The Orion Team. discussion

Read this (rather old) article about China and spy thrillers written by Alex Berenson who wrote the excellent spy thriller "The Ghost War".

With the rise of China as the second preeminent power in Asia due to a seemingly unstoppable economic rise, massive modernization of the branches of the PLA and recent power plays which have agitated the ASEAN group and Japan over the Diaoyu islands and The South China Sea. (UPDATE: The Sekkaku dispute has been put on hold by the PRC and ROJ while the South China Sea Dispute still rages with China doing land reclamation projects and the Philippines and Vietnam purchasing ordinance)

Will the PRC, seemingly awash with cash, and with big plans to get a seat at "the top table" become the next big thing amongst spy thriller writers instead of Islamic terrorism?

Or will the counter-terrorist sub-genre of spy thriller novels continue to flourish? We must consider the wreckage of the Arab spring such as Libya, Syria and quite possibly Lebanon where the Jihadist groups are milling around and causing conflict.

Love to hear your thoughts on the matter due to the planned withdrawals from Afghanistan, the teritorial disputes China is conducting on both the Western borders with India and the East Coast with Japan and the destabilization that is in progress down in the Levant.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/wee...

A.R. wrote: "Maybe off point a bit, but it seems to me there is now a gaping hole for anyone that can write authoritatively on the implications of the new sigint atmosphere. Challenging to make it exciting I th..."

A.R. I will be writing a sequal to my last book "New China". I will taking a crack at EW (on a basic level) and a few more "technical" forms of warfare that I have yet to see covered. I may be out of my depth and I forsee a challenge in making it "thrilling". I guess we shall she see.

Samuel wrote: "Read this (rather old) article about China and spy thrillers written by Alex Berenson who wrote the excellent spy thriller "The Ghost War".

With the rise of China as the second preeminent power..."

I think China will be the big focus for the near future. I hate to see the bandwagon effect in this genre but I am sure that it is the best way to get noticed. I think the terrorism sub genre will start to fade away unless someone pulls of another spectacular attack that will give more fodder for books.

Due to recent events in Iraq, I've changed my opinion. The counter-terrorism genre will still be relevant, for now as the ISIS organization has managed to become a massive geopolitical threat to all parties in the Middle East. However, the Asian rivalries for supremacy will soon become equally important in the long run.

What about the resurgence of Russia as a military power and regional bully? The Russian forces have been modernizing their equipment and filling their inventories for many years now, while Putin has become quite adventurous/greedy in terms of expansion and pushing his influence on others. First, there was Moldova, Georgia and now Ukraine. Who will be next, the Baltic states? China is an ocean/continent away from the USA and Europe, while Russia is at the doorsteps of Europe. Putin also has one big advantage over the Chinese leaders: he is the only big one in charge, while the Chinese leadership is fractious, with dozens of men competing to prove they have the power. The fractiousness of the Chinese leadership may make them a bit unpredictable, but Putin's goals are firmly set in his mind.

I agree with Michel about Russian adventurism. Russian intervention in places like Ukraine and Goergia and other hypothetical scenarios will be great fodder for fiction writers who choose to take advantage of it. I would also like to add that scenarios that could take place when Putin eventually declines and falls can also provide more material for writers as well. I think ISIS will probably burn out quite quickly (by "quickly" I mean another 2 or 3 years if that) so I dont think they will be a huge factor. Because of these two factors I think Russian scenarios may top the list.

Russian adventurism aside, China's pecking away at its neighbors territory, and US turning toward Asia policy. Plus the constant turmoil in the Middle East in my humble opinion will provide scenarios for todays writers.

All I know for sure is it's never been a better time to be a spy thriller Author. You don't even have to make stuff up anymore. Scan the interwebs, The world is burning. Insert protagonist here and start typing.

Jack wrote: "All I know for sure is it's never been a better time to be a spy thriller Author. You don't even have to make stuff up anymore. Scan the interwebs, The world is burning. Insert protagonist here and..."

That is something I think we can most certainly all agree with :) So many new places for the genre to go.

