Rating: 
Summary: My Kingdom For An Editor!
Review: As Jack Ryan ascends politically, the farther he is removed from what makes a Tom Clancy book readable -- the action. Consequently, presenting Ryan the statesman forces Clancy to actually write dialogue, a skill with which he is clearly ill-adept and uncomfortable. The stilted, repetitious prose is unbelievable in the true sense of that word -- i.e., a husband and wife (Jack and Cathy) or a man and his best friend (Jack and Robbie)do not have to provide an extended factual foundation for every thought they wish to convey to each other (for example, Jack simply need not say to his wife: "Since you are a surgeon, I know that you care for people, and therefore this situation impacts you more deeply . . . blah, blah, blah . . . finally, here's the point"). No wonder the book soars past 1000 pages, it seems that no one edited it! It is practically insulting that Clancy does not trust his readers to understand and interpret the complexities of his characters, especially considering that most of the readers of this book are surely not Clancy first-timers. Substantively, Clancy's use of Jack Ryan to espouse Clancy's own half-thought, wrongheaded political and social values is tiresome, and makes me like this character less and less. I remember not being able to finish "Executive Orders" the first time through since I was so turned off by its "Clancyism." Then a friend suggested that maybe I just wasn't reading it fast enough. Probably true. After all, the sooner you get through pap, the sooner you get to the action -- then, as usual, the pages really start turning.
Rating: 
Summary: "Gag me with a spoon"
Review: I got 200 pages into the book and could not go any farther. Even enduring a cross Atlantic flight with nothing to read was better then reading anymore. I have always found Clancy's books riveting but this one seemed to be nothing more then a venue for his political views. That wouldn't be so bad if there was believable characters or an interesting plot (Maybe it comes later, but I doubt it). It's time to kill of Jack Ryan he has become such a stereotype character he's not salvageable. My recommendation is save the money and read something interesting.
Rating: 
Summary: THE BEAR AND THE DRAGON - A conflict slowly unfolds
Review: There is plenty of room for another World War in the not-so-tame New World Order. This time the bear (Russia) and the dragon (China) fight over newly found Siberian treasures. The United States, now an ally of Russia, along with NATO, tries to restore peace to the region.Tensions with the Chinese have been building as they continue to violate the human rights of its own citizens, and now those of foreigners, including distinguished diplomats. President Jack Ryan flexes foreign trade sanctions as a show of resolve and morality, but to no avail. THE BEAR AND THE DRAGON is slow to unfold; then gets exciting in the last few hundred pages; and then abruptly ends. The prequel, EXCUTIVE ORDERS, was a page turner from start to finish. TOM CLANCY's new novel, THE BEAR AND THE DRAGON, doesn't have the same level of energy and excitement as his other Jack Ryan novels.
Rating:
Summary: Who wrote this book ??
Review: Did Tom Clancy, the author of Clear and Present Danger and Hunt for Red October, realy write all these pages of endless, bland, conflict-less dialogue-scenes from offices, bedrooms, offices, bars and then more offices, where people who all speak like CNN correspondents preach to each other about issues they already agree on ? It is probably a fact (like it is stated in the book) that most crimes are solved by accidents in real life. But this is not real life. If I wanted real life I would have bought a true crime or true espinogae book. Tom Clancy has often chided Hollywood for not getting the facts right. But at least they entertain (well, sometime they do), and that is the main function of fiction. Speaking of facts: A PC with notes from highly confidential talks between members of the politbearau is 1) connected to the internet (!) 2) The secretary using the machine can install new un-chekked software herself on this PC (!). I just don't beleive it ! Will the real Tom Clancy please come back !
Rating:
Summary: Wake me up, puhleaze!
Review: Five minutes ago, I told my wife and sons that this book was a HUGE disappointment. Being a big fan of Clancy, I could not wait for this book to come out. Usually it takes me at most, 3 days to read one of his books, but I am STILL working my way through this one after 6 days. So when my wife asked me why, I told her that this was a 400 page book stretched out forEVER. The first thing it reminded me of was when Ludlum started taking himself too seriously and writing huge boring books. So I told my wife that I was going to go online and check out the Amazon review's to see if my comments were indicative of others who read the book. And sure enough, the second review I read by I think the name was Lane Shelton, could have been written by me as the comments were ALL the same as mine. How many times do we have to hear this character ruminate that he didn't want the job, and doesn't know how to do it, but for the sake of the country he will do it. SHUT UP already, we got the point in the last few books but banging us over the head again and again and again is just ridiculous. And Clancy seems to be spending the entire book pontificating his moral authority and political beliefs thru this white knight who can do no wrong. I could not believe how repetitive he was in this book and I am only at page 500. It seems that he says the same sentance at least 3 different times, and he seems to be doing that on more than one sentance. In addition, Clancy repeats his political views, for example on abortion, over and over as if he hadn't told us yet. Tom, how many times do we have to hear about the 'previous' presidents preoccupation with sex. And is it just me, or did he just start adding slurs and salty language in huge doses to somehow make his characters more colorful and down to earth.? Ouch, stop me before I make this a 1 rating instead of my generous 2. Like the other reviewer I sort of want to cut to the end already as my arms are getting tired from holding up this overweight, over wordy and over done book.
