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2034 cover art

2034

Written by: Elliot Ackerman,Admiral James Stavridis
Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller,P.J. Ochlan,Vikas Adam,Dion Graham,Feodor Chin
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Publisher's 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 outmaneuvering America's most tenacious adversaries. Written with a powerful blend of geopolitical sophistication and human empathy, 2034 takes us inside the minds of a global cast of characters - 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 listener a dark yet possible future that we must do all we can to avoid.

* This audiobook edition includes an exclusive interview with co-author Admiral James Stavridis.

©2021 Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavridis (P)2021 Penguin Audio

What the critics say

“It is hard to write in great detail about what ensues in this novel without giving away the drama of its denouement. Suffice it to say that there is conflict and catastrophe on a large scale, and it unfolds, as major conflicts tend to, with surprising twists and turns.... The strengths of the novel are anything but incidental to the background of one of its authors, Adm. Stavridis, a former destroyer and carrier strike group commander who retired from the Navy in 2013 as NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe.... Adm. Stavridis not only understands how naval fleets work; he has clearly given a great deal of thought to America’s biggest strategic risks, and at the top of the list is war with China, which, as this book seems designed to point out, could occur quite by accident and at almost any time.... One of the messages of this book is that war is utterly unpredictable and that opportunist adversaries of the U.S. are likely to play important roles in any widening confrontation.... 2034 is nonetheless full of warnings. Foremost is that war with China would be folly, with no foreseeable outcome and disaster for all. 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.... In 2034, it’s as if Ackerman and Stavridis want to grab us by our lapels, give us a slap or two, and scream: Pay attention! George Orwell’s dystopian masterpiece, Nineteen Eighty-four: A Novel was published 35 years before 1984. Ackerman’s and Stavridis’s book takes place in the not-so-distant future when today’s high school military recruits will just be turning 30.” (The Washington Post

What listeners say about 2034

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

A one-star book by a four-star admiral

To quote another reviewer with whom I completely agree: "Thermonuclear exchanges are glossed over without as much attention as a fender bender in a mall parking lot. The cast of characters are sketched in as stick figures with zero insight into the decision making processes that brought about this disaster." Climate change is mentioned only once, as having reset global geopolitics, without describing what was done and who mainly benefited (presumably the Chinese). But this is in 2034, barely a dozen years from now! The main characters seem to be involved at many intersections of the plot, completely unbelievably. The ending is pure Dr. Strangelove.

The admiral is the "game theorist" part of the authorial partnership and the plot is unimpressive, whereas the novelist partner fails to meet his obligations in this novel.

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    3 out of 5 stars

A bit of Battlestar Galactica and Tom Clancy

For the first half of the book, I thought I had not enjoyed a fictional book like this since reading the first few Tom Clancy books as a teenager in the early 90s. But then, towards the end, I found that it seemed to lose steam. While there's a coda, and an interview with the author (which I've never seen in an audibook before), I think the book should have gone on for a few more chapters and, um, ended. I was not satisfied in that regard. Maybe the authors had to hit a delivery deadline?
This book also takes pains to hit every nearly social justice warrior item you can imagine. It even takes a swing at fracking.
Spoilers:
The book draws heavily from the 2003 Battlestar Galactica mini-series, where the Cylons have the ability to hack the colonial navy's networked fighters and ships, leaving them defenceless destroying them. The authors might as well called the Chinese "Cylons." They even resort to using ancient fighters as their go-to to fight back, just like BSG. That whole plot-line is very poorly paid off, however. Indeed, I don't think it was paid off much at all. I think they should be sending Ronald D. Moore and David Eick royalty checks.
Written by an admiral, I expected fewer flights of fantasy. I didn't know an F-18 could carry Tsar Bomba, because that's what it would have needed to accomplish what happens, twice, in this book. So much for only using "tactical" nukes. As for the two American cities hit by nukes, one makes perfect sense, the second does not. It should have been Bremerton.
As an admiral, you would think somewhere in this book, U.S Navy submarines would have played a part? Like a salvo or ten of Tomahawks? Maybe a torpedo? I realize that might be pining for Tom Clancy, but there's no way a naval war with Japan does not involve the U.S. Navy's nuclear fleet.
And, given the impact last week of one ship stuck in the Suez Canal, this book doesn't even touch on what would happen to global trade in a war with China. What, are all those container ships going to keep flowing from China to Long Beach while all this is going on? Who would buy the West's exports?
Russia's involvement seemed hackneyed, at best. And they could magically make a whole division of Spetsnaz appear, only to have a "divine wind" intervene? Because that's what happened.
These are some of the reasons why the second half seemed to fall apart for me. After a good setup, it was a poor ending.

