''Rainbow Six'' is a

techno-thriller A techno-thriller or technothriller is a hybrid genre drawing from science fiction, thrillers, spy fiction, action, and war novels. They include a disproportionate amount (relative to other genres) of technical details on their subject matter ...

novel written by

Tom Clancy Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (April 12, 1947 – October 1, 2013) was an American novelist. He is best known for his technically detailed espionage and military science, military-science storylines set during and after the Cold War. Seventeen of ...

and released on August 3, 1998. It is the second book to primarily focus on John Clark, one of the recurring characters in the ''

Ryanverse The Ryanverse refers to the fictional universe created by author Tom Clancy centering on the character Jack Ryan (character), Jack Ryan. It also features other characters such as John Clark (Ryanverse character), John Clark and Domingo "Ding" Cha ...

'', after ''

Without Remorse ''Without Remorse'' is a thriller novel, written by Tom Clancy and published on August 11, 1993. Set during the Vietnam War, it serves as an origin story of John Clark, one of the recurring characters in the '' Ryanverse''. ''Without Remorse ...

'' (1993); it also features his son-in-law, Domingo "Ding" Chavez. ''Rainbow Six'' follows "Rainbow", a secret international

counterterrorist Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to com ...

organization headed by Clark (codenamed "Rainbow Six"), and the complex apocalyptic conspiracy they unravel after handling multiple seemingly random

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

attacks. The novel debuted at number one on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the action scenes and suspense but criticized the writing of some characters and its unrealistic plot. It also received some backlash from the

environmental movement The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement) is a social movement that aims to protect the natural world from harmful environmental practices in order to create sustainable living. In its recognition of humanity a ...

for its negative depiction of

radical environmentalism Radical environmentalism is a grass-roots branch of the larger environmental movement that emerged from an ecocentrism-based frustration with the co-option of mainstream environmentalism. As a movement Philosophy The radical environmental ...

. The novel's sequel, ''

The Bear and the Dragon ''The Bear and the Dragon'' is a techno-thriller novel, written by Tom Clancy and released on August 21, 2000. A direct sequel to ''Executive Orders'' (1996), President Jack Ryan (character), Jack Ryan deals with a war between Russia and China, r ...

'', was released in 2000. ''Rainbow Six'' was adapted into a video game, ''

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six ''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six'' (often shortened to ''Rainbow Six'' or ''R6'') is a tactical shooter video game series by Red Storm Entertainment and Ubisoft, marketed under the '' Tom Clancy's'' banner of military-themed video games. Based on t ...

'', which was developed by

Red Storm Entertainment Red Storm Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and studio of Ubisoft based in Cary, North Carolina. Founded in November 1996 between author Tom Clancy, manager Doug Littlejohns, and software development company Virtus Corpo ...

in tandem with the novel and released later that August to critical and commercial success, spawning a highly successful series of video games currently owned by

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Anno'', '' Assassin's Creed'', ' ...

. A

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

, set to be the sequel to the 2021 film adaptation of ''

'', was announced in 2017 and was confirmed to be directed by

Chad Stahelski Charles F. Stahelski (born September 20, 1968) is an American stuntman and filmmaker. He is considered a highly-influential figure in the action film genre. He first achieved prominence as a stunt performer and coordinator, notably as the key st ...

in 2023, with an unannounced release date.

Plot

Formerly state-sponsored terrorist groups go rogue after the end of the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, while international terrorism in general begins to rise. To combat this,

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

operative John Clark forms a top-secret international counterterrorist organization known as Rainbow. Based in

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, Rainbow consists of two operational squad-sized teams of elite

special forces Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

soldiers from

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

countries, supplemented by intelligence and technology experts from the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

, and

Mossad The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (), popularly known as Mossad ( , ), is the national intelligence agency of the Israel, State of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with M ...

. Clark serves as Rainbow's commanding officer (callsign "Rainbow Six"), SAS officer Alistair Stanley serves as their second-in-command, and Clark's son-in-law Domingo Chavez leads Team-2. In their first deployment, Team-2 rescues

hostage A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized—such as a relative, employer, law enforcement, or government—to act, o ...

s during a bank robbery in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. Several weeks later, they are deployed to

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, where German left-wing terrorists have taken over the

schloss ''Schloss'' (; pl. ''Schlösser''), formerly written ''Schloß'', is the German term for a building similar to a château, palace, or manor house. Related terms appear in several Germanic languages. In the Scandinavian languages, the cogn ...

of a wealthy Austrian businessman to obtain (nonexistent) "special access codes" to the international trading markets. They are later deployed to the Worldpark

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, where terrorists, including Basque revolutionaries, have taken a group of children hostage, killing one to demonstrate their ruthless determination. They demand that various prisoners, including

Carlos the Jackal Ilich Ramírez Sánchez (; born 12 October 1949), also known as Carlos the Jackal () or simply Carlos, is a Venezuelan convict who conducted a series of assassinations and terrorist bombings from 1973 to 1985. A committed Marxist–Leninist, ...

