The Bear and the Dragon

Rating:
Summary: Clancy's Best Work in Years
Review: Power derives from the ability to define. Global Power is the ability to define and geive effect to one's vision of how the world should run.

THE BEAR AND THE DRAGON works as a thinly veiled bit of "advice" for incomong president George W. Bush. He needs to clean up the cesspool of domestic corruption created by the Clinton/Gore administration, and he must be prepared to face a renewed external threat posed by the rise of Communist China and the renewed Russian communists.

In THE BEAR AND THE DRAGON, The Russian Communists are funded by a global organized crime network, anvd the Chinese were aided enormously by traitors in a prior administation who sold US nuclear and other secrets in exchange for personal favors. Could Tom Clancy be making a statement here about the Clinton Administration? Thhe nearly hysterical reaction of liberals to this book (they almost all hate it intensely) suggests that they certainly see fictinal President "Jack Ryan" as a noble pro-American president who is a complete opposite of their guys, Bill Clinton and Al Gore. Conservatives seem to see it too, since they love th novel and often comment that they hope George W. Bush is like "Jack Ryan".

While 'Jack Ryan' is a man who clearly understands power, he is not one to get drunk on it. His domestic agenda is broadly aimed at devolving power out of Washington, DC, and returning it to the states and the people. 'Jack Ryan' sees government as a necessary evil, which is best at defending the nation from enemied internal and external. The character of president Jack Ryan embodies what people admired in Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy.

This is far better than any recent Tom Clancy novels. It is a complex and multithreaded spy novel that's worth of at least a few feature films--assuming that anyone in Hollywood is interested in producing movies that don't denigrate American patriotism, or which are not pro-Marxist.

Unlike most spy novels, this one is clearly based on modern geo-political realities, and contermporary methods of espionage. In other words, the events in this book are very plausible.

Will George W. Bush rise to meet the international and domestic challenges that will almost certainly be presetned during his term in office? He has his work cut out for him as doubts about his leadership ability mount during the challenges to his election victory.

In THE BEAR AND THE DRAGON, the action is well paced, the characters are intriguing, and the plots move in parallel. It's a great read.

While it is unlikely that George W. Bush will turn to Tom Clancy for advice on matters of foreign or military policy, one hopes that he is smart enough to surround himself with people who understand political as well strategic realities, and that the United States does not lose the ability to define the emerging World Order.

Rating:
Summary: Classic Clancy! Excellent Story.
Review: I have read all of Clancy's novels, and this one ranks right up there with his best. Although it is over 1000 pages, I never noticed. It is a very fast and exciting read and I highly recommend it to conservative, Clancy readers. Since Clancy deals with a lot of social and political issues - keep an open mind if you're not politically conservative. The only thing that would have made this a better novel is if Clancy had not rushed the ending. It seemed that he was trying to finish the book as quickly as possible and I think the book would have been better if it was not rushed, maybe around 1200 pages. Great read, though. I couldn't put it down.

Rating:
Summary: Not As Bad As Some Want You To Think
Review: As a long time Clancy fan I have to express my dismay at much of what I read here. THE BEAR AND THE DRAGON is not a bad book. Far from it. Clancy has set the bar high with his previous work but TBATD hardly falls on its face in trying to reach those heights again.

Admitedly there are some negatives. We all know by now that Jack Ryan didn't ask to be President. There's no reason for us to be constantly reminded of that fact. Also, Jack's newfound 4-letter vocabulary gets old really fast. There's no excuse for the presence of that crutch. So this is not a perfect book. But I have to cut Clancy some slack on the other points people are making here. So what if he inserts his politics into Ryan's character. Has anyone ever thought that Ryan wasn't a reflection of Clancy's ideals? Ryan's political viewpoints, which naturally do come out since he is the President, take nothing away from the actual STORY, thank you very much. I disagree with Michael Crichton's politics but when I read his books that becomes totally irrelevant.

