"(Selle, 50) However, his works remain within the domain of popular fiction, in which the suspense and the intricate and entertaining plot constitute the most important elements. The main attractiveness of his work is thus the technological paraphernalia that accompanies the plots and the operations described in the novels. The extreme accuracy of these descriptions are what caused Clancy to be termed as the inventor of the technothriller, as Garson defines it:

The technothriller] may concern all forms of nuclear weaponry, missiles, submarines, aircraft. Perhaps it foregrounds computers that reach beyond human ability to solve problems. Laboratories with scientists -- biologists, chemists, physicists, archaeologists -- study unknown and as yet unsolved questions of existence, DNA, germs, viruses, extinct species."(Garson, 35)

The projection of science and technology in the future is what makes Clancy's work into a very entertaining reading for the public:

What is marvelous are Clancy's descriptions of the technology of submarine warfare and the depth of his understanding of naval armaments, submarine detection systems, and codes of conduct that govern the relationship between officers and crews on board U.S. And Soviet submarines."(Stern, 2)

Although Clancy based his technical descriptions on unclassified information, his accuracy has been considered almost 'dangerous' since it revealed so much about the warfare of the Navy:

The book contains descriptions of high-tech military hardware so advanced that former Navy Secretary John Lehman, quoted in Time, joked that he "would have had [Clancy] court-martialed: the book revealed much that had been classified about antisubmarine warfare. Of course, nobody for a moment suspected him of getting access to classified information." The details were actually based on unclassified books and naval documents, Clancy's interviews with submariners, and his own educated guesses, the author asserts."

Thus, although, as Garson remarks, Clancy's work remains within...

The entertainment technothriller, thriller, spy story always adheres to formula in language, plot, images and symbols. We readers like the assurance of that familiarity, while at the same time we want something new added in character or situation or 'filler.'"(Garson, 38)
The main function of all science fiction works is thus, as Garson proposes its "wish fulfillment" role, which helps the human fantasy to reach its goals, be they scientific or technological, as in Clancy's case, and the prophesizes the victory over the evil principles:

In our escape into the fantasized world we find wish fulfillment. We can confront our foes, knowing someone else will act for us and win. Our hero -- our self -- will live to fight another day. Then, as the poet a.E. Housman tells us, we'll 'see the world as the world's not'[...]"(Garson, 40)

Works Cited

Clancy, Tom. The Hunt for Red October. New York: Penguin Books, 1997

Tom Clancy." Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2007. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servelet/BioRC

Garson, Helen S. Tom Clancy: A Critical Companion. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1996

Kennedy, Dana. "The Red October Surprise." Entertainment Weekly. 150.20 (1997). http://www.time.com/time/magazine/1997/int/971117/the_arts_mult.red_october_s.html

Ryan, William F. "The Genesis of the Technothriller." The Virginia Quarterly Review. 69.1 (1993) 24-40

Selle, Robert S. "Technothriller Creator and Freedom Advocate." World War I. 50.11 (2000) p.50

Stern, Carol Simpson. "Tom Clancy: Overview." St. James Guide to Crime and Mystery Writers. 4(1996)2-5

Tom Clancy." Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2007. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servelet/BioRC