Great, thanks so much!
Great Tom Clancy stuff. I really enjoyed this book even though I could barely lift it up: over 700 pages in this hardcover book. All your favorites are back including the son of Jack Ryan and there are flashbacks involving both Jack Ryan Senior and Jack Ryan Junior. Really neat stuff and very enjoyable.
The hallmarks of a Jack Ryan novel are: international political intrigue, war or the threat of war, spycraft, weapons and tactics. This book has all of that and more.
In some ways this is 2 stories in one. Entire chapters of this book are given over to following a young Jack Ryan, Sr. through an assignment 30 years prior to the 'Present Day' story. There are parallel threads between the 2 stories that take you back to and through past events instead of depending on the present day story to fill in the gaps. This works well for the sharing of action between the 2 Jack Ryan's.
Command Authority was written prior to Tom Clancy's death in October 2013, but released that December. The were more books in the pipeline including one yet to be released in June 2016, but this is the last book where Clancy was involved in the entire process. Writing credits are shared with Mark Greaney who is listed as the author on many of the following Tom Clancy novels.
The placement of this book in the historical context of the Ryan novels is as follows:
Jack Ryan, Sr. - 2nd Term President of USA
Jack Ryan, Jr. - Post Hendley Assoc., Financial Analyst working in London
Hendley Associates - Currently in limbo seeking new facilities following the attack on the firm by the Chinese in the previous novel
World Events: Russian President (pretend Putin) invades Ukraine Crimean Peninsula
My conclusion is that this novel rings true to current world events; more so than the previous novel in the series. The story has moved outside the formulaic confines of Hendley Associates and the restraints of a sitting US President, which allows the story more latitude and is more interesting. The dual storyline works in the context it is presented and slowly draws you in to the parallel story.
You will enjoy this novel more than many of the previous Jack Ryan and Jack, Jr. tales.
In some ways this is 2 stories in one. Entire chapters of this book are given over to following a young Jack Ryan, Sr. through an assignment 30 years prior to the 'Present Day' story. There are parallel threads between the 2 stories that take you back to and through past events instead of depending on the present day story to fill in the gaps. This works well for the sharing of action between the 2 Jack Ryan's.
Command Authority was written prior to Tom Clancy's death in October 2013, but released that December. The were more books in the pipeline including one yet to be released in June 2016, but this is the last book where Clancy was involved in the entire process. Writing credits are shared with Mark Greaney who is listed as the author on many of the following Tom Clancy novels.
The placement of this book in the historical context of the Ryan novels is as follows:
Jack Ryan, Sr. - 2nd Term President of USA
Jack Ryan, Jr. - Post Hendley Assoc., Financial Analyst working in London
Hendley Associates - Currently in limbo seeking new facilities following the attack on the firm by the Chinese in the previous novel
World Events: Russian President (pretend Putin) invades Ukraine Crimean Peninsula
My conclusion is that this novel rings true to current world events; more so than the previous novel in the series. The story has moved outside the formulaic confines of Hendley Associates and the restraints of a sitting US President, which allows the story more latitude and is more interesting. The dual storyline works in the context it is presented and slowly draws you in to the parallel story.
You will enjoy this novel more than many of the previous Jack Ryan and Jack, Jr. tales.
A great Clancy book. Has both Jack and Jack Jr. Doing the things that the Ryans do.
