Fiction

2034: A Novel of the Next World War

2034: A Novel of the Next World War

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  • Create Date：2021-04-15 11:51:42
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
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  • Author：Elliot Ackerman
  • ISBN：0593298683
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Summary

From two former military officers and award-winning authors， a chillingly authentic， geopolitical thriller that imagines a naval clash between the US and China in the South China Sea in 2034 - and the path from there to a nightmarish global conflagration。

On March 12， 2034， US Navy Commodore Sarah Hunt is on the bridge of her flagship， the guided missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones， conducting a routine freedom of navigation patrol in the South China Sea when her ship detects an unflagged trawler in clear distress， smoke billowing from its bridge。 On that same day， US Marine aviator Major Chris "Wedge" Mitchell is flying an F35E Lightning over the Strait of Hormuz， testing a new stealth technology as he flirts with Iranian airspace。 By the end of that day， Wedge will be an Iranian prisoner， and Sarah Hunt's destroyer will lie at the bottom of the sea， sunk by the Chinese Navy。 Iran and China have clearly coordinated their moves， which involve the use of powerful new forms of cyber weaponry that render US ships and planes defenseless。 In a single day， America's faith in its military's strategic pre-eminence is in tatters。 A new， terrifying era is at hand。

So begins a disturbingly plausible work of speculative fiction， co-authored by an award-winning novelist and decorated Marine veteran and the former commander of NATO， a legendary admiral who has spent much of his career strategically out maneuvering America's most tenacious adversaries。 Written with a powerful blend of geopolitical sophistication and literary， human empathy， '2034' takes us inside the minds of a global cast of character - Americans， Chinese， Iranians， Russians， Indians - as a series of arrogant miscalculations on all sides leads the world into an intensifying international storm。 In the end， China and the United States will have paid a staggering cost， one that forever alters the global balance of power。

Everything in '2034' is an imaginative extrapolation from present-day facts on the ground combined with the authors' years working at the highest and most classified levels of national security。 Sometimes it takes a brilliant work of fiction to illuminate the most dire of warnings: '2034' is all too close at hand， and this cautionary tale presents the reader a dark yet possible future that we must do all we can to avoid。

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Reviews

Chris Bogg ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 I had high hopes for this book but came away pretty disappointed。 I’m a big fan of Elliot Ackerman， and really really wanted to like this book， but realized about halfway through I was bored and just ready for it to be over。 If you haven’t read either and are looking for better versions of this sort of book， I’d recommend Ghost Fleet or Red Metal instead。 My main issues （spoiler alert）:- The course of events seems totally impractical。 Clash in the South China Sea is fine， as is a devastating nav I had high hopes for this book but came away pretty disappointed。 I’m a big fan of Elliot Ackerman， and really really wanted to like this book， but realized about halfway through I was bored and just ready for it to be over。 If you haven’t read either and are looking for better versions of this sort of book， I’d recommend Ghost Fleet or Red Metal instead。 My main issues （spoiler alert）:- The course of events seems totally impractical。 Clash in the South China Sea is fine， as is a devastating naval loss by 2 carrier groups， but the book talks only about China， US， India， Russia and Iran。。。 where’s Japan？ Europe？ Even if NATO fell apart， would all of Europe allow Russia to annex part of Poland with no consequence or more than a passing mention？ How do you have a world war without those countries？ How do you have a “world war” that amounts to little more than 2 naval battles and a couple of tit-for-tat tactical nuclear strikes？- Some of the “cyber” razzle dazzle seems utterly far fetched。 Like the Chinese can’t control everything， all at once， and forever， without any consequence from the US。 I’m fine if they can disable the US electric grid or F-35 with cyber， but it’s silly to pretend only China and India will have cyber capacity in 2034 while the US and Iranians are completely impotent with zero capability of their own。 The technology mismatch is sort of like watching the fantastical dogfight between F-14’s from the USS Enterprise and WW2 Japanese Zeroes in the aircraft carrier time travel movie “The Final Countdown” in that it’s interesting but wholly implausible。 - If I suspend belief and allow for a complete lopsided cyber dominance that allows the Chinese to wipe out two air craft carrier groups， then why in the world would the Chinese be concerned about an embargo of their coast by the US Navy AFTER winning such a battle？- It’s implausible for me to see India as a （the？） dominant world power a little more than a decade from now。 Even if I allow for that to happen， how is it such a surprise to the US and China as it plays out in the book？ 。。。more

