America versus China War | Ghost Fleet Fiction PW Singer

America versus China War. Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War.
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Reviewer: Daniel S. Palter
Save your money.
The idea is excellent: near future technothriller by two writers who supposed have the tech and defense chops so the tech mcguffins are plausible. They provide a LOT of endnotes but I lack the tech expertise to critique THAT part.
What I can critique: really bad world building. The events are implausible, mutually contradictory and in many ways a rehash of the US-Japan crisis of 1941. For a technothriller, there was no thrill aspect. It was readable…BARELY. Writing was at best adequate and some parts descended to jejune. The characters were cardboard and many of the character subplots did nothing to advance the story. The pacing was shaky – a series of jump cuts that don’t toe together well. It was not unreadable but wait for a used paperback if this is your bag. I’m very much the target demographic and I felt mildly ripped off.

Reviewer: Jeremy
Fun read, decent pseudo Sci-Fi with a U.S. DOD flavor.
It kept me entertained. Singer weaves next-tech into interesting applications within a postulated future war. The author's day job in a Washington think tank means he is in a good position to communicate several of the major tech trends of the DoD's ambiguous "Third Offset" into an accessible plot. Several of the characters were entertaining (my favorites were both Russian), and the rapid fire style of short vignettes kept the speed up. Unfortunately, the story never really generated any suspense since the author ensured no "Checkov's gun" went unused for long. Despite that, the middle of the book seemed slow, with late character development slowing down the pace. I struggled to follow the back story of tech that was often explained with little more than a footnote - but this may have been the best contribution of the book: a decoder ring that weaves an integrated story from the gobbledygook that is the defense press. Unfortunately, the exigencies of the future war were frequently used to explain away the implementation of *significant* new tech (AI, bio-modification, some pretty amazing drones), and that began to make the tech feel orphaned within the story. Again, that is consistent with the think tank / defense industry perspective that Singer is writing from. The low point was the geopolitical backdrop. Without giving too much away, the idea that a major nation just undergoes a sweeping political reform that transmutes all of its former vulnerabilities and corruption into economic prowess, strategic clarity and military authority was a pretty hard leap. I just couldn't get there, and without that, so much of the tech lost context. That really slowed me down during act one, but by act two I got over it and enjoyed Ghost Fleet for what it was. A fun read and a decent hybrid of DOD concept exploration and science fiction.

Reviewer: Old Man
Good except for an absurd beginning.
Just finished this; read it in less than a week so I did get hooked on it and enjoyed it. It's a novel in the Tom Clancy genre, about a third world war in the not too distant future. I have not read any such novels in several years so it's hard to rate it, but it seemed pretty good as a work of fiction independent of the genre. The only problem was the first couple of pages, which made me furious. The author bases the cause of the war on efforts to take over petroleum deposits. There is no historical evidence (that I know of) for wars being made to conquer petroleum deposits; the idea is a myth. (The War of the Chaco is a possibility, but I doubt it.) Sometimes I feel like someone in the 15th century Europe explaining to a peasant why they sail west to get to the East- i.e. because the Earth is not flat. The perceive me as crazy; "everyone knows it's flat." To make matters even worse, the author posits the oil field to be at the bottom of the Marianne's Trench. You are more likely to find Santa Claus loading his sleigh at the bottom of the Marianne's Trench than to find a petroleum field. Luckily it's only mentioned on those first two pages, and never mentioned again. I'm guessing it was put in to impress the yokels in Hollywood in order to try to get a movie deal out of the book, and make a lot more money. (I see other indications of this, like the excessive use of the only human dramatic element that screen writers seem to be able to conceive of for action adventure movies- the hero/heroine feel guilty about neglecting their children.)
The author (Singer, one of two) is an Inside-the-Beltway expert and adviser on military matters. It is really scary to me that he would promulgate the war-for-oil myth, and then not make any effort to research whether his scenario was anything other than a scientific absurdity.

Reviewer: Jeff Schmidt
But not anything like the Japanese attack in 1941.
Though there have been other books written about World War III in the past, this one updates the idea with the advances made in technology, our insistence upon buying foreign made electronics and computers, and China.
The war begins with an attack on Pearl Harbor, but not anything like the Japanese attack in 1941. Though not nuclear, chemical, or biological, it is definitely unconventional and creative. To think such an attack could happen would be considered by most too paranoid, which is why it is plausible. The Chinese attack Pearl Harbor to occupy it, something the Japanese did not do, but probably could have. The Chinese attack dramatically shifts the balance of power in just a few hours. Therein lies the theory of the next world war, that if you move quick enough to gain your objective, the war will not go nuclear. Possession is nine-tenths of the law and once an enemy has successfully taken over an island 2500 miles away from the USA mainland, what do you do to get it back.
If you want to know, get the book. I highly recommend it.

