panda_pants 's review for:

2034: A Novel of the Next World War by James Stavridis, Elliot Ackerman

3.0

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I admit, I was disappointed by this book. I *loved* Ghost Fleet, and saw this as another opportunity for that kind of in depth vision of the near future of warfare. This book hit with broad strokes on a near future theater security vision. Without spoilers, I'll just say that this kind of future planning involves, at its core, an assessment of the likeliest adversary threats, the key influences that will restrain or aid in handling those threats, and the types of platforms and weapons and resources and skill sets that are likely to matter. The first half of this book (the part published in WIRED) showed promise, and the rest of the book did portray these considerations. But, it didn't do so with much depth or nuance, and the story fell flat for me in the second half. Glad I read it though - it did offer food for thought!