Rating: 
Summary: Great Book!!!!!!!!!
Review: I have read almost all of Clancy's novels and this one is certainly one of the best. It is a somewhat refreshingbreak from the usual intertwinig of personal characters (don't get me wrong, I love the way he does it in the rest of his books). He takes a much larger perspective this time and still manages to combine it with his awsome ability to narrate and get the reader totally invlolved with this book. I started reading it and could not put it down. I would walk down the street with this book in my hand just reading it while bumping into people...This book is definitely worth the reading time plus more!!! BUY THIS BOOK!!!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent: Clancy on top form
Review: Three Muslim terrorists striking a blow for freedom, destroy the Soviet Union's largest petrochemical plant. What they have done, unknowingly, is fire the first shots in World War III. NATO's forces develop Red Storm - a dazzling master plan of diplomatic subterfuge and intense rearmament. If Red Storm Rising has a problem it's that it starts so quickly that, when the inevitable pause for breath comes, it feels like an anticlimax. However, Clancy picks up the pace again from about page 150 on, and we're back on the roller-coaster ride of suspense and climax. Loads of battle situations, and the last 100 or so pages are amongst the most riveting and exhilarating I have ever read. So many similar but lesser works of fiction are based on taking you to the brink of WWIII, then drawing back... Clancy takes you to the edge, then roaring past it, leaving you in shocked disbelief that it's really happening. But the real genius behind this novel is the way that several different storylines are developed from the start, remining seperate until key points in the novel where they begin to interlock and the book becomes increasingly more difficult to put down! A refreshing departure from the Jack Ryan books.
Rating:
Summary: Red Storm is Rising Action, Lots of Setting-up
Review: First of all, let me state my general opinion of the book: excellent. This one is a slow read, though, because most of the book is actually a set-up for the great action toward the end of the book. Since there are around 720 pages, I would safely say that over 300 are simply getting things going. Although the reading may be slow, it is not lacking in intrigue in the least. The book moves around to a handful of main characters, each with his own command of a different part of battle. We follow an anti-submarine frigate captain and his convoy's adventures, the U.S.S. Chicago (submarine) and her crew on a voyage of utmost secrecy, a handful of survivors of a raided NATO base on Iceland as they trek across the rugged terrain in order to keep the allies informed of Ivan's activity, Air Force attacks from Virginia and Scotland, tank divisions in Germany, and much more. The book is action-packed, and seems to be wonderfully accurate as far as technical things are concerned. I'm not a military buff, so I couldn't attest to this, but as far as ignorance goes, I am blissfully content. The storylines in this book are a little less personal that the normal Clancy novel, but that's only because he covers so much ground and so many characters. Every page gets better and better, and I greatly enjoyed this book. If you get a chance to read this novel, you'll never see war the same way again, I guarantee!
Rating: 
Summary: RED STORM LAGGING
Review: Look, if a guy who reads mostly sci-fi and fantasy can understand this book, just about anybody should be able to--technical jibberish and all. Unless you've been living in a cave for the past 10 years. Yes, I did find the book's size intimidating, but once you start reading about the oil rig, things really start to heat up. After that, the book is a series of ups and downs. It starts to get boring, and just before you want to toss it aside, it starts to get interesting. You feel like you're riding a sine wave on an oscilloscope. This book could have used a condensing job. But considering it was Clancy's second book, it wasn't that bad. I prefered Hunt for Red October and Cardinal of the Kremlin. If you are a hard-core Clancy fan, then you must read this, if not, you might want to give it a try anyway.
Rating:
Summary: WorldWar3 for couch potatoes
Review: RSR (Red Storm Rising) is the story of an war launched by the Soviet Union against the West after a Muslim terrorist attack on a Soviet oil depot. 700 pages later the Ruskies loose (of course) The picture painted of the Kremlin and the Russian military seems plausible enough to a western reader, as does the buildup to the war and the deceptions used by the Russians to keep the West off its guard. In classical action fiction style, it has several strands that intertwine and we have three heroes to guide us along - a Naval Intelligence guy, a US submarine commander and an U.S.Air Force weather forecaster in Iceland. The aircraft carrier Nimitz is bombed, Iceland is invaded and a fierce land war wages in Germany. We jump from front to front witnessing the action including rather too much time spent (for my taste) at sea and underwater. The pace is good but the book is too long. There's only a taste of romance, and that's in Iceland. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: World War Three
Review: Red Storm Rising By Tom Clancy Red Storm Rising is Clancy's second book and also on of the best. Even thought it was the second book he published, it is the last book in the series I have read. The main plot concerns World War Three. It occurs after the majority of Russia's fossil fuels are destroyed in a refinery fire set off by Muslim terrorists. With the fear of letting the West see them weak, the Russian leaders decide to seize the Middle East. To do this, however, the must distract NATO by attacking Germany. The war is more realistic than some of the battles and wars waged in his other books. Most of those battles have been entirely lopsided for the Americans. In Red Storm Rising however, he shows a much more realistic side of what the war might have been like. He has both NATO and Russia winning major battles and trading punch for punch. The many subplots surrounding the fighting gives you an in-depth look into the war. The war is fought in three major places. The fist part is in Iceland, the second part is in Germany, and the third part is in the Atlantic Ocean. The fighting in Iceland starts of the war. The Russians invade and take over NATO's base on the island. The second part in Germany is the major offensive by the Russians. The third part in the water deals with Soviet submarines destroying supply ships that come from America. That tactic almost won the war for Russia, but some supplies were able to get through and repel the invaders. The book was very good and extremely interesting. There were many different subplots, which let you see the war through people on both sides. It does not portray one side on barbarians, but shows both sides equally. The book was also very interesting because of the different information. He has accurate information about a plane that the Air Force did not officially recognize it had until years after the book was written. It also had a very interesting and unexpected ending that is repeated in another of Clancy's stories.
