Rating: 
Summary: Close to the bottom
Review: In the beginning, Clancy's books were great. Why was that? Well, his main character (Jack Ryan) was a good one, with lots of development potential, always in the middle of some interesting spy-situation in the dual world torn apart by the cold war. Besides, his style and competence to describe accurate and believable military conflicts was what captivated millions of readers around the globe. Well, the years passed, lots of books came and went in what is now known as "Ryanverse". But the quality of the books surely is not the same. What happened? First of all, Ryan is now president, and a veteran of almost ten books. He has nowhere to escalate further, and after ten books there are few development fields for a character: they become repetitive and predictable. Now, Ryan is a boring man, always complaining about being POTUS. What is worse, few new characters are introduced in the series. They are always the same: Clark, Chavez, Golovko, Jackson, Van Damm, etc. etc. The readers are getting tired. Second, Clancy now doesn't write anymore about military, he writes about politics. That would be OK, if the book wasn't 1100 pages long. I mean, who has the patience to wait 950 pages of politic (and sometimes economic) conflicts that go seemingly nowhere before Russia and China engage in a war over oil and gold? I don't have that kind of patiente. Even with all that, this book could be considered average (not like his previous and good books, but still average); but this time Clancy overreacted: every sub-chapter has an ethnic prejudice sentence, and not after long I was tired of the supremacy and intelligence of the americans and the stupidity and craziness of the chinese. In the end, after the war is concluded, the book rushes to an end in less than five pages. I mean, I read more than 1000 pages and this book doesn't even END PROPERLY? Ridiculous. Clancy is clearly doing his own editing and that is always a mistake. Clancy is treating his readers as idiots. And, if I was a chinese I would be very, very angry at Mr. Clancy right now, work of fiction or not. It's very clear the author doesn't know that much about China (or was misinformed, but I don't think that is likely) and created a ridiculous China look-alike with lots of hateful things to instigate that hate on his readers. In my opinion, it backfired, and now Mr. Clancy himself is in a bad position. (...) Grade 4.0/10
Rating: 
Summary: A lousy book from a (once?) great author
Review: Tom Clancy wrote several of the greatest and most riveting novels I've read. The list includes "The Hunt for the Red October", "The Sum of All Fears", and "Red Storm Rising". Unfortunately, as the Cold War came to an end and took away the rivalries between NATO and the Warsaw Pact, so did Clancy's bearing. His recent novels floundered like a fish out of water or a former Red Army soldier out of uniform. Instead of trying to look around, understand the post-Cold War developments, and use the new world order as a backdrop of his stories, he kept clinging to the old political landscape and tried to expand on it. It simply does not work. United States is the only Superpower left and no other countries will challenge it the way Soviet Union did. Jack Ryan was portrayed more like John F. Kennedy dealing with the Cuban missile crisis than either George W. Bush or Bill Clinton fighting global terrorism while trying to shore up Medicare. "The Bear and the Dragon" is simply not compelling and impossible to believe. While I still enjoy his attention to details and the way he put together sentences and paragraphs, the overall story itself makes completely no sense. How could one enjoy the book when one opens a newspaper to see a completely different picture? After three progressively worse novels - "The Debt of Homor", "Executive Orders", and "The Bear and the Dragon" - he finally came up with two new novels in which he seemed to have reversed his course. I haven't read either of those - perhaps I am still trying to muster the courage to do so after the recent disappointments. I do hope that both novels offer the same fascinating stories that his earlier novels do.
Rating:
Summary: heyho USA
Review: Heyho USA thats what I think after reading this book, One of Clancy's worst books (SSN is worse) and thinking I loved Rainbox six. While the politics part isn't that bad, the military part sure is, I think Eric L Harry's Protect&Defend is far supperior on the same topic (China invading Russia for the recource deposits).
Its just insulting to read how supperior US forces are towards everything else, lacks all sence of realism here.
(can't remeber a single US casualty) No after reading this one I hesitate to buy any new Clancy book!
Rating:
Summary: Action: OK, Politics: Lousy
Review: Mr. Clancy changed genres from technical/military to political thriller a couple of books ago. As a result his political thriller contains lots of - semi - military jargon and action. It must be said this side of the book is OK (not splendid as the "Cardinal of the Kremlin" or "Red October", but OK). However, the political part of this 1080 page book is unfortunately not op to standards: the issues have not been thought through enough to be convincing. And though some solutions could be tempting (some problems are irresolvable if all issues are taken into account), most are a mere waste of time.
