Rating: 
Summary: I couldn't finish it. My arms got tired.
Review: 1,000 pages? After I read 500 of them, I checked out the customer reviews and found that all but the most die-hard and blindly loyal Clancy fans pretty much panned the book. How I wish I had read them before I burdened the poor UPS man with delivering these pounds of pages.Clancy was never a creative, subtle novelist. He's a storyteller, and he has a history of being a good one. But my head is sore from his hitting me over the head with each of his beliefs, one or two of which I actually agree with (Well, one). If you want this book, don't buy it. You can have mine (only slightly used).
Rating:
Summary: Won't get fooled again...
Review: Wow, where to begin. How about "Wish I hadn't blown $17 plus shipping on this book"? I have been a loyal reader of Clancy's books from the beginning. Even suffering through dreck like Executive Orders and Rainbow Six; but this is it - probably the last Clancy book I'll purchase. The editing and the plot are weak: I present Exhibit A: numerous inane turns of phrase hammered mercilessly to death, and Exhibit B: completely implausible techie tricks upon which the whole plot hinges. Memo to Tom: "Woulda been prudent to quit after The Sum of all Fears or perhaps Without Remorse". And lose the Navy ball-cap. Can you say "Wannabe"? Clancy (and editors) obviously believe that readers (such as myself) will buy any piece of junk he publishes. My recommedation: If you really need a Clancy fix, go read The Cardinal and the Kremlin again.
Rating: 
Summary: MUCH TO LONG
Review: I have been a Clancy fan from the beginning. But I thought this book could have been compressed to about 500 pages and nothing would have been lost.Very repetitive. I hope he hasn't burned out from the good old days.
Rating: 
Summary: Pull Out Half the Pages & The Story Will Remain Intact
Review: President Ryan has his work cut out for him when he finds forces in China are moving ahead with a plan that, if successful, will change the world forever. The reader has his work cut out for himself trying to stay focused as Clancy gives us page after page of detail that sometimes reads more like a tech manual than a novel. Clancy's sub-plots are cumbersome and take a while to play out in this long-winded tale of war and espionage.
Rating: 
Summary: What a roller coaster!
Review: While Tom Clancy takes the first 100 or so pages to set up the storyline, it's worth wading through to get to the good stuff. From the literally explosive start in Russia, through the careful set up of a CIA plant in the office of a high member of the Chinese Politburo, oodles of computer tricks, to the Chinese trying something REALLY foolish, our reluctant hero, Jack Ryan, copes with it all. But not without the help of a few friends. John Clark, "Ding" Chavez and the rest of the crew from Rainbow Six help the Russians against the attack of the Chinese. Admiral Bart Mancuso is back for yet another challenge in the fight for peace. A totally absorbing book. I ignored my family for two weeks because I could not put this book down (they're used to this, though). It reminds me a little of Patriot Games; a bit slow at first because of the needed background necessary to the story, but one it gets going, it doesn't stop.
Rating:
Summary: The Unbearable Entertainment of Arrogance
Review: This one is usually fun, but it's just as often infuriating. Thinly-veiled cryptofascist politics, recycled dialogue, cliched characters and over the top emotional chain-yanking detract from what is otherwise a pretty snappy technothriller plot. As we've come to expect from Mr. Clancy, he's a name-dropper, especially in his attempts to convince us he's an expert on modern weaponry and intelligence gadgetry. Too often, he's wrong, though, such as when he misidentifies the main gun caliber of Russian T-80/90 tanks (and even when he screws up football rivalries in the Southeastern Conference, the cad!). Nevertheless, it's worth your time, if you don't mind waiting until around page 388 or so for things to really start hopping. Larry Bond, where are you when we need you?
Rating:
Summary: I can't believe I read the whole thing
Review: I'm not sure why I chose to waste so much of my valuable time reading (or even finishing) this miserable book. Maybe I was hoping to capture some of the intensity and powerful drama that I remember from "Red Storm Rising". Some of the earlier reviewers suggested that anyone who doesn't like the book must be some kind of a PC pinko. Isn't it possible that even a Reagan-loving, commie-hating, 2nd amendment supporting, SDI proponent like myself might find hundreds of pages of ranting about abortion and how the Chinese are evil slant-eyed "Klingons" not only offensive but downright boring. It's hard for me to imagine that even an abortion clinic bomber who had been tortured by Chinese troops in Korea would find this novel entertaining. Let's face it: abortion and international intrigue just don't go together. I'm a stuanch supporter of tort reform but if Tom Clancy ever makes the issue into the basis for a 1000 page novel, I'm going to run for the hills. Isn't the Chinese government threatening enough? Do we really need to demonize the entire Chinese civilization. After all, the Chinese are falling all over themselves to implement capitalism. China may be a totalitarian state, but wouldn't the novel be just a bit more interesting if the Chinese government had some small measure of competence? Isn't it possible that the U.S. government is sometimes a less than perfectly oiled machine composed of dedicated patriots? After all, I thought the magic behind the U.S. has something to do with our government being less organized and less powerful than those in totaliarian states. Tom Clancy seems to think that we owe our success to the wisdom and benevolence of the people in our government. Even those who don't mind the ideological diatribes should realize that the novel needs some serious editing. Several times I though I had lost my place because I was reading the same text. Why couldn't we just skip the whole absurd fantasy about the Beijing police shooting a Vatican diplomat in front a CNN camera crew and go straight to the point where China decides to snatch the oil and gold. Oops, I hope I didn't spoil it for you (if calling the Chinese evil Klingons didn't give it away). Well, I won't tell you who wins....
