Rating: 
Summary: Major disappointment and needless polemic
Review: I've read every Clancy novel and loved each one. Maybe you just can't maintain such a high level all the time. But it seems he's substituting quantity for quality in this tome. The story line was expected, and picked up where the last novel left off. But we have to endure about 900 pages of preliminary chess moves until we get to the real meat. And then, it was disapointing. We are told over and over that the Russian Army and especially the Far Eastern Command can't defend against a determined Boy Scout Troop. Yet the fight comes comes off more like a Nintendo game than combat with the worlds largest standing army.But what really did the book in was the frequent social and political commentary. For example, when Mrs. Ryan complains about some small thing Jack has done, Jack thinks that all women just need something to complain about. And the frequent references to Clinton is tired. It could be time to retire Jack Ryan and John Clark. Maybe I'll just retire from Clancy! Rock Chalk, y'all...
Rating: 
Summary: Too long, too little, nothing new
Review: It is very disappointing to write a poor review on a Clancy novel. One of my favorite authors. The good is that you get to renew all the characters of the previous books that have not been killed off and you enjoy. The story line is disappointing in that it is almost a rehash of the last books with different villians. The most disappointing is even though the book is 1000 pages none of the characters has enough of a central theme to identify with unless they are old friends from previous readings. There were pages upon pages of preaching on all kinds of issues somewhat akind to Ann Rand (Atlas Shrugged). Hope he can find the forumula if there is a next book.
Rating:
Summary: The Bear and the Dragon
Review: The worst of the Jack Ryan series. None of the usual suspense, Jack & his circle know everything that's going to happen before it happens because of a conveniently placed spy. There's none of the usual multiple sub-plots to speak of, just the impending conflict between Russia & China. And even that's gets resolved in just the last few pages via the now popular 3-4 day war. The usual cast we've grown to know are all burdened with bit parts that really contribute nothing to the story, with a couple of them placed in highly improbable/unsatisfying positions. It's all the more disappointing because it appears to be the last of a very interesting and entertaining series. Definitely Clancy's weakest effort.
Rating: 
Summary: OK, Not Great
Review: This is one of Clancy's less exciting novels. He extends the Patrick Ryan set of characters, and they are good to spend time with again. The plot is less complicated than some of his earlier works. That's definitely a plus. He sets the story line within a strong moral framework, that I felt worked very well. Overall though, a bit too long, a bit too self-conscious. But still worth the read.
Rating:
Summary: Tom Clancy as POTUS
Review: Tom Clancy is not only the originator of the "techno-thriller" genre, he is also a master of writing multiple theatres of simultaneous action. He reached his peak at this in the novel Debt of Honor which ended with Jack Ryan not only becoming President but the rest of the government almost completely wiped out. In Executive Orders, Clancy continues the story of Ryan as President and facing an international conspiracy designed to further cripple the United States. In The Bear and the Dragon, Ryan has been elected to the office Of POTUS in his own right but there is another global conspiracy that he has to deal with. This time, however, the United States joins forces with the "new" Russia against China and her hard line, shortsighted leaders. The last two books in the Jack Ryan saga, however, are markedly different from his previous thrillers in that an extensive amount of print is devoted to Clancy's (as Jack Ryan) personal political philosophy. The story lines themselves are quite intriguing and well thought out, as usual. I found, however, that if the political editorializing were left out, the manuscripts would be shorter by at least 200 pages. For me, that interfered with the pace of the story and ended up leaving the page turning action to the very end of the book.
Rating:
Summary: Star Trek, racism and Chinese food.
