Tom Clancys Books - Essay Example

# 138134 No one titillates the book-reading world better than Tom Clancy and his never-ending string of publishing successes that stand out not only in terms of record-breaking frequency and amount of sales but also because he is considered the unlikeliest man to write them. For example, John Grisham is a certified hit-maker with his legal thrillers but this astonishes no one because he was once a top-notch lawyer. The same thing can be said about Michael Crichton, whose medical thrillers bristle with authenticity because the man used to be a full-fledged doctor. Tom Clancy is something else again. The flap jacket of Tom Clancy's first successful book, The Hunt for Red October, contains this anecdote: "He has had a private chat with President Reagan, and lunched with the White House staff. His maiden novel was a top seller at the Pentagon. Yet the author is neither a former intelligence nor a naval officer. Rather, Tom Clancy is an insurance broker from a small town in Maryland whose only previously published writing was a letter to the editor and a three-page article about the MX missile. He always wanted to write a suspense novel, and a newspaper article about a mutiny on a Soviet frigate gave him the initial idea for Red October. He did extensive research about Soviet-American naval strategies and submarine technology. Then in the time he could spare from his insurance business, Clancy sat down at his typewriter and wrote. The rest is history." This insurance man with very little writing experience invented the "techno-thriller" genre, a hybrid of military, spy, political and suspense thrillers which became part of popular American culture 20 years later (Greenberg, M., 1992). Clancy's suspense thrillers are political intrigues mixed with rich details of modern military technology, which are focused on the Cold War and take a grim view of the former Soviet Union. This struck a responsive chord among political conservatives. These novels are also distinguished by the intricacies of their plots, attention to detail, and technical accuracy in military and intelligence topics (Wikipedia). An amazing achievement for one who never had any training in intelligence or military affairs, which gives his popularity a dimension bigger than that of all the best-selling authors combined who are known to have some previous expertise in the fields they are writing on. As a result of the immense popularity of Clancy's books, he became the only author in history whose works have been "branded,' a new publishing phenomenon in which other authors publish books using his name to ensure brisk sales. These publishing ventures are called "Apostrophe Books" as in "Tom Clancy's Op-Center with Steve Pieczenik." (Britannica.com) Tom Clancy's initial attempt at novel writing, The Hunt for Red October, was modeled after authors he admired most. These include the British masters of suspense and spy thrillers - Frederick Forsyth, John le Carre, Alistair MacLean and Len Deighton. Martin Greenberg, who collaborated with Clancy on his Mirror Image series, recalls that Clancy worked on the novel from November 11, 1982 to February 23, 1983, or within a space of only three months. The novel concerns a prolonged sea chase involving high-tech submarines so he referred it to the Naval Press Institute, hoping to obtain the stamp of authenticity that he doubted from the start. As Clancy feared at the time, his knowledge of submarine technology and weaponry was found wanting in places by the Naval Press Institute. Thus, the manuscript was returned to him three weeks later, full of suggested rewrites. Clancy dutifully did the rewrites, learning from that experience as he did so. In November 1983, sometime after Clancy brought back the revised manuscript to the Naval Press Institute, the institute was impressed enough to make an offer to publish it on a $3,000 deal with the first-time author. The institute had never published a book before and it was a measly contract by industry standard, but Clancy accepted the deal, unsure how it would fare in the market. The most that Clancy expected, according to Greenberg, M. (1992), was for the book to sell "modestly." Red October surpassed all expectations, making Clancy only one of two authors in the history of book publishing to generate sales of 2 million copies on first printing (Wikipedia). The other author is John Grisham who, unlike the first-timer Clancy, achieved this feat when he was already at the height of his popularity (Wikipedia). Considered a turning point in the attraction