And the story's pretty good. Once again Clancy mixes together an incredible brew up international intrigue and conspiracy to a satisfying boil. The regular cast of characters returns to duty and Clancy smoothly slips in some old faces from Ryan's past. The conflict and hotspots are realistic, and that Clancy can find yet another way to bring the world to the brink of disaster is to his credit. You can criticize all you want but in the end THE BEAR AND THE DRAGON is a winner, and Clancy is still the master. The Ryan universe is not dead, and I look foreward to one or two more releases to complete his story. A solid Four Stars.

Rating:
Summary: All political agenda, no action
Review: I used to wait with baited breath for the publication of a new Tom Clancy novel. I read most of Mr. Clancy's first novels in an almost sleepless period of two or three days. Often sleeping only a few hours, working, and then returning to the book-much to the displeasure of my wife. That is no longer the case. The first 700 pages of this novel are so boring it actually took me three attempts to get through them. Twice I quit the book, read another book, and then returned to Clancy's novel. If the first 700 pages were condensed to 100 pages, the reading would be much better.

In addition, the book is fraught with typographical errors. The rush to get to press must have been more important than finding the numerous errors. Most are just annoying, but one in particular, a reference to the old F-111 should have been to the newer F-117. It breaks the readers thought pattern to have to contemplate what was really intended in these cases.

Finally, Clancy's desire to trumpet his anti-abortion stance and to promote cigarette smoking gets in the way of the story. There are continual references to Ryan's anti-abortion stance. And, it seems at times that President Jack Ryan can't go five minutes (or the reader a page) without Ryan needing to bum a cigarette from someone. Usually the cigarette brand is mentioned. I wonder if the Tobacco Institute now pays writers to incorporate such messages into books?

In summary, I may have read my last Tom Clancy novel. Certainly I will wait for the reviews before purchasing others. This is truly a pity since Mr. Clancy is so talented.

Rating:
Summary: unimpressive to say the least.
Review: This was a very frustrating read - the book is poorly written and has numerous problems, but somewhere in this mess is a good story, and Clancy does occasionally show flashes of his previous brilliance. The book is too long, ends too abruptly and really needs a good editor.

Among the problems is that Jack Ryan has become a whiner. The Jack Ryan from "The Hunt for Red October" and "Clear and Present Danger" is no more. The new Jack Ryan can not go more than a few minutes without complaining about being president, even though he ran for the office and was elected to it. Ryan has surrounded himself with yes-men and -women. Only his Chief of Staff will provide any sort of counterargument, which is usually only token and couched in terms of practical politics. Ryan also seems to be inclined to use emotional arguments or his own personal beliefs as a basis for decision making - something which is at odds with his persona in the earlier books. One example: when the Really Bad Thing is about to happen near the end of the book, Ryan and company react in an emotional manner not unlike the hated President Fowler does in "The Sum of All Fears".

Clancy is not shy about sharing his political views with the reader. Of course he has always done this, and the reader is free to agree or disagree. My objection is that these political interruptions have become so numerous and shrill that they impede the flow of the plot without providing any benefit.

Many lines of thought or expressions are repeated verbatim in different places in the book. How many times do we need to read the same story about Chairman Mao's sex life? How many times does someone refer to the Chinese leadership as Klingons? There are many small errors of fact in the book - though not nearly so many as in "Rainbow Six". These should have been caught in the editing process - if Clancy can get the date wrong for the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, how reliable is the rest of the material?

I rate "The Bear and the Dragon" as slightly better than "Rainbow Six" but a long way below the earlier Jack Ryan novels.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but it goes on forever
Review: My favorite Clancy novel is "Clear and Present Danger." His new book "The Bear and the Dragon" doesn't come close. In fact I didn't like the excessive foul language throughout the book. The story is still interesting, but it goes on forever. If Clancy would have used more contemporary locations for this thriller and not the traditional surroundings, it would have been a much better book. I'm sure this book is going to make a good movie, if they cut out the bad language. Based on a friend's recommendation I just read through another brand new thriller in this genre and I highly recommend it as it is fast paced, loaded with action, excellent plot, info and research and plausible scenarios, which is the explosive megathriller "THE CONSULTANT" by Alec Donzi.

