Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing and Somewhat Offensive
Review: This book is a only a shadow of the quality and storytelling ability that we have previously come to expect from Clancy.Contrary to many of Clancy's other works, this book demonstrates little or no understanding of China and even begs the question of whether the author has ever visited or indeed spoken to anyone who has visited China within the last 10 years. Even after factoring the necessity for atmosphere and a certain realism in dialogue, this book is clearly bigoted and racist in its treatment, description and characterization of the Chinese in addition to being factually flawed. I have enjoyed at least six of Clancy's previous books, however the Author seemed to be merely going through the motions to make some money here.
Rating: 
Summary: Overall, a great read if somewhat unoriginal
Review: OK, Russia possessing oil and gold, an attempted assassination of their intelligence leader, a Chinese plot to invade Siberia . . . hang on, didn't Eric L. Harry do this one in PROTECT AND DEFEND, as another reviewer quite rightly said? The answer may be yes, but in spite of this gripe, this Clancy monster is well worth a read. There's one thing you all know about Tom Clancy. You either love him or hate him. The regular characters - President Jack Ryan, John Clark(in his RAINBOW SIX guise!), Ed and Mary Pat Foley, Sergey Golovko and the evil genius Chinese leader Zhang Han San, who featured in EXEC ORDERS in a subplot that seemed to go nowhere . . . well now it's finally continued. Right. The multiple plots involve US-Japanese CIA agent Chester Nomuri buying lingerie(no blatant advertising as Clancy did for a whole chapter on where it came from, what it was made of, etc, etc(yawn)) for Zhang's secretary Lian Ming to seduce her - in order to get military secrets? Come on!Even Colin Forbes's cheesy portrayals of Britain's SIS are more plausible than this! Next, trade relations break down between the US and China after the shooting of Vatican archbishops promoting Christianity in China to give the country a new purpose - live on satellite TV(another advert for a news channel in THIS chapter!). China is in crisis. When the oil and gold reserves are learned of, the big shooting war begins. This section alone is enough to warrant this book 4 stars as badly prepared Russian forces and assisted by the US, and the latest in military technology. And the climax, well, that was a winner, but not giving too much away, it would have been more fun if things had worked out differently . . . Not to worry. If you can get over the elephantine narrative, the ultra-right-wing opinions forced down the reader's throat - although Clancy is quite Consitutional, he is entitled to express his views, albeit himself or through the dialogue of a fictional character - the sometimes unintentionally funny satire in the White House scenes with Ryan and Arnie Van Damm(President's advisor) discussing the day's issues(and polar bear rugs and health nazis!), you have a thoroughly entertaining novel. The last 250 pages or so is well worth getting to! Though, of Clancy's recent novels, RAINBOW SIX is preferable. Read all the reviews here and judge for yourself.
Rating: 
Summary: Could Clancy be losing his touch?