Becky Gallego ，

DNF。 Boring

Kayce B ，

Really good although some of the technical terms were a little hard to follow at times。

Patricia Baker ，

bought this book because it was supposed to be about the start of the next world war。 while written by military men， it has too many paragraphs about the posturing about the possibility of war。 not enough actual conversation between characters。 find it interesting that the major combatants were the expected nations with the third world nations causing the trouble。 picks out strong American people who are sidestepped。 Hunt on her crippled ship， Chowdhury， Hendrickson and Wedge could and should ha bought this book because it was supposed to be about the start of the next world war。 while written by military men， it has too many paragraphs about the posturing about the possibility of war。 not enough actual conversation between characters。 find it interesting that the major combatants were the expected nations with the third world nations causing the trouble。 picks out strong American people who are sidestepped。 Hunt on her crippled ship， Chowdhury， Hendrickson and Wedge could and should have been developed more completely。 would be interesting if America had become the cesspool of diseases and wildness at the end of the peace treaty。 。。。more

Emily Carlin ，

I have no idea why I started this and even less of an idea of why I finished it。 I guess it's because I am a sucker for near-future as a setting。。。 There are some interesting themes around technology in war and American decline。 But I found the plot heavy-handed and the perspective deeply conservative。 Also the book felt more interested in understanding and describing， like， the curves of a Navy ship than it did in anything to do with real people。 I have no idea why I started this and even less of an idea of why I finished it。 I guess it's because I am a sucker for near-future as a setting。。。 There are some interesting themes around technology in war and American decline。 But I found the plot heavy-handed and the perspective deeply conservative。 Also the book felt more interested in understanding and describing， like， the curves of a Navy ship than it did in anything to do with real people。 。。。more

johann ，

Future of the giants ！！！Excellent journey of the great powers over a period of time 。 However the details of the naval and air warfare was lacking ！！！ Lovely character sketch of the main characters。。。could almost feel that we are in their shoes 。。。。

ROBERT S WINN ，

Great readThis book is hard to put down。 A very scary and realistic read。 One of best reads this year！ I highly recommend it

Randy Wilson ，

This was a selection by the only other member of my unOprah book club。 It is a futuristic thriller answering the speculative question; what if the US and China got into a hot war within the next decade or so？I won't spoil the book with an answer but one of the keys to understanding the milieu of the book is revealed in the second author's title。 Much of the action of the hot war takes place on the high sea and is compelling。 The book is a page-turner and left me with a couple of frightening tho This was a selection by the only other member of my unOprah book club。 It is a futuristic thriller answering the speculative question; what if the US and China got into a hot war within the next decade or so？I won't spoil the book with an answer but one of the keys to understanding the milieu of the book is revealed in the second author's title。 Much of the action of the hot war takes place on the high sea and is compelling。 The book is a page-turner and left me with a couple of frightening thoughts。First is that the United States is far more vulnerable as a military power than I had thought。 The novel suggest that particularly China but also Russia is far ahead of us from a cyber perspective。 Given this was written by an Admiral， I trust that a scenario where another country disables our military technology is doable certainly within the next decade or so。 The second is that our current international order could be upended quite easily。On the first point I read this from a recent article in the New York Review of Books: "Russia is already inside systems that operate US dams， nuclear power facilities， and pipelines， giving it the capacity to “unleash the locks at the dams， trigger an explosion， or shut down power to the grid。”Given the tip of what we so far know about the SolarWinds hack， the Russians are in the process of expanding their ability to shut down U。S。 society。 We can only hope that mutually assured destruction is at play here so we are doing the same with Russia。 However， I'm dubious。 And what about China？ Do we think they are behind the Russians when it comes to cyber？ I don't think so。So '2034' posits a believable world where a concerted cyber attack by China would expose the U。S。 as the husk of a superpower we actually are。 We hide behind our increasingly pathetic displays of military prowess but the 'Shock and Awe' of Desert Storm happened before the Internet was a thing and given the ascent of China and other large， powerful countries and the weakness of NATO， it is totally believable that a new world order may come about within the next ten or twenty years。So the novel opened my eyes to things that were less clear for me and reading 2034 felt like eating delicious icing。 That doesn't mean it is much of a book。 Here are my complaints （accepting that it is genre fiction and not literature。）。 The cyber attacks are sprung on us without any foundation。 Now I get that we are behind but I still think the novel needs to establish that for us。 Also a cyber attack is treated as an act of God with very little attempt to flesh out what one of such a scale would look like。 This is to take place more than a decade in the future so how would climate change factor into this scenario？ We get nothing on this。 That so much of the action occurs on big aircraft carriers is dictated more by the 'Admiral' than by the actual story。 We get very little sense of how the Army， Air Force， Marines， CIA would be involved in such a conflict。Finally， here is my complaint about genre fiction that has a message。 It treats human beings as types engaged in cliches that trigger the exciting events of the book。 A book can be genre but if it wants its story to be taken seriously， the human beings need to be taken seriously as well。 That doesn't happen in '2034。' 。。。more