Reviewer: John Marke
Good job for stimulating the imagination.
I rarely read fiction, but made an exception in this case. The authors know their counter-insurgency doctrine, as demonstrated through the eyes of a Russian adviser to the PRC command in Hawaii. That aspect is not a major part of the narrative, but it is an interesting and informative part. Our politicians would be well advised to take note of what doesn't work, i.e. brut force and body count. A major aspect of the book, at lease for me, was malware designed into integrated circuits and microchips. This is a huge issue, and one that is ignored by policy makers. I suspect because there really are no expedient solutions, save using trusted foundries for our chips; or engineering a high level of redundancy in critical circuits that are sourced from a variety of non-Chinese sources. But then it is still a craps shoot if it will be an effective way to mitigate such risks. It is a techno adventure war book...it is not War & Peace. The technologies discussed are, indeed, plausible (if not already in action). Drones present a clear and significant danger, not only from nation-states with enormous technological resources, but from garden variety terrorists. In this particular case, I hope the authors are wrong...but I suspect they are right on the money. Good job for stimulating the imagination! Exposing the reader to new and edgy ideas is part of what literature is supposed to do. Hopefully some of the knuckle heads in DC hare reading the book.

Reviewer: Alexander S.
Learn Something about Military Innovation
The weakest part of this book is its character development. It is difficult for the reader to identify or connect with the subjects because they are simple caricatures. You've got the noble captain, the brash chief, the femme fatale, the slimy drunk Russian. I can see any of those characters being in a cheap movie. But the authors are not character developers, they are national security experts, and this is where the strength of the book comes from.
P.W. Singer is a strategist at New America, a public policy think tank, and August Cole is a fellow at the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security. Combined, they create a thought-provoking story of what a future fight may look like, as a technological chess match with a distinct human element. Probably the most impressive point to me is that for every seemingly bizarre innovation, the authors cite the academic source for its feasibility, either as a presently-available technology or something that will be available within 20 years. This can be a bit unnerving when I realize what hackers can do with my new chipped credit card!
Anyway, the bottom line is that this book is weak with the characters, but strong with the message: these are the capabilities and strategies which could dictate the next major war.
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Reviewer: Mark P. McDonald
A high tech version of The Goal, provides a description of the future from policy pros rather than thriller authors.
A CEO of a big company recommended that I read Ghost Fleet, not as a thriller per se but as a description of the types and ways in which technologies could be used in the near future. The first two thirds of the book do this job nicely, describing the various technologies in situations rather than artificial use cases of prototype stories. The authors are two policy people who advise the government on these issues.
This is a disruptive policy briefing book in the form of a Tom Clancy style novel, just like Goldratt's The Goal is a business novel around the Theory of Constraints. The technologies described are interesting and presented in an engaging style.. The book is a three star = pulp = if you were judging it just based on its narrative quality.
It you are reading this as a Tom Clancy replacement, then you will be disappointed as the ending and last third of the book is just not good.
If you are reading this book, as I was, being asked to see the future across computers, the web, biomedical devices, etc., then you will be in for a good, light and enlightening read.

Reviewer: Carole Sue Taylor
Too close for comfort.
Living on the west coast, I have passed by the actual ghost fleet many times on my way to the San Francisco Bay. It was gratifying to see these old "heroes" be revived to counter a threat out of the very near future. Everyday we read more about cyber threats not just to our personal identity and finances but to our nation's infrastructure and defense system. This book brings that threat alarmingly close and in that sense it is cautionary. That aside, the book was fascinating in its interplay of richly detailed technology and a panoply of characters that are satisfyingly predictable contemporary archetypes. I loved reading the book but I sure hope it stays in the realm of science fiction rather predictive journalism.

Reviewer: Amazon Ron
Great plot, not so much on the writing.
This book is a very well thought out, researched and creative approach on how China would attack the U.S. Super realistic and gives great food for thought.
My biggest complaint is the constantly shifting scenes, the way too many character names to keep straight and, most problematic of all, the incomplete endings to many scenes. I invested so much time in the book only to walk away not knowing how many things ended.
Great concept,for sure, but overall not a tremendously satisfying read, at least for me.

