Customer Reviews

Tom Clancy's Op Center: Balance of Power

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(35)

 

 

Being from San Sebastián and living in Madrid, I was immediately drawn to this book when I saw that the action starts in these two cities. I finished the first 100 pages out of curiosity, the rest of the book out of sheer masochism.

The story is poor and full of stereotypes, the "historical facts" are wrong, the research was done without leaving the plane at the Barajas airport, and the characters are from a Scooby Doo cartoon (my favourites are the fisherman and the priest)...even at some points the book turns completely "kitsch" (asking a shepherd for directions in San Sebastian??).

There is not worse lie than a half-truth, and the book is full of them. I know it is just a novel, but I expected a bit more refinement from Mr. Clancy et al.

In that book Clancy translate the spanish sentences whit a computer and you can see that some are false. The "Guadia Real" is not a elite group of de Spanis army. And there are not any political problem in Spain, Catalan and Basques arel good people an we have our diferences but we won't do other civil war. And If someone wants to take the control of Sapin, he won't go to the Royal Palace it is a nosense, there are other political and military places more important than the Royal Palace.

I had the chance to read this book during my last business trip to the States and I was very interested to see how Clancy dealt with this story about pseudo-nazi attitudes in today's democratic Spain. I've got to say that the plot is catching enough, masterly webbed; the setting though is not credible at all and, besides that, it's insulting not only for Catalans but for the rest of Spain's nations as well. In Europe, people usually have the feeling that Americans are ignorants in many matters as long as these don't relate to the US. Some of us, after knowing lots of educated American folks, changed our minds and began to think this was another old fashioned topic with no truth behind it. Unfortunately, Mr Clancy has made me change my mind again. Sorry.

I have praised Tom Clancy books for years. "Balance of Power" has, however, disapointed me. Reading it I have had the same feelings as reading science-fiction. The geography and the names' spelling of the Spain that Clancy views, are very accurately settled (a quality that the Spanish reader seldom finds in English-American books). In contrast, Spain's historical, social, and political background is as far from reality as the Ptolemaic physics from the Copernican ones. Spain reached its unity as a nation in the 16th Century; Yugoslavia was an artificial State born in this Century from territories of the ancient Austrian and Turkish Empires. Why then put in the same level Bosnia and Andaluzia? The Spanish Constitution say that the King of Spain is the Chief of the military forces (a role similar to the President of the US). He has in fact an authority over the Spanish Generals and officers, that was decisive in stoping the "vaudeville" military push of 1981. Clancy's book do not mention the real thread to Spanish democracy: the terrorism of ETA.

I can see why the Spainards hate this book. I have never been to Spain and besides Medieval history and Franco of course I don't know much about the nation beyond the norm. However, the idea of Spain turning into genocidal Balkans is just silly to me. Yes it happened in the 1930's but many things happened in the 1930's a time of insanity and hate.

Also the pyschobabble was just plain annoying to me. "She was there when Martha was killed, the guilt is going to put her into shock and paralize her!" Right and that is why whole armies stop fighting when they lose comrades. Stupid and not even close to human reality and just plain annoying to read.

I will stay away from Clancy and the techno-thriller crap. Bring back some good old cold war novels those were his master pieces. This sucks will not bother picking anymore up when I see them.

I have long praised T.C. novels for being so real-sounding and accurate depicting characters and events no matter where the action did take place. Now that I know firsthand the real background in this one, I wonder whether all those detailed facts that I enjoyed so much have the same in common with reality as here. I can't help but feeling somewhat cheated, Mr.Clancy. Your novel lacks verosimilitude from the very first page! Most names, expressions, concepts used sound rather Latin-American than genuinely Spanish, or purely invented.. When I think of Gen.Amadori I imagine an Argentinian-Junta general rather than a spanish military. I use to enjoy sci-fi stories, but the ones with aliens and robots. And those Op-center super brains, well, I sincerely hope that such an agency will never exist, to the benefit of us all. Please come back with new exciting techno-thrillers and I will convince myself that some other Tom Clumsy wrote this book instead of you. ;-)

Is one of the most riduculous books I have ever read. I used to enjoy Clancy books and Red Storm Rising and The Hunt for the Red October are still between my favorites. But in this case I can`t stop myself from writing this. I hope Mr. Clancy will ever come to Spain to meet the people and the society of this country. Or at least next time he will read something about modern Spain. Maybe he thinks we are a poor South American country!

The first 120 pages consist of trite, stereotypical dialogues between nearly two dozen agency directors and various bureaucrats(mostly in Wash., DC). There is no focus on one particular person and hence ruins the reader's interest, let alone empathy. The language lacks sparkle and originality. The book ends with the typical and foreseeable carnage that is as boring as it is unrealistic. I hope no one gets the idea of making another worthless movie from the gore.

An Op-Centre attempt to stop a new Spanish civil war from occurring, with its attendant bloodshed, betrayal, and other problems' seems to be an ideal setting for a tense action-packed read. However, this novel doesn't live up to it's cover blurb. The action sequences (for want of a better term) are a little disjointed and frankly unbelievable. The other scenes are lacklustre and boring. Balance of Power seems to be written to a standard formula which requires little imagination for the reader to absorb. The Op-Centre series, and this novel in particular, does not meet the expectations of Tom Clancy's fans. I suspect that Mr. Clancy regrets lending his name to this embarrassing series, which he probably no longer has creative control over.

For those people who enjoy reading this kind of literature, this may be a gripping, can't-put-it-down kind of book. But for anybody who has any idea about Spain and its people, it is a complete joke...I know it is fiction, but the author didn't bother to write a note explaining that, like serious authors do. And I'm afraid that many readers are going to believe all the absurdities that are said about Spain in this book. True facts and names are mixed with fiction in a dangerous way. The American president's name is Lawrence, but the Spanish prime minister and king keep their real names, why?..I have to admit though, that I had some good laughs with this book. It is evident that a computer translation program was used to make the characters speak Spanish. The result is hilarious: not even the Spanish characters can speak Spanish! And no wonder the Op-Center diplomat is shot to death at the beginning of the novel: "Fusilar!" doesn't mean "gunman!"; it means "shoot!"