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  • B
  • 2021-03-13

Boardrooms instead of battlefields

Huge military events are given one sentence descriptions, mundane conversations are given pages.

Not sure why this is set in 2034...
Other than some random references to cyber warfare there’s nothing that requires this tale being set any other time than now.

Ambitious, but falls short.

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This is a silly book

To start, I highly doubt that Admiral James Stavridis had much of a hand in writing this book. It seems like the story was fleshed out by a team of writers with little to no military experience, resulting in a cookie-cutter feel.
Even though this book was set in 2034 it just felt like a retelling of one of the many World War III books written during the Cold War era. The only difference was that the Soviet Union was replaced with China. There's nothing particularly unique or original about this book that sets it apart from the others I've read.
The story and characters are so stereotypical and clichéd. This book focuses more on the people on the sidelines of the war, rather than the soldiers fighting on the front lines. The descriptions of combat are lacking and instead, we only get snippets from news reports.
Also, calling your nuclear weapons "tactical" doesn't change the fact that if you use them on major cities, it will be seen as a strategic strike and escalate to full-blown nuclear war. The way the enemy suddenly has magical, high-tech weapons that give them an edge, only to be easily countered later on, is too simplistic and Hollywood-like. This book fails to take into account the current state of the US, which is grappling with many divisive issues. The military industrial complex is also never mentioned, which is a major oversight, especially considering this book is about the escalation of a war.
In my opinion, this book is not well-researched or thought-out, and it feels like a cash grab.

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  • Tom
  • 2021-04-17

It was ok... it was a bookclub book

interesting idea but fell short on the character depth. overall cool idea for the future

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Save Your Credit

Very concerned the authors have no real understanding of our current world (let alone 2034). To say this book is unrealistic feels equivalent to saying 2020 was mildly unpleasant, lol. Plot doesn’t make sense, characterization sure as shit doesn’t and let’s not even talk about basic facts (M*di is India’s PM, not President). This book is very clearly trying to cash in on current events today and anti-racism movements (and doing a bad job). I would recommend getting this book if you’re in the mood to waste a credit or are for some reason trying to support people who can’t proof read. Voice actors also missed the mark.

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Unimaginative, poorly written

The format was interesting, having different readers for each character.

That said, the novel was horrendously cliché, brutally politically correct and lacked actual depth.

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You have better ways to spend your time

Fiction needs to be believable and there are too many wait a second, how did that happen and if it did, why isn't it happening to these guys.

I have an hour forty left and I'm just not going to go any more

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Macguffins, magic & stupidity drive the story

The author combines conventional thinking, with use of magical, unrealistic tech by an enemy, and Curtis Lemay-esque morons in USA & China to drive an unbelievable narrative full of social justice virtue signalling. This is a waste of your time unless you already hate America and want to see it knocked down several pegs. Voice actors were very good.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

intriguing but highly improbable story

The story bounces between world centers, looks at a world crisis thru the lense of major and minor countries. "The good guy wins" will lead you to cheer for USA. but views from other world leaders creates an irreconcilable difference. The story is really character oriented not a military story, in the end.

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