Review: After Rainbow Six, I promised myself that I would wait for the paperback of his next book. Well I didn't but I should have. The book is crying out for an editor. Is Clancy too big these days and editors are afraid of him? Repetition, repetition repetition. We hear Ryan complaining about the same thing on numerous occasions. We hear about him sneaking around like a schoolboy getting a cigarette numerous times. We have at least five Star Trek references. We hear about Mao's sexual habits more than once. We hear about Chinese food from two different characters in almost the exact same words. Two characters have the same name in the book. Every character in the book thinks environmentalists are tree-huggers. The obvious blatant racism against the Chinese is distasteful Ryan has turned into a virtual dictator. Where is the senate? Does the government exist anymore? Wars are ridiculously easy to win (If you are American) Ryan used to be a likable almost human character. The books used to be soundly grounded in reality. They now have a surreal atmosphere. What's next? I can almost see Aliens (Klingons) attacking the earth and Ryan jumping into an F16 to fight them. It's really getting to that stage. Clancy should get one of his ghost writers from his other 'series' Op-center to write the next book for him (yes it is getting that bad) The next time, I'm not going to wait for the paperback, it's a visit to the library for me.
Rating:
Summary: Clancy Has Lost The Touch
Review: Tom Clancy has finally run out of things to write. As a (past) Clancy lover, I believe I have every right to stand by that comment. His new book is nothing more than a platform for Clancy to mouth off his half-way thought through political ideas, most of which are unconstitutional. A big military power needing oil? Didn't we see that before? Character development? He completely relies on the development from past books. I can't IMAGINE what someone who has never read Clancy before thought of this. Editing? I wish I had written them down, but the amount of times he repeated lines, anecdotes, and so-calle "military jargon" was absurd. I have never wasted so much time. The only reason I even finished the book was to keep with my philosophy that no book is so bad that it can't be finished. This book has made me wonder.
Rating:
Summary: Oh, please........
Review: The Bear and The Dragon should be reclassified into the science fiction section. I am a fan of scifi and this book was as speculative and more contrived than most space opera. The "What-ifs" that Clancy uses to drive the plot no longer have any bearing on the world as we know it; it's now a Ryan-verse or a Clancy-verse. This book provides some of the old Clancy, but not nearly enough to justify its length or didactic tone. His first books were wonderful, and even Executive Orders kept me reading non-stop. This one just seems tired and contrived. Aside from it's relation to the "real world," this book reads like bad propaganda. The Chinese are bad, the Russians are clueless and America is the Great Savior of the World. Yeah. I feel safe and secure to live in country with superb military might that can wipe out entire enemy divisions without taking any knocks of its own. I'm not sure I completely believe that --but if we are as wonderful as Mr. Clancy makes us out to be, he had better prepare for another Demoncratic term in the White House because he just shot up one of Mr. Bush's main campaign planks. ooops On another note completely, the dialogue and language in this book were awful! I sincerely hope that top government officials and heads of state don't talk to each other in such terms. I understand that the Ryan Government are just regular joes -- but hopefully the best and brightest America has to offer has a better and more extensive vocabulary than the F-word to express dismay, concern, outrage, whatever. And, the use of the C-word is so offensive that I almost stopped reading. He needs to get over the thrill of using profanity, and get back to writing. I hope the next Ryan book returns to the basics, and maybe finds some new characters to concentrate on. Having Jack swearing at world events from the Oval Office just isn't that exciting. Maybe it's time for the Ryan-verse to come to a close. But that would be too bad.
Rating:
Summary: Too Long and Too Morally Preachy
Review: It's bad enough that Tom Clancy feel like he has to bring back every living character from his previous books and tell their story again but in this book he also dishes out his feelings on Bill Clinton and Abortion. If he could just have a few characters retire or maybe get killed in action he could cut out about 200 pages. Also it's so obvious that he is taking swipes at Clinton that it gets annoying. I'm not a Clinton fan either but enough is enough. Levae the morality out of it. Cardinal of the Kremlin is still the worst Clancy book but this one is down there with it.
Rating:
Summary: Sounds like most people are on the same page . . .
Review: Came back to alert potential buyers to serious flaws in this latest Clancy work, but it looks like most of it has already been covered. Seems like Clancy was rushing to meet a deadline and didn't give his editors a chance. Plot lines that go nowhere. Characters (the few new ones) that never get developed. Most importantly, about 400 pages too long (take them out of the first 600). Obviously no one had time to proofread as the book is literally rife with typos, misspells, and tourtured constructions. If you are a Clancy fan like me, you'll buy it and read it anyway, but I hope enought people don't that he gets his act back together for the next one.
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