Rating:
Summary: Classic Clancy, An extrordiary read
Review: If you have not read any of Clancy's other books, this is a great one to start with. It's different then his other CIA spook, secret agent stuff, but it is the best Clancy I've read. It starts with a bang(literally) and then goes into great care in setting up a storyline that is one of the best I've ever seen. The action is basically non-stop after about page 150. You find yourself in the middle of the dogfights between the F-14's and the MiG's. You can get a picture in your mind's eye of the Abrams tanks letting loose into the Russians. You almost hear the propellers turning on the submarines and Aircraft Carriers. This book is about 800 pages, but I read it in about a week. I just couldn't put the thing down! I wish that Mr. Clancy would write another book similar to this so that we can find ourselves with imaginations running. My hats off to you Tom!
Rating:
Summary: Best yet, Commrade
Review: Let me begin by saying I am a major fan of "The Hunt for Red October." I saw the movie in theaters and bought the VHS. Earlier this year I made the mistake of picking-up "SSN" by Clancy as my introduction to his books. "SSN" was a disaster. Slow, boring, uninventive and filled with mistakes I did not expect from someone with Clancy's reputation. "Red Storm Rising" is everything "SSN" was not and a lot more what I expected from the master of "Red October." "Red Storm" is long (700+ pages) but a quick read. Clancy really has a knack for making you feel that you are in the meeting, on the phone or in the battle without drowning you with minutia. This book's biggest asset is its feasibility. Upon reflection, events could have worked exactly as Clancy projects in the late 1980s -- bringing NATO and the Warsaw Pact into full-scale conflict. Where "Red October" is based on the fictional or unreal reality of a super-quiet sub, there is nothing in "Red Storm Rising" that will make the reader stop and wonder if that were possible. This makes the "Storm" better. Best of all, Clancy's character development is so good in places that you want to cheer for the enemy (the Russians) because you identify with them as people and feel compassion for their personal and political struggles. Don't get me wrong, "Red Storm" is not perfect. The ending is a tad too contrived for me. I won't ruin it by telling you what my problem with the ending was - but the book as a whole works. All in all, "Red Storm" is an exciting, great read. If you like the movie "Hunt for Red October," than "Red Storm Rising" is for you. Pick it up. You won't put it down. I promise.
Rating: 
Summary: Thinking About the Unthinkable, and Pulling Back to Safety
Review: Let me make it clear that I am reviewing both the hard cover version of this book and the abridged audio cassette version. For long action novels, I often find the condensed version on an audio cassette preferable to the original. Red Storm Rising is the exception. The novel is much better and more enjoyable than the abridgement. This is also my favorite of the Tom Clancy novels, being slightly better than The Hunt for Red October in its story line and realistic plot details. The book opens with a terrorist attack that cripples the economy of the Soviet Union. The leadership there chooses to believe that the West will devour the Soviets during this period of vulnerability, and the party leaders choose to launch an invasion of Europe. The real objective is to neutralize NATO so that the Middle East can be seized as a source of oil. Think of this as the 1980s update of the Japanese thinking during the 1930s about the importance of having assured supplies of raw materials and energy. During the Cold War, published articles often focused on three primary risks that had to be overcome: (1) That a weakened Soviet Union would decide to launch an offensive war to gain resources that its economic system could not provide. (2) That a threatened Soviet Union would launch a first-strike nuclear attack. (3) That the KGB and the Soviet Army would abuse their power and use war against the West to gain even more influence. With the passing of time, we now know that although these were all potential risks, they were low-probability ones. The Soviets were not nearly as strong as the press and our government led us to believe in the United States. Also, they were more frightened of war, if anything, than the West was. When this book came out in the mid-1980s, it provided valuable perspectives about whether or not the Western high-technology capabilities could counter much of the manpower strength of the Soviet Union, and the likelihood that there were reasonable people who opposed war in both the Soviet Union and in the West. Both perspectives turned out to have a great deal of truth in them. But they came as refreshing boosts for everyone's hopes for peace at the time. Since there no longer is a Soviet Union, nor a Cold War, why should you read this book? I think the best reason is to understand the importance of placing limits on the power of those who can set war in motion. Also, one's enemies can be deterred by the risk they run by attacking you as much as by a real attack, as long as the risks to them are known. So appropriate levels of strength create the potential for diplomats to do their work. For those who like battle stories, this one is quite interesting as in develops along the lines of what conventional war in Europe might have looked like in the mid 1980s. Several of the scenarios, such as an attack by the Soviets on Iceland will intrigue you and change your perceptions of geo-politics. The technology side of the story is even more compelling and interesting than in The Hunt for Red October. You will witness potential uses of many of the weapons and systems that proved to be very important during the Gulf War, such as Stealth fighters, cruise missiles, and AWACs controllers. After you finish reading this story, I suspect it would be a useful thing to try to come up with ways that the Cold War could have been ended sooner. What were both sides missing? How could the mutual distrust and misunderstanding have been dispelled sooner? The resources that went into weapons that were never used (thank goodness!) could have been far better employed in other ways. May the peaceful intentions of the peace-lovers always be apparent and encouraging to all!
Rating:
Summary: Very Good Story, but Not Flawless
Review: This is one of my favorite Clancy novels. This was written when he had to put a great novel on the table to make money, and Red Storm Rising certainly is this. Aside from the several slow stretches and its lack of development for some of the characters, this book is a compelling look at a Soviet-NATO war that could have easily happened, this book seizes your attention and holds it until the very last page. The ending is good as well, although some will debate me on this. I'm waiting for the movie.
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