11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Passable Entertainment, November 15, 2000
For a number of reasons, I feel that the Net Force books have always been weaker than the Op Center series. I have three specific issues with this book. First, a number of recent "Clancy" books have been introducing story threads that are never used in the novel. There are at least two big ones in The Bear and The Dragon that brother me, but the same type of thing pops up on a smaller scale in Breaking Point. There is a lengthy discussion at the beginning of a handgun that takes different caliber rounds at the same time, but this was never used later in the plot. I believe that these types of wanderings keep the story from feeling tighter. Second, this plot could have been an Op Center or Power Play novel; very little about the plot made it a Net Force novel. This continues a trend in the last several Net Force novels to move away from the virtual reality plots that were initially used. While I think that this trend has actually improved the novels (I really disliked the virtual reality portions of the first novel), I would be interested in a series that more fully explored the military, economic, political and diplomatic issues of the "net."
There is also an interesting comment in this book about how virtual reality turned out to be nothing like anyone expected. This seems like a shot at people may have criticized the virtual reality sections of earlier books. I would encourage the author and other readers to look at Headcrash (winner of the 1995 Philip K. Dick Award) by Bruce Bethke or Snowcrash and The Diamond Age (winner of the 1996 Hugo Award) by Neal Stephenson for virtual reality that feels truer.
My third issue with the book is how compressed the timelines are. Both the Op Center and Net Force novels are laid out over a very short time frame. While I will not try to argue that so many major events could happen so quickly, I will take issue with the changes in the characters and their relationships in so short a time. In the Net Force novels, the changes in the relationship between Michaels and Fiorella over so quickly a period of time do not ring true to me.
I have been critical of past Net Force by suggesting that the characters do not act rationally or consistently. As someone with some experience with a troubled marriage and sharing kids, the pace of the relationship dance of Michaels and Fiorella seems unreal and re-enforces this feeling.
With so many good books to read, the final question is whether or not it is worth the investment to continue to read future installments of this series. For me, the answer is yes. One of the reasons that I read is to be entertained and, in spite of my concerns, this book accomplished that goal.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Breaking Point, October 15, 2000
By A Customer
Breaking Point centers more on the personal life of the characters than any of the other Net Force books. It also tells more about what's going on with the "bad guy" than any of the others. This book however does not mention much of Megan (Alex's daughter) or his ex-wife and of what is going on between Julio and Joanna. I enjoy the VR and in this one, very little is told of it; with Tyronne now throwing boomerangs and Jay with his girlfriend Sojo.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Poor research., December 30, 2000
This review is from: Breaking Point (Tom Clancy's Net Force, No. 4) (Audio CD)
The author must not have researached Alaska before writing this book. Chapter 20 starts off with the small community of "Paxon" which is misspelled (Paxton) and a herd of "elk" crossed the road. Believe the author means "caribou." Chapter 23 mentions Howard in Gakona and how dark it was on June 13. Would you believe Alaska doesn't get dark in the summer, especially in June. ..."save for a few mosquitoes buzzing around." Alaska has more mosquitoes than almost anything. Chapter 26 and Howard is in an Anchorage hospital, and he asked Fernandez how he got to Anchorage so fast. Fernandez said he has a friend in the Air Force who owed him a big favor. So just like that Fernandez got a ride in an F-16 or F-15? That is really hard to believe. I have read a little about HAARP and Mr. Begich, but some items in this novel are unbelievable.
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