Rating: 
Summary: major disappointment
Review: I am a Tom clancy fan but I must say this book may change that. the book is full of errors, impossible assumptions and repetitive, boring languages.
ten biggest shortcomings of the book
1. China is still in Qing dynasty style in B&D, does anyone believe that?
2. I have no idea why the part about trade negotiation need to be in the story.
3. If a couple had a child but the child died, you can have another one, legally, no problem
4. Normal cops does NOT carry guns and in cities, especially Beijing, cops will think a second time before they get rough with foreigners.
5. Jack Ryan was president for 15 months, and he is still wondering "how I get to sit here?"
6. Secretary to a high-ranking official is not so stupid to do what a foreigner tod her to do on a top secret computer, even they are in "love".
7. The book is too long and has too many unnecessary swears in it.
8. Labeling China as Nazi and uncivilised is downright insulting.
9. The story is predictable and unrealistic. the war scene described is too one-sided and if that is the case no one in his sane mind will start a war in the first place.
10. Mr Clancy seems to forget that Jack Ryan have had two war already. a repeat of style is boring to say the least.
My suggestion: Let Jack Ryan retire and Mr. Clancy may consider a trip to China.
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Novel in Need of an Editor
Review: As a writer, Tom Clancy reminds me of an aging athlete whose musculature is still powerful but hidden under expanding layers of fat. The Bear and the Dragon, which is 1136 pages long, could have been a first-rate novel had somebody edited it down to somewhere under 600. As it is, the last 350 pages - which is around where the action starts - is vintage Clancy and pure dynamite. However, Clancy's literary talents are pretty meager when the only action going on is between people, and that's the problem with most of the first 800 pages. Clancy made his name with a style of writing that can be described without exaggeration as a kind of modern warrior's poetry, depicting the interaction between men, computers and weapons that is the essence of techo-warfare. He also knows spycraft, and the best of his fiction is focussed on soldiers and spies going about their business, which Clancy portrays as both deadly and heroic. The Bear and the Dragon benefits from all this - Clancy hasn't lost any of his talent. Where he's gone wrong though is in diverting that talent into to the realm of politics, where it tends to founder. We see much the same cast of characters here who have run through all of his fiction, and his main character - Jack Ryan - is again at the center. Ryan, of course, appeared in Clancy's first novel years ago as a relatively junior intelligence analyst and, through a series of improbable developments in later books, rose steadily higher in government until finally reaching the Presidency, a position from which he presides over the action in The Bear and the Dragon. Unfortunately, Clancy now has the platform he needs to indulge all his worst ambitions as a novelist, since, in addition to an excessive focus on Ryan's virtuous private life, we get seemingly endless interior monologues, and dialogues with other characters, in which Clancy vents his own opinions about various political issues and about the evils of politics in general. The fact that I probably share many of these views myself doesn't make it in the least bit more tolerable to see fiction misused in this way. I'm such a die-hard Clancy fan that I may be over-reacting to his flaws, and I still can't be too harsh in judging this novel, since the good parts are so fantastic. However, I really wish that Clancy's editors would have the courage do to him and his fans a favor: stand up to him, and save a lot of paper in the process.
Rating: 
Summary: Perhaps Clancy should consider a well-earned retirement.
Review: I agree with the reviewer below who contrasted this book with Hunt for Red October. That was a masterful story, and it shares little with this one; the story was much more concise, Ryan had not yet evolved into Superman -- it was superior in every way.I have come to realize that Ryan is an excellent storyteller, but not much of a writer. For example, all of his good guys talk the same way. Who said this to President Ryan, when he said he hated his job: "Ain't supposed to be fun, Jack." Was it Robby Jackson, Arnie Van Damm, George Winston, Cathy Ryan, Ding Chavez, Mary Pat Foley, etc.? My point is that the words fit all of them perfectly, because they all talk with Clancy's one "good guy" voice. I could give lots more criticism, but I'll close by agreeing with another reviewer who complained about the Foley's "baby-honey bunny" act. Are they the two top intelligence agents, or sitcom characters? Tom -- take a break, stop writing, and enjoy all that money.
Rating: 
Summary: Clancy continues to adapt.
Review: This was his best book since Red October/Without Remorse. Mr.Clancy's books usually have to be viewed from the stand point that it COULD happen. This one does not have that element in it; it has the element that this could REALLY happen; it would not be all that difficult for it to happen. Simply put, the chain of events that lead to the plot are much more likely than those that were the plot of Hunt for Red October. The reader does not have to suspend disbelief to the same degree as most of his other works. The hardest thing in this book to do in fact, is to distinguish actual history from Jack Ryan's history. Mr. Clancy blends them that well. The ending of it is climactic, the most climactic ending in his books since Sum of All Fears or Red Storm Rising. The final paragraph seemed a little trite, but the book had me hooked, pinned, rivetted, and welded to it. He will be hard-pressed to top or equal it.
Rating:
Summary: could not get my interest
Review: This is the first Clancy novel (and I've read most of them) that I could not finish...actually could not get started. May have been the beginning or simply the weight of the book at over 1100 pages. I switched to a Vince Flynn novel instead.
