenser" series lost it with "A Catskill Eagle"and thereafter the books seemed like screenplays.Elmore Leonard was a tremendous writer until he started doing the same thing.A lot of people may disagree with me about Leonard-it's just my opinion.I like lawrence Block-he hasn't fallen into this trap with his Matt Scudder series-I don't read his other series,so I can't say.

[another cricket]

He needs to come up with a new hero. The Jack Ryan series should have ended with “Executive Orders”.

It's like Higgins books, every one of them is just a re-mix of former books. A pity.

a.cricket

[LenS]

Actually, I believe that Clancy mostly wrote Patriot Games before The Hunt for Red October but it wasn't sold until after October's success.

[AdA$tra]

A pity.

Not really a pity. Just imagine you are a 70-80's rock group. You pick: Cars, Van Halen or Boston. You spend your whole life writing and creating maybe twenty songs. The best 10 go on your first album (or substitute novel) - Then the record company (or substite publisher) says they need an equal quality album (substitute book) every six months for ten years. You signed the contract. You write the books (cut the albums) but you never capture the quality of your original life's work.

I never actually met a Clancy book I didn't like.

[ChicagoRepublican]

Bear and the Dragon had some of the problems you described, but to an extreme. For one it had to many characters, and while Clancy isn't famed for characterization, the characters were very shallow. Even characters like Jack Ryan were poorly written.

Also the book spent about 80% of its length to the buildup of a major war. The last 20% is devoted to the major war. Also at this point some things just bend believability.

The pacing would have to be the major problem. An equivalent to this book would be a book that is 1000 pages long where the first 800 pages are about a Soviet spy in Nazi germany who learns of Hitler's plans to attack Germany with sweeping descriptions of the Soviet and German government dealings in those days, and the last 200 pages attempt to describe the whole war between the Soviet Union and Germany.

[SAJ]

Clancy made his original film deal a multi-book package (which I think you and I, and he, all regret). He did not retain creative control (you will note that, in the film 'Clear and Present Danger', Clark is a bad guy, or at least an untrustworthy sleazebag), and this is very unfortunate.

The latest abomination, the gross misrepresentation of the villains in 'Sum of All Fears' is exactly in line with what has gone on before. When any author allows the alleged humans in Hollywood to 'make' a film from a book, unless that book deals in fantasy or speculative fiction ('Lord of the Rings', for example), the film will end up being made to Hollywood notions, and any original ideas, and the original plot for that matter, will be mutated to the producer's ends.

Please keep in mind that the ORIGINAL screenplay for 'Patriot Games' had the terrorists running aground on a CORAL REEF...in Chesapeake Bay, of all places.

[eeman]

I know how Clancy can salvage the Jack Ryan character: Jack Ryan finishes his term. He pardons a bunch of crooks, steals all sorts of things from the Whitehouse. He then becomes a talk show host to replace Oprah. He also will go over to Korea and negotiate the reuinification of North and South Korea.

The Jack Ryan character can keep running his mouth and butt into affairs he no longer should be getting into. He can also talk about his legacy

[GEC]

I think perhaps Clancy's point (which was born out in Afghanistan) is that in today's electronic surveilance age, a lopsided advantage to the U.S. means that wars are VERY short. Once one side sees that it has no chance, they either surrender or run for the hills.

The war only took 20% of the book because it didn't take that long.

[Jolly Rodgers]

I never actually met a Clancy book I didn't like.

Rainbow Six was a dog.

[El Gato]

he is merely writing a prequel, that is what Patriot Games was, written after Hunt for Red October, but set prior to those events.

"Without Remorse" is also a prequel, and it only has Jack Ryan in a cameo role(I think, it's been a while since I read it), although his father is a principle character.

There should be lots of Mr. Clark stories yet to tell. Jack Ryan can wander into them occasionally. There is also the story of Jack Ryan, stock trader, to tell.

I do think he's run out of the stories that were "set up" in his very first book, "Hunt for Red October".

Oh and except for "Sum of All Fears", I like the way he writes, but then again, he writes like I think, and sometimes write. For the most part, people don't like the way I write (technical reports and such). But I have no pride of authorship, if they don't like it, they can change it. Just don't ask me to re-write it. :0

[El Gato]

Oops, italics off?

[El Gato]

Should have added: that's speaking as one who was hooked reading the excerpts from "Hunt for Red October" in the Naval Institute Proceedings. I believe that was even before the book came out, gosh how long ago was that?

[eeman]

Clancy's strength though is writing about military technical things. Overall the "Bear and the Dragon" was bad, but even how he describes tanks being off loaded in Siberia is kind of interesting.

I just wish he could come up with another "Red Storm Rising" or "Hunt for the Red October." Both have minimal or no character development and lots of action. He should not even attempt character development because he is not good at it. However, he is great at describing military technology and bringing it to life

[El Gato]

And that my favorite is the one book he wrote (with a co-author) that does not take place in the Jack Ryan world, namely, "Red Storm Rising". Might have had something to do with being an AF reservist at the time, a non flying technical intell type. Just so happens that one of the main characters is a non flying AF officer (weatherman), and another is a Naval reservist, intell type.