Review: I waited eagerly for this book and bought it the first day it was out. I really thought this was going to be a good read complete with unexpected twists and turns, intregue, very original ideas, good characterization, and a tight plot. Instead of a finely woven tapestry, I got a lot of machismo without much substance. Instead of playing to his strengths (multi-level character interactions, good plotting, unexpected developments, resourceful villains), I thought he cranked this book out without much thought. If he would have changed the four things below, he could have had a real winner: 1) Unbelievable Character Names: Cardinal DiMilo(as in Venus de Milo), Ge(Spear)--Need some original names here -not stereotypes 2) Predictable War Outcome: What makes these books great are the "what ifs" we ask ourselves. The more original the "what if", the more fascinating it is. The war against Japan and the UIR already happened in Tom Clancy's world, why was the war with China so similar? Secondly, if the Chinese decided to invade Russia, don't you think that they'd be smarter about it? Where were the special forces cutting rail and communication lines? -After all, the story says they've been training for a possible operation into Russia for years. Why were they so sloppy about it? In addition, what made "Rainbow 6" great was the lack of a true war. It was more subdued and insidious. This subtlety made for a great story. 3) Few Good characters: I thought the "good guys" in the Chinese Politburo were somewhat interesting, but the villians were just plain boring. There was nothing insidious about them. Where was the detail we saw in fleshing out the Japanese financier-turned-puppetmaster in "Debt of Honor", or the leader of the UIR? Both of these characters were devious and intelligent. The Chinese, who were supposedly partially behind the conflicts in "Debt of Honor" and "Executive Orders" came across as buffoons. Frankly, I expected much more. 4) No twists and turns: Chuck Nomuri didn't worry about getting caught, the Russians and Americans had almost no bad luck, and the spy-vs-spy subplot through the streets of Moscow could have been much more suspenseful. Worst of all, Tom missed a wonderful cliffhanger opportunity at the end of the book, ensuring an audience for his next one. Even the post-conflict wrap-up seemed just too "tidy". What happens now? Where will the next book go? Who's left to fight? Lastly, the military "tough guy" talk, and hardware descriptions make a good story better, but without that, they might as well be an awesome special effect in a bad movie----out of place and vain. He's done better.
Rating:
Summary: Call me a disappointed -- nay, shocked -- fan
Review: Because this is going to be a very negative review, I should perhaps establish my bona fides at the outset. I am a long-time Tom Clancy fan who has bought every one of his main books in hard cover going back to RED OCTOBER. I also have no patience for political correctness. Yet, after finishing Bear and Dragon -- a task I had put off for over a year after buying the book -- I must join the apparently lengthy list of former fans who were turned off by this book. Here's why: 1. Bloat: Clancy's editors must be terrified of his gun collection. This book sprawls across 1028 pages to tell a story that could be summarized in a couple of sentences. Repetition abounds--the claim that Mao was a pedophile is repeated at least half-a-dozen times. 2. The embarassing sex scenes. Before his divorce, Clancy used to pride himself on the absence of sex from his books. In interviews, he laid great stress on his Catholicism and always claimed the moral highground. He still claims that highground, with snide comments on the sexual pecadillos of Bill Clinton and Mao. Yet, he gives us several turgid sex scenes with such sparkling prose as the phrase "japanese sausage," which he uses to describe a male character's genitalia. A very high yuck factor. 3. The lack of realism. Of course, the US and its unlikely ally prevail. And without a scratch. And, of course, our technology works like magic. Yet, we now know from BDA from Kosovo and Iraq, that the fancy technology does not work as well as Clancy claims. And does he really expect to us to believe that China would invade Russia to get a gold mine? Or that a Vatican nuncio would conduct an Operation Rescue-like raid on an abortion clinic? Or that a covert operation would arrive at a nuclear missle site just in time to watch a missle launch (although I admit it will make a good visual in the movie)? And the list goes on. I'm perfectly willing to suspend disbelief for the sake of a good story, but this is beyond the pale. 4. The rampant racism. Even with my limited sensitity to political correctness, I was bothered by the incessant use of racist and sexist language. In sum, yuck.
Rating:
Summary: Put Away the Word Processor
Review: Sadly, Tom Clancy has discovered that his word processor makes it possible to keep cranking out words that don't tell a good story. Maybe if he had to re-type all that stuff he would be more selective. There may be a good 300-page book hiding in there but I kept losing track of characters, plot lines and any semblence of sustained suspense. In fact, along about mid way I realized I didn't care what happened to any of the people. Tom, get youself a really good editor and pay attention. Your writer's hubris has caused you to become a charicature of yourself. I give it one star because it took a lot of work -- mostly wasted -- to write a book so long for such small purpose. Maybe that's worth something.
Rating:
Summary: FORGOTTEN THE RULES!