Fredrick Danysh ，

Set in the not too distant future， tensions between China and the United States escalate until tactical nuclear weapons are used。 Throw in Iran and Russia with their own objectives and you have a military thriller that is hard to put down。 This is a free review copy through Goodreads。com。

Ryan ，

A good near-future book about a war between US-China caused by （as most wars） stupidity and accidental escalation。 Makes an argument for continued tech progress by China and India （mainly in cyber）， dramatic expansion of the Chinese military， continued decline of the US， and other trends。 Essentially a cautionary tale about these trends， and the core message is "failure of imagination" as the cause of the crisis， rather than a failure of intelligence。Written by a 4-star Navy admiral， and the boo A good near-future book about a war between US-China caused by （as most wars） stupidity and accidental escalation。 Makes an argument for continued tech progress by China and India （mainly in cyber）， dramatic expansion of the Chinese military， continued decline of the US， and other trends。 Essentially a cautionary tale about these trends， and the core message is "failure of imagination" as the cause of the crisis， rather than a failure of intelligence。Written by a 4-star Navy admiral， and the book is highly focused on the naval aspects of conflict。 My biggest criticisms are they don't clearly document why/how the USG has become even more defective by 2034， and the intelligence aspects of the book were largely limited to diplomacy。 There were a couple technological or infrastructure errors in the book， but generally it was reasonable。It's plausible， well-written， has great characters， and an engaging plot。 。。。more

Andrea Horwatt ，

This is both a thriller， a portrait of some very interesting people and a cautionary tale。 War between US and China begins with extensive hacking of US systems by the Chinese。 It ends up with major changes in world political order。 Without putting in any spoilers just know that you can’t tell early who are the good guys。 I couldn’t put it down。

Patricia Lustig ，

I enjoyed this book， not just because it was well written but also because it is a potential， relatively plausible outcome。 The story lines may be a bit thin and some of the characters a bit two dimensional， however， it moves along at a good pace。 What interested me was considering how things might actually pan out。 How realistic was it？ Regardless， I enjoyed it and didn’t want to put it down。

Gerald Sullivan ，

Kind of an interesting storyThe technology behind this whole story is difficult to swallow。 The Chinese have some sort of beam that shuts down electronics but doesn’t affect an American strike or an Indian one。 Just bends the boundary of plausibility。

Greg ，

Not well written， but interesting in its portrayal of a near future war with China。 The author （Adm。 Stavridis） uses his professional knowledge of current trends in geopolitics and developments in military technology to imagine a war where the only country that comes out ahead and intact is the rising Indian state。

Joshua Watson ，

Enjoyed the audiobook version of this novel。 While the characters were not the most gripping and it's definitely not a Tom Clancy techno novel， it's an eye 0pening view on the possibilities of the future in which a weakened US can be so easily defeated （if not for the deus ex machina at the end） by a more technologically superior China。 It also shows the decline of US power worldwide which， as we witnessed over the last half decade， is a very real vision of the global realignment of power。 Would Enjoyed the audiobook version of this novel。 While the characters were not the most gripping and it's definitely not a Tom Clancy techno novel， it's an eye 0pening view on the possibilities of the future in which a weakened US can be so easily defeated （if not for the deus ex machina at the end） by a more technologically superior China。 It also shows the decline of US power worldwide which， as we witnessed over the last half decade， is a very real vision of the global realignment of power。 Would recommend to read to any political science/national security/ international affairs/ military studies student （both professional and lay） and for anyone wanting a 10，000 ft view of a possible world future。 。。。more

