Unrealistic
3 stars
Tho the books reads easily and has good pacing, I think the plot was too unrealistic.
paperback, 214 pages
Published March 8, 2021 by Penguin Press.
3 stars
(22 reviews)
On March 12, 2034, US Navy Commodore Sarah Hunt is on the bridge of her flagship, the guided missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones, conducting a routine freedom of navigation patrol in the South China Sea when her ship detects an unflagged trawler in clear distress, smoke billowing from its bridge. On that same day, US Marine aviator Major Chris "Wedge" Mitchell is flying an F35E Lightning over the Strait of Hormuz, testing a new stealth technology as he flirts with Iranian airspace. By the end of that day, Wedge will be an Iranian prisoner, and Sarah Hunt's destroyer will lie at the bottom of the sea, sunk by the Chinese Navy. Iran and China have clearly coordinated their moves, which involve the use of powerful new forms of cyber weaponry that render US ships and planes defenseless. In a single day, America's faith in its military's strategic pre-eminence is …
On March 12, 2034, US Navy Commodore Sarah Hunt is on the bridge of her flagship, the guided missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones, conducting a routine freedom of navigation patrol in the South China Sea when her ship detects an unflagged trawler in clear distress, smoke billowing from its bridge. On that same day, US Marine aviator Major Chris "Wedge" Mitchell is flying an F35E Lightning over the Strait of Hormuz, testing a new stealth technology as he flirts with Iranian airspace. By the end of that day, Wedge will be an Iranian prisoner, and Sarah Hunt's destroyer will lie at the bottom of the sea, sunk by the Chinese Navy. Iran and China have clearly coordinated their moves, which involve the use of powerful new forms of cyber weaponry that render US ships and planes defenseless. In a single day, America's faith in its military's strategic pre-eminence is in tatters. A new, terrifying era is at hand.
So begins a disturbingly plausible work of speculative fiction, co-authored by an award-winning novelist and decorated Marine veteran and the former commander of NATO, a legendary admiral who has spent much of his career strategically outmaneuvering America's most tenacious adversaries. Written with a powerful blend of geopolitical sophistication and human empathy, 2034 takes us inside the minds of a global cast of characters--Americans, Chinese, Iranians, Russians, Indians--as a series of arrogant miscalculations on all sides leads the world into an intensifying international storm. In the end, China and the United States will have paid a staggering cost, one that forever alters the global balance of power.
Everything in 2034 is an imaginative extrapolation from present-day facts on the ground combined with the authors' years working at the highest and most classified levels of national security. Sometimes it takes a brilliant work of fiction to illuminate the most dire of warnings: 2034 is all too close at hand, and this cautionary tale presents the reader a dark yet possible future that we must do all we can to avoid.
dsctm3 reviewed 2034: A Novel of the Next World War by Elliot Ackerman
A plasuble future involving a future world war
4 stars
The story starts relatively slow, giving insight to the characters and the theme of the story. Stick with it, because after the foundation is laid, the story explodes into a foreseeable outcome that draws inspiration from current global tensions experienced in 2022.
A worthy read if you want to explore a realistic outcome based on current day, real world situations.
Review of '2034' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I enjoyed this book about a possible next world war between the USA and China.
It serves as a warning how things can go wrong, very wrong.
It's also an interesting thought exercise on how things could play out in such a war.
It's only a bit annoying that he had to "invent" some bizar tech to give the Chinese the upper hand. Although wars are won with new tech it feels still a bit fantastic.
I love these near-future stories as they open my mind to possibilities of a future. If you;re the same, go read it. If not, read someone else.
markm reviewed 2034: A Novel of the Next World War by Elliot Ackerman
Review of '2034' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
The authors are a distinguished retired admiral and a distinguished veteran and accomplished writer. Their premise, and ax to grind, is that the computerized weaponry that makes the US military so powerful is actually their Achilles’ heel. They show this by imagining an undescribed black box invented by the Chinese that can completely inactivate all “cyber” systems without inactivating their own but does not affect traditional radio signals. The story is gripping, but ultimately unsatisfactory, especially when the plot further astounds us by requiring that the Indians have easy access to all of our White House communications and also have dramatic stealth capabilities of which we were completely unaware. Other disturbing peculiarities are present, the misunderstanding of what a tactical nuclear weapon is, and a Chinese character who launches the weapons that destroy Galveston and San Diego but who seems to be a closet American patriot. I suspect that the …
The authors are a distinguished retired admiral and a distinguished veteran and accomplished writer. Their premise, and ax to grind, is that the computerized weaponry that makes the US military so powerful is actually their Achilles’ heel. They show this by imagining an undescribed black box invented by the Chinese that can completely inactivate all “cyber” systems without inactivating their own but does not affect traditional radio signals. The story is gripping, but ultimately unsatisfactory, especially when the plot further astounds us by requiring that the Indians have easy access to all of our White House communications and also have dramatic stealth capabilities of which we were completely unaware. Other disturbing peculiarities are present, the misunderstanding of what a tactical nuclear weapon is, and a Chinese character who launches the weapons that destroy Galveston and San Diego but who seems to be a closet American patriot. I suspect that the work is that of two paranoid personalities and it beggars the imagination. I can imagine that atomic weapons might be used as the waters rise around us, but not in this way.
Review of '2034' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
While the ending felt a bit rushed, the overall story was good. Of course, my own career may color my perceptions quite a bit here, and those who are less well-versed in things such as "where the heck is the Barents" might be less generous with the writing. At many times, the novel felt more like the narrative underpinning one of our simulations, and not a thoroughly fleshed-out personal tale.
Despite any failings, the overall arc was satisfying, and also very plausible. The dependence on technology and exceptionalism is a potential problem for all modern countries, and the final "disposition of forces" shown in 2034 could just as easily have gone a number of different directions.
Recommended for fans of current and near-future military tactics and international politics.