, be released. Team-2 eliminates all the terrorists without losing any more hostages. Clark and his colleagues become suspicious about three terrorist attacks occurring within a few weeks. Unbeknownst to them, the attacks are part of an intricate plan to wipe out nearly all of humanity, codenamed "the Project". Dr. John Brightling, a staunch

radical environmentalist Radical environmentalism is a grass-roots branch of the larger environmental movement that emerged from an ecocentrism-based frustration with the co-option of mainstream environmentalism. As a movement Philosophy The radical environmental ...

who heads a

biotechnology Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...

firm called the Horizon Corporation, ordered the attacks through ex-

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

officer Dmitriy Popov to raise concerns of terrorism, allowing co-conspirator Bill Henriksen's security firm to land a key contract for the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Henriksen would then ensure the release of "

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

"—a manmade

Ebola Ebola, also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a viral hemorrhagic fever in humans and other primates, caused by ebolaviruses. Symptoms typically start anywhere between two days and three weeks after in ...

biological agent Biological agents, also known as biological weapons or bioweapons, are pathogens used as weapons. In addition to these living or replicating pathogens, toxins and Toxin#Biotoxins, biotoxins are also included among the bio-agents. More than 1,2 ...

more deadly than the one that spread a year prior, developed by Horizon and tested on kidnapped human test subjects—through the fog-cooling system of

Stadium Australia Stadium Australia, currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the suburb of Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The stadium, which is sometimes referred to as Sydney Ol ...

, infecting everyone present, who would spread Shiva when they return to their home countries. The resulting

pandemic A pandemic ( ) is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has a sudden increase in cases and spreads across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. Widespread endemic (epi ...

would kill countless people, during which Horizon would distribute a "vaccine"—actually a slow-acting version of Shiva—ensuring the deaths of the rest of the world's population. Brightling's "chosen few", having been inoculated with the real vaccine, would then inherit the emptied world, justifying their genocidal actions as "saving the world" from environmentally destructive humanity. Popov discovers the existence of Rainbow when he reviews videos of the " police tactical teams" (actually Rainbow in disguise) that thwarted his attacks, and brings it to Brightling's attention. Brightling and Henriksen order Popov to orchestrate an attack on Rainbow to prevent them from being deployed to the Sydney Olympics. Popov persuades a

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

splinter group A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...

to seize a hospital near Rainbow's base and capture Clark's wife Sandra and Chavez's pregnant wife Patricia, who work there as a nurse and a doctor, respectively. When Rainbow arrives, militants hiding in trucks ambush them, killing two Team-1 troopers and injuring several others, including Stanley. Despite sustaining their first-ever losses, Rainbow manages to retake the hospital without further casualties, and kill or capture the militants. From interrogation of the survivors, Clark and Chavez learn of Popov's involvement, while Brightling evacuates Popov to Horizon's OLYMPUS facility in

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. Hours after the attack is thwarted, Patricia delivers Chavez's son. However, at OLYMPUS, one of the personnel stationed there inadvertently tells Popov of the Project's details. Popov, who was not aware of the genocidal plan, is appalled by what he had unknowingly assisted, and kills him, escapes, and contacts Clark to inform him of Horizon's plan. Popov's warning comes just in time for Chavez and Team-2, who were deployed to the Olympics to evaluate the security measures, to thwart Shiva's release at the last minute. Their plans in shambles, Brightling orders all incriminating material and files destroyed, and he and all Project members who know the full plan flee to a smaller Horizon base in the

Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest, also called the Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. Clark personally leads both Rainbow teams to the base. Brightling sends some of his armed but mostly untrained men out to ambush them, but they are easily killed. Brightling surrenders, confident his lawyers can get him off since there is no real evidence against him and his people. However, Clark orders the survivors to strip naked, has their clothes confiscated and facilities demolished, and leaves them to fend for themselves in the middle of the Amazon jungle, taunting them to "reconnect with nature". Six months later, Chavez reads a news article about Popov (who was not prosecuted, instead being pardoned for all involvement due to his knowledge) discovering a rich gold deposit on a Project member's former property he had purchased, and Horizon's revolutionary medical breakthroughs under new management. Chavez asks if the Project members survived; Clark informs him that no human activity has been detected in the area since. Chavez gives the killers no further thought, continuing to fight with Rainbow and raising his son. Clark muses that while humanity does what it can to protect the natural environment, nature does not distinguish between friends and enemies; he surmises that humanity is its own worst enemy.