Preston ，

One of the best military fiction books I have read in the past few years， I highly recommend

geezer ，

an interesting read but a little long winded

Mike Martell ，

Poor mans WW 3Writing was not terrible。 Plot was simpleminded nonsense。 I could not finish and can definitely recommend against bothering to read this。

Randy Hardin ，

It’s a frightening prophecy of what could happen。 I hope we can find the wisdom and resolve to avoid it。I strongly recommend listening to the interview with the author at the end of the audio version。

Nate Kocher ，

Boring at times but good premise

Tim Fawcett ，

Liked the premise， but the plot was somewhat beyond plausibility 。 Lacks the technical aspects that Ghost Fleet covered so well。 Somewhat surprised that Stavridis co-wrote this。

Evan ，

Scary scenario， not much action， thin characters。 Maybe 3-1/2 stars

Joe ，

Very disappointing for a book whose subject seemed to present such promise。 Unrealistic geopolitical events， farcical drama （a villainous NSA Director named Wisecarver？ C'mon！）， shallow， one-dimensional characters， corny interludes， and a conclusion about a tactical nuclear war between the U。S。 and China that strains belief。 Particularly disappointing since this book was co-authored by a retired 4-star U。S。 Navy Admiral and former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO who you would have thought would Very disappointing for a book whose subject seemed to present such promise。 Unrealistic geopolitical events， farcical drama （a villainous NSA Director named Wisecarver？ C'mon！）， shallow， one-dimensional characters， corny interludes， and a conclusion about a tactical nuclear war between the U。S。 and China that strains belief。 Particularly disappointing since this book was co-authored by a retired 4-star U。S。 Navy Admiral and former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO who you would have thought would lend some heft to what reads like a B-rated war movie。 。。。more

Frederico Prado ，

Good concept that in some points sketches interesting reflections upon war， geopolitics and the 21st century。 Highest point is perhaps some of the characters and the way their relation with war and their countries is portrayed。 Lowest point is the overly apologetic tone towards the US， which is at its highest at the final pages of the novel， making it so that the general thesis of this book is the general american-exceptionality thesis that you find in a large portion of american cultural produc Good concept that in some points sketches interesting reflections upon war， geopolitics and the 21st century。 Highest point is perhaps some of the characters and the way their relation with war and their countries is portrayed。 Lowest point is the overly apologetic tone towards the US， which is at its highest at the final pages of the novel， making it so that the general thesis of this book is the general american-exceptionality thesis that you find in a large portion of american cultural products。 I believe the authors did not mean to write such a deeply american book， I think their goal was probably to write a book about human civilization， war and power。 Unfortunately the result was only partially achieved。 。。。more

James Dillon ，

Imaginative and foreboding Very solid story and good premise。 Acknowledges both the good and the bad about the U。S。。 Story wraps up a little quick at the end。 Could have easily moved into a sequel。

Tim ，

Good story， but could have been great if the authors went into more detail。

Ed ，

The next war could be with China as the USA feels powerful but is not against new technology that it doesn't even know about。 The next war could be with China as the USA feels powerful but is not against new technology that it doesn't even know about。 。。。more

David Grayson ，

A warning for our generation Having listened to Admiral Stavridis talk about the book， I read it overnight。Scarily plausible。 A veritable page-turner。 Highly recommend。

Kimberly Dozier ，

Chilling Cautionary Tale （& way too believable）I feel like I have met all these characters in Washington。 And this scenario， so vividly sketched out， seems terrifyingly plausible， the way the authors have drawn each of the actors， playing their parts in a hearts stopping march to near-Armageddon。 May this serve as a warning: no one wins。

Doug ，

Recommend by DPJ from a free book In Wired magazine。 I downloaded book anyway for convenience

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=2034: A Novel of the Next World War

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=2034: A Novel of the Next World War&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,2034: A Novel of the Next World War&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0