Read what people think about Rainbow Six by Tom Clancy, and write your own review.

Rated of 5

One thing I am sure many readers will notice is that this book definitely has a larger emphasis on action and shooting than many other Tom Clancy stories do. This will obviously appeal to many readers, myself included. The fact that this novel is so action packed will encourage readers to keep turning the pages, is the plot and the many twists included weren't enough.

I am a kid, which means that sometimes I get bored when reading. For the few younger readers who are interested in picking up this book I warn you that some segments of this novel are very boring. While yes, I am aware that this is intended to advance the plot and character development but sometimes we're looking at one action sequence per every 100 pages until the large scale shootout finale. In a book that's 895 pages long (paper back version), many younger people may just put down this book and not bother.

Now you're probably wondering why I would give this book a 5/5 when I just complained about it for a paragraph. Well, simply it's because I have never lost myself in a book as much as I have this one. I was never terribly interested in the Harry Potters and the Lord of the Rings that all my friends were talking about simply because I grew up on watching movies similar to this book with my dad, and I am sure that many other people were the same. So basically what I'm saying is that if you love action, tactical military stuff, movies like Black Hawk Down and the Rainbow Six video games you will love this book. If not, you may want to give this one a pass

Rated of 5

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.