Set in the Obama era, A Battle for Tomorrow offers a soldier’s-eye look at the horrors of combat and the transformation of young people into weapons. As the title suggests, though, Simons has a science-fiction twist in store, though it comes so late that to offer further detail would constitute a spoiler. Still, that jolt connects to the novel’s theme of the dehumanization of soldiers, an idea expressed with pointed clarity early on by a drill sergeant: “You think too much,” he tells Jason. “Don’t think. Just attack.” Jason takes that to heart, though once deployed—in Egypt, Turkey, and Iraq—he still thinks enough to routinely save lives, even as he’s wounded on multiple occasions.
Simons’s novel moves fast, even when its subject is the blinkered tedium of the soldier’s life, as Jason faces loss and trauma. The Russians, we’re told, have invaded Alaska, but the broader picture of the war is at times frustratingly vague, even when Jason has hospital time to catch up on news. From his perspective, though,it seems his squad’s missions and deaths don’t make much of a difference. For much of its length, the novel’s heart is in Baker’s everyday survival. That material’s pained but familiar, though the book roars to life with the twist, which makes explicit the cost of teaching young people “Don’t think. Just attack.” The ending is strong and points to more to come.
Takeaway: Pained thriller of the dehumanization of soldiers, with a wild twist.
Comparable Titles: Elliot Ackerman and James G. Stavridis’s 2034, Oleg Pavlov’s The Matiushin Case.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-