It will be interesting to see what Brad Thor will come up with next. His books have been pretty timely. Moving from the Middle East to China and North Korea.

With the current European refugee crisis, I think demographics might find its way into the spy/military/geopolitical fiction genre. Perhaps as an inevitable result of the social/security issues that will most likely ensure, most authors will begin adding a somewhat dystopian bent to their writing.

Festering social issues lead to conflicts. Said conflicts are normally security and political related with high stakes for all involved. Potential material.

Peter Nealen





Author Peter Nealen writes military thrillers with a twist. Namely the setting is something few post 9/11 writers have done. His books are set in a contemporary, non-science fiction and recognizable dystopia.
Social problems in that setting include the Mexican Drug cartels annexing the South Western USA and the Islamic world falling completely under the grip of terrorist sponsoring extremists. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Makes for fascinating reading. Did reviews on the first 3 books. I highly recommend them.

Recent events in China have reminded me of this book.
It's the story of how a team of American anti-heroes destabilize the people's republic of china and cause the second Chinese Civil War, presumably killing millions in the process.
Staged industrial accidents and sabotage, computer hacking and economic damage, it's rather prescient.

I guess the question has been answered. China won't surpass the war on terror as the most popular subject for spy thrillers yet.

What about the push by Putin to basically put back together the old USSR? He is certainly stirring the s..t pot in Europe and showing no sign of wanting to quiet down. There is also the theme of wide-scale hacker attacks that target vital infrastructures and have the potential to wreck havoc in the USA and Europe. There has actually been enough recent cases of high-profile hacking lately. Can you imagine how much fun the Russian SVR or the Chinese Ministry of Security must be having right now while going through the lists and files hacked from the site of ASHLEY MADISON, the infidelity meeting site?

Michel wrote: "What about the push by Putin to basically put back together the old USSR? He is certainly stirring the s..t pot in Europe and showing no sign of wanting to quiet down. There is also the theme of ..."

Oh yeah, the OPM hack. I did hear the MSS, Second Directorate and the SVR would be trading notes with each other as they build up a big list of names and profiles of those who could be cultivated as assets.

Also, the abomination that is ISIS certainly can provide fuel for many thriller novels. Those sick fanatics are in the process of plunging the Middle East further down into chaos, while encouraging/supporting acts of terrorism in Europe and North America. One day, someone will have to do something radical to get rid of that stain on Humanity.

Michel wrote: "What about the push by Putin to basically put back together the old USSR? He is certainly stirring the s..t pot in Europe and showing no sign of wanting to quiet down. There is also the theme of ..."

They're all probably laughing their heads off.
I wonder if the "economic sanctions" the current administration is planning will come to fruition? And if they do, would they make great material for a spy/geopolitical thriller?

Michel wrote: "Also, the abomination that is ISIS certainly can provide fuel for many thriller novels. Those sick fanatics are in the process of plunging the Middle East further down into chaos, while encouragin..."

Indeed. There are a few post 9/11 fiction novels which deal with "ending the war on terror" through radical means such as plots by "well intentioned extremists" to deploy WMD's in the Middle East. Thriller novelist Nelson Demille covered this topic in his book Wildfire, where some wealthy business men decide to cut the war on terror short through executing a false flag operation with their own nuclear weapons to provoke an American nuclear retaliation against the Islamic world.

Michel wrote: "Also, the abomination that is ISIS certainly can provide fuel for many thriller novels. Those sick fanatics are in the process of plunging the Middle East further down into chaos, while encouragin..."

I concur with you about Daesh. Geopolitically they've managed to achieve what Al Quaeda increasingly failed to do in the last decade. Make an impact that will be seen around the world. And they've done so by taking over a geographically sensitive chunk of the region and help worsen the current refugee crisis. While the rest of the world seems to be impotent (due to war weariness among other things), they're still standing, which is a damn shame since the window to destroy them is still there but shrinking

Samuel wrote: "Michel wrote: "Also, the abomination that is ISIS certainly can provide fuel for many thriller novels. Those sick fanatics are in the process of plunging the Middle East further down into chaos, w..."
I like your comments, Samuel. Food for thought.