> Skip to content
  • Published: 6 February 2024
  • ISBN: 9781405966429
  • Imprint: Penguin General UK
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 320
  • RRP: $22.99

2034

A Novel of the Next World War





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

‘A rippingly good read’ Wired

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 12 March 2034, US Navy Commodore Sarah Hunt is conducting routine freedom of navigation patrol in the South China Sea. On that same day, US Marine aviator Major Chris ‘Wedge’ Mitchell is flying an F-35E Lightning, 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 ocean. A new, terrifying era is at hand.

So begins a disturbingly plausible novel, co-authored by an award-winning novelist and decorated Marine veteran and the former commander of NATO, a legendary admiral. Everything in 2034 is an imagination extrapolation from present-day facts on the ground, informed by 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: this cautionary tale presents a dark yet possible future that we must do all we can to avoid.

‘I could not stop reading 2034’ Phil Klay, author of Redeployment

  • Published: 6 February 2024
  • ISBN: 9781405966429
  • Imprint: Penguin General UK
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 320
  • RRP: $22.99

Praise for 2034

There is conflict and catastrophe on a large scale, and it unfolds, as major conflicts tend to, with surprising twists and turns . . . This is not a pessimistic book about America’s potential, but the picture of the world it paints before the central conflict will be a difficult one for many to accept, albeit one well supported by facts

Wall Street Journal

An unnerving and fascinating tale of a future . . . The book serves as a cautionary tale to our leaders and national security officials, while also speaking to a modern truth about arrogance and our lack of strategic foresight . . . The novel is an enjoyable and swiftly paced but important read

The Hill

This crisply written and well-paced book reads like an all-caps warning for a world shackled to the machines we carry in our pockets and place on our laps, while only vaguely understanding how the information stored in and shared by those devices can be exploited.

The Washington Post

If you’re looking for a compelling beach read this summer, I recommend the novel 2034

Thomas L. Friedman, The New York Times

Utterly engrossing . . . [2034] is incredibly well-written, deeply thought-provoking, and it makes for uncomfortable and sober reading—in the best of ways...Elliot Ackerman is one of the finest writers to come out of this generation of military veterans and officers

Joshua Huminski, Diplomatic Courier

Consider this another vaccine against disaster. Fortunately, this dose won't cause a temporary fever—and it happens to be a rippingly good read. Turns out that even cautionary tales can be exciting, when the future we’re most excited about is the one where they never come true

Wired

A frightening look at how a major-power showdown might race out of control. . . . This compelling thriller should be required reading for our national leaders and translated into Mandarin

Kirkus

Those seeking a realistic look at how a future world war might play out will be rewarded

Publishers Weekly

Chilling yet compulsively readable work of speculative fiction . . . Ackerman and Stavridis have created a brilliantly executed geopolitical tale that is impossible to put down and that serves as a dire, all-too-plausible warning that recent events could have catastrophic consequences

Booklist

War with China is the most dangerous scenario facing us and the world. Absent a strategic method to manage our differences, Jim Stavridis and Elliot Ackerman’s chilling novel presents a realistic series of miscalculations leading to the worst consequences. A sobering, cautionary tale for our time

Jim Mattis, General, U.S. Marines (Ret.) and 26th Secretary of Defense

A brilliant thriller! Masterfully plotted and elegantly written, 2034 is a literary tour-de-force. Let’s just hope none of it comes true

Brad Thor, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Near Dark

A real page-turner, 2034 is a novel about a conflict we hope never happens. Drawing on their deep operational and diplomatic backgrounds, Admiral Stavridis and Elliot Ackerman have conjured a nightmare we desperately need to avoid. The novel is a cautionary tale for our times, and a reminder how quickly events can spin out of control—even before 2034

Robert M. Gates, Secretary of Defense 2006-2011

I could not stop reading 2034. With sharply drawn, vibrant characters caught in an all too plausible future conflict, the novel left me fascinated, moved, thrilled and, ultimately, haunted

Phil Klay, author of Missionaries

2034 is an exciting, interesting, and informative novel about a hypothetical future war with China that is largely determined by actual decisions already made...Anyone who is concerned about where today’s military technology decisions are taking us should read this book

Karl Marlantes, author of Matterhorn and Deep River

This kind of fiction can induce a kind of sublime awe at the complexity of the global networks in which we’re enmeshed . . . 2034 and 2054 are near-future tales, extrapolating from the present to a carefully imagined next five minutes, designed to elicit a little spark of recognition, the feeling of being shown a possible path from "here" to a utopian or dystopian "there"

Hari Kunzru, New York Times
penguin pop image
penguin pop image