ABANDONADO al 82% (casi 800 pags según mi Kindle)

¿Y por qué abandona uno tras esa burrada de horas sin saber el final? Conste que el planteamiento de la historia está bien. Un poco manido, pero bien.

La cosa va de un grupo de elite anti-antiterrorista compuesto fundamentalmente por americanos, ingleses y un francés, un alemán y un israelí (por eso de que sea “internacional”). Y “malos” que organizan atentados terroristas y un grupo ecologista, Earth First, que quieren cargarse a todo quisqui para dejar la Tierra hecha un paraíso llenos de animales, árboles…y ellos, claro. Y allá que van estos supersoldados “maquinasdematar” (pero más buenos que el pan, ojito), frustrando los planes a los malotes.

Y yio me quedo sin saber el final, tan cerquita de llegar a fin…porque, a pesar del interés de la historia, no hay guapo que aguante el machismo, militarismo, anti-ecologismo, ultra-americanismo y devoción a las armas que exuda toda la novela. Y los personajes planos y clichés a mas no poder.

Machismo : las mujeres en la novela son solo esposas (nada de miembros del grupo antiterrorista, claro) y con los roles tópicos a las cuales hay que cuidar, y proteger. Ejemplo : “y decidió dejar las tareas femeninas en manos de las mujeres de la casa”.

Militarismo : ni os busco textos, pero todo se arregla metiendo miembros de grupos de elite de todos los países para cargarse a malos : SAS, SEALS, GSG, etc, etc.

Antiecologismo : no es que sea yo un fan a ultranza de los grupos ecologistas, donde creo que hay de todo, pero en el libro se les califica de “abraza-árboles” y otras lindezas por el estilo.

Americanismo : mira, que me canso de que hasta el ex-espía ruso que sale en la novela vea que todo lo de Estados Unidos es maravilloso. Cansa ver esa exaltación de lo americano tan exagerada (y no tengo nada contra USA, conste. Sí contra Trump, pero eso creo que cualquier persona sensata).

Amor por las armas : el autor –y sus personajes- casi se corren de gusto cada vez que hablan de los modelos de armas. Lo siento, tal vez les pase a los estadounidenses, pero al menos este españolito ve con desagrado ese furor por los modelos de armas de fuego.



Y para acabar, los personajes son planos y sin interés. Maniquíes que cada vez que abren la boca dicen lo que se espera de su rol. Y lo estaba leyendo en español latino y, con todo mi aprecio por nuestros primos de allende el Atlántico, las expresiones me resultaban muy extrañas de leer y eso tampoco ayudaba al agrado de lectura.



Resumen : Ale!, tras mi segundo intento con Clancy no me vuelvo a acercar a él. Y mira que alguna de sus obras, pero en cine, me han gustado bastante. Supongo que la adaptación al cine estaba “suavizada”.

Espionage is always a favorite of mine, more particularly in films than in books as it seems better a visual than what words can offer. Nonetheless I read this a few years ago because I loved the title. I think I may have played the video game, too, but not so much that I remember enjoying. It was just after the film 'The Sum of All Fears' came out and Liev Schreiber played John Clark (a mere supporting role there, whereas here the main player), and quite well. I imagined him older here, as he is supposed to be near retirement, but that made the reading easier. If you have never read a Clancy book, start here because I think it's the only book I could get through without going into a coma after each chapter. Granted, he has his moments of ranting, mostly about technical jargon only a military colonel would understand, not to mention his need to explain every detail in every character's (major or minute) life. Anyhow, the story is enough to keep you going, and don't worry it does end in a way you won't expect. I may never read it again for fear that I will be eighty or so by the time I finish, but it's still worth the read.

Awsome book. This is definitely on of my top two favorite books now. I absolutely love the suspense and mystery of the plot. The action is breath takingly amazing. The setting is also insanely good. From Britain to France to Brazil the scene is never boring. I guess I just really like Tom Clancy books. If I could give this six stars I would.

Another great story featuring John Clark and Domingo Chavez.

