The Hunt for Red October

The Hunt for Red October, Tom Clancy's first novel, appeared in 1984. The story follows the intertwined adventures of Soviet submarine captain Marko Ramius, and a CIA analyst named Jack Ryan.

Related Topics:
Tom Clancy - 1984 - Soviet - Submarine - CIA - Jack Ryan

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The novel is sometimes referred to as the first real example of the techno-thriller, a hybrid between the spy thriller and science fiction in which attention to technical and operational detail about military and intelligence activities is paramount. Another work in this category, which clearly derives from The Hunt for Red October some of its inspiration for the technicality of its anti-submarine warfare scenes, is Ninth Day of Creation.

Related Topics:
Techno-thriller - Ninth Day of Creation

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The Hunt for Red October was inspired by a real incident. On November 8, 1975, the Soviet Navy frigate Storozhevoy mutinied, which at the time the West believed was an attempt to defect from Latvia to the Swedish island of Gotland. The mutiny was led by the ship's political officer, Captain Valery Sablin. The mutiny was unsuccessful; Sablin was captured, court-martialed and executed. The novel was originally published by the U.S. Naval Institute Press—the first work of fiction they ever published, and still the most successful.

Related Topics:
November 8 - 1975 - Soviet Navy - Frigate - ''Storozhevoy'' - Latvia - Swedish - Gotland - Political officer - Valery Sablin - U.S. Naval Institute

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Many of the characters in the novel appear throughout Clancy's subsequent works, particularly Ryan, who is the central character of many of Clancy's novels.

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The novel was made into a commercially-successful movie in 1990, starring Sean Connery as Ramius and Alec Baldwin as Ryan, and featuring James Earl Jones, Scott Glenn, Sam Neill, Richard Jordan, Joss Ackland, Peter Firth, Courtney B. Vance, Tim Curry, and Stellan Skarsgård.

Related Topics:
1990 - Sean Connery - Alec Baldwin - James Earl Jones - Scott Glenn - Sam Neill - Richard Jordan - Joss Ackland - Peter Firth - Courtney B. Vance - Tim Curry - Stellan Skarsgård

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The novel also served as the basis for a computer game, as well as a board game.

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It should be noted that the movie's "revolutionary" magnetohydrodynamic drive that acts as the main driver of the plot did not exist. In fact, both superpowers experimented with MHD propulsion but neither ever used it for a warship's engines. In the book the Red October uses a normal propeller system or a propeller placed within a tube for quiet operation.

Related Topics:
Magnetohydrodynamic drive - Superpowers

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