Publishers Weekly reviews
Orders Is Orders by L. Ron Hubbard in a starred review, that says,
"Hubbard's stunning writing ability and creative imagination set him apart as one of the greatest literary figures of the 20th century."L. Ron Hubbard was one of a handful of American writers in 1937 -- including the day's journalists and war correspondents -- who knew both the territory and turmoil of Northern China from personal experience. His diaries and letters, written in his teens, detailed actual adventures in the Orient others could only dream about.
L. Ron Hubbard, enroute to the Orient, ca 1927His travels took him inland to provinces where the coastal dialects were as foreign as Ron's own English. In a country closed to virtually all Westeners except those with important diplomatic liaisons, he explored the Shanghai Bund, befriended natives in bustling Peking and drank tea with Buddhist monks in the far Western Hills. As an honored guest at the age of fifteen, he attended performances by magicians in the Forbidden City that were rarely if ever witnessed by other Americans.
Orders Is Orders is a tale about two U.S. Marines commanded to carry out the heroic rescue of 117 Americans trapped in a United States embassy two hundred miles behind the lines of battle. Cut off by the sudden outbreak of hostilities in the 1937 Sino-Japanese War, the civilians are threatened with starvation, disease and almost certain death. Furthermore, Ron's two heroes, once ashore from the U.S. naval cruiser that carried them from Shanghai, knew not what they would encounter -- only that they must succeed.
L. Ron Hubbard knew the military side of this story as well. He had served in the Marine Reserves well before the Sino-Japanese conflict began to brew, and his father's continuous tours of duty in the Navy kept him in constant contact with the armed services throughout his youth.
Nor was
Orders Is Orders his first fiction work with Northern China as its backdrop, and evidence of Ron's knowledge of the conflicts and politics of China is present in his personal correspondence as well -- references that include the Japanese, as noted in the following letter to a fellow writer about
Orders Is Orders:"My Japanese weren't the polite, hissing, bowing, apologetic gents fiction leads us to believe. I knew too many of them in Tsingtau and a military Japanese is a tough customer." It is no wonder that Publishers Weekly issued the following review after listening to the audiobook version:
"Hubbard's tale, originally published in a pulp magazine in 1937, takes listeners to the war-torn Chinese city of Shunkien, where the Japanese have launched an assault of epic proportions. The lone building left standing among the piles of flaming rubble is the American consulate, where innocent refugees are trying to stave off hunger and a deadly flu epidemic. Demonstrating his unique ability to relate even the most complicated story with a keen eye for detail and realism, Hubbard's stunning writing ability and creative imagination set him apart as one of the greatest literary figures of the 20th century. The recording, as usual, is stunning and well directed by Jim Meskimen. Featuring brilliant performances by Brooke Bloom, R.F. Daley and Meskimen himself, the story captivates thoroughly."
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