69 replies to this topic

[dinovelvet]

Out Now!

Perfect. I just finished the first Splinter Cell book ten minutes ago.

[Qwerty]

Out Now!

Perfect. I just finished the first Splinter Cell book ten minutes ago.

Well you couldn't have planned it better.

[Qwerty]

Got mine! Now to just find time to start reading it!

[K1Bond007]

Got mine! Now to just find time to start reading it!

I think I'm planning on just waiting till Christmas.

I don't think Benson has mentioned, but is he planning to do a third? I know he was only signed to do 2. I imagine the next one, by whomever, will be out next year at the same time. I hope anyway. The first one was pretty good.

[Qwerty]

I hope he continues on writing them.

[Leiter]

What this one about?

[Quartermaster007]

Just picked up my copy today and started reading the first chapter.


Excellennnttt......

[dinovelvet]

What this one about?

(Minor spoiler alert)

I've only read the first few chapters, but so far it appears to be a direct sequel, with Sam Fisher going after the Shop masterminds who got away at the end of the first book...

[Leiter]

Thanks, I'll probably get it Tuesday.

[TheREAL008]

The Sam Fisher in the books doesn't resemble anything like the original concept intended for the games. I can respect Benson taking liberties but where are Anna G and William Redding?

It would be great if Clancy wrote a novel in the series, the two Raymond wrote just seem too simple minded and easy. Also why does he keep bringing up Hong Kong and Chinese rule? He did that with ZMT, why can't he move on?

[007NC]

I got it yay! Yep just so you know the Shop and Andrei Zdrok are in it. I only read the first two chapters and the first one is a lot like chapter one of book one. He introduces himself and all that. But its cool.

[zencat]

"Operation Barracuda" has hit the best-seller lists....

# 14 (NY Times Paperback Fiction)
# 8 (Publishers Weekly Paperback Fiction)

Congrats Raymond.

[TheREAL008]

Ok, I'm more than halfway thru and I'm still not liking how Raymond is treating the character. I've played all three Splinter Cell games on my PS2 and it's apparent that Mr. Benson hasn't played the games. I won't give out any spoiliers but I cannot see a good reason why he would use creative license for this character. Had Mr. Benson played the games he would have gotten a real and true sense of Sam Fisher than the main character in the novels.

However, the book so far is a lukewarm read. In the chapters where he's not in the mindframe of Fisher are actually good. I'm not to happy about how he needs to rehash the Hong Kong situation when it's been eight years ago with each and every new book he writes. The government conspiuracy trheories have been done before by countless other writers also.

What's worse is that when I read this story I get the feeling that Raymond is talking down to his readers by constantly throwing needless reminders every couple of pages. I may be way off base on that; however I can't help but wonder if he could have written something ...realistic and adult at the same time.

I'm glad he's only writing two. Hopefully the next writer will stay true to the character.

[TheREAL008]

The review I posted on some book websites: (minus the typos and mistakes in grammer)

The first book in the series gave David Michaels leeway to actuyally get to know Sam Fisher the character. In the second outing it's more than apparent that David Michaels...aka Raymond Benson just doesn't know the character at all. The Sam Fisher in the novels isn't the same Sam Fisher in the video games and that's really what makes this novel suffer.

Another thing: Benson , er, Michaels continues to keep drawing on past work rehashing the Hong Kong / China relationship / handover from 1997. Clearly this is an issue with him that he can't grow out of. Why he really has to rehash his first James Bond Novel (Zero Minus Ten) is a mystery.

But the novel speeds by very fast thankfully and by the time you actually gete to the plot the story gets better. THe tech descriptions are the saving grace of this novel and frankly, what make the album what it is.

So sadly Mr. Benson: Reading your Splinter Cell novels is very much like eating at MacDonalds.


Thankfully he won't be writing any more.

Edited by TheREAL008, 17 November 2005 - 10:04 PM.

