In 1945, three US bombers, each carrying a single atomic bomb, took off for Japan in an attempt to end the war once and for all. Only two of those bombers delivered their payloads. The third was spotted by a Japanese patrol and the plane, along with its deadly cargo, came to rest on the ocean floor.During that same war, the Japanese captured the Philippine Islands and looted the small nation of a treasure reputedly worth billions. Before the entire treasure could be transported back to Japan, American forces returned to liberate the island and the bulk of the treasure was hidden underground, where it is rumored to still rest today.In the present, Japan has been smuggling nuclear bombs onto American soil, ingeniously disguising the warheads in the engines of imported automobiles. All that remains is to finish constructing the device that will detonate the bombs from afar and America will be at their mercy. The plan probably would have gone off without a hitch, except that one of the bomb-cars accidentally exploded while being transported across the ocean.Those are three completely different plot lines that probably could have served as the basis for a novel individually. But Clive Cussler, in classic Clive Cussler fashion, uses them all in one book: Dragon. It’s a method that Cussler has used many times before and he’s quite good at it. Reading a Cussler novel is like reading two or three different books at the same time, until you begin to realize that the different ideas he started out with are slowly being braided together into a single shining cord. I’m not going to tell you how these three plot lines come together because that would ruin the story for you. You’ll just have to read Dragon for yourself.Of course, the common element running through many of Cussler’s novels is Dirk Pitt, special projects director of NUMA, the National Underwater and Marine Agency. Whenever there’s trouble on or under the world’s seas you can always count on Dirk Pitt and NUMA to get to the bottom of it. Dirk is a little bit James Bond and a little bit Captain America and always spells certain doom for the troublemakers of the world. Dragon is Cussler’s tenth Dirk Pitt novel and I can’t get enough of them. When Dirk isn’t out saving the world, he’s usually at his home, an airplane hangar outfitted with a loft apartment and filled with Dirk’s collection of classic cars and airplanes, a few of which are souvenirs of some of his NUMA adventures, and most of which Dirk rebuilt himself. My kind of guy.I also enjoy Cussler’s sense of humor. In a few of his novels he has actually made personal appearances. One time Dirk and his partner Al Giordino ran into Cussler at the North Pole. Cussler was there retrieving something like a monster truck that had been left behind by a previous expedition. The truck happened to be just what Dirk and Al needed to stop the bad guys. In another book, Dirk was escaping the island of Cuba in a bathtub that he had fitted with a small outboard motor. When the motor ran out of gas, who should appear in a fantastic submarine but Clive Cussler? Some would say that Cussler is cheating a little bit; throwing in this odd character always just in time to help the hero out of a jam, and I would probably agree with those people, but it still brings a smile to my face. In Dragon Cussler shows up at a classic auto show where Dirk is showcasing one of his cars and the two end up in an exhibition race with each other. The two seem familiar to each other, but neither can quite place the other.I’ve heard a few different narrators handle Cussler’s novels but Michael Prichard is by far my favorite. I’m not quite sure what it is I like about him so much, he doesn’t do particularly good character voices. But somehow he has become the voice of Dirk Pitt for me. Prichard does read with a very natural style and his voice is easy on the ears. Prichard is an Audie award-winning narrator with more than five hundred full-length books to his credit.Steven Brandt - Audiobook Heaven
Dirk Pitt and 'Dragon' are great fun! The book is filled with the stuff of Saturday matinee adventures - globe-spanning action, beautiful, exotic women, humor, a heart pounding story that doesn't let up for an instant... and at the center of it all, reluctantly recruited to save the world once again, is NUMA's Major Dirk Pitt. In 'Dragon', Cussler is inspired by the widespread fear in the early 1990s that America is being taken over by Japan - not by tanks and troops, but by their purchasing of real estate and American businesses, slowly gaining a financial foothold that will soon give Japan a majority share interest in America. A Japanese businessman and underworld kingpin, Hideki Suma, possessing a wealth greater than most nations, executes a plan that will cement Japan's domination over America (and the world, though Suma's operations in other countries are little more than an afterthought in the book, mentioned and then brushed aside in classic Cussler fashion). Suma holds the world hostage with the threat of nuclear annihilation by way of dozens of nuclear bombs hidden throughout the country, in exchange for control over American (the world's) government, industry, and real estate. As stated in 'Dragon', Suma "...literally has America by the balls." Yes I too spent many minutes imagining America with a set of giant testicles, probably growing out of Texas somewhere.Enter Dirk Pitt and his team of the most skilled operatives in the American intelligence community as they work quickly on multiple fronts to thwart Suma's evil plan! The action takes them to Germany, Japan, Washington DC, the beautiful atolls of the pacific, and the depths of the ocean, all with Suma in hot pursuit and nothing less than the fate of America (the world) in their hands!Of course this being a Dirk Pitt book there is plenty of misogyny, racism, and overt nationalism, but it smaller doses than previous Pitt books. For instance, he doesn't punch a woman in the face for being sad over the death of her husband (Mediterranean Caper). In fact, in 'Dragon', women are strong, capable, and intelligent (if busty and extremely attractive, all of them)...until they are around skimpy,comfortable clothes, good food, booze, and/or Dirk Pitt. Then they turn into piles of obsequious, horny goo, gulping frilly drinks, stripping normal clothes in favor of crotch-exposing kimonos, and jumping onto Pitt whenever he walks into the room like little lap dogs...and that's just the congresswoman from Colorado. It's ridiculous and fun, all you want from Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt, both at the top of their game with 'Dragon'.
