Thanks to Netgalley I was provide the extraordinary gift of Robert Dugoni’s current work “The World Played Chess”.

Through the course of this book, we are taken on the life journey of a young man attempting to deal with the hell of what was the Vietnam War. And the impact he and his life’s story had upon a young man he befriends over the summer of 1979.

The vivid picture painted of both men, their lives, struggles and the transmission to manhood was both startlingly real and reminiscent. I saw much of myself as a you man just graduating high school in the late 1970’s trying to determine who I was, what type of man I would become and the journey that would take me there.

One of the final lines in the epilogue: “Maybe someday I will write that book William suggested, that owner’s manual for you men.”

I think that Mr. Dugoni may have just written it.

I was so looking forward to this book after reading The Extraordinary life of Sam Hell.
This one though was good didn't pull me in as much as I thought it would. The time lines were well told and the story overall a great tale.
Looking forward to more from this author.

Thanks to the author,the publisher and NetGalley for an early release of this book.

I really enjoyed this book. While I've read a lot of historical fiction, I hadn't happened upon the Vietnam War, and found this book both very informative and engaging. The book is told from the viewpoints of an 18 year old on the cusp of manhood post Vietnam and then as a father years later of an 18 year old son, and two 20 something Vietnam Veterans. The characters were very real and a "must read".

This book was 3.5 stars for me. It had very good lessons and made me think about living life to it’s fullest. The writing was a little off, more telling, less showing.

Dugoni’s The World Played Chess tells the age old tale of a boy becoming a man. However the point of view is not from one but three differing viewpoints during the Vietnam War time. He pulls at the readers emotions and tugs at their hearts.
A must read!

Gripping book about coming of age and growing up. The book is told in 3 different timeframes and with different narration point of views. Eye opening perspective of Vietnam and veterans. Makes you think about your actions and how it can affect others. Instantly captivating, didn’t want to put down. Very different book compared to authors prior great book “The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell,” but loved this book just as much.

3.5 stars

I wanted to know more about the experience of a young soldier during the Vietnam War and the long term after effects as my father was a veteran of the same war.

I was most interested, therefore in the character of William. Vincent and Beau’s stories bored more a little - the pacing was a touch slow. Vincent tended to repeat himself a lot (“prefrontal cortex”).

Overall, a good book but I was most interested in William’s journey.

Another great read from Robert Dugoni! My favorite part of every Robert Dugoni’s books is the end when he shares what inspired his read and how he researched the topic. This does not disappoint.

This book seems a different style and focus than most of the other Dugoni books I have read, but I appreciate this and think it shows he is a versatile writer. Furthermore, he shares after the read his inspiration for this read. The reader can sense this inspiration and dedication throughout the read.

I consider this a “coming-of-age”, “becoming a man” read, following the main character, his present day family challenges, challenges growing up, and lessons he learned from Vietnam veterans growing up, with some areas of action to keep the reader interested. At first the writing to me seemed a bit hard to follow, as it would bounce from perspective and timeline to different perspective and timeline. After reading a bit further, I better understand the author’s approach and intent with this particular focus.

Overall, fans of Robert Dugoni will not be disappointed! Those who have not read his work, I also highly recommend. After finishing my read, I am thankful for this read, as it is a great example to put life and its challenges into perspective.

Stepping out of his usual genre Robert Dugoni knocks it out of the park with The World Played Chess.

I tend to find myself lost in the bygone eras of pre WWII historical fiction. Rarely do I find myself lost in “recent” historical fiction.

Dugoni’s The World Played Chess tells the age old tale of a boy becoming a man. However the point of view is not from one but three differing viewpoints during the Vietnam War time. He pulls at the readers emotions and tugs at their heart strings.

This is nothing like his other works but it’s a must read story for 2021.

I want to say early, I’m a big Robert Dugoni fan. I appreciate his writing style and the rich characters he builds. This book is somewhat of a departure for him, and I didn’t love it. It’s the story of three young men coming of age at different times intertwined.

William is 18 in Vietnam and his POV is mostly told through the pages of his journal.

Vincent is 18 the summer after high school and works on a construction crew with William and another Vietnam vet. At this point, William is suffering from PTSD. He and Vincent bond as he tells some of his war story during breaks and over beers.

Beau is Vincent’s son and is forced to deal with tragedy way too early.

While all three timelines were interesting, I didn’t really get invested in any of the stories. Maybe three were too many and there was too much going on for me to dig into all of them. (I think of a coming of age story like David Copperfield with 700 pages dedicated to the story of one person.) I’m just a little bit younger than Vincent, so I recognized the time period and enjoyed some nostalgia. But none of the young men resonated with me. Since I wasn’t totally engaged with the characters, the climax and emotion of the story was a little lost on me and felt somewhat forced.

As someone who has experienced great loss, the theme as summarized by this line did stand out,“Growing old is a privilege, not a right.” I do get that one.

The writing is crisp and clean and I did enjoy it. I’d recommend as a 3.5 stars, and will keep reading what Dugoni writes. Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

*adding to my personal Best of Historical Fiction shelf for 2021 *

When a book from Robert Dugoni came across on NetGalley, I immediately requested it. Although I like historical fiction, the Vietnam War made me a bit reluctant. I knew that I had read a book by Robert Dugoni that I had really enjoyed (The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell, published 2018 and read in 2019). Robert Dugoni has two or three other dozen books as well.

I've read so many books about WWII, but very few with ties to the Vietnam War. The author documented his resources and detailed how this book was researched. There definitely is a different mindset between the Vietnam War and WWII.

There are three primary point of views in this novel.
- entries from William into a journal documenting his time in Vietnam
- the "author's" time with William between high school and college
- the "author's" present time and in particular relation to his son who is also college bound
The exchanges between the different point of views were clear and the transitions were easy to follow.

