We want to make sure we don’t push China into a corner and China wants to make sure it doesn’t push us into a corner. That’s the real story of 2034.
– Admiral James Stavridis
The story of 2034
I learned about the geopolitical thriller 2034 from Wired, which published an exclusive excerpt, the first six chapters of the book, on January 26. The excellent writing intrigued me, so I pre-ordered the Audible version. On the morning of March 9, the audiobook automatically downloaded to my mobile, and since I had already read almost half of it, I finished listening to it the same day it was released. Extraordinary times indeed!
Though the South China Sea is at the center of the action in 2034, pivotal impulses come from Washington, Beijing, Tehran, and New Delhi. Secondary plots include the Barents Sea, Yokosuka Naval Base, Taipei, Quantico, Isfahan, Bandar Abbas, and the Strait of Hormuz. Originally, the events narrated by the two authors were supposed to take place in the distant future of 2050 or so, but as work on the book progressed, they realized that a number of things were already reality, so the action was set very close to the present, in 2034.
The book opens on March 12, 2034, with a flotilla of three American destroyers, led by Commodore Sarah Hunt, patrolling the South China Sea and falling into a very elaborate trap set by China. On the same day, American pilot Chris “Wedge” Mitchell flies an F35 over the Strait of Hormuz, testing a new stealth technology that involves entering Iranian airspace.… Read the rest
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