Rating:
Summary: Clancy needs to stick with what he does best
Review: Ok, the book was long and the plot was slow to develop. Clancy is a master of writing military techno thrillers, and he retains the title with this work. There is a good bit of this in the book, and it tends to make the reader wonder if our military really has these capabilities. The sex parts are what led me to give this book 3 stars. All that sausage crap is just lame as hell. President Jack Ryan getting drunk in the White House is a little far fetched. So is the part about him bumming Virginia Slims off his secretary. Judging from the past Ryan novels I just wouldn't have expected this type of behavior from Ryan. This book also shows what kinds of views Clancy holds. He is very conservative, pro-religion, anti-abortion, and he hates the treehuggers with a passion. Basically I'm pretty sure Clancy did not vote for Gore. I have no problems with this but then again I could care less what his views are. It also probably would have shortened the book by about a hundred pages. The people who have a problem with the racial slurs need to wake up. Face it our political leaders are not all politically correct. People use racial slurs and the politicians are no exception. This adds a certain amount of realism to the book. Clancy might have overdone it a little bit but does it really matter? The military sure as hell isn't politically correct and it would make the book less realistic if they were. Calling people chinks, gooks, or ragheads might not right, but that's the way it really is. If you have a problem with that sort of thing then this book is not for you. Actually the book would probably offend the hell out of you. The first five-hundred pages tended to be a little boring but then the reading gets better. I thought it was a worthwhile read, but don't count on it being made into a movie. I also wonder if Clancy can take the Ryan character any farther. I seem to doubt it. Not as the main character anyway.

Rating:
Summary: The worst Jack Ryan book
Review: I used to enjoy Clancy books for its engaging plot and ability to make you wonder if something like that could really happen. This new book is nothing but trash and while most of his writing has been fiction, it would appear that Clancy has delved into the realms of fantasy. While he has always stereotyped to a pointdifferent race and nations, this book is basically a list of his perceived problems that people who are not red blooded American have. His racism is evident and his story is lacking. While I the basic plot of China invading Russia for resources follows from his earlier book and could have been a very interesting story, it appears Clancy just didn't try. I use to really enjoy his books, but this will probably be the last one I buy.

Rating:
Summary: Engrossing international thriller
Review: When it comes to international intrigue, Tom Clancy is a master of making the inconceivable plausible. Here he conjures a fascinating conflict between China and Russia in an imaginary world where only China has nukes. Though far fetched, the scenario contains just enough facts and credible premises to be dangerously entertaining.

As always, Clancy loads the book with high tech weapons and an inside look at espionage and military decision making. The book sometimes gets bogged down in minutia, but it has enough suspense and twists to keep the pages turning.

Jack Ryan is back again as POTUS, but he is marginalized in this story, taking a back seat to characters in Russia and China. In fact, Ryan is probably one of the least important characters in the story. To make matters worse, Ryan is beginning to get a little flaky. For instance, at one point while Washington is under threat of nuclear attack he decides that the best place for the President of the United States to be would be aboard an Aegis Cruiser at ground zero. Some time later, he transports the entire crew of that same Cruiser to the White House for drinks as if it were some kind of frat party. For a writer who concentrates so much on realistic details, Clancy really warped out in this segment.

All in all this is a very engaging book. While probably not Clancy's best work, it is certainly a strong addition to a genre that has lost a good deal of horsepower with the end of the cold war. I rated it a 7/10. Modern warfare lovers won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Neither a Bear nor Dragon Be
Review: I intended to write a lengthy diatribe but had second thoughts as I would be saying nothing more than is contained in the other reviews on this site. Yet I am compelled to add a few thoughts, it appears to me that this book was hastily assembeled from a collection of disparate short stories and then clumbsily woven together. Making matters worse is incredibly poor job of editing the material for example in one passage one reads "tax" where its obvious that Fax was intended- Was anything more than "SpellCheck" used? In "The Hunt for Red October",Tom Clancy was justifiably praised for his research, yet in "The B & D" it is claimed that Jack Ryan brought out a security with the symbol SALC as an IPO out on the Big Board. The problem with this is that stock symbols on the Big Board are limited to a maximum of three characters. Four character symbols are used in the OTC market, NASDAQ. So much for research!