[K1Bond007]

Can you be more specific? Why is Fisher from the novels not like Fisher in the games? I've played all the games and have only (thus far) read the first novel, but it seemed he nailed it the first time.

Anything specific? It is worth noting that Benson doesn't really have to play the games (although he probably has) to get a sense of the character. Ubisoft actually has a "bible" with Fisher's backstory/trivia and etc all planned out. Most of the novel stuff comes from there. Benson's talked about it before in interviews.

[dinovelvet]

The review I posted on some book websites: (minus the typos and mistakes in grammer)

The first book in the series gave David Michaels leeway to actuyally get to know Sam Fisher the character. In the second outing it's more than apparent that David Michaels...aka Raymond Benson just doesn't know the character at all. The Sam Fisher in the novels isn't the same Sam Fisher in the video games and that's really what makes this novel suffer.

"Know the character?", we're talking about an avatar in a videogame here, it's not like he's Hamlet to begin with. Its a "cardboard booby" as a certain author might say, I don't want to read a novel about a guy who says nothing except for a couple of sentences here and there at the beginning and end of a level. You need some meat on the bones, and Benson did so. Pretty good read IMHO, I've actually never read any of Benson's Bond novels, I'll get round to that though, from what I've read in the Splinter Cell books he's more fun than Gardner...

[TheREAL008]

The review I posted on some book websites: (minus the typos and mistakes in grammer)

The first book in the series gave David Michaels leeway to actuyally get to know Sam Fisher the character. In the second outing it's more than apparent that David Michaels...aka Raymond Benson just doesn't know the character at all. The Sam Fisher in the novels isn't the same Sam Fisher in the video games and that's really what makes this novel suffer.

"Know the character?", we're talking about an avatar in a videogame here, it's not like he's Hamlet to begin with. Its a "cardboard booby" as a certain author might say, I don't want to read a novel about a guy who says nothing except for a couple of sentences here and there at the beginning and end of a level. You need some meat on the bones, and Benson did so. Pretty good read IMHO, I've actually never read any of Benson's Bond novels, I'll get round to that though, from what I've read in the Splinter Cell books he's more fun than Gardner...

I disagree. Three games developed and a fourth one on the way hardly qualifies as a cardboard copy. There's more than enough in the games alone to give the novel Fisher meat on the bones.

The truth is that Raymond doesn't know the character and that he just took what a covert operative might be in Fisher's shoes then given him alot of room to make mistakes and be way too over emotional. That's what makes the book suffer because it's not who Sam Fisher really is. Had Raymond either played the games or talked with the reps at Ubisoft or even Tom Clancy himself.

Hopefully the next author will be more mindful and Raymond can go back to rehashing Zero Minus Ten for his future novels.

[K1Bond007]

The review I posted on some book websites: (minus the typos and mistakes in grammer)

The first book in the series gave David Michaels leeway to actuyally get to know Sam Fisher the character. In the second outing it's more than apparent that David Michaels...aka Raymond Benson just doesn't know the character at all. The Sam Fisher in the novels isn't the same Sam Fisher in the video games and that's really what makes this novel suffer.

"Know the character?", we're talking about an avatar in a videogame here, it's not like he's Hamlet to begin with. Its a "cardboard booby" as a certain author might say, I don't want to read a novel about a guy who says nothing except for a couple of sentences here and there at the beginning and end of a level. You need some meat on the bones, and Benson did so. Pretty good read IMHO, I've actually never read any of Benson's Bond novels, I'll get round to that though, from what I've read in the Splinter Cell books he's more fun than Gardner...

I disagree. Three games developed and a fourth one on the way hardly qualifies as a cardboard copy. There's more than enough in the games alone to give the novel Fisher meat on the bones.

The truth is that Raymond doesn't know the character and that he just took what a covert operative might be in Fisher's shoes then given him alot of room to make mistakes and be way too over emotional. That's what makes the book suffer because it's not who Sam Fisher really is. Had Raymond either played the games or talked with the reps at Ubisoft or even Tom Clancy himself.

