Ssn

Rating:
Summary: SSN: not Clancy's best....but not his worst, either
Review: While this is not the usual top notch novel by Tom Clancy, it wasn't meant to be a fully fledged novel. It is a companion book to a CD-ROM game published by Simon and Shuster in 1996. If you are a fan of the game, and some people are, then it's a bit of fluff to read while on a long plane flight or bus ride.
If you aren't a fan of books based on games or expect great literature, then this book is not for you.

Rating:
Summary: Well, I don't know what to say...
Review: I know some of you are rating this book as bad, and I have to partly agree with you. Some parts of the book didn't catch me, like they did in DEBT OF HONOR. However, if you rated this book bad, I'd also partly disagree with you. Some parts were interesting, and really made me want to read over it again. I particularly like the few sentences about "the quiet American submarines".

So, I wouldn't give this book a bad rating, but an average one. I think if you read SSN, you'll like it.

Rating:
Summary: A war submarines fight in a war against China
Review: Tom Clancy's SSN is about a submarine Cheyenne and her crew in the Pacific Ocean that has been put out to watch for other Chinese war ships or submarines. When America is forced to go to war with China, Cheyenne is given the order to destroy any Chinese ship or submarine that they find on their never- ending battle throughout the Pacific. Towards the climax, the crew learns that the Russians are selling Typhoon Class submarines (the largest yet created) to the Chinese, which has already put them into the ocean. This book combines interesting facts about submarines and the ocean with an adventurous story by Tom Clancy.

Rating:
Summary: $7.99 Confidence Game
Review: ...

Mr. Clancy deserves to be congratulated for making us buy this book. To me, Red Storm Rising is the preeminent Clancy book on unrestricted warfare, and nothing could top that novel in the technothriller genre. However, SSN promised to replicate a bit of the action, drama and suspense that Red Storm Rising gave us. I did not think that Mr. Clancy would shortchange his loyal readers. I was gravely mistaken.

SSN is nothing but a multilevel video game laid out on paper. This is what saddens me. Up to the time I bought SSN, I have always believed that Mr. Clancy had a gift of extraordinary storytelling, and that he was on a class all his own. Alas, SSN and Rainbow Six (which, by the way, is another multilevel video game) prove that Mr. Clancy's muse has deserted him. His forays into nonfiction, combined with his revival of the tired Ryan character in Red Rabbit, are further proof of this.

Dear readers, if you have not yet been given the opportunity to read Clancy's masterpieces, such the The Hunt for Red October, Clear and Present Danger, and Cardinal of the Kremlin, please do so. And if you wish to see the depths to which Mr. Clancy has sunk, go no further than SSN.

Rating:
Summary: Do not be fooled!
Review: Believe me, I am a Clancy fan and have most of his books, including ALL the early ones from Red October up to Executive Orders. The cover makes you believe this is another in a series of excellent Clancy novels; IT IS NOT!

This book reads like a strategy guide for the CD game that apparently exists by the same name. Actually, I have read better strategy guides. It is BORING BORING BORING. Shame on the publishers for the packaging. They should be sued. Like one of the earlier reviews said: every chapter is a repetition of the same thing: Cheyenne detects sub; Cheyenne sinks sub; Cheyenne is never in any real danger. No tension. I actually fell asleep several times, I am about halfway through and wondering if I should bother finishing it.

If you have played submarine sims like Jane's excellent (but 5-year old) 688 there is perhaps some value to this book, but only if you're not very good at it. Otherwise, forget it. And Mr. Clancy, you have been downgraded from an "automatic buy" to "let's leaf through the first few pages before buying" for having lent your name to this effort.

Rating:
Summary: the F-word (F as is neato, although there is no F in neato)
Review: I loved this book!! If you are into the suspenseful, military-type books, then you too should love this book [...]. It never gets boring. The book is always interesting even when Clancy gets into some military lingo, he doesn't use it for too long as to get the reader confused. I personally am a big military-stuff buff (ha, that rhyhms...anyway), especially combat soldier stuff (i.e. guns, equipment, guns, transport vehicles; like the Hummer, etc.) but I was still able to get hooked in this book. It has dozens of sub-to-sub warfare scenes, (between the Los Angeles Class SSN Cheyenne and Chinese-operated Soviet-produced subs, like the Akula) but never too many where it gets old, and when it starts to get a little boring, Clancy mixes it up with survailance stuff or Tomahawk missile launches at onshore bases, airfields, churches, abortion clinics, or anything else can be blown up. I loved this book and so should you (why? because I said so). This is a great book for anyone into the military stuff, by that I mean anything by Tom Clancy.

Rating:
Summary: the F-word (F as is neato, although there is no F in neato)
Review: I loved this book. Anyone who enjoys a suspenseful military novel (Clancy) will love this. Even if you're not into the whole submarine "thing", you will love this book, I guarantee it (all opposition shall be shot on sight). There are dozens of sub-to-sub combat scenes, each a cliffhanger in itself between the SSN Cheyenne and Chinese-operated Soviet-produced subs. Even though you know that the Cheyenne is going to win everytime (if not it would make for a rather short book), this book is still great. And when you think that Clancy has gone overboard with his sub-to-sub combat scenes, he throws in a different mission like a survalence mission or something involving Tomahawk missile launching at an onshore base/airfield/church/etc (or anything else that can blow up). The plot never gets slow, even when Clancy throws in some heavy military terminology. I would recommend this book for a long car trip, or boring church sermon, or english class, or giving birth to your first child, or mowing the lawn, etc, etc, etc.

Rating:
Summary: It's entertaining
Review: Well, there is not much depth to the book, but if you are looking for action, you might find this entertaining.

Rating:
Summary: Worst Book ever Written AND Published
Review: I am certain that worse books have been written but fortunately those were never published. Tom Clancy should be embarrassed by having his name associated with this book.

Rating:
Summary: Terrible Book
Review: After the first few battles, you knew that the Cheyenne was not going to get killed. It was about as interesting as watching someone else play a video game with cheats enabled so they couldn't ever be killed. Don't waste your time on this book. Tom should be embarrassed.