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A fan
This book is what a lot of big-time professors and English teachers have forgotten as the primary component of a good book- a crackling good yarn. No deep sophistication, no social revoloutions, none of the "exposition" or "motive" things you learned about in high school(I did anyway). No, just a good story with great writing all the way through.
Remember Jack Ryan(Clancy fans only)? The report-writing side of the CIA? Well, the two main protaginists here are the OTHER side - the James Bond stuff: a former SOG member and Navy SEAL, John Clark, and an 11-bravo(whatever that is) member, Domingo "Ding" Chavez, both recruited into the CIA, where they went on to do its dirty work. Anyway, the book starts out with them on a plane on the way to England, for their new assignments in an elite special-ops(read: counterterror) group called Rainbow. Of course, just to keep this interesting, the plane is hijacked! The book does not let up, and you are continually on edge about something or another, whether a tense hostage situation or the thrill\chill you get hearing the villians' plans(yeah they're enviormentalists- at least it's original), and how real they can be. Technical descriptions of weapons and such are plentiful, if you like that sort of thing, and if you're reading Clancy, you probably do. Good plot, good realism. That's important. However, Clancy's weak point here is character descriptions(like anywhere else). If you thought Jack Ryan was a little poorly described, wait till you hear the descriptions here! This is just a little too much Dudly-Do-Right here: Domingo is married to Clark's DAUGHTER, for G-d's sake! They are both college educated, sensitive to plights and basically all-around American heroes, the text implies without saying, and its only slightly less implied toward the rest of the elite Rainbow team. Zzzzzzzz...... The best character is probably the inevitable Russian villian, Dmitry Arkadayavitch Popov. No, I'm not giving away much about him, but he's cool and fairly oiriginal in managing to seem sympathetic to the reader. Other than that, char. description rests squarely on mediorocity.
But hey, who reads Clancy for the characters? You read it for plot, for realism, for Clancy's otherwise good writing style and atmosphere. And Rainbow Six succeeds in that great(though not as deep as some of his other books). Come in with these expectations, and I guarantee your enjoyment. Tom Clancy is not for everyone, but if you liked his earlier books, you'll like this one. If you think you might like him, this book is a great springboard for finding out(better than, say, "The Bear and the Dragon", which is geared towards Clancy's hardcore faithful). A good yarn, all around. A little more time with the chars. and Clancy would have gotten Star #5 from me.
Frank H.
I found Rainbow Six to be Tom Clancy's least rewarding work.
1) He introduces some interesting characters, but chooses not to develop them. For example, Mrs. John
Clark and Mrs. Domingo Chavez could have provided us with a fascinating perspective on their hus-
bands, but they fade into the book's background scenery instead.
2) The massive volume of profanity stands out in a big way. Granted, some salty language is neces-
sary; these are military men after all. However, the continued crudity made me like Clark and
Chavez less at the book's end than I did at its beginning. I expect a writer as accomplished as Tom
Clancy to portray his character with greater skill and without resorting to a constant barrage of ob-
scenity.
3) Neither was the plot developed with the thoughtfulness we usually associate with Clancy. The early
string of hostage rescues became predictable. The eventual climax would have been more plausible
with just a few more paragraphs of descriptive detail.
All in all though, I do plan look forward to the next volume in this Jack Ryan series. Perhaps Tom Clancy
will enjoy more time before his manuscript deadline and improved editorial support.
Richard Head
Can become boring but when the action happens it happens.
rick
Without question, this book does not have the excitement or steady pace that other Clancy novels have, such as The Sum of All Fears or Clear and Present Danger. Although I felt that there were great action and training sequences, the overall plot and character development was not as intriguing as I expected.
Ryan Tumbler
The one where Clancy went bad
As popular as "Rainbow Six" was, to me it is this book, and not "The Bear and the Dragon," in which Clancy went bad. There, I said it.
Tom Clancy is an author I have always appreciated for his complex and realistic portrayal of war, the intelligence business and international affairs in general. He uses realistic and human characters on both sides of the fence, explores complex and very relevant moral issues and drops them into a thrilling plot that will entertain the reader while still informing and causing him to think. It's what made his success in "Red October" and "Red Storm" and kept him going through every book until "Executive Orders" (his best work, by the way).
"Rainbow Six" disappoints because it exhibits none of these qualities. Clark and Chavez are cardboard, Captain America characters with none of the darker tones and human qualities that they had in previous novels. The plot is predictable and recycled; the virus plot was already in the last book, the "terrorists threaten loved ones" scene has been done to death, and one interrogation scene was lifted right out of "Patriot Games." Complex themes and moral issues are replaced by a gung-ho, Curtis LeMay militarism of the very sort that Clancy sought to exorcise when he first started writing.
Even worst from my point of view, Clancy's books are no longer even remotely relevant in the world of IR. While the last two books had Ryan dealing with new threats in a new world order, this book brings back the threat of Marxist terrorism (why not islamists, or something more relevant?) and ties it into U.S. politics with a ridiculous cheap shot at an environmental movement with a hidden Nazi/SPECTRE agenda (and yes, both comparisons are explicitly used). Clancy takes us back to the Cold War in a giant time loop that persists through the next two books, with his last one being a failed attempt to reconnect with the real world.
So, the demise of one of my favorite authors. He goes from being a first-rate author to a cheap ideological hack in only one book, a free-fall that continues and worsens in the next three books. RIP Tom Clancy.
YVH-1-1A
Un-huh -the Green movement attempts to wipe out the human race to save the world. Riiigghhhhttt...
What ever happenned to those splendid stories Clancy used to write about? You know, stealing the Soviet Union's newest strategic missile sub, or IRA terrorist attacks against the British royal family, or the Iranians trying to create their own superpower in the Gulf? This wasn't a thriller, it was a political propaganda piece. The Greens may be a huge pain in the butt to us, but using them as terrorists was totally ridiculous. Probably an attempt to emulate the James Bond movie franchise. If so, it failed dismally.
The scenes with old Marxist terrorist groups were pretty good, but they got too predictable after the first hundred pages or so. This book was totally unrealistic, gets boring too quickly, and way too much of it is simply political statements attempting to show why every political party in disagreement with the Great Right Wing (in this case, the Greens) is automatically an inhuman servant of evil.
Highly unrecommended.
ND FOOTBALL
Great Book. Disappointed there was no Jack Ryan, but loved Clark and Ding. Popov was a great character, and the Enviromentalists, contrary to some popular views are a good example of a good motive (save the planet) taken too far. (Kill all humans) THe Hereford attack was great, and I LOVED the Shiva Project! Just great!
Rainbow Six was the first Clancy book I ever read. I was thirteen at the time. It is still one of the best books I have ever read, the only books that can compare is the series of books based on the DOOM video game, (I know you are out there laughing you head off at that, but if you want to read a very well written book read "Knee Deep in the Dead" by Daffyd Ab Hugh. I didn't expect to be nearly as well written as it was. But that is beside the point. This novel is exteemly exicting it is a real page-turner. I never wanted to put it down. I finished the 900 pages in 5 days. Go logg of the Internet, run to B&N or your library buy/borrow/procure it in any way you can, sit your A$$ down and read it.
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