Customer Reviews

The Silent Service: Virginia Class

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I've read the whole series, and Virginia Class was a terrific book. I can't understand the two previous reviews of one star. One of them gave it a "one" because he didn't like it that Al-Queda was the terrorist group they were fighting. (Would it have been believable if they had been Norwegians?) The other reviewer gave it a 1 because he found it less than perfect in technical details. Assuming that the reviewer was correct and the author wrong, I still can't see why that is so important to someone, since it's a novel and not a technical manual.

This was a novel that took the series into present times with a Virginia Class submarine. The plot was believable and well executed, with the U.S. contending with the Chinese and Al-Qaeda who have joined together. The characterization was excellent as it is in all Riker's books. I enjoyed it very much and look forward to the next book in this series (I hope!).

Just now I am into submarine yarns, and author H. Jay Riker seems to be a pretty good writer of this genre. This is the story of a submarine skipper conducting an anti-terrorism mission in the Western Pacific. More would be telling, but this is not a bad story, and the author's discussion of the merits of various types of submarines, and their various strengths and weaknesses, is quite interesting. It is definitely not just technobabble.

On the minus side, the author's characterizations are paper-thin, and none of the personalities in the novel are at all memorable. This is a story about submarines and war, not men. There was a pretty good opportunity here for a subplot involving the personal life of the Captain, but the author just did not appear to be interested in going there, and the novel does not go there. This was too bad.

A good sea story and I will try more of Mr. Riker's stories on my Kindle.

I wish I had started with the Grayback Class and onward. Submarine warfare and the Seals always make for a quick read. It's nice to read submarine novels that are closer to the events that have taken place in the last 11 years. I think there is a tendency when reading submarine novels that in most cases, the story line is always going to keep you on your toes. The book is action packed, and meticulous about the rank and structure of those serving in the military. Plus I love the illustrations for the Silent Service series.

After reading and enjoying Los Angeles Class I was really looking forward to this book. The plot was reminiscent of many of the excellent books by Patrick Robinson; a terrorist sub terrorizes the seas. The first part of the book was slow and tedious at times with way to much attention to meaningless detail, but with the potential for some action I kept reading. I was very interested in the new Virginia class submarine, and enjoyed the detail put into it. Some of the characters showed some promise. However, after reading the first action scene featuring the Virginia, which far exceeded the limits to believability before I was half way through it, I put the book down and started reading something else. Hopefully the book got better, but I wouldn't bet on it.

The story is OK, but this book is riddled with technical errors. A few examples: Submarine dolphins worn by enlisted personnel are silver, not gold which are worn only by officers. The captain of the boat (not ship) would not address an enlisted man as "Mr."; that mode of address is reserved for a senior officer to a junior officer. A yeoman would not be making notations on a navigation chart, as depicted in this book; that is done by quartermasters. A Tomahawk missile was said to be traveling at 550 mph, or Mach 7; since the speed of sound at sea level is approximately 761 mph (Mach 1), there is something wrong here. And the list goes on and on to point of distracting this reader from the story. The author should have had better technical input and proofreading.

Whilst I normally try to stick with the WW2/cold war era naval stories, a friend of mine suggested I read one in the series of H Jay. Riker. My friend, who served on board a submarine for 20 years and later as military advisor (and stand in) on the movie Hunt For Red October, thought that I might enjoy Riker.

He was partly right.

Riker has written many books, mainly naval SEAL and submarine orientated, and I selected one of his later issues, about the Virginia Class submairne. The story line is set mid 2006 in the post WTC era. A Chinese submarine has been staffed by Pakistanie Al Queda nationals who engage several civilian targets around the Spratley Islands. Lt Garrett and the newest submarine the Virginia, are rerouted to pick up a Navy Seal team and investigate. During the underwater passage, two Kilo class submarines are in the water at the same time, one the Al Queada sub, the other Chinese. A battle ensues and well...the good guys ride off into the sunset and Garrett gets himself another woman.

On the shelves at any good store, titles are filled with Al Queda related subjects. The truth of the matter though has been that terrorism has been around for centuries, it was only the events of September 11 that thrust it's significance upon the USAmerican people.

I'm not a great fan of authors that capture an "media frenzy" and translate it through to their stories. In the back of my mind, I am almost sure that at some stage I have played a PC submarine game centred around the Spratley Islands which paralleled this story (might be a Tom Clancy story)

Whilst enjoyable as a read, it's somewhat future setting offset against current affairs wasn't enough to burst my bubble this time.