Rating: 
Summary: READ THE MASTER....
Review: Without doubt Clancy is the master of this type of book. As always I was spellbound, barely able to find a stopping point. This book made me "Think" & realize that there is a NEW enemy... for all the world. The Dragon has been sleeping, just waiting & gathering it's resources.... Clancy is not the only one warning us of these future events, he just does with such style & so entertainingly. I did get caught a little on the roughness & crudenss of speech, but I don't doubt it was pretty true to life. Everything else about this book was right up there with the best of Clancy. Enjoy.
Rating: 
Summary: Come on folks, this ain't Shakespeare...
Review: If you are looking for literary art, don't buy this book. On the other hand, if you are just looking for an action-packed 1000-page book that you can waste a couple of afternoons on, this is the right book for you, unless you are one of those politically correct people who can't even think of reading non-PC material. I skipped through about 25% of the book because some of his "let me show you how much military-techno stuff I know" details got to be too tedious and boring but I compare this to the use of the fast-forward button when viewing a straight-to-video action flick featuring Jean Claude Van Damme.
Rating: 
Summary: What happened to the reasearch?
Review: I'm not even going to get into the problems I had with the characters racist traits (which they never had against the Japanese in previous books) or with Clancy's politics (liberal, conservative, whatever - it was annoying, and it would've been annoying even if I agreed with him).One of the things that made Clancy stand out was his attention to detail - now he's just mailing it in. He misspells the name of China's third most important city several times (like misspelling Chicago), he has people in Beijing using Cantonese slang (Cantonese is spoken only in Southern China), and he has people in Beijing calling each 'comrade' - especially odd when you consider that in current China 'comrade' is how homosexuals refer to each other now in the PRC. What happened to your research TC? And I'm not even going to mention the awful way the plot dragged on - I'll go back and read 'Clear and Present Danger' - thanks.
Rating: 
Summary: Too Much of a Good Thing?
Review: We've come to expect a lot from Tom Clancy of late, but it would seem that Jack Ryan can't get much more "advanced" in the timeline Clancy has created for him. I started this story in eager anticipation - where would the trail go from 'Executive Orders?' Some things Clancy is great at - and that's where his early successes in Red October and Red Storm stem from. However, his most current effort at further developing the Ryan universe left me somewhat disappointed. Don't get me wrong, the story itself is epic, worthy of the Clancy name. But something gets lost in the 1000 pages - one too many subplots, one too many character ruminations, one too many misplaced off-color remarks. Sometimes less is more, and I believe that to be the case here. Better to finish a book wanting and imagining more than to finish with "Enough already, just trying to finish." Perhaps the editors didn't want to change much from the original manuscript...I think they could've done more. Overall, though, it's still worth reading, but I think the best of Jack Ryan has come and gone.
Rating:
Summary: Too big for his britches
Review: If this were Clancy's first novel, he would still be selling insurance. Lots of needless repetition (did we really need to hear the dimensions of the CIA director's office twice?) At over 1000 pages, with lots of discussions on Ryan's (Clancy's?) views on abortion, politicians, the military and the diplomats, it could have used an editor with a sharp red pencil. That said, Clancy does know how to write. The last 200 pages were vintage work and a pleasure to read. Too bad I had to wade through the first 800 to get there.
Rating:
Summary: Wait for the Paperback!
Review: I am a true fan of Tom Clancy's fictional works. This book is not up to par with his greatest works: Without Remorse, Red October, Sum of All Fears, and Patriot Games. As with all Clancy, it starts off with some action then labors on for 700 pages essestially discribing a political philosophy that swings pretty far right. Unfortunately, it felt very forced and I had the distinct impression that I was being lectured. In Executive Powers, Clancy was subtle about revealing what are certainly some of his deeply held political views. Bear and the Dragon is so obtuse in preaching a political viewpoint that even those of us who lean to the right feel imposed upon as readers. Tom, bubbie, sweetheart ... stick to what you know. Write another background piece like Without Remorse only on Jack Ryan and his experiences as a Marine. Better yet, how about a real spy thriller like Cardinal starring Chet Nomuri. Anyway, all Clancy is worth reading but there isn't the usual high payoff finale and positive denoument that have kept me coming back. My recommendation, wait for the paperback or borrow the book on tape ... abridged version!
Rating:
Summary: The Best Character Driven Plot Yet
Review: Tom Clancy has written a very good character driven novel. He fleshes out the characters we have grown to love over the years in a manner I have not yet seen in one of his books. Without Remorse was good with characters we could understand and empathize with, but The Bear and The Dragon goes even further. Clancy is still very strong with the technology, but that is not what drives this novel. In this novel, you come to hate Jack Ryna's job nearly as much as he does. And, you get to see that John Clark is looking toward the end of his career. I like the Japanese agent, Chet Nomuri, nearly as much as I loved Ding Chavez in Clear and Present Danger. I hope we see more of this character in upcoming books. He clearly did not like what he had to do to get the information the USA needed and he was able to put himself in his lover's place enough to see what he was doing was dangerous as well as hurtful. This is Clancy's best yet and I can't wait for the next one.
Rating:
Summary: Everything but the kitchen sink...
Review: This is another one of Clancy's epic novels which, as usual, means that if you can get past the three or four hundred pages of not terribly exciting build-up, you can hardly put it down for the remainder. While this book is excellent in places, it suffers from some problems. So much so, in fact, that I'm not sure whether to give a 3 or a 4 star rating. The biggest problem is that it's all been done by him before. This book is virtually a collection of all of the best bits from his other books, all thrown together into a giant, multi-faceted story. On one hand, this is good, because there are lots of good bits. On the other hand, it's nothing new. Another problem is simply that Jack Ryan cannot be developed any further. We've seen him go from a government lackey to president, and that's really as far as you can go. I thought Clancy was going to end the Jack Ryan focus with Executive Orders, and from Rainbow Six on, stick with John Clark and Ding Chavez. I guess not. One major plot gripe (not wanting to spoil here, but it happens near the start anyway) is the ease with which Chet Nomuri obtains his agent. I mean, we are told constantly in the book how no other countries have agents in China because they're so hard to get there, yet Nomuri turns his first attempted target after two dates. He must have been an ABSOLUTE demon in the sack, methinks! Is this the end of the line for Ryan? I don't think so. There are several indicators in the book of another one to follow, and I predict that the next one will be based around a civil uprising in the USA itself. Of course, given that there's no-one else left to fight, this is not that tough a prediction to make!
Rating:
Summary: Too Long, Too Preachy
Review: While the book had good suspence , I felt it would have been a better read at 800 pages and please loose the pandering to the military and making each character, the best of the best of the best.
Rating: 
Summary: Bad news bear
Review: This is the worst Clancy book I have read. I have read them all. The only thing I can say is that the same person who wrote Cardinal in The Kremlin or Hunt for the Red October could not have writte this nonsense. A waste of good paper. Do not waste your money on this book. It is clearly written by the same ghost writers who do the OpCenter tripe. This is the most obvious, boring, dragged out plot of any novel I have read in a long time (and I read a lot). Save yourself the time and money and pass on this one.
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