Splinter Cell Books and Games in Chronological Order

Story order starts with Checkmate, which its author set in 2003, a year before the first game, and then mostly follows the games' own timeline. Essentials moves after Double Agent, since its framing story takes place a year later, and the BBC version of Firewall sits beside the novel it adapts. The older novels' dates don't always agree with the games, so treat their places as approximate. This order suits someone who has played everything and wants Sam's life in sequence, because several books give away how games end.