My heart really goes out to all veterans. Thank you for your service. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been coming back to America after putting your life on the line with all the demonstrating and lack of respect. And the lack of understanding about PTSD.

I'm so thankful for the opportunity to review The World Played Chess by Robert Dugoni in exchange for an honest review. Additional thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Lake Union Publishing. Release date is Sept 14, 2021.

Extremely powerful book examining the transition of three young men into adulthood in varying generations. We meet the story's main narrator, Vince, as both a young man and a father of a young man. Against this backdrop, we are introduced to the story of William, a young man coming of age during the Vietnam War. The contrast and comparisons between the three life stories is stark and thought-provoking. I learned a lot about the Vietnam War and its lasting effect on veterans. This book has made me curious to learn more about the events surrounding the war. This book will stay with me for a long time, especially the ending.

Robert Dugoni did a good job throughout The World Played Chess toeing the line between flashbacks, talking about the past, and the the real-time life of Vincent. I found the journal entries to really be more emotional and sad, compared to the stories William tells, and I believe that to be a valid difference as the journal entries were written real-time in the horror of Vietnam. I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would and appreciate all of the resources used for Robert's research in the back of the book to further research and learn of the Vietnam War. I would rate this book a VERY strong 3 star book with a few paragraphs here and there that really bump it up to a solid read and almost a 4 star book.

The more I read by Robert Dugoni, the more I come to love his storytelling. He has a way of writing that makes you feel as if you are sitting down with his characters, sharing a life altering conversation with them. This is a beautifully written novel. The dialogue is so realistic. The characters in The World Played Chess captured my heart.

The World Played Chess is about Vincent and a summer in 1979 that he worked construction with a Vietnam vet named William. William is struggling with life after his time in Vietnam but opens up to Vincent and shares the horrors of his experiences there. Flashforward to 2016, Vincent is a father himself to 18 year old (Beau) and 16 year old (Mary Beth), he receives a journal from William from his time in the war. The story goes back and forth from 1968, the time of William’s journal, 1979 and Vincent’s time as an 18 year old and 2016 with Vincent raising his children but mostly about watching his 18 year old son coming of age and trying to be a good father using some of the lessons in life that he learned by befriending William that summer in 1979.

This novel touched my heart and I must admit a tear or two were shed. It’s a real thought provoking novel with wonderful and realistic characters. A very worthwhile read.

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing me with this advanced copy in return for my honest review.

Beautifully written and thoroughly engaging. I very much enjoyed this story and author. I am going to my bookstore today to pick up more by him. Thank you to publisher and NetGalley for this read! Highly recommended!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. This book is done in three viewpoints. One of the narratives is from a Vietnam veteran who works in construction. The Vietnam war has always been interesting to me and this book played right into that interest. The other two narratives were from a father and a son. The book reflects on the time period when Vincent (the father) graduates from high school. He gets a summer job in construction and works alongside the vet. Fast forward the time when Vincent’s own son turns 18 and you get the third narrative. As always, Robert Dugoni has written a good book, but for me, it was not great. I would probably attribute that to my personality, rather than the book itself..

I thoroughly enjoyed The World Played Chess. I was familiar with the author Robert Dugoni because I read, and also enjoyed his previous book, The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell. I have recently read many books with a dual timeline, but I think this is the first I've read with a triple timeline. It worked very well, flipping between William's experiences at 18 in Viet Nam in 1969, to Vincent, a recent high school graduate in 1979 and then Vincent's son, Beau just reaching adulthood in 2015. Thank you to #NetGalley #RobertDugoni #AmazonPublishing for the opportunity to preview this amazing book.

Three eighteen-year-olds, in 1967, 1979 and 2015. What are their dreams and insecurities? What are the differences between those eras and what is still the same?

This story alternates between William in 1967, 1979 when Vincent meets William, and 2015 when Vincent receives William’s journal of his time in Vietnam as a marine.

The World Played Chess is literary fiction written in first person and an easy read, inviting and engaging. The story is mostly focused on the storyline in 1979 with parts of William’s journal of his experiences in the Vietnamese war and snippets of Vincent’s and Beau’s life in 2015 and further on.

Like I said three eighteen-year-olds (William, Vincent and Beau) in three eras with their dreams and insecurities. Three boys on the cusp of adulthood. Three boys who have a dream to go to college. Three boys who never really have suffered a loss. The story follows those boys in their growth to adulthood.

Although I liked the story and loved the writing, it also bored me at times. I’m not really interested in construction work and there were pages full of Vincent doing that work. And I longed for a different approach to the now chapters. I’d have liked to read Beau’s POV instead of his father’s. Now we get a POV from two eighteen-year-olds and a parent. I believe the story would have been stronger if all POV’s were eighteen-year-olds. A personal preference though.

3.5 stars.

I was really excited to receive an early copy of Robert Dugoni's new book from NetGalley, because The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell is one of the best books I have ever read. The World Played Chess is a more subtle emotional journey but just as meaningful and heartfelt. It has 3 timelines: present day, when Vincent's son finishing high school and starting college, 1979 in the summer Vincent graduated from high school, when he was working on a construction site for the summer while saving and planning for his future, and the 3rd part of the story is told through letters an older coworker wrote while fighting in the Vietnam War. Robert Dugoni is so good at weaving a beautiful, poignant story, showing how each of his characters live through experiences that shape how they grow up and the people they become. I was really surprised to learn in the afterword that the author had not fought in the Vietnam war himself, and had only learned about it through research and talking to veterans, because his writing taught me so much about the war, American politics and most of all what it actually felt like to be there at the time and then return to life in the United States. I highly recommend taking some time to absorb this beautiful story, now I would like to read everything Robert Dugoni has written!