If fiction writers depended on folks like me for their market, we would have no fiction writers.  I read a lot, a whole lot, but I normally have bookmarks on three to five books on history, politics, biographies or technical stuff.

Thirty, forty years ago, I read just about all the paperback science fiction I could get my hands on. That and every Zane Gray and similar western, but for most of my adult life I've acted more like I didn't have time for the trivialities of fiction.

Except for Mr. Tom Clancy.  My pattern, as happened recently, when "The Bear and the Dragon" appeared, is to buy a Clancy novel on the day it appears, or days earlier if a book store gets a jump on release date.  And no Clancy novel in the past five or six has made it to the weekend unfinished.

I'm starting this Clancy site  modestly, but the list of sites on the left should tell you I do not manage my expecations well when it comes to hobbies.  So much storage capacity, so little time.

Only three of the major books have been made into movies.  Here are the IMDB (International Movie Data Base) links to those flicks.  Yes, I know there is the Op Center thing.  See below.

"The Hunt for Red October" came out in 1990 with Alec Baldwin as Jack Ryan.  Sean Connery played Captain Marko Ramius and did a great job, even though in real life, sub sailors, even Captains, tend to be somewhat younger than Connery.

Harrison Ford took over the Jack Ryan role in Patriot Games in 1992.  I did not like the casting change.  I seem to remember that Baldwin had a conflict.  The Jack Ryan of the novels is very much an intellectual.  The character in the book seems to take to the action hero stuff very reluctantly, though successfully.  A bit of charm comes through in the Ryan character as Clancy writes it.  That is lost with Indians Jones in the part.  But I'm getting used to it.

Clear and Present Danger was a 1994 release.  Your reaction to that news will be either, "Has it been THAT long, already", or "It seems like forever, why hasn't there been another one since", depending on your age and patience.  IMDB does have a listing for "The Sum of All Fears" with a 2001 predicted release date. 

All right!

OP CENTER

I've read some of these, five or six, and I've not researched the full background on them.  The titls is suspicions, things like "Tom Clancy's Op-Center, Acts of War" or whatever.  "Created by Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik."  They are all quick-reads.  Tough to stretch them into a third evening.  I just have a picture of Tom meeting Steve in a bar one night and sketching out a list of eight or ten characters on one napkin and the skeleton of two or three plots on another one.  They parted and Steve's publisher sends a percentage to Clancy every now and then.

Of course, they could be spending weeks and weeks over two adjacent hot keyboards in close collaboration on these works.  Suppose?  Actually, NOT.

A couple of these have even been made into TV movies - and Clancy's name appeared with them.  Wonder what the ratings would have been without his name?  Do you think any TV producer would have even heard of the books unless...

NON FICTION

Clancy's step into non fiction may turn out to be his best work of all.  His work appears to be well researched and of course, it's well written.  I've not read all of these.  When I do, I'll have to add a page or two.
 

The Books

The Jacket Cover Photos

The Ryan Chronology

Links