Characters

Team Rainbow

Executive and support branches

* John Clark: Commander of Rainbow * Alistair Stanley: Deputy Commander * Bill Tawney: Head of the intelligence section, former

intelligence analyst * Dr. Paul Bellow: Resident psychologist specializing in criminal psychology,

agent * Tim Noonan: Resident tactical electronics and surveillance specialist, FBI special agent * David Peled: Technical staff lead,

agent * Sam Bennett: Communications officer,

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 ...

major * Daniel "Bear" Malloy: Pilot of Rainbow's MH-60K Night Hawk helicopter,

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

lieutenant colonel ** Harrison: Malloy's co-pilot, United States Air Force first lieutenant, former

1st Special Operations Wing The 1st Special Operations Wing (1 SOW) at Hurlburt Field, Florida is one of three United States Air Force active duty Special Operations wings and falls under the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). The 1st Special Operations Wing ...

pilot ** Jack Nance: Mallow and Harrison's helicopter crew chief,

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

sergeant * Dave Woods: Firing range instructor, British colour sergeant * Alice Foorgate and Helen Montgomery: Executive secrs * Katherine Moony: Secretary

Team-1

* Major Peter Covington: Team-1 commander, SAS member * Miguel "Mike" Chin: Former

United States Navy SEAL The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main funct ...

, Master Chief Machinist's Mate * Mortimer "Sam" Houston: Sniper-observer * Fred "Freddy" Franklin: Rifle 1-2, former

United States Army Marksmanship Unit The United States Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU or AMU) is a part of U.S. Army providing small arms marksmanship training for soldiers and enhancing Army recruiting. The unit was originally established in 1956 at the direction of President of the ...

instructor and Army Ranger at

Fort Benning Fort Benning (named Fort Moore from 2023–2025) is a United States Army post in the Columbus, Georgia area. Located on Georgia's border with Alabama, Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve compone ...

* Geoff Bates: Former British SAS member

Team-2

* Domingo "Ding" Chavez: Team-2 commander, former

Special Activities Division The Special Activities Center (SAC) is the center of the United States Central Intelligence Agency responsible for covert operations. The unit was named Special Activities Division (SAD) prior to a 2015 reorganization. Within SAC there are at le ...

member, Clark's son-in-law, and former Army Special Operations soldier * Eddie Price: Deputy Commander, Senior member, former SAS sergeant major, pipe smoker * Julio "Oso" Vega: HWO, former

Delta Force The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta (1st SFOD-D), also known as Delta Force, Combat Applications Group (CAG), or within Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) as Task Force Green, is a Special operation forces, special operat ...

member * Louis Loiselle: Specialist, former

DGSE The Directorate-General for External Security (, , DGSE) is France's foreign intelligence agency, equivalent to the British MI6 and the American CIA, established on 27 November 1943. The DGSE safeguards French national security through intellige ...

member * George Tomlinson: Former Delta Force member * Mike Pierce: Former

82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into hostile areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...

member * Steve Lincoln: Former Delta Force member * Scotty McTyler: Former SAS member * Hank Patterson: Former Delta Force member * Paddy Connolly: Demolitions expert, former SAS member * Homer Johnston: Sniper, former Delta Force member * Dieter Weber: Sniper, German former

GSG 9 , formerly , is the police tactical unit of the German Federal Police (Bundespolizei). The unit is responsible for combatting terrorism and violent crime, including organized crime. In addition to its headquarters location in Sankt Augustin-H ...

Feldwebel '' '' (Fw or F, ) is a non-commissioned officer (NCO) rank in several countries. The rank originated in Germany, and is also used in Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, and Estonia. The rank has also been used in Russia, Austria-Hungary, occupied Serbia ...

Horizon Corporation and the Project

* John Brightling: Billionaire chairman of Horizon Corporation, mastermind of the Project * Bill Henriksen: Security consultant, head of Global Security, former FBI agent and

Hostage Rescue Team The Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) is the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) elite tactical unit. The HRT was formed to provide a full-time federal law enforcement tactical capability to respond to major terrorist incidents throughout the Uni ...

member * Carol Brightling:

Science Advisor to the President The science advisor to the president is an individual charged with providing advisory opinions and analysis on science and technology matters to the president of the United States. The first science advisor, Vannevar Bush, chairman of the Office of ...