The first time I started this book, I didn’t make it all the way through. I was reading it slowly, and it didn’t grip me right away. It was fairly predictable until the very end, and the conflicts in the first half of the story seemed to get resolved a little too easily. When I came back to the book, this time with the audiobook, I read at a faster pace, and it was much more enjoyable. I appreciated the way the story seemed to progress in distinct episodes, which I felt gave the story enough ups and downs to keep things interesting. I feel like intense action scenes in books are difficult to do right, and Clancy does them right. The details in the tactical operations make it seem much more real.

The one thing that really bothered me was the characters’ internal voices. Although the thoughts themselves were different, they all seemed to think in the same way. They all asked themselves the same rhetorical questions, and reassured themselves with the same thought processes. All the characters thinking in the same voice pulled me out of the story every once in a while.

Retrospective review

The book that ultimately turned me off Clancy. I haven’t picked one up since, and I’m not really planning on it. I had a great time with the earlier Clancy books (Hunt for Red October, Cardinal of the Kremlin, Red Storm Rising, even Without Remorse)....

Not this one.

This book has everything bad about his writing and very little of what made him great. I’m talking pages and pages and PAGES of unnecessary discription, lack of dialogue, and all the other snooze inducing qualities he is known for wrapped up in one. This book literally could’ve been 250 pages, or less. The amount of fluff in here is truly mind boggling, especially for something that looked quite interesting and had potential, with a writer that can definitely entertain (if you doubt this, please read Hunt for Red October). I’m most proud of myself with this as an exercise in literary discipline, as I somehow got through it. AVOID

A Tom Clancy novel is an odd choice for my blog given none of them can be considered science fiction, fantasy, noir, or contain zombies. You could make an argument that Tom Clancy has had a tremendous effect on the video game genre since Ubisoft first decided that his name should adorn the cover of their works. In fact, this may be hyperbole or internet rumor, but Ubisoft actually bought the rights to his name.

Whatever the case, I've been reading his work lately and thought I'd take a moment to share what I think of his novels whenever I get done with them. Tom Clancy isn't as influential an author as Tolkien but you might argue he's about a third. He created the "techno-thriller" genre and we're now surrounded by the fruits of his creation.

What is a techno-thriller? To be honest, they're spy and/or war novels and the decision to call them a separate genre is just a conceit in my opinion. Still, Tom Clancy revitalized the spy and war novel. Whenever you see super-technological spies running the line between James Bond action and real world political intrigue, you're probably seeing the influence of Tom Clancy in action. He's the guy who said you could be realistic and engage in wish-fulfillment without sacrificing either.

I chose Rainbow Six as my first novel of Tom Clancy to review because it's the only major Tom Clancy work to be adapted into a popular video game. It's a story that was a video game first before the developers got in touch with Tom Clancy and started working side-by-side. The video game's plot doesn't match completely with the novel but their influences are tremendous.

The premise of Rainbow Six is that the United States and other NATO nations have formed an international anti-terrorist team for rescuing hostages. This was before terrorists mostly just started killing people globally. The title of the book doesn't refer to the team, actually, but its chief member and frequent Clancy protagonist, John Clark. The team is named Rainbow and John Clark has 'Six' as his call sign. Joining John Clark is Domingo Chavez, his associate and now son-in-law from Clear and Present Danger.

Not to the spoil the plot, because the basics are revealed fairly early on, but a environmentally friendly corporation called Horizon Incorporated is plotting to kill the entirety of the human race with a genetically engineered strain of Ebola. Why are they doing this? They're radical environmentalists. With this sort of premise, you know Tom Clancy has taken a long step away from realism. Still, I enjoy Bond movies so why not enjoy a premise straight from Moonraker and The Spy Who Loved Me?

The plot more or less follows the bad guys hiring a bunch of real-life terrorist groups to do evil across Europe. Their reasons for this are not revealed until later and quite ingenius. Fans of video games will note that the various terrorist groups all do their evil in distinctive settings and get progressively more dangerous as the heroes go through them one-by-one. In other words, the adventures of our heroes play out exactly like they would in a tactical simulator or FPS.

The politics in the book are more than a little heavy-handed as Tom Clancy's conservative bias shows in virtually every scene. Some of these prejudices come off as blackly humorous given later developments in politics and the economy. For example, one chapter goes to great lengths in explaining how something like the Exxon Valdez spill could never happen again because the oil companies had learned their lesson.

