Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell

Rating:
Summary: A Sam Fisher of a different color... bland.
Review: I admit it; I love video games. I remember when the first trailers for the original Splinter Cell first came out. I knew I'd love the game. I bought it on release day and loved every second of it. The second game was an equally wonderful experience. In Sam Fisher Ubisoft has created one of the most likeable and respectable characters of the genre. That being said, I saw this book and bought it hoping for a chance to get to know Sam Fisher a little better.

After twenty minutes with this book I had a few theories about what had gone horribly awry in its development. Apparently the author had a target audience in mind when he wrote this book: individuals who are video game enthusiasts, who enjoy the stealth/action genre and who have played the Splinter Cell games. Unfortunately he seems to believe that demographic is entirely made up of teenage males who read at somewhere between an 8th and a 10th grade level and just play video games for the action and violence. This belief is horribly skewed from the truth. The average avid gamers today are males in their mid 20's to early 30's. They are college graduates, many with more than just an undergraduate degree. They have real jobs in the real world. They are intelligent (I know many women who would debate that point) and almost all would rather play a game with a compelling story than just a bland, violent shooter (remember what a flop games like Daikatana were? A lot of action, ZERO story or character development). With this misconception about who his audience really is Mr. Michaels has crafted a tale that falls short... very short.

The main complaint I had about this book was how Sam Fisher was portrayed. When you play a video game to completion you have usually invested a large amount of time into the task. Throughout the course of that time you come to know the main character. The Sam Fisher in this book is NOT the Sam Fisher I came to know through the course of completing both games multiple times. This is a different person with the same name. The real Sam Fisher doesn't speak like he's in his mid twenties, he's in his mid-forties. The word "funky" isn't in his vocabulary, yet he uses it more than a few times in the book. Sam Fisher is a professional, and like all professionals who have been highly trained and have countless years of experience in their repective fields he has a vocabulary specific to his expertise. The Sam Fisher in this book lacks that vocabulary. In fact, he seems to have lost almost all vocabulary besides slang and cuss words. Just one excruciating example: in a glimpse into his between-mission life, Sam Fisher describes a woman he is aquainted with and then says (crudely I might add) "Yep, I would certainly jump her bones in another life." This is only about thirty pages into the book. This was the point I nearly threw the book out the window... and there was still another 320 pages to go. Another 320 pages of 9th grade writing.

The only way I was able to make it through this book was to pretend that it was written about a different Sam Fisher in Third Echelon. The writing style was cliche-ridden and drab and reading this book became a chore rather than a diversion. Don't get me wrong, there are a few brief moments where the writing could be considered decent, but they are few and far between. The author spends too much time insulting his audience by repeatedly explaining things the audience has already figured out. He seems to have "dumbed down" everything. Gone it the technical jargon bandied about in the games (for some that may be a plus, but that is how the characters speak; they are professionals). The plot had a lot of promise and could have made a compelling story... if the poorly written characters hadn't gotten in the way.

Bottom line: if you are a fan of the Splinter Cell games and read more than just video game novels you will probably not enjoy this book. Fans of Clancy novels will most likely hate this book. If you want to see what this book SHOULD have been, read Clancy's Without Remorse. This book is NOT about the Sam Fisher that I came to know and respect in the games. If you want to know how that Sam Fisher speaks and thinks watch the new trailer (entitled "I Believe") for the third game: Chaos Theory. Now THAT'S the Sam Fisher that this book should have been about. I give this book one sad, loneyly, and poorly written star.

Rating:
Summary: Add Sam Fisher to the short list of world's greatest spies!
Review: I began reading the novel Splinter Cell and became very interested in the character Sam Fisher. Also of interest was the reverse direction of first the video game Fisher and then
the novel Sam Fisher. I began playing the games as well.

The novel's change in perspective narrative made sense when you take into account that the video games Splinter Cell and Pandora Tomorrow are first person shooters. Sam's POV in the novel works. This is a guy who is never alone, see the introduction in the first game and detail's within the book. Government implants have turned this guy's inner dialog into the number one rated program in a Situation Room at the NSA.

The 3rd person narrative in the book is the video game equivalent of a cut scene, usually woefully lacking in detail in a game, but rich in detail and back story here.

Some of the comment's made of the novel are interesting, trouble with Sam's age, some language usage and his "jump her bone's" statement come to mind. I'm roughly Sam's age and almost 30 years ago if you had seen any of the Burt Reynolds's comedy/action movies you would remember the phrase.

