Ryanverse (or Ryaniverse) refers to the fictional universe created by Tom Clancy featuring Jack Ryan and other characters, such as John Clark and Domingo Chavez.
The first book written to feature Jack Ryan was The Hunt for Red October.
Books in the order in which they were written:
The Hunt for Red October (1984)
Patriot Games (1987)
The Cardinal of the Kremlin (1988)
Clear and Present Danger (1989)
The Sum of All Fears (1991)
Without Remorse (1993)
Debt of Honor (1994)
Executive Orders (1996)
Rainbow Six (1998)
The Bear and the Dragon (2000)
Red Rabbit (2002)
The Teeth of the Tiger (2003)
In the order in which they occur in the storyline (and when they occur):
Without Remorse (1970)
Patriot Games (1981, based on a reference to Ryan's age, which is 31 at the beginning of the novel. This roughly fits with a reference to the Princess of Wales expecting a baby—in reality, Prince William was born in summer 1982)
Red Rabbit (circa spring of 1983)
The Hunt for Red October (1985)
The Cardinal of the Kremlin (1987)
Starting with the following novel, the Ryanverse becomes distinctly different from real history as noted below.
Clear and Present Danger (1988) - "The President" is referred to as distinct from Ronald Reagan, but events in Cardinal of the Kremlin are referred to as having concluded less than a year before the start of the novel, which takes place during an election year. Setting "Cardinal of the Kremlin" in 1991 misplaces the state of US–Soviet relations, and 1984 is before the War on Drugs warranted the attention given in "Clear and Present Danger". Ryan, as acting DDI is tasked with presenting a security briefing to the Presidential candidate, which included a copy of the 1984 election briefing. The only logical date is therefore 1988.
The Sum of All Fears (1991–92) – Israel partially cedes sovereignty over Jerusalem to the Vatican and Saudi Arabia, and the city becomes a UN protectorate policed by Swiss Guards. Residents of Jerusalem can choose between either Vatican, Israeli or Islamic judicial law. Denver is devastated by a terrorist nuclear explosion. The book occurs after the Persian Gulf War and before the dissolution of the Soviet Union. While it is implied that both events occur at the same time in the Ryanverse as in actual history, 1991, this conflicts with the terrorist attack on Denver, which occurs while the city is hosting the Super Bowl in the novel. The 1991 Super Bowl had already been played, meaning the terrorist attack would have occurred in early 1992, after the Soviet Union actually fell.
Debt of Honor (1995–96) – The United States and Russia destroy all of their ballistic missiles. After crippling the US economy and becoming a nuclear power, Japan invades and takes the Marianas Islands; the US and Japan fight a brief war, which the Japanese lose (they are subsequently denuclearized); an embittered Japanese pilot and proponent of the war crashes a 747 into the US Capitol Building immediately after Ryan's confirmation vote for the Vice President, killing most of the House and Senate, the President, all nine Supreme Court justices, the senior military establishment (including the JCS), and most of the Cabinet; Ryan is left in charge of a gutted government. The end of the book occurs shortly after the New Hampshire primary, which shows that the novel takes place during the 1996 election. Of interest, but not crucial to the plot of this or further books is that North and South Korea were said to be unified at some point between The Sum of All Fears and this book.
Executive Orders (1996) – Saddam Hussein is assassinated; Iran and Iraq merge forming the United Islamic Republic; the UIR launches a biological attack on the U.S. using the Ebola virus; the US launches the Second Persian Gulf War against the UIR and defeats them; the Ayatollah is killed in a smart-bomb attack by the US.
Rainbow Six (Takes place between Executive Orders and The Bear and the Dragon)(although events seem to be based around the Sydney Olympics held in 2000) RAINBOW—an elite counter-terrorist force—is created and engages terrorists across Europe. Ecoterrorists plan to create a genetically-enhanced virus based on Ebola and cancer cells, which they plan to use to wipe out much of the world's population.
The Bear and the Dragon (2000) – Russia is admitted to NATO; China and Russia fight a major war, in which the US intervenes on its NATO ally's side. It implies that the British Prime Minister is Tony Blair.
The Teeth of the Tiger (2005, based on the age of Jack Ryan Jr.) The U.S. is now engaged in a global war on terrorism, in response to the September 11th attacks which occurred in the Ryanverse as they did in the real world. It is mentioned that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq occurred in the Ryanverse continuity, and that the Jerusalem Treaty signed in The Sum of All Fears has failed as Israelis and Palestinians went back to fighting each other.
A total of five presidents are explicitly shown in the Ryanverse (although Red Rabbit takes place during the Reagan Administration, Reagan does not make an appearance as a character):
The unnamed man referred to only as "the President," first introduced in The Hunt for Red October; he remains in office through The Cardinal of the Kremlin, and Clear and Present Danger. At the end of the last novel, he runs for reelection and is defeated.
J. Robert Fowler, former governor of Ohio, who defeats the incumbent at the end of Clear and Present Danger and is in office during The Sum of All Fears. After his failure to handle the Denver crisis nearly results in nuclear war, he resigns from office at the end of the novel.
Roger Durling, Fowler's vice-president, former governor of California and a Vietnam veteran with service in the 82nd Airborne Division. Durling replaces Fowler when the latter resigns, and is the President in Debt of Honor, completing Fowler's term as President. At the end of the novel, he is killed along with most of the government when a Japanese jetliner is crashed into the Capitol Building.
John Patrick Ryan is confirmed as Durling's new vice-president at the end of Debt of Honor, and is sworn in as President when Durling is murdered on the same day. His claim to the presidency is contested by Durling's former VP Edward Kealty, but the courts eventually rule in Ryan's favor. He remains in office in Executive Orders, Rainbow Six (though he never appears) and The Bear and the Dragon.
Robert Jefferson "Robby" Jackson succeeded Ryan as President of the United States after Ryan retired (as described in The Teeth of the Tiger), with Ryan believing he could leave the country in Robby's capable hands. After serving out the remainder of Ryan's term, Robby campaigned for his own re-election. While travelling in Mississippi, however, Jackson was shot and subsequently assassinated by a 67-year-old man who was a member of the Ku Klux Klan; Duane Farmer. Farmer was taken alive and swiftly executed for his crimes.
President Edward Kealty: Durling's former vice-president, replaced by Jack Ryan after a sex scandal. During Executive Orders, he tries to steal the presidency from Ryan by claiming that he never actually resigned, but those allegations are tossed out by U.S. courts. After Ryan leaves office and Jackson is assassinated, Kealty is elected President in his own right, a position he holds in The Teeth of the Tiger though he is never seen.
It should be noted that in later books there are nevertheless multiple references to both the Reagan Presidency and the George H.W. Bush Presidency as if they had happened.
Several film adaptation of the Jack Ryan novels have been produced.
First film series
The Hunt for Red October (1990)
Patriot Games (1992)
Clear and Present Danger (1994)
Second film series
The Sum of All Fears (2002)
Third film series
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)
Many video games based on the Ryanverse have been made, some based on the novels, some on the films, some on the spin-offs.
The Hunt for Red October (1987)
The 1987 video game is based on the book
The Hunt for Red October (1990)
The 1990 video game is based on the film
The Sum of All Fears (2002)
The 2002 video game is based on the film
In addition there is the Rainbow Six video game universe, see Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six
