Rating: 
Summary: Awful, Just awful.
Review: If one wanted to read Mr. Clancy's views on everything from Social Security to proper discourse between nations in the new world order, then this is the book for you. If you already follow news or get a daily paper and don't feel like being preached to for eight or nine hundred pages, then move on.
Rating:
Summary: The Boor and the Drag-on
Review: The last Tom Clancy book I will ever buy. After 100 pages I've ground to a halt. I can't take it any more.Tom, do yourself a favour: hire an editor. Hire 10 editors. Better yet, get yourself copies of JK Rowling's 'Harry Potter' books. Written for children, but light-years ahead of anything you can do.
Rating:
Summary: What a waste!
Review: I don't want to just pile on here like everyone else, but this book was such a monumental waste of time I'd feel remiss if I didn't say something. Much like the other reviewers here I'm a big fan of Clancy's earlier works. However, I'm beginning to lose faith in what was once one of my favorite writers. In "The Bear and the Dragon", I found most of the dialogue to be tedious and repetitive. The plot line wanders along with all the purpose of a random Arctic ice berg. Look out Titanic fans! If you value your time even in the slightest do yourself a favor, pass on this book and wait for more reader reaction before picking up Clancy's next tome. I wish I'd had the foresight to do so this time around.
Rating:
Summary: Yawn yawn....booooring
Review: As an old Clancy/Ryan fan, this one just didn't make the cut. Tired storyline, much too long. About 1/3 of the book is editorializing about the presidency and about "evil" China - no place for all that waffle in a novel of this kind. I waded through to the end, but it was barely worth it. Of all the Ryan novels, this has got to be the worst. Certainly not worthy of all the others. Sad to see.
Rating: 
Summary: Give me Strategy and keep the Partisan Politics
Review: Don't get me wrong, I did read the latest book from cover to cover, and could not put it down. I did get tired of Jack Ryan's extra conservative political views. I guess it should be expected since he is Catholic and he is President now. I miss the old days when he could be a neutral player and a great good guy, but when he complains about evolution, abortion, and gay rights, I get kind of tired of it. I hope that the next book tones it down. There were pages that I skimmed right through, because they were boring details that did not add to the plot or excitement. I love TC books, but this was not anywhere near as good as W. Honor or Rainbow. I hope that the trend reverses itself and that I look forward to rereading his newer books as much as I do his older ones.
Rating: 
Summary: Gone is the accurate data of the early Clancy
Review: This book is o.k. if you just want to keep up with the continuing Ryan saga. I'm an active duty service member, though, and the problem is the sloopy basic research about weapons systems and the paper-thin caricatures based on real people. Clancy, with the help of Larry Bond and others, did incredibly detailed research that produced "Hunt For Red October" and "Red Storm Rising" that were pleasing for the professionals to read and interesting in terms of both story-line and technical detail for the civilian reader. This book doesn't live up to that early standard, continuing the downward spiral in terms of both technical and tactical accuracy that started with, at least, "Executive Orders." A casual read of Popular Science or Popular Mechanics would reveal that the Darkstar UAV is designed to, and can, reach targets from Guam (or probably Alaska to cover Siberia). So, why deploy it (taking up cargo space) to the theater. A check of Janes would reveal that the AH-64 Apache is armed with a 30mm cannon, not the 20mm cited in the book. The Chinese ICBMs also receive the wrong designation that might have been a typo that wasn't caught. Sure, these seem like minor nit but this kind of error wasn't generally found in Clancy's earlier works. It makes me wonder how much of this he really writes himself, anymore, vice letting the "Research Staff" do the writing, too, as is the case with the terrible OP CENTER series. It's also reflective of an arrogant attitude-"It's Clancy so it'll sell even if the accuracy isn't as good anymore." BTW, I wonder if Clancy and the editors ever thought of including.....A MAP of the area where the war is fought.
Rating:
Summary: Think of it as a year of a decent television series
Review: Let's be a little more diplomatic. Clancy is focusing on size first. Lots of stuff happens. If you like diversity of topics, and a lot of it, you'll be pleased. Clancy is like a television writer. Not too deep, plenty to read, you'll still learn a lot, like always. For all those who wanted War and Peace, I have a pretty simple suggestion. Me personally, I take months to read Clancy books. I give myself an hour or so, once or twice a week, and the experience is enjoyable. The point of a thousand page book is not to finish it in a week. A work of this size is meant to accompany you through a season or two. Be warned, though... Clancy books are basically unedited, straight from the man's typewriter. There are some ill effects. Tom Clancy repeats himself a lot in this book. Tom Clancy repeats himself a lot in this book. Everybody calls computers: 'puters. Everybody knows that an ICBM drops 7-8 times faster than a rifle bullet flies through the air. Everybody compares Chinese to Klingons. There are as many references to the 'd' word and 'sausage' as there are paragraph breaks. And yes, everybody uses the word: puke. Ryan doesn't reflect much deeper than: why the 'f' am I here? And Ryan does this a lot. So Clancy doesn't read his own stuff... the dude just keeps typing... fair enough. I could have given a more literary review of this work, but that's not what you are here to read, is it? ;) You're at this page, you're gonna drop the [money], and you know I'm right. Click the order button and get on with it.