Rating:
Summary: The Clancy Administration
Review: Tom Clancy is starting to feel his oats a little bit. I suppose when you have enough money to buy the Minnesota Vikings, you have some justification. Unfortunately, his writing is starting to suffer because of it. In his earlier novels the main character, Jack Ryan, was an honorable, decisive, and likeable hero figure. In this latest story, Ryan has turned into a whining, foul mouthed, reactionary arch conservative. Clancy has combined the worst traits of both liberals (whining) and conservatives (reactionary), and made them a part of Ryan. Simply put, I do not like or respect the character of Jack Ryan any longer. As he is the main focus of Clancy's major novels, this puts a serious drag on his writing. Tom Clancy is telling a story of what HE would do if he were given a blank check US presidency, not what Jack Ryan would do. Mr. Clancy is not alone in his wish to make Washington DC what he'd like it to be, but tell it in an autobiography, not in a major novel people are paying [$] a piece for. At least then we'd know what we are getting in to. His telling of stories which fit in with the modern day world is still first rate. This time, a cornered and aggressive China is lashing out against a United States government that is FINALLY taking a hard line with them. The focus is on just how far these people will go to hold onto their power. This book presents one case for what could happen. Clancy has always found a way to present his ideas in a believable, and often unsettling manner. He still has this gift working at full potential. I have seen many complaints about secondary character development, but I found it adequate, though not stellar. Many people have said that they don't act the same as in the earlier novels, but like real people, they change as they get older. I suppose the same could be said about Jack Ryan, but he is the lead character, and a good writer must keep his reader interested and empathizing with him. Instead, Clancy has made himself the main character of the book. This was not a good idea. Another problem Clancy has is he has painted himself into a corner with Ryan as President. Before, he could tell exciting stories without reverting to the United States going to war. Now, that's the only story he can tell, as it's the only story worthy of a major Presidential level crisis. In earlier novels, the main thrust of the story could be a terrorist attack, or smuggling out a spy, or running a rogue anti-drug operation. All he can do at this point is tell about war with increasingly powerful enemies. He has now written a story about war with China. Where can you go from there? I don't think even hard-core Clancy fans will believe that the US will get into 4 shooting wars with one president. In summary, Clancy's strengths are still very much evident with regards to his storylines. His minor character development is alright, and it's good to see how some old friends are progressing through life. He comes out with some ideas that should be made into US law (like his wonderful 'Trade Reform Act'). He also gives a look into what he would do with the reins of government in his hands (a frightening thought), and something that has no business being in a novel we all paid [$] and waited really four years for. The book IS worth reading, but Tom, if you're going to do another one, tell us how Jack Ryan would be President, not Tom Clancy.
Rating:
Summary: Definitely not up to par
Review: Been a TC fan since '84 when I stumbled on HFRO. This book is definitely not up to his usual standards. Sure, I read it in 4 days and managed to get myself immersed in it. But it was about as satisfying as a warm beer on a hot day. (before you drank it, it sounded pretty good - afterwards, you had to ask yourself it was worth it.) Also, I'll just call attention the comments regarding editing snafus and excess storylines. (TC once said on Larry King that he likes to turn in a tight product to his editor. It doesn't look like it here.) Anyway, I will read his next one. Let's hope he can make up for B&D.
Rating:
Summary: Sorry Tom, enough is enough
Review: I've always been a great fan of TC:s work, I hold Red Storm Rising as the best techno-thriller ever written. His follow up books have up to a point been very good. But after Sum of all fears you start getting fed up with reading about sinister plots, Jack "I hate being President" Ryan and finally the US Armed Forces. Don't catch me wrong! I bet that America has one of the best equiped and trained military in the world, but come on! Could we please have some kind of realism left. In this book all I could think of was, maybe this is some kind of propaganda or forum made by the Department of Defense. Some events in this book actually defies stupidity. First of all that America would rather have a war in Asia (not regarding effects of the US economy) than help China out. Then the time it took to send a US armoured division from Germany to Sibiria, with all its munutions and stores on ONE singel railway. Thats like 10000km for crying out load. And the politics involved, I mean like the president could decide to start a war to protect the archenemy of the US against its biggest tradepartner. It took like a half year of meetings in the congress to take a decision to bomb Serbia. But the pinnacle of the book is nevertheless at the end. I think you know what I mean; the downing of a ballistic missile with the use of 20 year old radar and missile technology. This was just too much. Could maybe Tom call Clinton and tell him that their is no need for a renewal of the SDI project, just place a few boats here and there! One new, and not very often witnessed in Clancy's books, angle was the kind of conservative rasism projected towards China. It's probably a very strange regim, but just because it's alien to US standards doesn't neccesarily mean that it's completely f-cked up! As closing words, I have to say I was kind of dissapointed by this book. It felt more like an indoctrination of the qualities of USA (military, technolgical and political) than an independent techno-thriller novel. But I guess that this book sells well in the US, where self-gloating is often a quality. This is a shame, because he's usually one of the best writers in the world. But I guess that everybody runs of of ideas sometimes...
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