Rating: 
Summary: More information that I want in a novel
Review: I have never read one of Tom Clancy's books. I have seen most of the movies that were made from them and have enjoyed most of them. I was moved to read this one after the flack over the much publicized "plot changes" that were prompted by sensitivity to the 9/11 tragedies. Curiosity led me to buy the book and read it to see what the changes were. Yes, the movie did change the bad guys from Arab Muslims to some neo-nazi types, but I never understood how detailed these books were. I have decided to stick to the movie versions. I cannot fault Clancy for his writing, it's just more input than I want. I really don't care about the exact sequence of how a nuclear devise explodes. I really don't want to know the manufacturing process of that devise in detail. I gave the book 3 stars because (at least for me) if I skip the pages and pages of technical detail the book is entertaining. I certainly don't want to try and chase folks away from this book if this type of detail is your cup of tea. But if you're like me, then just wait until they make it into a movie
Rating: 
Summary: It all comes together in the end.
Review: It takes a while to get into this book, but when you do its worth it. Its a real page turner (and there's alot of them), its several stories that all come together to one great ending. The book reflects the constant danger we are in from terrorist attack, in this case the threat of a nuclear detonation in a major city. Terrorists come up with a plan to start the Third World War and its upto Jack Ryan, CIA, to stop them. What unfolds is a great story that makes you think 'what if'. Having not read a Tom Clancy book before I didn't quite know what to expect. While reading the book though I found myself amazed at the amount of technical details I had read without even thinking about it. Am not one who likes to look at the specs of things but I was impressed by the way Clancy included these in the book without it dulling the readers interest, if anything it made the book more interesting. This guy knows his stuff and when it comes to writing he has his style and it obviously works, many movies have been made from his books and he is still writing after many years. I found some of his newer books to be more difficult to get interested in but when it comes to the Jack Ryan series he has it made. This book was turned into a highly successful film that I am yet to see, but if it is half as entertaining as the book i'll watch it a dozen times. 4 Stars (would have been 5 but as I said, it was a little difficult to get interested in it to begin with).
Rating: 
Summary: Clancy at his best
Review: Wow. This book is, for me, the best Clancy has ever written. It's masterful plot concerns a peace plan for the middle east set into plan by the Americans, and a missing Israili nuclear weapon discovered by Islamic extremists.This is a book I couldn't put down, in fact i read it for a day and a half straight while on holiday. The plot drives toward its great conclusion, and while it helps to have read the previous Clancy novels, if only for the backstories referenced to in the novel, it is still a great book in its own right. This is the first Clancy novel I read, and after this I have now read all off them. One of the best books by one of the the best modern authors, The Sum Of All Fears fails to disapoint.
Rating:
Summary: another Jack Ryan hit
Review: Clancy continues Jack Ryan's rise in The Sum of All Fears. This book should be read for what it is without relating it to the movie version; there are significant deviations from the book. Has a nice section of political scheming Washington-style, which adds another challenge to Ryan's domestic tranquility. A solid story with good suspense that lacks an overabundance of technical detail.
Rating:
Summary: Movie almost as good as the book.
Review: After what Hollywood did to Exec Orders, Clancy was involved in making this book into a movie. An older book, the movie was actually made before 911. Book was great, movie was pretty good. This is a review of the audio casette. This is a little bit different story than the movie though, so even if you saw the movie, this is a worthwhile read.
Rating: 
Summary: Not satisfying!
Review: Jack Ryan is the hero of this book. He's the DDCI Director of Intelligence, and he's got to work and deal with infomation from the Secret Service (CIA). He gives advice to the government.
The book is different from the film, so don't expect the movie the same as the book. In the film Jack Ryan is much younger than in the book, that was actually a clever thing! Because a writer wants to sell his books, so it has to be entertaining and thrilling!
And Tom Clancy is really a master of excitement, he knows how to entertain! That's why he's so famous and he earns so much money!
The characters are quite colourless! You read 900 pages and you still not very much about a person! The plot is the important thing! So that's why he writes how the scientists rebuild the bomb, I mean, who wants to know? Sometimes the sub plots are very complicated.
This book may be entertaining, but there is no literary worth!
That's why I gave two stars, it is entertaining but not much more! But if you are a Tom Clancy fan, this book is worth a try!
Rating:
Summary: Turn off mind before reading first half, then on again.
Review: I enjoyed this yarn, overall, as I do most of Clancy's stuff. But I wish he wouldn't put so many obstacles in the way of buying into his premise. First, of course, by the time Ryan has saved the world this many times over, shouldn't he be wearing a cape? Secondly, I'm having a real hard time imagining a Palestinian Gandhi right now; this part of his premise sounds so American. Third, the idea that most everybody really wants peace, is hard to pretend to believe, not only after 9/11, but in view of what we have learned about Saudi pop and government culture. Third, enough of this "all religions are equally well-meaning, to prove it I'll point out some bad Christians and some good Muslims" stuff. The president has to say it, but Clancy's a smart guy; can't he shoot for a deeper level of analysis? Maybe I should stop complaining and enjoy the ride. The story does pick up at the end. But if Clancy wants us to suspend our doubts, he'd do better to encourage them less in the set-up phase of his next story.
Rating:
Summary: Sum of all fears is a techno thriller
Review: Tom Clancy made a another great book. The attention to detail and the suspense is second to none. The book makes you feel like the events that are happening in the book are actually happening in real life. Its terrifying to think that we could be swept up so easily in thermo-nuclear war. The book is second to none and is a marvelous masterpiece. Each character is well thought out and the detail about each character is great. I feel like i know each character personally, almost like they are my own neighbors. Clancy out did himself when he wrote this book. He should write a sequal to this novel.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent read
Review: The book is much more worth the time than the recent movie. Jack Ryan is more believable in Clancy's timeline between "Clear and Present Danger" and "Debt of Honor." The characters are credible, and the story line is too possible.
Rating:
Summary: More probable now than ever
Review: Tom Clancy's follow up to Clear & present Danger, the Sum of All Fears shares that book's impressive length, while not quite matching it in quality. This is a tale of terrorists attemting to provoke a war between th U.S. and the soon to be defunct U.S.S.R..
Each book in the Jack Ryan saga gets longer and longer and Sum of All Fears needed some serious pruning. The book starts very slow, as Clancy describes in excruciating detail the engineering problems associated with making a nuclear bomb. In fact he spends two chapters describing, nanosecond by nanosecond, the process by which the bomb explodes! By the time we reach the climax it seems that Clancy realised he was approaching the 900 page mark and decided to wrap it all up in a couple of chapters.
After four books in the series Clancy has introduced many minor characters, and his need for subplots involving nearly all of them add to the book's length.
The other problem with the book is its scope. Jack Ryan helping a submarine defect is a manageable story-line. Jack Ryan saving the world from Armageddon is stretching things.
Still I enjoyed the book. The subject matter is, if anything, more plausible today than when it was written 10 years ago. Clancy is unrivalled in describing the intracacies of geopolitical affairs. I just wish he learned to edit himself better. Judging by the size of the next novel in the series I don't think he has.
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