of Red October to readers was the hearty endorsement given by the then popular President Reagan who after reading it called the book "the perfect yarn." This has had a dramatic impact and made Red October the most sought-after book in America (Greenberg, M., 1992). In the process, Clancy overshadowed the accomplishments of the British novelists he used to idolize. How top military officials in America have been bawled over by Clancy's works may be the highest form of recognition that could be given to a non-military expert writing about military matters. Shortly after Red October made a splash, Clancy was "adopted" by the military establishment, welcomed regularly aboard jets, submarines and destroyers. Red October and other books that came in quick succession have been made required reading at military colleges. Admirals and generals give him access to sensitive military facilities and Pentagon officials debrief him. (Fantastic Fiction). Since Red October, Clancy became the fastest selling writer with a string of international best-selling books to his name. At least four of these novels - Red October, Patriot Games, Sum of All Fears, and Clear and Present Danger - have been made into blockbuster firms (Maslin, J., 2002). Clear and Present Danger was published in 1989, the fifth since Red October, and sold 1,625,544 million copies on first printing. This was short of some 30,000 copies to match the record posted by the first Clancy novel, but it still made the record books as the biggest selling book of fiction in 1989. Sales of other books that came out almost from year to year, sometimes two in one year, never go below this figure, making Clancy the most prodigious novelist of all time, most of his works landing in the best-sellers' lists. Apart from Red October, the 1987 Patriot Games, and the 1989 Clear and Present Danger (1989), Clancy's other major works include Red Storm Rising (1986), The Cardinal of the Kremlin (1988), The Sum of All Fears (1991), Without Remorse (1993), Debt of Honor (1994), Executive Orders (1996), SSN (1996), Rainbow Six (1998), The Bear and the Dragon (2000), Red Rabbit (2002), and The Teeth of the Tiger (2003). In 1992, Clancy's talent was recognized when the Renseelaer Polytechnic Institute conferred on him an honorary doctorate in humane letters. Clancy appreciated this honor so much he referred to the name of the school in many of his major works (Wikipedia). Clancy went on to establish the world record for the highest amount of book deals signed with interested publishers (Wikipedia). In 1997, he signed a $50-million book deal with Pearson Custom Publishing and Penguin Putnam Inc. on rights to two new novels that the author had yet to write. This was followed by a $25-million, 4-year book contract with Berkley Books, which would be tied in with an ABC TV miniseries on "Tom Clancy's Net Force." Berkley Books later offered $22 million to serialize "Op-Center" which Clancy co-wrote with Jeff Rovin. All these made Clancy richer by $97 million in the period 1997-98 alone. (Answers) In The Bear and the Dragon, China experts found some lapses in Clancy's exploration of the workings of Chinese politics but critics forgave this flaw because it is believed common among outsiders writing about the enigmatic Chinese politicians (Cybercity). Other than this, practically all of Clancy's thrillers earned the respect of book reviewers as to their accuracy and excitement. Some of the favorable reviews of Red October follow: "Frighteningly genuine" - The Wall Street Journal. "Breathlessly exciting" - Washington Post. "A gripping narrative" - Time. "Clancy knows how to build a thriller." - Boston Globe. "No one can equal his talent." - Houston Chronicle. The San Francisco Chronicle, in its review of the second Clancy novel, Red Storm Rising, acknowledges that Clancy "seems to be always at his best." The same sentiment is expressed by the Dallas Morning News on Patriot Games: "Clancy at his best not to be missed." Every time Clancy comes out with a new novel, the reviewers would judge it to be the "best." The Atlanta Journal, for example, declares when The Sum of All Fears hit the bookstores: "Undoubtedly Clancy's best yet." Clancy's non-fiction works have elicited equally favorable reviews. So far, he has come up with eleven non-fiction books on a variety of military subjects, which include 1) Submarine: A Guided Tour Inside a Nuclear Warship, 2) Armored Cav: A Guided Tour of an Armored Cavalry Regiment, 3) Fighter Wing: A Guided Tour of an Air Force Combat Wing, 4) Marine: A Guided Tour of a Marine