Inside North Korea, veteran Fourth Echelon agent Sam Fisher finds himself on the run when a top-secret covert mission goes fatally wrong. Betrayed by his allies, hunted by his adversaries, and disavowed by his own agency, Sam is stranded deep inside hostile territory – and his only chance of survival is to uncover a murderous plot that reaches into the heart of the hermit state, and beyond. Meanwhile, Fisher’s estranged daughter Sarah risks everything to assemble an off-the-books effort to find her missing father before his luck runs out – but the conspiracy that framed Sam goes deeper than either of them realise…
Splinter Cell: Dragonfire continues the story of Fourth Echelon agent Sam Fisher and his daughter, Sarah, that was begun in last year's Splinter Cell: Firewall, as our heroes face one of their toughest challenges yet when they find themselves caught up in a plot to push the world to the brink of war in order to destabilise a global power.
Splinter Cell: Firewall was a tech heavy book. It was about shady businessmen creating a powerful piece of technology that they wanted to turn to evil ends. In contrast, this new book feels like a much more back to basics action thriller, and with a few teaks it could easily work in any recent decade due to not having to rely on cutting edge technology to drive the story forward. This results in the book feeling like a perfect companion piece to the other, with both of these books showing the versatility of these characters and the world originally created by Tom Clancy; now continued with such flair by James Swallow.
Splinter Cell: Dragonfire sees veteran agent Sam Fisher being sent on a top secret mission into North Korea in order to assassinate a dangerous figure. Deep behind enemy lines, Sam has been told that his target has control of a weapon of mass destruction, and that millions of lives and global stability are on the line. However, moments before pulling the trigger Sam realises that he's been set up, and that he's been tricked into killing an important political figure. Despite stopping the assassination in time, Sam is caught and it looks to the world like the US is trying to kill one of the most important figures in North Korea.
A prisoner of the insular nation, Sam is cast off by his government and left alone to not only fight for his freedom, but to try and get to the bottom of the conspiracy that almost saw him kill the wrong man. Fortunately for him, his friends and family refuse to abandon him, even if his government has, and his daughter Sarah sets out to save her father.
Splinter Cell: Dragonfire might be the best of the Splinter Cell books that I've read due to the fact that Swallow has stripped away a lot of the high-tech gadgetry and tech wizardry that tends to go with these kinds of stories. Sam is no longer kitted out with the best weapons and devices, he doesn't have a tech genius talking in his ear, and his back-up isn't hacking their way into secure systems for him whilst he takes out bad guys who don't even know he's there. This time the tables have been turned. Sam is alone, he's scavenging weapons where he can, he's taping books to himself to use as body armour, he's stealing cars, and he's kicking in doors. He's been reduced to simply being a man; and yet he manages to still be one of the most frighteningly efficient and skilled men around.
I'm sure that there will be those that love the parts of the series that this book seems to do away with, and might even be upset that they're missing here; but I think it makes the story better. We're getting to see Sam Fisher in a new way, it's impressing upon the reader that it's the man, not the weapons and gadgets, that makes him who he is, and it shows how Splinter Cell doesn't have to just sit in one particular box.
The book also continues to expand upon the relationship between Sam and Sarah that was built in the last book, with Sarah having joined Fourth Echelon as a field agent. At the end of that book Sam asked his boss to try and keep Sarah away from the field, and danger, as much as possible; and here we see the result of that. Their relationship is strained, even close to breaking; but when things go wrong and her father is in danger she's willing to come to his aid. It's a nice continuation, and their development here fits perfectly with what was done in the last book.
Splinter Cell: Dragonfire feels like a bold departure from what people expect of the series. It takes some risks, does things different, and ends up being all the more enjoyable for having done so. More stories like with this Sam Fisher are a must to keep things interesting.
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