Rating: 
Summary: Oh no, Not again!
Review: When the next adventure in the Jack Ryan story came out, I couldn't wait. I had to get it and read it now. Boy was I disappointed. Jack Ryan stopped being a really interesting guy about two books ago. Yes, I love what Jack Ryan stands for as a character, and yes, the story of his rise to the presidency of the USA is one of the good guys finally winning. But I think, Tom Clancy finally went too far with this character. There wasn't even that much military exposition in this book and I could see the ending coming from miles away. None of the excitement of "Debt of Honor". None of the geo-political underpinnings of "Executive Orders". I doubt very much the reactions some of the countries in this book take on the situation around them. The actions of China in "Debt of Honor" made sense. Here? They are just fluff for the 1,000+ pages of discussion of conservative right wing agenda, and while some of that agenda is commendable, 1,000+ pages of it finally "grates" on you. I think Tom Clancy has missed the target on the coming "geo-political" situation. For a more thoroughly entertaining (and informative) novel about a similar situation I highly recommend "The War in 2020" by Ralph Peters.
Rating: 
Summary: Criticism and Praise for Clancy...but he's no Higgins
Review: Though a thoroughly ripping yarn, Tom Clancy again becomes a bit too mired in the swamp of technical details for me. For example, I could have done without the dissertation on the inner workings of the ICBM and the consequent lengthy discussion of the effectiveness of the AEGIS system in intercepting them. Though the latter is certainly relevant to the plot, it could have been done in a much more concise and comprehensible way. I could have also dealt without the egregious overuse of abbreviations (enough is enough), the preposterous preponderance of code names and nicknames, and the incessant whining of the Jack Ryan character regarding his misfortune at having stumble into and around the White House. The 20 pages of it could have been filtered into 2, and readers still would have understood the point. Also, as a person who has looked into the ministry, I feel it important to state that one cannot receive a Doctorate of Divinity in 3 years as one of the characters, Yu Fa An, supposedly did. Three years is the amount of time it takes to get a Master of Divinity, the traditional minister's degree. It is somewhat telling that Clancy fully researched the inner workings of a missile and yet did not think it important to reconcile this simple detail. The role of the priests and ministers was fascinating and overall, handled fairly well, however. Clancy should have had a Baptist minister help him on the Vice President's father and the other minister's speeches. They were well written, but not nearly as fiery as many of the men who wear that denomination's cloth. I also enjoyed the political and diplomatic aspects, especially the Chinese trade talks and Russia's status with NATO. I guess in a book this lugubriously verbose, one is bound to have both likes and dislikes. Clancy himself said it best when he said, "Higgins is the master." For Clancy, this was well done, and that is no small complement.
Rating:
Summary: This book was HORRIBLE!
Review: Don't waste your money. I wish I hadn't.If you want a good read, go for Red Storm Rising. Even if you've read it before, you will still find it WAY more interesting than this onslaught of Clany's verbal diarrhea.
Rating:
Summary: WHATS UP WITH CLANCY?????????
Review: I've read all of Clancy's books and the last few have become slow reading bores. I use to wait with eagerness for his next book. After attempting Bear which I gave up within 250 pages, i'm threw with him. TO LONG, TO BORING! Let him teach @ Annapolis or West Point or Harvard but his fiction is so bad compared to Hunt for Red October or Clear and Present Danger. I just hate his books have developed into a insomniacs cure.
Rating: 
Summary: Do people expect the world anymore?
Review: Tom Clancy is one the best writers of our era, and his long list of books (not the collaborration series: Netforce and Op Center), are worthy of reading if you like political fiction and evil, if not almost realistic, plots spanning the world. I say almost realistic, because if they were true to every law of nature, the story would be about as fun to read as reading a government print manual. If you read every Clancy book until now, read this one, you owe yourself to it. Unfortuanetly, the plot does become a little repetitive with Jack saying how much he loves his job, but they are excusable, and those who scan everything piece of text looking for all those little 'microfaults' probably not that big of Clancy fans, as this books is like all his others. Just read it and take it for what is is.
Rating:
Summary: Do not buy this book
Review: Tom Clancy's first book, "The Hunt for Red October" was probably the best and most scientifically accurate books of its genre. Clancy's grasp of military technology and tactics is close to that of a professional soldier and this shows in his books. However his undestanding of cultures and international politics is probably inferior to that of a redneck. When he sticks to writing military books Clancy is quite all right. This time he went too far into geo-politics thereby showing a dangerous ignorance which I hope is not shared by most Americans. The result is an implausible, racist book which tarnishes Tom Clancy's reputation.
Rating:
Summary: Put this tome at ground zero
Review: Predicable or not, I have enjoyed the TC novels so far. This one however gave me the feeling that the various plot lines were all written by different people. The editing in parts left me confused about where the plot was trying to go and several plot lines droned on for several hundred pages only to be left hanging. I was in the last hundred pages still waiting for the Rainbow Troopers to do their thing. After lugging this enormous tome around on the subway for the past month, I don't think I will be reading another TC novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Predictable
Review: Everyone knows that Clancy doesn't have an editor or else the book would be half the length. That aside, The Bear and The Dragon is very predictable in the resolution of the many plots and all solved rather easily. Also, Clancy makes the war a little to easy for the winning side (I think 2 people died fighting a war with a major country). Overall, not Clancy's best work. If you have nothing better to do, then its worth a read.
Rating:
Summary: Great read, great book, topics and whole genre is real
Review: I do not understand why people say that Tom Clancy is making the whole China culture to be a bad guy, tell me something, if they were such a bad guy in this book, why did one member of the PRC made a apology to the United States and started working on making this ordeal in the book justified. This book, the Bear and the Dragon, is masterfully, skillfully written, superb sub-plots and plot, great telling of the the story, very realistic, and a very honorable read. I would recommend this book to all who likes Tom Clancy and has an interest what China and Russia is currently like right now. Some reviewers do not know what they are talking about when they downright bash this book, Clancies writing didn't declined in greatness, it heightened in greatness. One of his best books I or you will ever read.
Rating:
Summary: Ponderous!
Review: Clancy is (was) on a list of a select group of authors whose books I purchase as soon as they are released. I eagerly await such publications. To say that I was disappointed with the B&D is an understatement. This is a poorly written book! Too much Tom, too little Jack.
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