Small criticism's, Sarah starving herself, I felt like the daughter of such a field operative would know to keep her strength up for a rescue, but she had been estranged from Sam for awhile. Sam also encountered this with US service men in one of the games who where to weak to help, much less escape with him. She's also vague about his work,perhaps the novel takes place before Sam and Sarah's vacation was interrupted by a stealth ship, it seems she would have a pretty good idea of what he does after that.

I would have liked an air OSPREY deployment/extraction as well seeing as how Coalition forces control air space in the region and recon missions are being conducted in Iran anyway. Traveling by vehicle in country was fine. Please no kick's
above the waist in a combat situation Krav Maga or not. Great in a movie, but bad news loaded out, closing with the enemy.

The Clancy esq. detail's are all there and the pacing quick. The ending also reflects a silent boots on the ground op. with some life experience both in war and at home.

All in all the entire Splinter Cell franchise is very well done and the most fun I've had in awhile. Read the book while listening to "Chaos Theory" CD, for a complete experience. The book did enhance my game play, and the back story of the novel
Added depth to the Sam Fisher in the games.

With Jack Ryan's future up in the air, bring on Sam Fisher!



Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: I bought this book in an airport bookstore. I was duped as I thought it was a Tom Clancy book. After reading the first page I figured it out.

I have never played the game, just saw a commmercial on TV some time ago. The game looked interesting. The book was not.

First off, you have to get over the first-person narrative style. The guy is talking about himself as if he is recounting it to someone, though he would never really recount it if he was so deep undercover. A third-person narrative would've made more sense.

The characters were hollow and very predictable and I never felt engaged with the story. It kept hinting at something big that never came.

Rating:
Summary: GOOD BOOK WITH SOME CHEESE
Review: I generaly like the book, it had a good sub-plot with a lot of action. I look forward to another addition. The only thing I did not like was the cheese way they descibe some situations i.e. I went flipping of the wall and Ive been trained like that. But all and all it was a good book.

Rating:
Summary: This book is great, don't listen to the negatives!
Review: I really don't understand the negative reviews that have been posted here.

First of all, I play the Splinter Cell games. I like them.
Yes, this novel is a little different from the games, but in my opinion that is a good thing. There is no way anyone could write an interesting NOVEL that captures the feeling of the game because it would be an action-less, boring novel. When you're playing a game and you're stealthily sneaking around, trying to find little objects that improve your score, solving puzzles, and attempting to avoid traps and getting caught--that makes good *gameplay* because it involves your skill at manipulating the controls of a Playstation 2! If a writer tried to capture all that in prose, it would be deadly dull.

I believe I understand what David Michaels has done with this book. He has taken the concept of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell and re-invented it to work as a terrific action-suspense novel.

Some reviewer below said that in the novel Sam Fisher's character is lifeless and not anything like the game's Sam Fisher. I say that's a good thing! Sam Fisher in the game IS totally lifeless, has no personality, and speaks in monosyllables and monophrases. He's like an automaton. By writing Sam Fisher's actions in first person, Mr. Michaels has put us inside Sam Fisher's head. We finally get a fully fleshed out character. We know what he's thinking and how he feels about what he's doing. You don't get that playing the game. As for his language, I've heard plenty of 40-something men use words like "stuff," "jump her bones," and other phrases that reviewers here have nitpicked on. In fact, *I* am a forty-something and I've used those phrases myself. And I believe Sam Fisher would curse to himself when things go wrong. Who doesn't??

As for the writing, I totally disagree with the comments that it seems to have been written by a middle-school writer. The prose here is fluid, clean, and moves quickly. This is action fiction at its best. Pick up any best-selling action novel of the same ilk and you're going to find the same thing. It's not *literary genius* but it's not meant to be.

The book is well-researched. The descriptions of Iraq, Iran, and other places in the Middle East are dead on.

Oh, and an "Osprey" IS a backpack. Yes, an Osprey is a plane, but it's also the brand name of a backpack. See www.ospreypacks.com. It IS the pack Sam Fisher uses. The Five-seveN IS the pistol that Sam Fisher uses in the games, so I don't know what the reviewer(s) below are griping about.

