303 reviews for:

2034: A Novel of the Next World War

James Stavridis, Elliot Ackerman

3.53 AVERAGE

simon_matuzelski's review against another edition

2.0

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I expected something different than what I got from this book. It seemed to have been marketed as a somewhat serious look at what a third world war (a nuclear war) might entail. Yes, still fiction, but well situated in real-world possibilities that seem to hang over our heads more and more perilously each year.

It really wasn’t anything like that.

That doesn’t mean it was boring. It was a fun enough read, although I had to get past the ‘US versus the rest’ vibes, shallow character development, and unexplained assumptions that are built into the clunky plot.

I’m certainly no expert (not even an armchair one) when it comes to warfare and military tactics, but I have quite the suspicion that 2034 doesn’t have many true-to-life moments in the few limited battles that are described.

I’m also not a big reader of this genre (is it war-fiction?) but I can only imagine that Tom Clancy has a few books that would leave 2034 in the dust.

I somewhat applaud the effort though. As I noted above, I think this was intended as a serious(ish) cautionary tale – it’s just a shame that it wasn’t able to live up to what it seemed to claim to deliver.

I’d avoid this book unless you’re a war-fiction lover…

princessreadsalot's review against another edition

2.5

adventurous slow-paced

ghoff's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

lazylion91's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

kcolson19's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark informative tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

brentgetty's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark informative fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

joshcreadsbooks's review against another edition

3.25

adventurous sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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I 
 
 
but
 
sort
 
of
 
had
 
to
 
force
 
myself
.
 
It
 
wasn’t
 
very interesting and it should have been. I just didn’t feel the author really made it worth reading at any point.

spiritualsidegig's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative tense fast-paced

bhinchman's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

btlitell's review against another edition

4.0

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This was certainly an interesting and compelling read. Made me think of "if George Orwell wrote a Tom Clancy book" in that it's a warning as well as military thriller. It's certainly worth a read for anyone who is concerned about today's global political, economic, or social climate.

That poor squirrel.