, "former" wife of John Brightling (their divorce being a ruse used to safeguard her position, enabling her to pass government secrets to Horizon) * John Killgore: Senior research scientist involved in testing the Shiva virus * Barbara Archer: Researcher involved in testing the Shiva virus * Kirk Maclean: Researcher tasked with kidnapping homeless men and single women in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to be used as Shiva test subjects; also a member of the Sierra Club * Steve Berg: Researcher tasked with developing the vaccine to Shiva * Lani Palacheck: Researcher working under John Killgore, on Shiva transmission study * Mark Waterhouse: Recruiter for Brightling * Foster Hunnicutt: Survivalist, member of Brightling's "chosen few" * Wilson Gearing: Former

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

Chemical Corps The Chemical Corps is the branch of the United States Army tasked with defending against and using chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear ( CBRN) weapons. The Chemical Warfare Service was established on 28 June 1918, combining activit ...

lieutenant colonel, tasked with releasing Shiva at the Olympics * David Dawson: Chief of security at the OLYMPUS base, ex-Army * Benjamin Farmer: Ex- Marine, security guard for Horizon * Dick Voss: Former Army sergeant major at

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg (formerly Fort Liberty from 2023–2025) is a United States Army, U.S. Army Military base, military installation located in North Carolina. It ranks among the largest military bases in the world by population, with more than 52,000 m ...

(Special Operations Training Center), now working for Global Security

Other characters

* Dmitriy Arkadyevich Popov: Former

operations officer let go due to budget cuts, working for Brightling * Sandra "Sandy" Clark: John Clark's wife, nurse * Patricia "Patsy" Clark-Chavez: John Clark's daughter and Domingo Chavez's pregnant wife, MD * Ernst Model: Sociopathic former

Red Army Faction The Red Army Faction (, ; RAF ),See the section "Name" also known as the Baader–Meinhof Group or Baader–Meinhof Gang ( ), was a West German far-left militant group founded in 1970 and active until 1998, considered a terrorist organisat ...

member who leads the botched bank robbery in Bern * Hans Fürchtner: Left-wing terrorist, recruited by Popov to take over the

of a wealthy Austrian businessman * Petra Dortmund: Left-wing terrorist, Fürchtner's longtime partner * Erwin Ostermann: Austrian financier taken hostage by Fürchtner and Dortmund at his schloss * Andre Herr: Former Action Directe member leading the terrorists at Worldpark * Sean Grady: Hardline

Provisional IRA The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

cell commander who leads the attack on the Hereford hospital * Tom Sullivan: FBI agent based in New York investigating Mary Bannister's disappearance * Frank Chatham: FBI agent, Sullivan's partner * Ed Foley:

Director of Central Intelligence The director of central intelligence (DCI) was the head of the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 1946 to 2004, acting as the principal intelligence advisor to the president of the United States and the United States National Se ...

* Mary Pat Foley: CIA Deputy Director for Operations and Ed Foley's wife * Mary Bannister: Shiva test subject who manages to email her father, alerting the FBI

Themes

''Rainbow Six'' explores the issue of

. According to Marc Cerasini's essay on the novel, the philosophy of the antagonists are considered as an extreme form of naturalism, based on

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Republic of Geneva, Genevan philosopher (''philosophes, philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment through ...

's view that society's functions corrupt mankind and that "a natural or primitive state is actually morally superior to civilization". The novel shares elements found in

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

movies: a biological weapon being used to end or rather cull the human race, mad scientists plotting world domination, and high-tech secret bases hidden from civilization. Clancy makes the plot relevant and morally ambiguous by incorporating motivations similar to those of real-life radical

ecocentric Ecocentrism (; from Greek: οἶκος /ˈoi.kos/ ''oikos'', 'house' and κέντρον /ˈken.tron/ ''kentron'', 'center') is a term used by environmental philosophers and ecologists to denote a nature-centered, as opposed to human-centered (i ...

environmentalists and

deep ecologists Deep ecology is an environmental philosophy that promotes the inherent worth of all living beings regardless of their instrumental utility to human needs, and argues that modern human societies should be restructured in accordance with such idea ...

