Jun 19, 2017

Greetings followers of Crow’s Gambit! I’ve wanted to talk about this topic for several weeks and with the contest ending soon now is probably a good time. The topic is how I selected the book description of “The Day the Earth Stood Still in a Tom Clancy setting.” I’ll admit it was a tough decision and I’m still not completely satisfied with it. So let’s break it down.

Were there any runner up descriptions? Yes, War of the Worlds. Not the Tom Cruise remake but the 1953 classic. Aliens with technology far in advance of ours wipe aside our defenses in days. That kind of sounds like the Sylph. Except the Sylph never came down in landers and haven’t (as yet) tried to wipe out mankind.

Ok, we want advanced unstoppable aliens who really don’t care about us. How about The Day the Earth Stood Still? Not the Keanu Reeves remake but the 1951 classic. Klaatu comes to Earth and basically says they don’t care what we do to ourselves but if we try to spread our violence off the planet we’re done for. Ok, THAT sounds much more like the Sylph…except the Sylph haven’t even bothered to send a messenger down.

There’s something else about that movie that always struck a chord with me. After the saucer lands in D.C. everyone kind of goes about their business. I mean they just leave it sitting there with a couple guards on it. Proof of alien life in the universe but after the initial encounter everyone just goes home to take care of their lives. This is a lot like the world of Crow’s Gambit. Humans know they aren’t alone and they are outgunned technologically. A net of alien spheres surrounds the planet but after a time everyone gets on with their lives and just accepts it as the new reality. Except for a few people like Cassie and Darrow. 

And Tom Clancy? That one was a given. Besides political intrigue and competing personal agendas Tom Clancy novels are always steeped in advanced, if not exotic, science and technology. Clancy described himself as a storyteller, not a writer. Really that’s what I’d like to be. A storyteller. I’m trying to entertain you with a good story.

I can’t do this without you though. We are close to the end and locked in a back and forth for 3rd place. Don’t just share the book link…call a friend and ask them to Pre-Order. Don’t just click Like on this post…write a Recommendation on the book’s page. We can do this!

PT