I am sure that if and when a Splinter Cell MOVIE is released, it's going to be different from the games, too. That's the way these things work, folks. How many movies have been made based on video games that are exactly like the games? Not many. The same goes for books based on other mediums. Or movies based on books. The authors/directors/creators have to do something different. David Michaels has done something here that in my opinion is different but STILL FAITHFUL TO THE SPIRIT of the Splinter Cell games!

Read it with an open mind. It's a great ride and I for one can't wait for the next book.

Rating:
Summary: So bad I gave it up after 5 pages...
Review: I'd like to start out by stating I am a hardcore Tom Clancy fan. I've read all of his books many times (in fact I had to buy a 2nd copy of Red Storm Rising) and read the Net Force series. I picked up Splinter Cell looking forward to tales of Sam Fisher but as soon as I started reading I noticed something odd. The author was writing in a first person view like none I've ever seen before. He uses the word I constantly. In one paragraph EVERY sentence started with I. I did this. I did that. It dosen't make for good reading at all. I skimmed ahead and it seemed like the author continued to overly use the letter "I" throughout the book so having spent $12 of my hard earned money I put the book down and never expect to pick it up again.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Read -- Well Researched!
Review: Once I started, I couldn't put this book down! I finished it in two days, and felt that I was right there, along side the hero. I have been to many of the places mentioned in the book and felt it was like old times re-visiting the same locals, similar hovels, and back streets. I was blown away by the meticulous research. All in all, a fast moving, exciting plot and a satisfying ending! I look forward to his next adventure.

Rating:
Summary: Splinter Cell?
Review: So, Sam Fisher, an expert espionage agent, can always infiltrate a building silently, but always has to run out of it, chased by enemies with guns blazing? Well, according to this book, that's how it is.

This book plays hell will the Splinter Cell universe. Sam Fisher in the game has much more contact with Third Echelon, is transported to and from missions in an Osprey plane, and frequently talks with Lambert and Grimsdottir. In the book, he drives everywhere (even Iraq and Iran), which is way to slow and obvious. There is no Grimsdottir, and he barely talks to Lambert.

Worst of all, I hate the Sarah subplot. In the game, Sam's job never touches his personal life, and that's how it should have stayed. It's more realistic and believable. Oh, and NOBODY knows about Third Echelon in the book. Not even the bad guys. It adds to the game's mystique. Of course, in the book, EVERYONE knows about it!

What we have here is a low-rent, cheap imitation Splinter Cell designed like a bad Bond movie, with all the cliches. Family gets involved, the hero always works on his own, and all missions end in a fight. Someone said it would be a boring story if Sam was perfectly stealthy. If you feel that way, why read a STEALTH BASED BOOK?!!! We WANT to see Sam be invisible, not making nearly-fatal mistakes at every turn. Sure, he occasionally could get into a fight, as in the games, but NOT every single mission!

The story's interesting. I like how it makes use of modern-day events and situations to give it credence. But the detractions outway the positives. This is not the Splinter Cell I was looking for. Next time, follow the game. It's what we want to see. If it isn't, why write a book about the game?

Rating:
Summary: Was this fan fiction that someone printed off the internet?
Review: Was this fan fiction that was printed off of the internet?
Sure seems like it to me.

I bought this book in the airport a few days ago. (When i bought it i thought it was by Clancy, but after i started reading it i realized that he wouldn't write like this.) I must state before i start that i have only read the first 200 pages of the book, but i still think i have enough information to write a decent review.

First of all this book is not loyal to the way Clancy imagined the Splinter Cell world. The author made mistakes on many levels.
-The Osprey is a plane, not a travelbag.
-Remember the cutscenes with Sarah in the game? I doubt very much that she would act the way she does in the book.
There are many other flaws in this category that i could point out, but i think that those two examples are enough.

As for those of you who said it was a great action book, that is true. But Splinter Cell was not meant to be "action". It was a sneaking, spying, strategy game. In the book, Sam shoots lots of people, kills people (messily) by hand, and many other "action" things that don't belong in Splinter Cell. He kills 1/2 of the bad guys.

The writing is not all that great. There is a lot of word repition. The author will sometimes say "stuff" every other sentance. Or keep referring to someone with their full name. Every sentance. You know you could just use "him" right?
Much of the writing was terrible, and sometimes hard to read. The author seems to be a first time writer. This review is written better then the book.

I could point out many many more flaws if i had time to, because it would take a 1/2 hour to do, but just understand that while this book wasn't really torture to read, it will dissapoint you.