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Originally Posted by Bill Nichols
I've read the book (but haven't tried the game). I liked the book, although I did have problems getting past the premise (modern-day Germany begins a naval war with America and Britain, in order to sell diesel subs to a Middle East country in violation of UN arms sanctions. And, the U.S. President only lets the Navy use a handful of surface ships against the German subs -- no P-3s or SSNs -- just to keep the fight 'fair'  ) |
I thought the premise was one of the most realistic I’ve seen. Unlike most military novels, there are very few black and white issues in the plot of this book. The evidence is never perfectly compelling, the issues are never perfectly clear, and the results are less than perfect. That sounds like real life to me.
It seems to me that the conflict in the book is largely an accident, triggered by a nervous fighter pilot when the Germans are trying to bluff their way past a naval blockade. The way I read it, no one wants a war, which is why both sides go to such great lengths to avoid escalating the conflict. Many of the president’s actions are made over the objections of his military advisors. On the advice of people who are more interested in covering his political backside than in doing the right thing, he chooses a politically safe option rather than a smart military option. A politician covering his butt at the expense of letting his military personnel flap in the breeze? That also sounds a lot like real life to me. In the end, even the president admits to his advisors that he listened to the wrong advice. He’ll probably never admit it in public, but he knows he screwed up.
Both sides in the conflict make bad decisions based on incomplete information and incorrect assumptions. That might make the book different from other military thrillers, where the issues are cut and dried, but it doesn’t make it less realistic. In my opinion, it makes it more realistic, not less. The author was a career Sailor. I’m guessing that the actions of the fictional government in his book are the expressions of a man who has sometimes been frustrated by less-than coherent military strategies handed down by political leaders who have no tactical knowledge or experience. I think he’s bypassed the traditional military plot formula to give us a quiet glimpse at real life.