Hopefully the next author will be more mindful and Raymond can go back to rehashing Zero Minus Ten for his future novels.

As I said before, can you be more specific? In the first game Fisher is pretty "emotional" about his daughter. It even has a pretty cheesy ending. Hell look at the latest game and the apparent sequel. He snapped. Seems pretty on target to me.

[00-FAN008]

I just got this book for Christmas, and I've had a hard time putting it down. First, I finished off the first novel and got started on this one straightaway; it's really awesome. The opening scene in Ukraine was pretty amazing... same with some of the Hong Kong stuff. So far I've read up to Chapter 16. Hope Benson makes another one!

[K1Bond007]

I just got this book for Christmas, and I've had a hard time putting it down. First, I finished off the first novel and got started on this one straightaway; it's really awesome. The opening scene in Ukraine was pretty amazing... same with some of the Hong Kong stuff. So far I've read up to Chapter 16. Hope Benson makes another one!

I've yet to read it. I'm probably going to reread the first after Jan 1st and then read OB. That's my hope anyway. I'm backed up with Gardner, but I really want to read this since I enjoyed the first. If the 2nd is as good as the first, I hope he writes more too.

Edited by K1Bond007, 29 December 2005 - 08:42 PM.

[Qwerty]

Read mine. There's alot to give away in this plot, IMO, so I won't be saying much. The pace stays very much in line like the first novel. I believe the highlight was the searching for "something" during the finale. Kept me reading straight through.

[007NC]

I liked it as well but I liked the ending to the first better then the second.

[Gabe Vieira]

I just finnished Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Operation Barracuda late last night, and all I can say is, AMAZING. Even if you read the first book and were not quite sure about it, you have to read Operation Barracuda. Our good friend Raymond Benson has written an amazing book. It's just so fun to read, I literally couldn't stop reading. It only took me a few hours to read the entire book over three nights.

My only complaint is that Benson's Sam Fisher is not as dark a character in the book as he is in the Splinter Cell games. In a way he is more "human" in the book, which, in this case, I believe takes away from the character. Also, there are some parts that are overly talkative which don't sound very natural.

[Blofeld's Cat]

Is Splinter Cell better than the Op-Center and Net Force series?

Because after reading the 1st book of each series I didn't bother reading the others.

[Gabe Vieira]

Is Splinter Cell better than the Op-Center and Net Force series?

Because after reading the 1st book of each series I didn't bother reading the others.

I only read one book from Net Force, and didn't like it. Splinter Cell is better. I've read a few books from the Op-Center and I didn't really like them either, however, they are good books. They're just not my cup of soup. If you really like Splinter Cell, I'd take the Splinter Cell books over Op-Center.

[Qwerty]

Now on his official site...

Raymond Benson concludes writing 'Splinter Cell'

[Jim]

Could this mean....

...he's coming back, for 2008?

I know he's initmated (if not said directly) that he's done with Bond but stranger things have happened. Unfinished business?

[Skudor]

Could this mean....

...he's coming back, for 2008?

I know he's initmated (if not said directly) that he's done with Bond but stranger things have happened. Unfinished business?

I guess you're referring to :

Having written the first two books in the series, Raymond is now concentrating on other exciting projects, so watch this space for future news.

Plausible I guess... aren't the IFP guys saying something new is going to come out soon (e.g. after the Young Bond). Or something along those lines?

[K1Bond007]

Well that's kind of sad to see him walk away from Splinter Cell. I enjoyed the first book. The second one was merely ok. I enjoyed most of it, but the end seemed thrown together. Still worth a read.

I wonder who will take over....

[Gabe Vieira]

Well that's kind of sad to see him walk away from Splinter Cell. I enjoyed the first book. The second one was merely ok. I enjoyed most of it, but the end seemed thrown together. Still worth a read.

I wonder who will take over....

Mr. Clancy himself, perhaps? That would be freakin' awesome, although he's working on brand new fiction novel slated for release later this year.