This is one of the coolest book I ever read. I kind of bit disappointed when I find out that it's not Tom Clancy who write this book, but some fellow writer named Raymond Benson a.k.a David Michaels. Reading the book, I immediately hooked by the easy-flow narration and perhaps also because I love martial arts (especially Krav Maga, yea, that's why it's easy for me to enjoy the story), I like action with terrorism, politic and spy actions. It's like a perfect book for me.Setelah selesai baca buku ini, gua yakin sekali kalau si penulis ini bukan asal penulis. So I do some research and--suprise, surprise--it appears that Raymond Benson is an official author for James Bond series from 1997-2002. Tapi hebatnya, karakter James Bond dan Sam Fisher tidak mirip (seperti penyakit kebanyakan penulis yang sulit terlepas dari trope "hero has 1000 faces"). Sam bukanlah seorang playboy flamboyan yang dikelilingi cewek-cewek, dia hanya seorang ayah yang punya pekerjaan berbahaya dan anaknya perempuan, masih muda dan lugu. Mangsa empuk buat siapapun yang punya dendam kesumat bagi Fisher atau Echelon.Secara keseluruhan gua suka sekali dengan apa yang dimasukkan ke dalam narasinya, tidak sekadar pamer pengetahuan mengenai alat-alat spy-kit yang super canggih--Ketimbang merasa sedang dipamerin kalau si penulis tahu ada ini atau itu, gua malah kepengen jadi agen NSA sekalipun hanya dalam mimpi! Cara berantemnya juga oke, aksi namun santai. Gua belum main gamenya, dan bisa enjoy baca ceritanya. Maka gua yakin siapapun yang belum main gamenya dan suka isu politik, terorisme, spy dan matrial art, bakal enjoy buku ini juga.Tentang plot dan cerita, konfliknya mengenai isu di timur tengah, tentang terorisme berbasis agama, hostility terhadap westernisasi, dan ada beberapa tokoh yahudi di dalam novel ini yang involved dalam kehidupan Fisher. Tapi buat gua ini worth banget untuk dibaca, karena endingnya tidak mengecewakan dan yang terpenting, terlepas dari temanya, konten di dalamnya tidak menghasut atau bias. Beberapa bagian sukses bikin gua ngakak, terutama waktu mengadu domba antara dua orang tycoon, dan yang paling menyenangkan adalah waktu Fisher ke Jerusalem untuk menyelamatkan putri tercintanya and play as angry dad! Don't mess with his daughter!!5 stars for me, David Michaels!
The book is based around characters from the video game series Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell. The book tells the story of a member of a secret government organization called Third Echelon. Third Echelon is similar to a special forces team, only their operatives, referred to as splinter cells, are sent on their missions alone, and upon arrival at their destination, if things were to go downhill, they are completely on their own. The premise of the book revolves around Third Echelon's efforts in stopping terrorist groups in the Middle East, and investigating the possible existence of a group called "the shop", which had supposedly been supplying weapons to terrorist groups. And whilst investigating, they find that they have other problems. David Michaels' writing style was very interesting in that some chapters would be told from another point of view. This made it so that you could see the story from both sides. I personally found this to be really interesting and enhanced my reading experience. Another thing I really liked was the description. David Michaels described things, we can assume, as Sam Fisher would have. As for the pacing, I found it to be a good balance; slightly varying throughout. AS for the ending, it was all that I expected it to be. I'm not saying it was bad, necessarily, it had exciting moments and was an excellent way to end the story, but the end result was predictable. This book was fun to read, the pacing was good, the plot was interesting, and it was very well written. Despite the predictable ending, this book was fantastic, and I truly enjoyed it. Therefore, I give the book four stars out of five. As for recommendations, I would recommend this book to fans of the game series or anyone who enjoys reading books with a suspenseful, action-oriented storyline.
What do You think about Splinter Cell (2004)?
The general idea of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell is about a lone operative who works for a government agency that doesn't exist, his name is Sam Fisher. I like to think of Sam to be a mix between James Bond, Jet Li, and Ethan Hunt (from Mission Impossible I, II, and III). Sam works for an agency called Third Echelon, a completely secret and of the records organization. When on missions no one knows he exists, what he does, or where he is. The purpose of the Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell novels is to give us a taste of what our government may actually be like. Does our government deal in espionage? Do they have spies overseas ready to take down or corrupt countries or other governments? Tom Clancy gives you possible suggestions in his books. Fisher could be called a static character, he doesn’t really change much through the book. Splinter Cell moderate paced action packed book.If you a person how likes spies, taking down enemies in a quick, quiet, and painful way then Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell is a book for you. The stealth of a ninja, power of a tank, and strategical compatibilities to take on a military technician, he Sam Fisher and he’s a splinter cell. Watch your back, because he might have you in his sights.
—Starvin
If I'm being totally honest, I totally skimmed most of this book. The first part of that was because, honestly, I really didn't like the times where it was written in first person - the sentences were choppy and the writing style was hard to get into and, while there was some consistent characterization with the main character, I just didn't like it. As well as that, I... didn't really care about any of it except for one storyline with one character that I know was just done so that you'd feel bad for her father, and as well as that, you only saw her POV maybe three times throughout the book, so that was that. Those three POVs were what dragged this up from a one star to a two star, because other than them, I just didn't care. There were huge paragraphs full of things that I also didn't care about, and I honestly sort of skipped most of them. I'd read, see a few terms that were super pumped full of things I didn't care about, and then I'd skip down to the next paragraph that did not take up a page. And maybe this just isn't my thing. Maybe I just don't like this sort of book. But it really fell flat. I really didn't care. And I really, really did not like the first person chapters. So that's that.
—Aurora Dimitre
A co-worker kept harping on these Splinter Cell books, saying they were oh so good. Considering I like the games so much, I wanted to try this out. First of all, this book is corny as hell. I was cringing during certain conversations, even the thoughts going through Sam Fisher's head were flat out cheese. I would also have liked a little more character development. It was the main reason I read the book after all. Third Echelon was explained in better detail than in the games, which give little to no background, at least that I can understand. Secondly, this thing is bloated with descriptive passages - sometimes that go on for pages - about his weaponry, modes of transportation, etc. Am I expected to remember all this or even care? Thirdly, this "adventure" nearly put me to sleep with all the history lessons. Don't get me wrong, I like to get a little history but in a Splinter Cell novel? A little can go a long way. I chalk it up to bad writing. Also, Sam Fisher is supposed to be this amazing spy, practically invisible! He is constantly getting caught red-handed and this is not consistent with the context of the book. He will go do his mission, screw it up, then afterward pat himself on the back for a job well done? Frustrating and embarrassing.This was not what I expected. There was hardly any action to speak of. Looking at the other Splinter Cell books I was hoping that they might have been written by someone else. No luck. Maybe he gets better?
—Kim
