Customer Reviews

Kilo Class

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

Very disappointing. I had to force myself to finish it. First, just skip the first 300 pages that should have been 25-50 pages. As an example of his abuse of words, it took Mr. Robinson 3 pages to explain the inevitable fact that 2 guys in a motorboat eventually discovered dead bodies in a tight, shallow river. Second, within the final 300 pages, every pivotal technical aspect that supported the plot was wrong. This was excusable in Nimitz Class because the plot still held (some) water despite Mr. Robinson's technical mistakes.

However, the crucial plot drivers, even as referenced through unclassified sources, are inaccurate in Kilo Class. Without giving the answers that ruin the imaginative but weak plot, I will instead ask the questions that undo the plot's foundation (beyond p300) for the benefit of future readers.

What happens if a submarine shoots a Russian Typhoon submarine with a torpedo? World War III because of a nuclear holocaust released by the detonation like Mr. Robinson harps upon or the underwater dispersion of fissile material in a trivial amount, especially compared to that released during Chernobyl? Next, what is the frantic hurry to risk an American submarine in order to sink a Kilo class submarine today so that you don't have to risk an American submarine to sink it later? Agreed, Mr. Robinson makes a good argument for sinking Kilos in transit when they are unguarded or otherwise helpless, but when it comes down to sinking one when alerted and escorted, one could argue that it may be just as easy for America to let China get the damn thing, study its patrol patterns, and then take it out under better circumstances. Finally, stopping with a last question for the sake of argument length, how long has wire guidance in a torpedo given a submarine commander the option to select targets with acoustic data from the torpedo? At least since the Falkland/Malvinas war, probably since before many readers were born. I suspect that many readers will cast aside Kilo Class before discovering why this, one of many technical faults in the story, invalidates the plot.

Now that I have battered Mr. Robinson's work, let me at least commend his writing skill and effort. He has attempted to underline the global importance of submarine warfare and to portray (at least American) submarine officers as heroes. Additionally, his writing style is rather fluid and his imagination is strong, despite the problems hinted at above.

Granted, this novel is well researched in regards to the techinical aspects of US and Russian Submarines. What makes me upset is the utter lack of depth and knowledge in the characters, particularly the Chinese. The author continually has the Chinese referring to "honor" such as "It would do me no honor to remind you..." etc... To my knowledge, the Chinese do not have as high a concept of honor as the author might think, and it is certainly not used every other sentence in conversation. Such stereotypical association leads me to believe that the author is writing some sort of cheap sci-fi novel with extremely archaic Japanese characters.

In Kilo Class, Patrick Robinson did some good writing. I enjoyed reading the book during the escapades of Hurricane Floyd and it kept my on the edge on my seat. He did have some technical flaws in the book suck as a Super Cobra being used as a transport helicopter. Also, I'm not one to believe that a Tiawanese naval vessal would kill more than half the people onboard a research base just for showing up at an island. It makes for a good plotline, but it's not quite believeable. Also, the ending could have been MUCH better than leaving off where it did. He ended the story way to quickly and I, plainly put, was not satisfied with the way the book ended compared to how Robinson built up the book. It was, however, a nice book to read and I enjoy his style of writing in this book. I plan to read Nimitz Class soon and hope that it can get up there with this book and have a hopefully better ending. But one last thing. I greatly enjoyed the antics of NSA Admiral Morgan. He was a riot and a good comic relief in the book in my opinion. Poor ol' Charlie...

This book is just as bad as Nimitz Class, the author's previous. Pages and pages of boring dialogue full of foul and obscene language - seemingly a Brit's weird attempt of writing "typical American". If even I discover so many "facts" to be wrong, there must be many more errors. For example, a "Super Cobra" helicopter will NEVER have 16 seats - it's an attack helo! SEALs are not at all trained to be actors and make-up artists. The list goes on... Don't even get me started on the plot and it's believability. This is bad writing!

This book contains the essence of an interesting plot line. It has a lot of potential.

However, Mr Robinsons complete lack of understanding of how the American military is organized and operated makes this work an insult to any person who serves their country in uniform. He has delusional fantasies about how the chain of command works and what the rules of engagement are.