Review: The basic rule of the thriller apart from good characterization is the tautness of plot, that is that every paragraph, every page should advance the story. Sadly Tom Clancy seems to have forgotten this and treats us to a 700 page preamble that had me wondering if I should sign up to save the rain forests. The paper used in the last third of the story was worthwhile and that's about the best I can say for it. Even so I often wonder how such works receive such tremendous critical acclaim - it is no different here in Britain or the rest of Europe. For anyone interested in how you write and produce a work far superior to this and in half the pages I urge you to read English techno-thriller writer John Templeton Smith's 'White Lie' - JTS is one of the most underrated of writers, but then we Brits haven't got a clue about marketing. In the meanwhile, may I respectfully suggest that you wait for Harrison Ford in the movie (I'm a big fan of the popcorn!)
Rating:
Summary: Hugely Disappointing
Review: As a long time Jack Ryan fan, I must say it is truly time to end the series!! The last few books pale greatly in comparison to his previous adventures. It seems now Clancy is just filling space (all 1100 pages) rather then telling a compelling story. The plot was simplistic and predictable from the first 100 pages. The story goes one tangents which are pointless and serve to annoy the reader. The language was offensive, excessive and thoroughly unncessary. One would surely hope that within a discussion between the POTUS and his cabinent, they could refrain from the racist language prevalent throughout the book. MOST IMPORTANTLY-Clancy has deviated from his successful strategy of writing a compelling novel with interesting characters and plot twists. What is left is Jack Ryan as a caricature of the perfect American, in the perfect family. Throughout the book, Clancy has this annoying repetitive story line of how difficult it is to be such a perfect man in such a terrible job as president. For good measure, Clancy reveals his own ultra-conservative political leanings through Ryan's diatribes against abortion, ethnic tolerance and other social issues. Ryan, the heroic CIA operative, is reduced to a Pat Robertson-like president, whining and complaining about the difficulties of morality in the modern era. Please Mr. Clancy, you would do all your readers a great service if you stuck to action stories and avoid the social treatise. Lastly, Mr. Clancy reveals his simplistic view of international relations and diplomacy. Under no scenario, even the most structural realist view, would NATO ever expand to include Russia. NATO as every political novice knows, exists for only two purposes, 1) to keep Germany in check and 2) to keep Russia out. There is no way that European nation-states would ever vote Russia in. In addition, he made very little attempt to try and explain why defending Russia in the first place was in the U.S.'s national interest. Just because it is morally correct, or because there are friendly is not sufficient. To all the undecided readers, save your money and buy something else.
Rating: 
Summary: Great story, but wwwwaaaaayyyy too long
Review: I loved the early Jack Ryan novels. Fast paced, unpredictable, lots of technical war "stuff" so I had high hopes for this one. I thought that even its thickness was a benefit: foreshadowing even more of what I like about Clancy's novels, or so I thought. Having just finished wading through it, though, I can only conclude that Clancy mis-used his (well-earned) clout to resist his editor's cuts. Surely this book could have been 300 pages shorter with no noticeable loss? Instead it would have been more compelling and faster paced. The repetition alone was tiresome (how many times do we need to read that Mao liked 12yo virgins, please!), without the Ryan platitudes. They were there in previous books, and they helped round out his character, but this time round... yawn. There's some great twists and turns and its a good yarn overall. But don't rush to buy the hardcover, and don't be afraid to skim.
Rating:
Summary: The Bear and the Dragon
Review: The worst piece of crap I have ever laid eyes on.
Rating:
Summary: C'mon, Tom, how about some characterization?...
Review: If you have read any of Clancy's other books, you know he cannot do characters (or dialogue, and he has trouble with plot). Jack Ryan, Mrs. Dr. Ryan, the Secret Service, the National Security Advisor, Robby the Vice President, et al., are all thin, narrow, and often troubled people (Ryan hates his job, Dr. Ryan apparently has no rounds at the hospital, the Secret Service agent has morningsickness, etc.). So, does one expect better than that which has gone before? One would think that in 1,000 pages Clancy might be learning, but he is not. Too bad. Looks like I'm not learning, either, because I read all 1,000 pages, so who's the fool?
|