Expeditionary Unit, and 5) Airborne: A Guided Tour of an Airborne Task Force. With Fighter Wing, Clancy showed that he is "the best there is," says a book review in the San Francisco Chronicle. "No one can equal his talent," enthuses the Houston Chronicle on Clancy's handling of Marine. Referring to the authenticity of these books, the Kirkus Review says Submarine "takes readers deeper than they've ever gone inside a nuclear submarine," while Clancy's writing of Fighter Wing "is so strong that readers feel they are there (Boston Sunday Herald)." The other non-fiction works are Into the Storm, Carrier, Every Man a Tiger, Special Forces and Battle Ready. Greenberg says the key to the success of Clancy's books is their "bold anti-communist message, unique philosophical approach, and singular fusion of different genres." They make people feel good about the government and military, which were often at the receiving end of hostilities because of such perceived misadventures as Vietnam and later Iraq. Techno-thriller, the new hybrid genre Clancy invented, also blended the technological flavor of science fiction into the old-fashioned values of honor, heroism, service and self-sacrifice. In effect, Clancy's books educate while they entertain (Greenberg, M., 1992). The other attractions of Clancy's books are the insights they provide not only on state-of-the-art military and cutting-edge weaponry, but also on the commodities market, epidemiology, the Forest Service, Coast Guard, meteorology, stock market machinations, Japanese culture (Greenberg, M., 1992). As a bonus, they give an insider's look at the public and private lives in corridors of power like Washington, the pre- and post-Communist Moscow, London, Ireland, Afghanistan, and the Middle East. Moreover, Clancy echoes the "values and beliefs of millions whose voices have been silenced by the air of gloom and doom that dominated popular culture and permeated domestic politics following the Vietnam tragedy, Watergate scandal, and the Iranian hostage crisis," among others (Greenberg, M., 19920. Clancy has become a literary factory churning out support-the-military thrillers and standing foursquare for God and country (O'Connor, J., 1995). He entertains by taking a dig at erring personalities - a womanizing American president, a treacherous press corps, another president sleeping with his national security adviser, sex in the power centers of Washington, and military one-upmanship. Many of Clancy's books also serve as travel brochures, taking readers on familiarization tours of places like Moscow, London, Rome, Berlin, Athens, Tokyo, Jerusalem, Riyadh, Syria (Goodman, W., 1991). There are many best-selling authors as popular and well admired as Clancy among fellow writers but no one carries as much influence. The "Apostrophe Books" are thrillers written by other authors who believe that Clancy's name give their works an assurance of success. Thus, the Op-Center series is written by either Steve Pieczenik or Jeff Rovin and titled "Tom Clancy's Op-Center." Among the other writers influenced this way by Clancy are Martin Greenberg, Steve Perry, Larry Segriff, Jerome Preisler, Diane Duane, Bill McCay, Mel Odom and Larry Bond (Wikipedia). The books make it appear that Clancy co-wrote them but Clancy himself has admitted that he only lends his name to the enterprise and at least helps in overseeing their production (Jones, D., 1995). To carry on the Clancy tradition, Jerome Preisler wrote Cold War, Cutting Edge and Wild Card. Greenberg did Politika, Ruthless, Shadow Watch and Bio-Strike. Rovin made Sea of Fire, Line of Control, Mission of Honor, and collaborated with Pieczenik on Mirror Image, Balance of Power, Divide and Conquer, Call to Treason, War of Eagles and State of Siege. All these books are best sellers in themselves, proving that Clancy's name works its magic on any book project. The popularity of Clancy's works engendered a branded line of books that include Op-Center, Power Plays, Net Force, Net Force Explorers and Splinter Cell. This makes Clancy the only novelist engaged in branding, which consists of books written by other authors hewing to the Clancy tradition. The computer and video games spawned by the above novels have been extremely successful, spinning off sequels and expansions. These include the computer games based on Politika, Ruthless, Red Storm and Shadow Watch. The separate video games are based on the novels Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, Splinter Cell, The Sum of All fears, SSN and Shadow Watch. Part of the publishing activities engendered