2084 (2026) by Eliot Ackerman

Audiobook Review

2084 (2026)

by Eliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavridis

  2084 is book three in the series these two started back in 2021 with 2034: A Novel of the Next World War. 2054 followed in 2024 and now we are up to volume three, 2084.  As anyone might reasonably expect, it's a situation of diminishing returns.  2034, which basically is about a small-scale nuclear war between the United States and China, was gripping.  The scenario described was grounded in contemporary science and geopolitics, and when San Diego got nuked, I almost cried.  2054 moved away from the strengths of the authors (the experience of soldiering and naval battles) into the realm of AI: the plot dealt with the danger of the development of a "singularity."  I thought 2054 was pretty weak because it was pretty clear the authors didn't have a firm grasp on the science. 

  2084 gets back to basics in the sense that it describes a conventional war between "Reparationists"- the countries of the global south who need to rehome their citizens from parts of the earth which have become uninhabitable and "the Consortium" a coalition of China, US and parts of Europe.  Unfortunately, AI once again shows up in the form of a deus ex machina- an implausibly sophisticated computer program that emerges half-way through the book to make strategic decisions.  There are also some ridiculous plot points- like the Chinese navy running a surprise attack down the length of the Mississippi river without the United States government hearing about it.

  As always, there is no description of the world from any other perspective than that of military personnel, politicians and business elites- no information about what the real world actually looks like out there in 2084.  I'd guess that this is the last one, unless it makes a ton of money.

Jesus Boy (2010) by Preston Allen

 1,001 Novels: A Library of America

Jesus Boy (2010)

by Preston Allen

Miami, Florida

Florida:  11/21

    Interesting bildungsroman about an African American teenager growing up in south Florida.   The 1,001 Novels description says Jesus Boy is a comic novel, but I didn't find it very funny.   Rather, it read as expose about the foibles of the visibly religious, African American league, Florida division.   After the pressure-cooker race hatred of the deep south, it was at least refreshing to read a book about African American characters where racism doesn't play a major role (also absent, any white or latino characters.)  I find it interesting in books featuring religious characters about how infrequently they do anything besides go to church and cheat on their spouses, and Jesus Boy is no exception, with the plot centerpiece being a year's long relationship between the teenage protagonist (at the beginning) at a forty something widow of a wealthy and deceased elder of the church. 

   There are plenty of dark, hidden secrets, as one would expect going into a novel about a southern church. While I wouldn't characterize Jesus Boy as a satire, it did read as a critique of most, if not all, of the characters involved.   This was the rare 1,001 Novels: A Library of America that held some capacity to surprise and shock me. 

If I Survive You (2022) by Jonathan Escoffery

 1,001 Novels: A Library of America

If I Survive You (2022)

by Jonathan Escoffery

Cutler Bay, Florida

Florida: 10/21

   I am CRUSHING the Florida chapter of the 1,001 Novels: A Library of America.  This chapter is filled with 200 page volumes of inter-connected short stories from the POV of different ethnicities etc. Trelawny, the main protagonist of If I Survive You, is the child of two Jamaican immigrants- though, as depicted in this book, it is quite frequent for Jamaicans to go back and forth BETWEEN the US and Jamaica- something like the situation for other Caribbean groups, Puerto Rican's of course, but also Dominicans.  Most Jamaican immigrants come over on work visa's to do a specific job- illegal immigration isn't uncommon, but mostly immigrant Jamaicans are legal.   Trelawny is unusual in the context of African American culture in Florida because his father is mostly white.  The opening of If I Survive You is about life in high school as someone who doesn't fit in with white, black or latino ethnic groups.   The alienation is compounded when Trelawny goes off to the Midwest for college, while his brother stays behind to do post-Hurricane Andrew reconstruction with his Dad.  

  Mom returns to Jamaica after divorcing Dad, and Trelawny sinks into a non-ethnically specific post-college malaise recognizable to anyone, and lives out of his car as he tries to make a life for himself.  We also hear about other characters- the brother, a cousin and his father. 

River of Hidden Dreams (1994) by Connie May Fowler

 1,001 Novels: A Library of America

River of Hidden Dreams (1994)

by Connie May Fowler

St. Augustine, Florida

Florida: 9/21

   I will say that I like Florida swamp country, which is a fair bit of Florida- I mean, pretty much all of it. The books set in swampland Florida make me want to seek out non-fiction about the area- I have The Orchid Thief, by Susan Orlean in mind. Fowler's protagonist, Sadie Hunter, is a woman of mixed Native/White/Black ancestry, with a link to the midwestern tribes that were imprisoned and re-educated, with her grandmother being a young woman who is "left behind" with white people- she was also the only child brought to the Florida prison.  The emotions are raw, and the choices are fraught.   River of Hidden Dreams also highlights the ethnic fluidity- up to a point- of northern Florida, which is like a racial paradise compared to the 19th century plantation economy of the delta. 

A Time to Kill (1989) by John Grisham

 1,001 Novels: A Library of America

A Time to Kill (1989)

by John Grisham

Mississippi: 19/19

    I'm elated, finishing Louisiana and Mississippi in back-to-back weeks.  Florida is a real (metaphorical) breath of fresh air after reading so much about racial hatred and race-based injustice.  Fitting to end Mississippi with John Grisham, Mississippi best-sellingist author and all-around good guy.  Artistically, it's hard to say much about the man beyond pointing to his status as a perennial best seller.  He doesn't have the literary fictionish touch of Stephen King, and the court room thriller doesn't have the cache of detective fiction or police procedural.  And, with a net worth estimated at 400 million, I doubt he cares, or at least, he doesn't act like someone concerned with his literary legacy.

   A Time to Kill is, of course, his first novel, about a young-ish criminal defense lawyer in small-town Mississippi who is hired to defend an African American accused of gunning down the two white men who raped his ten-year-old daughter.  It's the kind of crime that transcends racial prejudice, a fact which is key to the plot in many different ways.  For me, it was all very "busman's holiday"- reading about my day-to-day concerns of being a criminal defense lawyer.  I think, though, you can tell that Grisham wrote this book without an inkling that he would became a mega seller of popular fiiction.