Fortunes of War

by Stephen Coonts

Book Overview

Four Japanese nationalists storm Tokyo's imperial palace and behead the emperor. Their goal: to invade Russia and conquer oil-rich Siberia in order to dominate the globe. Soon the world explodes in... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312185839
• ISBN13: 9780312185831
• Release Date: April 1998
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 376 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.5" x 9.7"

Customer Reviews

It's fiction, for gosh sakes!

Mr. Coonts is a formidable writer. What he is able to do is to balance an exquisite knowledge of flying skills and equipment and the men and women who use them, and as well detail an exciting story sprinkled with morality and humanity. And I admire him because while he's got a sure fire winner in Jake Grafton et al., he remains unafraid to venture into new terrain. Here he takes three stories, much like David Robbins' gifted novels about WWII, and weaves them in and out of the reader's scope of vision much so that we're really reading three stories at once. A prodigous task that Coonts handles well. Whether or not such a horrific series of events could occur is in the mind of the writer. Novelists like John LeCarre and Len Deighton writing of the conspiracy of omission by the ABC Agencies forged in the 1980's could never have imagined what we would experience and the cost it would exact 20 years later. But that's the free reign we give our gifted writers. I shudder to think it would happen but the Fortunes of War kept me at a high level of adreneline. Colonel Bob Cassidy, his Japanese friend Jiro, the Russian Skipper Saretov, Agent Ju, Chernoff, Dixie . . . we root for them and wonder at each encounter if they'll come out alive. High praise for a novelist. Absolutely worth the time. 5 stars. Larry Scantlebury

Pick a night or 2 when you can read this book uninterrupted!

Stephen Coonts crafts a tight book with a war scenario between Russia & Japan over control of the Siberian oilfields. The United States gets drawn in, ultimately assisting both sides as desperation leads the combatants to consider nuclear attack.This is a much faster-paced & faster-reading book than Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising, for example. He is Clancy's equal with the realism of his combat scenes. As a former combat aviator in Vietnam, he is especially masterful with the aerial battles involving Cassidy, Kimura, & Chernov, the American, Japanese, & Russian protagonist fighter pilots. He's also not too bad with submarine warfare, either.The action starts quickly & grabs you from the start. I was unable to put it down & probably read it faster than any other novel this year. I heartily endorse this book for fans of modern military fiction.

'Fortunes of War' definitely worth it

Before writing this review, I looked at what people had already said about this book so that I didn't just duplicate opinions. There seems to be a 50/50 split in the reviews as to whether the book was a good read or a bad one.This review shall end the debate.Fortunes of War is a literature masterpiece. I found that when reading the book the minutes would seem to past by like seconds. In my free time, instead of playing on the computer or watching rubbish on TV, I would sit in my room and read for hours. I genuinely found the book spell-binding and impossible to put down.Stephen Coonts is well-renouned for his technological supremecy in fictional writing, and his use of military jargon provides a refreshing realism that the ignorant and unimaginative fear.The not-to-distant build-up to a WW3 conflict is made believable even to the skeptic by Coont's ingenuitive blend of real-life political, social and political conditions together with his unique brand of story-telling.Despite my love for military aviation, which only served to increase the intensity of the story-line, I found myself able to relate to the characters in such a way that I would often create conversations and conflicts in my mind, once understanding Coont's reasons and motives in the book.I have read many techno-novels. Some are too foolish with their use of hardware, and others fail to grasp the balance that ensures that a readable book is created.Stephen Coont's has struck gold due to his blend of technological hardware, gripping suspense, and evolving character plots. I hope he writes a hundred more.

This is the best book I've ever read

I am thirteen years old and I am in 8th grade. This is the best book I've ever read. This book is so realistic when you read it. There are so many thrilling scenes. Whenever I read a page, it gets me so excited because I am always wondering what the next pae is going to be about. I don't usually care to read books and I never really have time to read. I got around to reading this book because I was forced to. I had to read a good book for an event that occured in my humanities class " The reading Challenge". The deal was to read four or more books. If this was accomplished, then my class would get to have a pizza party. I didn't like to read the books that were in the library because they didn't have any good novels about war and violence, so I went to Asia book store and luckly I found this book. I read the back of the book and I didn't hesitate to buy the book. When I read the first couple of pages, I totally got hooked up on the book. This book gots all the scenes that can blow your mind. I recommended this book to my friends at school. I will never forget this eye-opening book. I suggest this book to anyone. It will please any reader.

I Loved This Book!!

Fortunes of War has got to be one of the most exciting and enjoyable books I have read in many years. Although the US contingent led by Air Force Colonel Bob Cassidy plays an important part in the outcome of the war, it is the fierce determination of its to main heroes (both Russian), along with the troubled dedication of Cassidy's long time friend Jiro Kimura that really makes this book something special. The Russian characters of Yan Chernov and submarine Capitan Saratov (along with Saratov's supporting crew) are just too cool. If it wasn't for them, Russia wouldn't have had a chance.Coonts also shows us how supreme power on the part of both the Japanese and Russian leaders, creates a mindset that causes them to forget about the people they govern and causes them to focus only on their own personal gains.I found myself cheering when the good things happened, and feeling down when the unfortunate occurred. Coonts gives a wonderful description of all of the charac! ters and events that unfold, without boring us with extensive detailed hi-tech information.I recommend you pick this book up, find a cozy spot to read it, and just enjoy this extremely fast paced highly entertaining novel.