Rating: 
Summary: Caffeine Addiction
Review: Tom Clancy is not a very good writer. I'm not sure he ever really was. He could come up with a story, though. But now he seems to have dispensed with the skills of an editor and allowed Jack Ryan to become his ultra conservative spokesperson. And without a credible story, this book is thoroughly disappointing. Demeaning to the Chinese and women, and with most of the characters thoroughly undeveloped and one dimensional, the 1000 pages become a strain. As usual, Clancy characters don't have conversations, they lecture each other instead. And they drink coffee. Lots of it. Anyone with a lot of time on their hands might use it to figure out just how many cups of coffee have been downed in all the Clancy books put together. It would be more interesting than this foul mouthed, misogynistic and racist bunkum.
Rating: 
Summary: He crammed 200 pages of information into 700 pages of type.
Review: The first 700 pages were mostly boring - developing each character way too much. All kinds of subplots that have little or nothing to do with the main book. If I didn't have a lot of time on my hands following surgery I would have put the book down long ago. Don't waste your money on this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Not his best, but still a good read
Review: The last few pages are extremely hoaky, but until then the book moves along well and preserves plausibility.
Rating:
Summary: Worse Clany novel yet
Review: I was looking forward to reading the newest Clancy novel. Most of the time I can't put it down but this one I could. There is hardly any action in this book. Most of his books have been action packed. We also get to read about Clancy's views on abortion. This book is not worth the money. Wait till you can get it at an used book store.
Rating: 
Summary: I dont know what all the negative stuff is about....
Review: Personally, I didn't think that this book was all that bad. Yes i agree the derogatory terms on the Asians went a bit overboard, but i think it was probably done to show the bigotry of the people.. I mean, you cant expect humans to talk super nicely about people they are at war with, and so i dont think we should really dog Mr. Clancy for it either....Anyways, the book itself wasnt all that bad...Clancy changed course a bit when he had the Russians and Americans hanging out together, but it was a good change. The battles that actually transpired were very cool, and nicely written. The book did take a little while to start with, and i admit that i might not have finished if it wasn't for the underlying sense of intrigue and other cool stuff waiting to happen. The people who go off on the book cause they are 300 pgs. in and think its not going to amount to anything need to continue reading, they are barely more than 1/3 of the way through. I saw some comments also mentioning the cursing and increased sexuality..The sexuality part really trails off after a while, becomes that particualar aspect really doesnt need any more clarification, and we get the idea anyways. The language part didnt seem too terrible to me..Im sure not all of it was necessary, but i still dont think it is as bad as some people say, certainly not more than "clear and present danger". I enjoyed the book very much, though it took me over a week to read, but i dont argue with length, it just makes the book more in-depth and interesting. The only apparent problem with the book was that with so many subplots going on i think Clancy got lost and forgot to go back to them occasionally, but other than that I recommend it, just give it a while, and believe me, it will pull you in.
Rating: 
Summary: Another Classic by TC
Review: Except for the 1000+ page volume, this is a first rate and every bit of an equal work to his previous efforts! The characters and the plot are enthralling! Every time you set this book down, you will find yourself drawn back to it! It is a must buy for any true Clancy fan!
Rating:
Summary: Great, Typical Clancy
Review: Okay, let's understand something. This review is for normal people who enjoy reading a good book. If you are one of the people who has written one of those nasty reviews I've read, please don't bother. I find that kind of rhetoric annoying and hypocritical. If you believe Clancy is a horrible author, then WHY ARE YOU BUYING HIS BOOKS ANYWAY?! So, if you are capable of writing a book better than Tom Clancy, please send it to me, then complain about how bad he is. Spare me the stupidity.This book is exactly what a true Clancy fan loves: heart-stopping suspense, techno-thrilling detail, and an unbelievable plot. And that's the best thing of all: this book is completely unbelievable, as in you know it could never happen, hence making it an extrememly readable book. No country, Communist or not, would stoop to the level of China in this book. I'll spare you the details, you can read the synopsis for that, just remember that if you love Clancy and the way he writes, this is a book you should buy. If, on the other hand, you're a two-dimensional, non-independent thinker who believes himself one to judge a great author, don't bother. Oh and one other thing, when people write reviews, do me a favor and spell check, why would you want to look like a fool?
Rating:
Summary: No credibility
Review: Tom Clancy's recent book is not match compared to Red October. The Bear and the Dragon offers a political plot that is hardly convincing and a military story that cannot be believed.
Rating:
Summary: Predictable, long, slow, and heavy
Review: I'm hooked on Clancy's Jack Ryan series, and I was happy to see a new installment published. However, after lifting this weighty tome once, I knew I was in for a long haul. The sheer size of this book, at 1000+ pages, makes it hard to carry on the train. Unfortunately, that wasn't my only problem. The Bear and the Dragon picks up after Rainbow Six; Ryan is still the Prez and Clark is still in England running his team of hotshots. The basic premise is that Russia, a starving, collapsing nation that is merely a shadow of its former self, suddenly has the good fortune to find not merely an enormous oil field in Siberia but also a gold mine. Poof! Russia is back on the map. Unfortunately for Mother Russia, their neighbors to the south---China---are short on money, short on land, and have ticked off the United States so badly that Ryan has ordered a trade embargo against them. Russia's new wealth looks mighty tempting. In addition to all this, an assassin misses his target---Golovko, the Russian head of intelligence and a key character in the Ryan series---and an American spy has seduced his way into Chinese intelligence headquarters. Russia needs American assistance, and the Americans have the military power and information to help as well as a President that the Russians can relate to. Very convenient. These tangled storylines are twisted further by the subplots---the lousy seduction scenes between the American spy and the Chinese secretary; the infighting among members of Chinese parliament; the detailed descriptions of how lousy and untrained Russia's military is; the manhunt for the assassin in Russia; the upgrading of American anti-missile technology; Ryan's unending whine about being President; US/China trade talks full of diplospeak; and the bizarre anti/pro abortion storyline that ends up with murdered clergy and goes into depth about how illegal newborns are killed in population-controlled China. The last drawback, and the biggest I imagine for any Chinese readers, is the profound quantity of ethnic slurs peppered throughout the book. Clancy has an obvious bias against Chinese (and perhaps all Asians, if you consider that Japan was the enemy in Debt of Honor) and his characters take this prejudice to the extreme. When reading this book in public, I was often embarrassed by things that were said and would look up to make certain no one else could see me reading such things. It is possible to make people enemies for the purposes of fiction without slandering them, regardless of your own opinions of their culture. In essence, this is a heavy, slow, convoluted book. It has always been my practice when reading Clancy to skip the pages and pages of excruciating detail about military movements, bomb-building, virus particles, etc and move on with the story. The problem here is that every aspect of the story is bogged down by such detail. It has the potential to be a great novel, but the lack of serious editing weighs it down.
Rating:
Summary: What Happened???
Review: I am so disappointed. Meaningless pornographic sex, nedless swear words galore, endless preaching (literally, in some cases) and almost no action. Ugh. What happened to the story, the drama, the action? Almost no one does anything but whine and complain. Diplomats, president, field agent. Doesn't matter who the character is, no one is happy anymore and they've all lost their zest to do their jobs. I was very excited to get my hands on this book, and then it actually took several trys to get even a couple of chapters into it. I nearly stopped reading it several times. I just didn't expect to have to work that hard to get to the good stuff. Looks like Mr. Clancy is writing for the paycheck and getting paid by the word to do it. What a letdown.
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