, such as

Pentti Linkola Kaarlo Pentti Linkola (7 December 1932 in Helsinki – 5 April 2020) was a prominent Finnish deep ecologist, ornithologist, polemicist, naturalist, writer, and fisherman. He wrote widely about his ideas and in Finland was a prominent think ...

and

Paul R. Ehrlich Paul Ralph Ehrlich (born May 29, 1932) is an American biologist known for his predictions and warnings about the consequences of population growth, including famine and resource depletion. Ehrlich is the Bing Professor Emeritus of Population ...

, rather than blanket hunger for power and brash misanthropic resentment. In several regards, critics have noted similarities in the

population control Population control is the practice of artificially maintaining the size of any population. It simply refers to the act of limiting the size of an animal population so that it remains manageable, as opposed to the act of protecting a species from ...

regard to the later-released '' Kingsman: The Secret Service'' and

Dan Brown Daniel Gerhard Brown (born June 22, 1964) is an American author best known for his Thriller (genre), thriller novels, including the Robert Langdon (book series), Robert Langdon novels ''Angels & Demons'' (2000), ''The Da Vinci Code'' (2003), '' ...

's ''

Inferno Inferno may refer to: * Hell, an afterlife place of suffering * Conflagration, a large uncontrolled fire Film * ''L'Inferno'', a 1911 Italian film * ''Inferno'' (1953 film), a film noir by Roy Ward Baker * ''Inferno'' (1980 film), an Italian ...

'', as well as those of

Thanos Thanos () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-artist Jim Starlin, the character first appeared in '' The Invincible Iron Man'' #55 (cover date February 1973). An Eternal– Devia ...

in Marvel's '' Avengers: Infinity War'' and '' Avengers: Endgame''.

Development

The concept of ''Rainbow Six'' was conceived from a discussion between Clancy and Doug Littlejohns, a former

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

submarine commander and CEO of

, a video game development company co-founded by Clancy in 1996. Their discussion occurred during a Red Storm company outing in

Colonial Williamsburg Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum and private foundation presenting a part of the historic district in Williamsburg, Virginia. Its historic area includes several hundred restored or recreated buildings from the 18th century, wh ...

, when Littlejohns suggested a strategy shooter game based on the

. When Clancy mentioned that he was writing a novel about a hostage rescue team, their conversation led to Littlejohns noting the protracted diplomatic delays in authorizing a foreign counterterrorist unit's deployment overseas, and he suggested the concept of a permanent counterterrorist unit that already had authorization to deploy internationally. The name "Rainbow" came from the term "

Rainbow nation "Rainbow nation" is a term coined by Archbishop Desmond Tutu to describe post-apartheid South Africa after South Africa's first democratic election in 1994. The phrase was elaborated upon by President Nelson Mandela in his first month of off ...

", a term coined by

Desmond Tutu Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop ...

to describe post-

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

under

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

's presidency. "Six" came from the American rank code for

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

(O-6); though Clark would more accurately be described as a major general (O-8) in the novel, "Rainbow Six" read better than "Rainbow Eight". The strategy shooter game Littlejohns suggested was eventually developed into ''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six''.

Reception

The book received mixed reviews. ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' praised the novel's "sprawling, Bondesque plot" as well as its action scenes that are "vivid and cinematic—and notably lacking in the clichés and B-movie tone of his dialogue". ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' also hailed the scenes as "immensely suspenseful, breathtaking combos of expertly detailed combat and primal emotion". Criticism focused on flat characters and the implausibility of the plot. A review from ''

Orlando Sentinel The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region, in the United States. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by pare ...

'' stated: "Clancy may have crossed the line into the realm of the unbelievable...I suspect even some of his most rabid fans will shake their heads at parts of this novel." ''Entertainment Weekly'' also noted that "some of lancy'ssecondary characters have a flat, dime-novel feel". Canadian environmentalist

Paul Watson Paul Franklin Watson (born December 2, 1950) is a Canadian-American environmental, conservation and animal rights activist, who founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an anti-poaching and direct action group focused on marine conserva ...

condemned the book as "a vicious defamation of the Environmentalist Movement, embodying, amplifying and packaging all the worst stereotypes and prejudices."

Adaptations

Video game

'' was released on August 21, 1998, about two weeks after the release of the novel. It was developed alongside the novel and bases its plot on an early manuscript of the story. The game was developed by

(which was co-founded by Clancy in 1996) based on their preexisting concept of the

in an international setting. ''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six'' was a commercial success for Red Storm and spawned a number of sequels, now developed by

. It revolutionized the

first-person shooter A first-person shooter (FPS) is a video game genre, video game centered on gun fighting and other weapon-based combat seen from a First person (video games), first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action directly through t ...

genre by forcing the player to think tactically and realistically in every mission, unlike the arcade-style shooters of the time.