What do You think about Dragon (2006)?
Ada banyak alasan untuk membeli buku. Namun alasan buku ini saya beli bisa dibilang terlalu polos : karena dapat diskon :mrgreen:. Waktu itu saya baru registrasi sebagai anggota di Elex Comic Center Bogor. Waktu saya membeli buku ini, ternyata ada diskon khusus sebesar tiga puluh persen untuk buku-buku yang diterbitkan oleh Dastan. Ya sudah, saya manfaatkan diskon tersebut untuk membeli buku ini :D. Harga asli buku ini Rp80.000,-, setelah diskon menjadi Rp56.000,-. Lumayan.Dragon tidak menceritakan kisah tentang naga. Dragon adalah novel petualangan. Bisa dibilang bahwa Dragon mirip dengan James Bond dan novel karya Dan Brown serta Tom Clancy yang selalu melibatkan konspirasi (organisasi yang ingin menguasai dunia), teknologi canggih, dan orang-orang yang ingin menyelamatkan dunia. 'Pahlawan' dalam buku ini bernama Dirk Pitt, anggota National Underwater and Marine Agency, organisasi nyata yang didirikan oleh Clive Cussler sendiri. Pitt harus menggagalkan rencana yang disusun oleh kaum kapitalis Jepang untuk menguasai dunia menggunakan kekuatan ekonomi.Walaupun tema novel ini cukup berat, Cussler tetap menyajikan unsur humor dalam karyanya ini. Karakter Pitt sendiri sering sekali melontarkan perkataan yang mengundang gelak tawa, bahkan di dasar lautan.Walau demikian, Cussler tidak lupa untuk memberikan sensasi ketegangan yang harus ada dalam sebuah novel petualangan.Buku ini patut dibaca, terutama oleh Anda yang menyukai cerita bertema petualangan. Sekali Anda membacanya, sangat sulit untuk berhenti membaca enam ratus halaman kisah yang seru ini :D. Tidak sisa-sisa mendaftar jadi anggota
—Asfarian
If you love a good action-adventure novel, you'll enjoy the Dirk Pitt series by Clive Cussler. In the 10th installment, Dragon, it took place in the 1990s. When a ship was in trouble, it disrupted NUMA's mission at Soggy Acres underground. But things always weren't what they seem, when they've been recruited to join a MAIT team. Once briefed, they learned about a new evil empire in Japan who used robots for employees, and planned a devious plan to take over Europe, the Western Bloc countries, and USA. Once they discovered what they're up to, it was now up to Pitt and NUMA to bring them down, when they were a lot of betrayal and angst from World War Two. When the Japanese hatched a plan to destroy it by blackmail by nuclear bombs, it was now up to Dirk Pitt and NUMA to save the world against evil Japanese politicians who wanted to rule it, and stop it from happening. What a rush!
—Kristen
I continue to be amazed at Cussler’s ability to draw up complex, detailed plots and then fill them with incredible technologies, new and interesting villains, and dynamic chase scenes, not to mention believable conspiracies. I also like that he always ties the past to the present. How is it that Dirk Pitt accomplishes all that he does on pretty much zero sleep? I don’t know, but his adventures still continue to be fun. In “Dragon,” unlike previous novels, Pitt doesn’t have a penultimate showdown with the bad guy; instead, he must work alone at the bottom of the Pacific to prevent a worldwide disaster. A departure for Cussler, but one that I appreciated. It just doesn’t do to be predictable. Favorite quotes: “To be the first to see or touch a sunken automobile, a missing plane, or a lost shipwreck is a fearful yet melancholy experience, only shared by those who daringly walk through a haunted house after midnight.”
—Mallory