Reviewer: BillP65
The Past Meets the Future. Tried and True Tactics and Advanced Tech Weapons Merge.
I found the book entertaining. The characters were engaging and easy enough to identify with on various levels. The battle scenes are probably closer to how such a confrontation might play out in the not so distant future. The book positing the battlefield on land, air to air combat, air to sea/surface combat AND combat from near space stations. Very enjoyable book. Will read it more than once I am sure.

Reviewer: Wayne Rash
A Very Solid Novel that has Everything Right.
I have to admit that I waited a year between the time I bought this Kindle version of "Ghost Fleet" and finally got around to reading it. Perhaps the biggest reason is that I'm frequently disappointed by the sheer cluelessness shown by authors of so many techno-thrillers in regards to how data security and cyber attacks work, how big data analysis works, and for that matter, how the Navy works. Because I write about those topics in the real world, I was afraid that I'd find a story lacking in authenticity. I shouldn't have waited.
What I found as I rode through the night on a train to New Orleans was a novel in which the authors exhibited deep understanding of exactly how those topics worked, how they might be used in a real-world conflict and how current protective technology might be bypassed. The authors knowledge of the vulnerabilities of US defenses rang true, and brought to mind recent events that few know about, such as the failure of US defense satellites for a period of weeks a few years ago. Likewise, they showed deep knowledge of some critical technologies, such as the rail gun development currently underway in Dahlgren, Virginia. For me, this meant that I could enjoy the book while not being bothered by a lack of connection to reality.
But to be a good novel, the book has to display more than technological acumen. The writing must also be good, and in "Ghost Fleet" it mostly was. There were a couple of spots where historical or social events were drawn in more detail than was necessary, causing the experience to drag, but you can skip a few paragraphs without missing anything. Otherwise the writing is tight, the story well told, the characters well drawn. Notably, there are a few plot threads that remain unresolved - perhaps fuel for a sequel?
As a writer, I appreciate excellent writing. As someone deeply involved in much of the technology in this novel, I appreciate the accuracy. This is a book that I can recommend very strongly.

Reviewer: Rick
Decent military thriller.
I bought the book because pundits (FOX) made such a fuss about the lessons we should learn from the book and how "scary real" the scenario is. It took me weeks to get through the first half of the book because I thought it was tedious and the author was trying too hard to develop characters that I can emphasize with and impress me with some Clancyness and scary y2k-ish end of civilization potential so he can get a movie deal or something. I guess I was unfair because once we got past all that the book was a fairly good thriller. No Clancy or Coyle, but maybe a decent 2-part blue screen TV movie in its future.

Reviewer: Cigarsmoker
This is a great read one that should waken the U.S. to the China threat!
This is a novel but one that will keep you awake nights. How much of this could really happen. Is China planting weaponized chips in all of our devices? Is the U.S. military using Chinese chips in our weapons systems that could be controlled by the Chinese military? I understand U.S. military planners have been briefed by the authors. Could the Chinese shut down our electrical grids? Our telecommunications?
Having recently read the history of the lead up to the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor I wonder if it could happen again. Read this book and you will wonder as well. But if you want to sleep soundly...do not!

Reviewer: AdamvS
Fun summer reading for (amateur) Strategic Studies boffins.
I'm familiar with Peter W. Singer's academic work around the ethics of 'drone' weapons, and the International Relations research he does as an academic. However, his writing is much more fluid than many academics, and this comes through in his novel of the near future. As he says, this is not a prediction, but perhaps an extrapolation of current war-fighting trends.
It is fast-paced— kinetic— and is reminiscent of Tom Clancy's fiction.
The motivations of some of the characters seem a little under-written. While the technical account of future weapons systems, and the outcomes of contemporary debates about strategy and tactics are well footnoted, the characters sometimes to seem be acting as caricatures. This is especially true of the serial killer sub plot, and the russian "super spy".
Overall I enjoyed this as fun summer reading.

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About the Author
P. W. SINGER is an expert on twenty-first-century warfare. His award-winning nonfiction books include the New York Times bestseller Wired for War.

AUGUST COLE is a writer and analyst specializing in national security issues, and a former defense industry reporter for the Wall Street Journal.

Product details:
Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Eamon Dolan/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; First Edition edition (June 30, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0544142845
ISBN-13: 978-0544142848
Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.4 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds

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GHOST FLEET - A Novel Of The Next World War.
BUY your copy here: https://amzn.to/2TlqbTs

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