Really, Tom?

The straw caricature environmentalists don't offend me, however, because they're so clearly insane they become entertaining. Numerous chapters in the book go into their POV, which establishes them as all sociopaths who care more about the lives of animals than people. They're also deliberately hypocritical, driving around Humvees and talking about all the animals they'll kill once they're no longer endangered.

The book's science is likewise funny for anyone who knows a thing about evolution and biology such as reinforcing Ebola with cancer cells or talking about how nature needs to be restored to its original state. Nature, of course, is something that is constantly changing as animals immigrate, take over local ecosystems, and warp them to their needs.

Indeed, it is one of the villains who provides much of the book's enjoyment. Dmitry Popov is an ex-KGB agent turned mercenary who is only interested in the Horizon Corporation's money. Popov is used by Clancy to poke fun at the numerous terrorist organizations he encounters, often with a sly observation or two that is never droll. By the end of the book, I wanted Popov to ride off into the sunset with everyone's money.

Unfortunately, in addition to the books occasionally insane politics, it does have one weakness. I don't mean it's length, 900 or so pages is a typical work for Tom Clancy. No, I mean it's the fact the protagonists actually aren't all that proactive. Due to their ignorance of the villain's plot, they spend the vast majority of their time chilling back at their base in-between missions. There's only a few real scenes where the heroes show any real emotion and their character growth is almost nil.

There's also the fact that, for an international organization, Rainbow is pretty much just composed of Americans and Brits. There's a couple of standout characters but they have no real effect on the plot or play any major role. In a way, the countries so excluded should be grateful since the Brits are incredibly stereotyped. Tom is clearly trying to play the SAS-trained soldiers as highly competent professionals but they talk like an amalgamation of Brits from war movies and 1960s episodes of Doctor Who. At least one, I'm sure, is a fairly transparent homage to the Brigadier.

This doesn't mean the book is bad. It's a fairly easy read with the interspersed action sequences being exceptionally well-written and always fun. Some of the settings for terrorist attacks, like a Spanish version of Disneyworld, are inspired. There's also something to be said about villains who are genuinely despicable and you love watching get their comeuppance. I recommend people looking for a good lengthy thriller to check this one out.

8/10

Goodness Clancy gets so bogged down in details. 5 or 6 long pages without dialogue just bores me to death. It got to where I skimmed a ton of the pages and didn't miss a thing. Still always knew what was going on. The action scenes are splendid and worth reading. Just speed read half the book and its worthwhile.

This was my first Tom Clancy techno-thriller and I have to say it was an enjoyable read. The setting and some of the events in this book are somewhat far-fetched, but hey this is not real life. A Counter-terrorist unit lead by Americans operating in European soil. Well let that sync in... I am avoiding spoilers here. It started with a very interesting concept but for me it just side railed along the way. There is no character build up as you would expect when it comes to the two main protagonists or anyone else for that matter. It leaves things less engaging to read if you are not committed to the story or characters. Also a major complaint for me is that you could probably wrap this up in 500 pages, why the extra 400?
But hey it was a fun read. Tom Clancy brought an interesting concept in, but took the easy way out with the finale. Instead of concluding the story he just dismissed it entirely in favor of a cheap ending...

This story would be better with editing. Too many unnecessary written words had me at times falling asleep and dulled some of this novel. 5 of 10 stars

Too many repetitive words an thoughts I fell asleep reading the book. Why say something in three words if you can say it in three pages.

Rainbow Six
Tom Clancy
29 May 2018

In the book Rainbow Six the author Tom Clancy shows how John Clark and his buddy become part of top secret Anti-terrorist group called Rainbow in this realistic fiction book. The group is all of the toughest people from the US and Europe who want to keep the whole world free and safe. The bad guys are terrorists who have many plans do destroy the environment in many ways. This book was mostly entertaining for me but because it was so long I feel like the same plot could have been expressed in a book that is only 600 pages. I am not the fastest reader and so I was very eager to get to the problems in the plot. Other than that I enjoyed the book a lot. I think Tom’s writing was effective and I personally likes a lot of his word choice. I think one of the main things to take away from this book is that freedom and safety is something worth fighting for. I would recommend this book to someone who likes action and a complex plot.