by Clancy was a line of books targeted for young adults. This consists of seven books so far begun in 1999, six in 2000, three in 2001 and two in 2003. Among their titles are Virtual Vandals, The Deadliest Game, One is the Loneliest Number, The Ultimate Escape, Cyberspy, Safe House, Gameprey, Deathworld, High Wire, Runaways and Cloak and Dagger. The production of paperbacks for the youth and teenage markets is a 50-50 partnership agreement between Clancy's Big Entertainment Inc. and Netco Partners (Jones, D., 1995). Politika, the first major Java-based political computer game, was developed by Red Storm Entertainment, which was founded by Clancy and Virtus Corp., the leader in 3-D multimedia authoring tools in 1996. It is unique for its relevance to current geopolitical events and features videos of breaking news reports and interviews with Clancy. The Politika computer game is played this way: You're in Russia. Yeltsin has just died suddenly with no obvious successor, thus leaving a power vacuum. You choose from any of the military, mafia, the Russian Orthodox Church, KGB, nationalist, reformer and separatist faction to command in the goal to take state control. You can use cunning, negotiation, diplomacy, or backstabbing to get what you want. You can collaborate with other game players in a conversational mode, which raises collaborative game playing to a new level. The software technology, called InVerse, allows players with different forms of hardware and software to play together over the Internet (Amazon). Clancy's humility and unassuming airs add to his popularity. Despite his consistent success, he does not believe he's the best and is always generous with his praise for other accomplished writers (Fantasticfiction). For example, he called Jack Higgins "the master" for the latter's Storm Warning. Stephen Hunter is "brilliant" for his The Spanish Gambit while Harold Coyle is "the best natural storyteller I know" for his God's Children. W.E.B. Griffin of Under Fire is "a storyteller in the grand tradition, probably the best man around for describing the military community (Wikipedia)." Griffin of course writes in the same genre in which Clancy is considered the best. Other authors that earned Clancy's fulsome praise include Joe Weber, Steven Barnes, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. In the view of Greenberg, M. (1991), Clancy owes much of his success to his diligence in researching his materials that makes him adept at technical aspects of the military, especially about weaponry (Goodman, W., 1991). In addition, Clancy brings the message of hope, which strikes a responsive chord among despairing people everywhere (Greenberg, M., 1992). Clancy's books are also contemporary hard-hitting novels about terrorism, which many people want to combat (Amazon). Tom Clancy stands head and shoulder above the novelists of the 20th century for being perhaps the only self-made writer who pioneered an entirely new thriller genre, produced a prodigious amount of it, made military and weaponry experts swoon at the accuracy and authenticity of the works, and turned almost all of them into best-sellers. Most important, he connects with readers because his books both educate and entertain, and he gives hope to people and a voice to their yearning for peace and an end to terrorism. His popularity reached such an apex that his books generated the new publishing phenomenon called "branding," in which authors adopt his style and use his reputation for a share of his captive market, and niche publishing for the youth market. These could be the only works of fiction that spawned computer and video games. Yet he never let success get into his head, which adds to his personal appeal. Bibliography: Clancy, T. (1984). Jacket flap in "Hunt for Red October." A Berkley Book, by arrangement with Naval Press Institute. Goodman, W. (1991). "The CIA and Intrigue in Tom Clancy's Novel Lithium Deuteride." New York Times, Aug. 15, 1991. Greenberg, M. (1992). "Tom Clancy." Penguin Books; Berkley Publishing Group Inc. O'Connor, J. (1995). "Tom Clancy's New Bad Guys and Good Ones." New York Times, February 24, 1995. Maslin, J. (2002). 'Books of the Times: Swipes about Hollywood and other Media Types." New York Times, Aug. 15, 2002. Webliography: Amazon. www.amazon.com/paralysis Answers. http://www.answers.com/topic/tom-clancy Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica.com Cybercity. http://users.cybercity.dk/buu2619/bio.html Fantastic Fiction (2006). webmaster@fantasticfiction.co.uk Wikipedia. The free encyclopedia. Read More