Rating:
Summary: My Life Went on Hold
Review: I have read all of Tom Clancey's books and from the reviews here I thought this one might be a little disappointing and finally let me read one of his books at leisure, taking my time with it. Boy was I wrong!! Just like all his Jack Ryan books, once you start you can't stop. It was a long book but I like that. Some say it's too long, but I am disappointed in the Op Center series and the like because they are too short, so I liked its length. The sex wasn't that bad, and would only make the most prudish of people blush. Not a book for children though. Plus it was an important part of the story line and served to demonstrate the repression in all areas of society. Some seemed to feel it was just a racist book, but I felt it admirably demonstrated the complete difference in cultures and how such total misunderstanding of other cultures can lead to disaster. Anyone who doesn't feel it was an accurate portrayal should just look back to the "letter of two sorry's" after the aircraft incident with China as a real life example of just how different our cultures are. Finally, this book follows up on and fits in with the plots of his previous books perfectly and is a logical extension of them. It was great to catch up with so many characters from previous books and see them in new roles. Great Book!! (...) Worth the time if you have a large enough block of time cause you wont want to put it down.
Rating:
Summary: Clancy is losing it
Review: I have read every novel Tom Clancy has written in his Jack Ryan / John Clark universe. Some of the earlier novels were well written works which I would highly recommend. They were thrillers set in a semi-realistic setting which had just enough realism in them to make them exciting reads. Along the way I become a fan of Jack Ryan. Unfortunately, the series has been in decline as Clancy's political views become more and more omnipresent in the novels. In this book it becomes impossible to read beyond the political editorials. Everyone to the left of Reagan is subject to the wrath of Clancy's pen. While such jabs were subtle in his earlier works (his only real political agenda was increased military) now he takes as stab at every moderate or liberal view ranging on subjects from abortion, environmentalism, taxation and welfare, just to name a few. In the process, he has turned his greatest hero, Jack Ryan into a sniveling whiner who is less capable of running the white house than my 4 year old son. Clancy's problem is that he has strayed too far from the subjects he writes about best, espionage and current military hardware. His is incompetent and fully unbelievable in his writing on Washington D.C. politics and international diplomacy. His descriptions of military hardware are no longer that of present or near future technologies but fall into the category of military fantasy. My 'favorite' was the single bomb which was capable of destroying dozens of Chinese tanks. To make matters worse, this novel is plodding, slow to develop and completely transparent in the direction it is heading. The same ground is covered repeatedly to no effect. The first 600 pages could easily have been edited down to 1/3 that size without loosing a single meaningful nuance. The final third of the story is predictable and obvious. There is no thriller aspect to this story at all. If you put down the book at the point when the Chinese army invades Russia (something we all saw coming after the first 25 pages of the novel) most readers will be able to very accurately guess how the book ends. Clancy has lost whatever skill he once had for writing novels. I have read my last Clancy novel. I would suggest that you skip this one too.
Rating:
Summary: Lousily written, repetitive, and racist. Avoid, Avoid!!!
Review: Tom Clancy is hitting rock bottom with this book. It's not only long (all of them are) but totally unnecessarily so. The plot moves forward at snail-pace. The repetitions soon get very boring, the blatant racism towards the chinese extremely annoying, and the fact that the rest of the story is obvious to the reader when there is about a thousand pages left of the book is just daft! The worst part, though, is probably the neanderthal level of the dialogue among the "heroes" of this story. If this reflects in any way the intellectual level of the US president and his advisers - well, then I am scared! In sum, the book stinks. Stay away.
Rating: 
Summary: Get back to good storytelling
Review: I am a devoted Clancy fan but am growing tired of constant politics and non-thrilling storylines. Clancy's publisher should challenge him to contain his next work to less than 500 pages. There were a couple of vintage Clancy surprises in this novel which kept things interesting, but this book simply doesn't rank with Clancy classics like Red October and Sum of All Fears.
Rating:
Summary: "Back to Basics For Clancy . . . and it Worked!"
Review: This is Clancy's best work since "Debt of Honor." Starts off with a bang as a key aide to the Russian President is almost assassinated. While that is being investigated, a huge oil and gold strike is made in Siberia. That has China licking its lips. Now, former adversaries the U.S. and Russia must join forces to prevent Chinese domination of Siberia. Excellent work on the characters, who are almost old friends to hard-core Clancy readers by now. Loved the portrayal of Jack Ryan in the presidency. For the most powerful man in the world, he seems to have little independence. Ryan is a slave to public perception, scheduling, security. Many of the things he deals with on a day-to-day basis bore him. Ryan is the ultimate hands-on guy working a job that lets him be anything but. He really hates this job, but is too dedicated to duty to up and quit. As far as plot goes, Clancy keeps your interest throughout. After an unfortunate incident in China with a couple religious folks, it's hard to put this book down. Good presentation of the Chinese leadership. These men had a very narrow view of the world and how things are supposed to work. That just exacerbates the brewing international crisis. Clancy caps it off with a very exciting ending. One thing I would have liked to have seen more of is stuff going wrong at critical points of the conflict, which has been a Clancy trademark since "The Hunt For Red October."
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