Rating:
Summary: too many words
Review: okay, i can see a theme at work in the words of my fellow reviewers. 1st, a bizarre synopsis in 'china attacks mother russia' 2nd, lots of pontificating through characters we all know well 3rd, an incomplete factual understanding of technology and logistics 4th, a plot that couldn't take place in the Real World and i have to say, i'm as loyal a TC reader and so found it interesting to see how all the characters are doing. but fundamentally, the Ryan Universe has been pushed way past it's lifespan. sure, 20 years ago, when Ryan was just a lowly CIA stiff, books were only a few hundred pages (red october, patriot games, cardinal) and also much better, and most of the people weren't even names yet (nomuri, winston, gregory, chavez, etc), Clancy could make up anything he wanted and you could believe it because it wasn't contradicted by the simplest of worldly observations. but now, after 3 presidents in the Real World and 4 presidents in the false, many of the original points of continuity between them have dissolved. which brings us to the latest novel. as the Ryan Universe becomes more and more discontinuous with the Real one, it becomes increasingly more complicated to make a story out of the one that people in the other can relate to. and so, we've got a minor and unprepared group of defenders (two armored divisions and one air force division) solidly defeating in epic battle superiorly armed and numerous (six armies) aggressors (see Btl of Marathon). We've (America) got no ICBMs to deter a nuclear strike by somebody else. we've got, miraculously, Russia in NATO. we've got Aegis shooting down ICMBs. and we've got the plot we've seen before: commie country's economy stricken (how we can't imagine, but we'll come up with something) and the ONLY THING they (or, more accurately, the diabolical members of their politburo) can do is go to war to get some oil. Conclusion: read Red Storm, because even though the Cold War is over, it's a much better book with basically the same story.
Rating:
Summary: A Tad Long
Review: I love TC's books. I found myself skimming a lot of the detail in this one. I enjoy long books. The main characters and the plot are fleshed out more than their abbreviated counterparts, but this book dwelled more on the minute detail. I love Clancy's characters from Mancuso down to Meng, but I didn't get to know them as well as I would have liked in this novel. I am a bit of a technical person so the references to AT&T and Sun Microsystems (one word Tom) made the story more realistic for me. Still Tom Clancy is better than no Tom Clancy. The parts of the book that were fantastic made up for the parts that weren't.
Rating:
Summary: Time for a new plotline Tom!
Review: As an avid Clancy reader, I buy his books the day they come off the presses and have enjoyed them all to varying degrees (I thought Clear and Present Danger and Red Storm Rising were the best!). However, the subtle racism in this book, the foul language of the characters (I don't think any character went 2 pages without swearing), teamed with an exceedingly far-fetched plot made this the first Clancy book that I simply skimmed the last 200 pages to get to the end. I may be naive, but somehow I am uncomfortable with the President of the United States, even if he is not a career politician, calling the Chinese "our yellow friends" and continually comparing them to Nazi Germany without also offering the logic that defends the comparison. I realize that Tom has run out of scenarios in which to create mass conflict, but his strength has always been in his suspension of disbelief, or allowing the reader to believe that the events may actually take place. This one starts out under those pretenses but never seems to take you to the end. Overall, this book falls far short of that mark.
Rating:
Summary: An OK 500 page book. Unfortunately it's over a 1,000
Review: Clancy eventually offers his usual tense, involving, techno-fare at the end of the book. To get there, however, Clancy forces the reader to wade through reams of tedious, repetitive, and shallow drivel. TC's command of the the technology of warfare stands in sharp contrast with his command of almost anything human. The Chinese are portrayed as unimaginative drudges led by Klingon-like Maoists whose only relaxation appears to be sexual abuse of the office help. When he isn't swearing like a sailor with his old military buddies, whining about how much he hates his job, or amateurishly plunging the world into nuclear war, Jack Ryan spends most of his time bumbing cigarettes and hoping his wife won't find out because she is a surgeon and might emasculate him. Apparently, no joke or shallow observation is too lame for repetition after repetition. TC needs stick with what he does best, because, if this book is any example, he can't do much else.
Rating:
Summary: Tom Clancy - You owe me 12 bucks!
Review: Why does Tom Clancy owe me twelve dollars? Because the editor could have eliminated the first 700 pages of this 1028 page book, and it could have been a pretty darn good book. Since 70 percent of the book was useless, I feel that I should have only paid approximately 30 percent of the purchase price. So Tom, feel free to wire me the money as soon as you can, with interest of course. Anyways, besides wasting hours of my time, this book is borderline racist. Clancy often compares the Chinese to Klingons, and is littered with the word Chink. Even though these references somewhat fit in context, it could have been left out without hurting this book. Another reason that why I didn't like this book was that in some aspects, it was too unreal. Do Russians constantly talk about World War II in every other conversation? Is every single Chinese cop and soldier a complete idiot? Finally, this book annoyed me. Clancy switches between people, and refers to them in the stupidest ways. It took me some time to realize that Jack Ryan, the President, was also code-named POTUS (President of the United States). Also, there were numerous references to former Clancy books. If you haven't read some of his other books, you could be like me and wonder if you've missed something. Also, he loves into to go to technical details about weapons or software that just detract from the story. I'm so sick of seeing military weapon names: AWACS, F-22s, any letter-any number, etc. I found myself thinking that I'm reading a manual. Basically, this books lacks fluidity and readability. If you like a good story with interesting characters and international flavor, I suggest reading a James Clavell novel instead.
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