Another problem I have with this series is the decline in the language quality (techno talk and an overdoses abbreviations was always a part of this series, but the current level is having an impact on the readability.
I would like to suggest Mr. Clancy to stop solving the problems of the world with this series and let Mr. Ryan rest.
Rating: 
Summary: Clancy's Web of intrigue
Review: I have been a Clancy fan ever since my father took me to see ÒRed OctoberÓ when I was in Jr. High. Since then IÕve read every book and my appreciation has only grown. While I was greatly let down by ÒWithout RemorseÓ and ÒRainbow SixÓ (even though Clark is my favorite character), Bear and Dragon illustrates all the best in ClancyÕs cache of literary talents. The plot, focusing on President RyanÕs second term as commander and chief, involves RussiaÕs new found Siberian oil fields, ChinaÕs last grasp at imperialism, espionage, counter espionage, the press and one hell of a great conventional battle reminiscent of ÒRed Storm RisingÓ. The plot is one of his largest and most involved yet, causing some readers to cringe in fear upon learning of the massive page count, but upon completion of this book youÕll feel very contented and eager for more. The story is plotted out like a chess game, and once the reader starts to see everything falling into place, we marvel at that satisfaction the climax gives us.
Rating:
Summary: This is your Mind on Popularity
Review: Clancy has deservedly earned a reputation as the King of the Military Intrigue Genre. What made all of those stories so well liked was - as it is in almost all stories - that these stories were character-driven in spite of all the hardware and battles. You long remember the Cardinal, or of the Kremlin or John Clark or even the young Jack. My personal opinion is that Clancy's writing started a slow descent when he began stretching what was and not possible in the political realm. The rise of Ryan to VP, then Commander in Chief was just too...hokey. From there we have more and more implausible scenarios. These last few books seem to be ghost-written, or published without benefit of critical editing. They commit the worst literary sin possible - they bore. I found myself thumbing ahead, first paragraphs, then pages and finally whole chapters. Is it possible that Clancy cannot break away from Jack Ryan much as Dorothy Sayer was stuck with Lord Peter Whimsey, Anne Rich with Lestat or Elizabeth George with her crew of five? This particular writing is appropriately turgid with absolutely zero originality. Tom, take a vacation and get those juices flowing again. Find a new plot, a new character, anything to return to the good old days.
Rating:
Summary: What a disappointment
Review: I'm not sure what has happened to Tom Clancy in recent years. I guess he's been too successful and that he's just lost interest in his craft. What a tragedy. When at the top of his game (Red October, Clear and Present Danger, Debt of Honor), Clancy is one of the great entertainers in the history of fiction. That, of course, was when he was interested. Those days are clearly over. The decline that began in earnest with Rainbow Six has picked up considerable speed. The Bear and The Dragon is dreadful. Clancy retreads plot points from prior works throughout the book. The plot moves excruciatingly slowly. Characters repeat themselves ad nasuem. About 3/4 of the way through, I began to wonder if Clancy had even written the book. There were so many repetitions and blocks of incredibly clunky dialog that it appeared to me there were at least two different people telling the story. There were rumours a few years ago that Clancy used ghost writers. I didn't believe it then, but now I'm not so sure. It pains me to say this, but this is going to be the last Clancy book I buy. I'll keep my collection of his past great work, and every so often, I'll re-read his brilliant early stories. But no more. I'm tired of being disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: was slow in getting my interest
Review: The book could have been cut in half and been more interesting. It was slow in getting to the story. There were so many characters to keep track of that it took a while to sort them out. Jack Ryan is the president who sounds like he really doesn't like his job, which is contrary to what I have seen in the election battles which we have seen over the years. We have Russia which has discovered a huge oil field in Siberia and gold, another big find. We have China who wants it, the United States who is trying to help Russia (which is just the opposite of what we have seen in years, the U.S. trying to build and strengthen Russia, the very country we have been opposed to all these years?). The greed I can see, in fact, right now, we are in a war fighting for oil, so it just doesn't ring true. The book was so-so and I can't really say I would recommend it. This doesn't mean that I wouldn't read another of his books because I would, because he has written some great ones.
Rating: 
Summary: Bear and Dragon thrills despite a few missteps....
