Re: Clancy
As a kid, teen, and young buck I used to really, really like his original books - the ones that started with The Hunt For Red October, then (outside of the Clancy universe) Red Storm Rising, then Patriot Games, etc. Still have 'em all, up to about The Bear and The Dragon, or thereabouts.
At about that point, something went weird. I dunno if he got tired of doing them, or had a spat with his publisher, or what. I even heard it was divorce-related. But about then it seemed like he started mailing it it. As in, you'd be reading something and were suddenly struck with "didn't I just read this 100 pages ago?". It was like he didn't clear his "snippet file" as he went through the outline, or like NOBODY edited it. So I lost interest hard. Never did read the paperback stuff.
That was about the time he started making a frikken fortune on the video games. It seemed as though his books simply became a vehicle to promote the related video games. It seems as though his newer books are targeting a semi-literate audience.