His portrayal of the Chinese in this book is nothing short of ignorant racism in its worst form.

His portrayal of the noble Russian people is not quite as bad but is still insulting.

Learn how to use a oompass and a GPS. You did not even get reciprocal course bearings right.

It is not that hard.

A better review of this book can be found in a recent issue of the Proceedings of the US Naval Institute where a US Navy admiral skewers "Kilo-class" for its faulty premises, technical inaccuracies and sheer absurdity.

The blurb on the book says "Patrick Robinson is quickly replacing Tom Clancy as the preeminent writer of modern naval fiction", this brings to mind a quote from one of the characters in this book: "that's like claiming to be the tallest midget in the world"

Seriously, leaving aside robinson's clumsy attempts at dialogue and characterization, the plot in this book is so bizarre and outlandish that "Kilo class" probably deserves to be put in the Fantasy/Science Fiction genre (it might get better reviews too). As it stands, i can't see this book appealing to any but the most geo-politically naive of readers.

To be fair, the question proposed in the book is a valid one, (if we discount the existing fleet of 70+ elderly submarines in the chinese navy), "What if the chinese obtained enough numbers of advanced, stealthy submarines to (presumably) be able to blockade the Taiwan strait?". The answer proposed in this book is to basically declare an unprovoked war on two of the most powerful (nuclear-armed) nations on earth, supposedly for the sake of american interests in Taiwan.

The US admirals in this book take risks bordering on sheer insanity (or stupidity) for the most nebulous of gains. However, this being a book set in a fantasy world, negative consequences never happen to the heroes in the book. US Navy SEALS roam the russian countryside with impunity, A *single* US submarine dashes around the globe sinking submarines without provocation and under the noses of both the russian and chinese navies, and all this without starting World War 3 or even CNN getting wind of the fact.

The USA in this book perpetrates acts which are more reminiscent of Saddam Hussein (e.g., terrorism, the outright murder of civilians) than the leader of the Free World

After having to endure an endless tirade of obscenities in which US admirals refer to the chinese as "Chinamen" and even worse, the book finishes with an epilog by retired-RN Admiral "Sandy" giving his seal of approval. Perhaps british navy admirals should spend more of their time time learning to do their jobs than advertising for techno-trash, then maybe the british wouldn't have lost 4 front-line warships to a third-world navy in the Falklands war.

In a few years, all this will become moot anyway, the chinese navy is in fact taking delivery of their fourth Kilo-class early this year with more Kilos possibly on order and more indigenous subs being built. This being the real world, no-one expects the ordered Kilo-class to "disappear" enroute.

This book is erratically plotted, badly characterized, and poorly written. It is several classes below (or behind) the work of Tom Clancy, Larry Bond, Dale Brown, or Payne Harrison, to name just a few. Robinson seems to have most of the pieces of a decent technothriller, but neither the assembly manual nor the full parts list-nor the right tools to put it together.

Bad pacing and a lack of proportion bedevil the plot, which lurches and bumbles and lunges, making lots of noise and precious little sense until stumbling exhausted into a thoroughly unsatisfying ending. Background information is conveyed clumsily if not after the fact, pulled like rabbits out of the author's hat to justify plot turns. Minor episodes are dwelt upon to exhaustion while critical points are tossed off in a paragraph or two. Threads are picked up and then dropped for hundreds of pages. In this "meticulously researched" book are errors of fact that a reasonably bright high-school student would spot. H. M. Admiral Sandy Woodward (whose Falkland Wars memoirs were co-authored by Robinson) weighs in with an afterword to explain just why the book's central concept (if not the development of it) might not be implausible-a task that should have been performed, and is clearly flubbed, by the text itself.

There is no characterization in "Kilo Class", only the inert minutiae of personnel folders, the contents of each dumped out endlessly on one mindnumbing page after another when a new figure comes on stage. These characters evolve or emerge or develop not at all, neither in words nor in actions--they act and sound alike, American superheroes and Chinese or Russian baddies.

The prose occasionally rises to banality; the sporadic attempt at lyricism would embarrass a college sophomore. Dialogue in particular is hamfisted: the assembled Captains America, for all their brilliance and advanced degrees, speak like third-grade dropouts, and feeble attempts to make the foreigners sound foreign make them sound merely badly translated into a pidgin of the same dialect.