Film adaptation

The film rights to the novel were brought to Paramount Pictures by

Michael Ovitz Michael Steven Ovitz (born December 14, 1946) is an American businessman. He was a talent agent who co-founded Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in 1975 and served as its chairman until 1995. Ovitz later served as president of The Walt Disney Compan ...

through his Artists Management Group in March 1999, with writer

Jonathan Hensleigh Jonathan Blair Hensleigh (born February 13, 1959) is an American screenwriter and film director, working primarily in the action-adventure genre, best known for writing films such as ''Jumanji'', '' Die Hard with a Vengeance'', and ''Armageddon' ...

in talks to pen the screenplay adaptation, and Ovitz attached as producer. Other screenwriters including Michael Schiffer, Bill Wisher, Art Monterastelli,

Frank Cappello Frank A. Cappello is an American filmmaker. His credits include writing the screenplay A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a '' teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''s ...

, and John Enbom had all worked on the script at various stages. Directors such as

John Woo John Woo Yu-sen ( zh, t= ; born 22 September 1946) is a Hongkongers, Hong Kong film director known as a highly influential figure in the action film genre. The recipient of various accolades, including a Hong Kong Film Awards, Hong Kong Film Award ...

and

Zack Snyder Zachary Edward Snyder (born March 1, 1966) is an American filmmaker. He made his feature film debut in 2004 with ''Dawn of the Dead (2004 film), Dawn of the Dead'', a remake of the 1978 horror film Dawn of the Dead (1978 film), of the same name ...

had previously been attached to direct. In July 2017,

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

announced plans to make a film adaptation of the novel with

Akiva Goldsman Akiva Goldsman (born July 7, 1962) is an American screenwriter, producer, and director. Goldsman's filmography as a screenwriter includes ''The Client (1994 film), The Client''; ''Batman Forever'' and its sequel ''Batman & Robin (film), Batman ...

as producer, and a new draft penned by

Josh Appelbaum Josh Appelbaum is an American television writer, screenwriter, showrunner and producer. Biography Appelbaum is from a Jewish family.André Nemec André Nemec (born 1972) is an American writer, showrunner and producer. His screenplays include '' Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol'' and ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles''. He is also the co-creator of CBS's summer hit series '' Zoo'', as ...

Ryan Reynolds Ryan Rodney Reynolds (born October 23, 1976) is a Canadian and American actor, producer and businessman. Known for starring in comedic and superhero films, he was the List of highest-paid film actors, world's second-highest-paid actor in 202 ...

was reported to be in early talks to play John Clark. In September 2018,

Michael B. Jordan Michael Bakari Jordan ( ; born February 9, 1987) is an American actor, producer and director. He is best known for his film roles in '' Fruitvale Station'' (2013), ''Creed'' (2015), ''Black Panther'' (2018), '' Black Panther: Wakanda Forever'' ...

was announced to be playing John Clark in a two-part film series, with ''Rainbow Six'' as the intended sequel to ''

''. In January 2023, the ''Rainbow Six'' film was confirmed to be directed by

, with Michael B. Jordan reprising his role as Clark., and writers Daniel Fajemisin-Duncan and Marlon Smith tapped to write the screenplay.

Release details

* 1998, U.S., G. P. Putnam's Sons , Pub date August 3, 1998, hardcover * 1998, U.K., Michael Joseph Ltd , Pub date August 27, 1998, hardback * 1998, U.S., Putnam Publishing Group , Pub date August 1998, hardcover (Limited Edition) * 1998, U.S., Demco Media , Pub date September 1998, unbound * 1998, U.S., Random House , Pub date August 1998, paperback (Large Type Edition) * 1999, U.S., Berkley Publishing Group , Pub date September 1999, paperback * 1999, U.S., Berkley Publishing Group , Pub date September 1999, mass market paperback

References

External links

Presentation by Clancy to the National Press Club on ''Rainbow Six'', August 6, 1998

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American Cable television in the United States, cable and Satellite television in the United States, satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a Non ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rainbow Six (Novel) 1998 American novels American thriller novels Biological weapons in popular culture Eco-terrorism in fiction Ebola in popular culture G. P. Putnam's Sons books Novels about terrorism Novels by Tom Clancy Ryanverse Techno-thriller novels Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six