Rating:
Summary: One for the "plot", another for "effort"
Review: Let me try to be objective here without any spoilers, which is no easy thing. Clancy's books I liked : Patriot Games, Hunt for the Red October, Cardinal of the Kremlin, Clear and Present Danger, Sum of All Fears, Without Remorse, and to some extent, Debt of Honour and Executive Orders. Had not the chance to read Red Storm Rising, yet. What I liked about his stories : 1. Originality 2. Realistic characters, with strengths and vulnerabilities and faults. 3. Very diverse lines to development until brought together neatly. 4. More-or-less accurate information technology What is lacking in The Bear and the Dragon ? All of the above. Plus spelling errors and errors in grammar. 1. Originality - a kind way to put it is the premise has been done with Red Storm Rising - big country, big army, desperate for oil and resources. 2. Realistic characters - the only realistic guy is the undersecretary of state, the treacherous amoral twerp, others carry haloes around their heads or pitchforks with tails. 3. Diverse plots - the only bit of mystery of the assassination attempt, and even then, it was weak. Without giving away the story, my guess is that most people can guess the development and the ending even before they are halfway through the book. 4. Information Technology - how easily can the computer of a PA to a minister be tapped. Clancy was mixing 70s technology with the 90s (not 2000s) hardware. Good grief. That is about the most clumsy way to plant a bug and it succeeded. Clancy portraits the Chinese the way they were in the 70s - 80s, technologically and culturally. Wake up, their governments' IT hardware may not be up to par with Europe's or America's but they are certainly not in the stone-age. Another thing is the rest of the world would not idly stand by when China invades Russia. China has a lot of close links with the governments and economies of Europe and South East Asia and North Asia. Did they simply disappear ? Credibility aside, Clancy seems to be preaching Americanism. Good luck with the next book, now that the last superpower crumbles under the American might, Ryan would be preaching Americanism to the Klingons next.
Rating:
Summary: Clancy's Lowest Point
Review: As a reader who has purchased everyone of Clancy's books within days of hitting the shelves and finishing them days later, I must say that this is his worst. I still have yet to finish this one (page 700)and I am almost dreading going back to it. Call me crazy but I feel an "obligation" at this point to finish. His work has steadily declined. The inconsequential story lines seem to take forever to gel and I am getting tired of Jack's moral dilemnas and fustrations with being in the White House. This could be the end of Clancy as one of my must read authors.
Rating:
Summary: Almost unreadable
Review: Oh dear, I so much wanted to like this book. Like many of the reviewers, I've been a TC fan ever since "Red October". Unfortunately, this book falls far short of his best work, starting with the amount of filler. I enjoy a long meaty novel, but I had to force myself to get through this. The story dragged for several hundred pages in the middle and then resolved itself ridiculously quickly in about 20 pages. If you read TC, you know to expect an emphasis on tight action sequences, good suspense and military jargon, instead of on dialogue or serious character development (although there are some exceptions). But there is no excuse for the trite, unbelievable language and one-dimensional characters. In addition, I found myself wincing whenever I ran across the numerous typos or the repetitions in description. Come on, didn't they think the readers would notice this stuff? Many people have complained about the political/social views of the Jack Ryan character and how they mirror Tom Clancy's. If that's the way he wants to write the book, so be it. It is not necessary for me to be 100% in agreement with a character to enjoy a good story. However, I am disappointed that the Jack Ryan character turned in such a weak, ineffective, whiny performance in this book. I was looking forward to seeing him in action again after a virtual hiatus in "Rainbow Six", but it wasn't worth the wait. I have given this book two stars because of a few redeeming enjoyable moments. But those were overweighed by the length, the trite characterizations (especially of the Chinese, who were very poorly drawn) and the heavy-handed moralizing. Again, this is not an issue of agreement. Whether or not I agree with Mr. Clancy's social policies is unimportant -- I just wish he had given us a real reason to stay interested in these characters.
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