Book Review: Rainbow Six novel combines Tom Clancy’s best and worst
Tom Clancy sure knows how to drive me bananas. At his best, Clancy weaves compelling yarn that can hook readers until there are no pages left to flip. At his worst, Clancy puts me to sleep with all the digressions that he probably considers as “details,” but end up having no bearing on the overall story. That pretty much sums up Rainbow Six, the decade-old novel that’s tied-in to the tactical FPS of the same name.
That also sums up the rest of Tom Clancy’s work. The difference between his books, aside from their individual plots, is the interplay between Clancy’s “best” and “worst.” In particular novels, the worst outweighs the best (cough* Debt of Honor *cough). Thankfully, this isn’t the case in Rainbow Six, which I’ve recently snatched up in a book sale.
Clancy’s Worst and Best
Make no mistake; Rainbow Six is peppered with details that you’d care nothing about even in retrospect. And no, removing them would not weaken the overall authentic paramilitary feel that Clancy is aiming for. Rainbow Six also comes with rather questionable approaches to storytelling. Clancy truly enjoys describing someone or something while avoiding any specifics, giving off a very vague effect that sometimes makes the narrative confusing instead of mysterious. When you combine this with an obscene amount of useless details, you’re rewarded with an unplanned nap.
The author makes up for his crimes by orchestrating brilliant scenarios that remind me of a carrot dangling on a stick, with me as the donkey that doggedly pursues the incentive. Each operation that Rainbow embarks on is certainly a feast for the imagination. What’s even more impressive is that each assault is better than the last.
Bond was never here
Even the investigations and spy stuff are well narrated, with no hint of James Bond-ism in between. The antagonists are well characterized despite their brief airtime. Strangely, I expected more humanization for protagonists John Clark and Ding Chavez, but was quite disappointed with their two-dimensional portrayal despite the novel’s almost 900-page length.
Bottom line, there is more of Clancy’s “best” in the Rainbow Six novel. It may have some minor differences when compared to the original Rainbow Six tactical FPS by Red Storm, but the book is certainly a must-read for action thriller fans—even if it was released ten years ago. Despite its age, Rainbow Six remains relevant today. If you happen to see it on sale, you know what to do.
Image of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is courtesy of Ubisoft.
Tags: book_reviews, rainbow, rainbox_six, tom_clancy
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