A prospective reader who's innocent (as I was) of the author's earlier "Nimitz Class" might want to consult its amazon.com reviews before taking this one on. Many of the negative comments there could be transshipped nearly intact to "Kilo Class"-and it is highly unlikely most of those (in my view) perceptive readers would bother to read, much less review, this novel. Once burned, twice shy.

Meticulously researched!!! There is almost nothing in this book that appears to have had any research since I know that anything I would know about is wrong in this book. It amazes me that anyone can rate this book at more than 1 star: there is no detail on submarine operations (could be in an office building for all the detail), the characters are flat, there is almost no suspense (predictable: the Americans will be successful), and the Americans are portrayed as unprofessional, murderous thugs (megalomaniacs risking WW III); as bad as books have portrayed the Nazis and terrorists. Finally the Russian would have to have the collective IQ of Forest Gump not to be able to figure out that there was something strange about Americans on their tour ships, and not be able to provide an excellent case that the Americans were responsible for criminal activities.

The hypothesis of the book, which is Americans to risk a nuclear attack submarine and WWIII to sink a few updated 1980's design Russian submarines (designed for export) is preposterous:

1) The Chinese could easily block the Taiwan Strait with either their air force or surface navy since it is off the coast of China.
2) The Americans would not even consider bringing American carriers anywhere close to the Taiwan Strait in wartime since an American carrier has such stand-off range that one could stand safely hundreds of miles off the coast and still provide air cover over all of Taiwan.
3) American surface antisubmarine forces could easily defend carriers in blue water, making any attempt to attack the much faster carriers suicidal, not to mention the 100 nuclear attack submarines that can provide additional screening.
4) The antagonism the Americans would incite would almost eliminate any support by the Chinese and Russians in the UN and world affairs in general.
5) The Chinese currently have 10 Kilo submarines, which has caused little uproar.
6) Iran is supposed to have several Kilos, which would be of much more concern to the US due to the strategic nature of the shallow gulf.
7) The Russians are much more of the threat with advanced submarines since they could use them to much more effectively to close off not only parts of the Pacific coast, but the European coast.
8) If a single American submarine, Colombia, could so easily detect and kill the Kilos (even under heavy escort), as this book portrays, how a few can be much of threat to the powerful US Navy.

Then there so many blatant errors in the book it is almost phenomenal:

1) The loss of a research ship in suspicious circumstances would have caused the Navy to do a thorough search, not just send a single ship, due to public outcry. Not to mention satellite surveillance.
2) Why "liquid crystal sails." Was he thinking carbon fiber?
3) A conventional submarine would make a long distance cruise snorkeling. They can cruise much faster snorkeling (over 10 knots) than underwater (6 knots). Also they would still require significant time snorkeling for the long process of to recharge batteries.
4) It the Kilos where being escorted, they would be close to the surface, not 200 feet underwater: they could be better defended, they are new which implies they will have teething problems, and they can travel faster.
5) A 4' or 6' hole in a Kilo would not sink it immediately since it has many water-tight bulkheads that would remain closed except for movement while dived, especially at depth.
6) US and Soviet nuclear submarines are constantly operating under the polar cap (here they are safe from surface attack). What was wreaklessly dangerous was moving through the unmapped fiords with a such a massive ship (33 ft draft (surfaced), and the displacement of a WWII light cruiser).
7) It was criminal to risk an important mission by coming up in the ice of the Artic to report status, and more irresponsible for the captain to risk the boat when the ice became dangerous. A loss of a nuclear submarine would have been far worse than losing that chance to kill the Kilos, which could be killed later.
8) There is an ELF system (Seafarer) used to communicate with submarines underwater. Thus an American submarine does not need to surface to receive transmissions, and in a covert mission would only surface if absolutely required.
9) A submarine sticking anything out of the water close to naval ships would be giving itself immediately away anywhere close to enemy naval surface ships (true since WWII). Interesting that at one point the Columbia is detected at periscope depth a distance from the Kilo escorts, but later is able to initiate an attack by periscope.
10) It is unlikely the US would ever dedicate a nuclear submarine to black ops, especially since submarine crews consist of the cream of the US Navy. Also the US would keep attack submarines stationed off the Russian Pacific coast to keep watch on SSBN activity, so silly to use the Columbia when there are submarines in position.
11) If the Russians were truly concerned about protecting against an American submarine, they would include at least a couple of attack submarines with the force, which are the best defense against American submarines.
12) The US would never consider using use special forces (SEALS included) for an undercover mission; they are trained for covert missions.
13) Three men in superb condition on a tour boat full of American tourists would stick out, especially considering that most of the American tourists on these tours would be older. More sensible to send in ordinary looking couples.
14) Any mission such as the one to get and hide the canisters in a short period of time would have been prepared for by simulating the mission. More likely, undercover agents would have been positioned in the area, and provided with significant amount of time to retrieve the items, and then be there to assist the team sent in to destroy the barges.
15) The large barges would have sunk straight down into mud just below their hulls, not turn over, especially since these oversize barges would hit bottom before being close to capsizing (no reason on dredging a canal deeper than it has to be). In addition, they would have little freeboard. Also, submarines are extremely tough to withstand tons of water pressure. Assuming they did roll off the barges (unlikely), there would have been almost no damage to the hulls; thus easy to repair. More likely the barges would suffer additional damage.
16) There is no way four SEALs in the peak of condition could ever pass for cripples, let alone geriatrics since they would have way too much muscle mass; Academy awards are given for good makeup that will pass for old on the screen, and this is with hours of work.
17) It would have made a lot more sense (and be safer) to airdrop a SEAL team to set up hydrophones in the fiords, and to scout the island.
18) Why would an Australian ever dream of flying in an American skipper he does not personally know to just transport a boat from South Africa to Australia; Australia has long tradition of sailing.
19) Why is it different sinking a surface ship. It is still cold blooded, premeditated murder. If nobody knows, what difference does it make? If the US can destroy Kilos deep inside of Russia, and under close escort, why not also go after the active duty Kilo; this would have been much easier. Further, why not destroy the whole Russian and Chinese fleets since the US seems to be able to destroy a few Kilos with Russia and China knowing the culprit and they are unable to do anything about it.
20) The operation the US executed in Russia required involvement of an awful lot of people, to fill places on the tour ships, and to provide a route for the SEALs out of Russia. Any organization that figured it could succeed in such an operation operates with dangerous optimism.
21) The Chinese would have been dumb to send a brand new submarine on a long mission since this is asking for a submarine disaster (new boat, new crew).
22) SAM missiles are Surface to Air missiles, not Surface to Surface. The Chinese boats are not equipped with SAM's, and their power would be limited since they are only intended to shot down fragile aircraft.
23) How come all the American researchers survived the attack on the Chinese base, but apparently none of the Chinese did??

There are also a multitude of other issues with the book. So much for expecting a well researched book from a British Isles author. Maybe he publishes in the US about the US because he could not sell this crude to British publishers.

I disagree with the Florida-Times Union. The book is NOT "superb," and Tom Clancy is far and away a better story teller. Unless you are a devout submarine buff, any Clancy book is better than this one.

There are three sequences that may genuinely hold your interest in this story - the mysterious destruction of a science research vessel in Antartica, and a Navy Seal Team assault on some subs in transit. The third likeable scenario is the US sub's hunting of a couple Kilo subs, but you have to wade through 350+ pages to get to it.

The characters in this story are cliche and shallow, and the basic premise is not credible. The US risks nuclear war to destroy a few diesel submarines purchased by China? Yeah, RIGHT! We've already let Iran procure a few such subs (in real life). This book is a disappointing treatment of a supposedly "realistic" scenario.

Kilo Class should have been a fun read but was bogged down by black-and-white characters, ludicrous 'coincidences,' and dialog reminiscent of the bad-guy-who-gives-away-the-entire-plot-to-the-good-guy-just-before-he-escapes.

The book was set up very well -- a truly believeable threat to the good old USA. But it quickly lost all of its realism to the point where I didn't care who 'won.'

*sigh* Off to find another author. I don't think I could sit through another one of these.