Review: A Russian intelligence official is the target of a deadly assasination attempt in Moscow.... A vast new oil field is discovered in the remote expanses of Siberia.... In Beijing, an ambitious minister and a large faction of China's People's Liberation Army plot an ambitious invasion of a seemingly weakened Russian Republic.... In Washington, D.C., President John Patrick Ryan and his administration must find out who is behind the plot to kill Sergei Golovko, a former KGB official and erstwhile rival (now friend) of Ryan's from his days in the CIA. When the resulting Russo-American investigation points to Chinese operatives who want to weaken Russia's intelligence services, everyone starts wondering: why? And when the pieces of the puzzle start falling in place, American and Russian forces scramble to defend Siberia and its natural resources from an act of naked aggression by the People's Republic of China. Tom Clancy's tenth novel, The Bear and Dragon, returns to the arena of large-scale conventional warfare. While at times Clancy's conservative agenda becomes grating, as a piece of speculative fiction it works. The Bear and the Dragon also ties up some leftover narrative threads from Debt of Honor, Executive Orders, and Rainbow Six. The "heavy" is that mysterious Chinese minister, Zhang Han Sen, who was a shadowy force behind America's war with Japan and the subsequent Persian Gulf war between the U.S. and the United Islamic Republic. Also returning for a repeat engagement is the young CIA field officer Chester "Chet" Nomura. Long-time Clancy supporting cast members John Clark, "Ding" Chavez, Ed and Mary Pat Foley, Bart Mancuso, and Robert "Robby" Jackson join President Ryan as he faces one of the worst crises the world has known since the end of the Cold War. Despite its length and sometimes heavy-handed preachiness about what Clancy perceives as China's worst human right excesses, The Bear and the Dragon still entertains. I prefer Red Storm Rising, Clancy's World War III classic, but this novel is never boring and, near the end, gets downright spellbinding.
Rating:
Summary: lacked depth and focus
Review: Summary:
I listened to this book on CD, which might explain why I don't have all of the details and didn't find the book too convincing. Jack Ryan, now President of the U.S., finds himself in the midst of a major crisis as a failed assassination on the head of the Soviet SVR (formerly the KGB) is closely followed by the announcements of the discovery of gold and oil in Russian controlled Siberia as well as an increase in troop movements on China's northern border. Ryan's associates, along with the help of a number of well located spies and CIA agents, including John Clark, accurately predict what China is doing, step-by-step, and are constantly ahead of them. Though the Russian army stationed in Siberia is out-manned and out-gunned, with the help of emergency troops, propaganda, and spy planes sent in by the U.S., they are able to essentially cut off and then destroy the army China has sent into Siberia to claim the newly found gold and oil. At the same time, Ryan's associates are also able to foil a plot on his own life and the story ends with the leadership of China being transformed from a despotic communism to democracy. Jack Ryan wins again. My Comments:
As noted above, I listened to this book on CD. Apparently the paperback book has over 1,000 pages. I think most of my criticisms might be addressed by the fact that the version I listened to was abridged. So, you may want to read the book instead of listening to the CDs after you read what I have to say. The first problem with this novel is that it tries to present an epic-sized battle with massive troop movements in a 'world-war' type scenario, but doesn't really get into the thick of it. There are a few chapters from the perspective of the leaders of the different forces on the ground, but they are so sparse that you really don't get a feel for what is going on. There is also a lot of intrigue going on in the FBI, CIA, SVR, and the leaderships of all of the countries involved (Russia, the U.S., and China), but the coverage of all of this is very shallow - you don't really get a sense that the author has a clue what he's taling about. This may be because the CD version is abridged, but there just wasn't any real development of the war and everything that would go into. Another problem was that this novel, despite supposedly being another in the Jack Ryan series, spends all of about 30 minutes actually following Jack Ryan. I didn't feel like Ryan was the focus of the story at all. Perhaps, as noted numerous times now, this is taken care of in the actual novel, but I was definitely not impressed with the treatment of Ryan. As for the rest of the characters, the only one that really sees any development is the Japanese spy who develops a relationship with a secretary of one of the leaders of the Chinese government. I actually felt like I knew him better than the rest of the characters in the novel. Overall, this may be a good novel, but definitely not in this format. I think I'd like to read the novel to really compare the two, but I definitely wouldn't recommend this version.
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