2084: A Novel of Future War

Novelist Ackerman and former NATO supreme allied commander Stavridis continue to offer chilling global forecasts with their grim yet gripping third geopolitical thriller (after 2054). By 2084, the U.S. and China have fallen from grace on the world stage: civil unrest in the U.S. leading to Florida’s secession and the long-term effects of China’s child-limit policy have created a power vacuum that’s been filled by India and Japan. To combat the Indio-Japanese alliance, the U.S. and China have formed a military alliance called the Consortium, which is fiercely opposed by the Reparationists, a group of nations demanding that the former world superpowers pay for their role in accelerating climate change and making life near the equator unviable. Through a mosaic of perspectives—including those of ex-marine Julia Hunt, now serving as a diplomatic envoy; Reparationist commodore Joko, whose family perished in a 2074 Indonesian superstorm; and crisis manager Jake Shriver, who’s long felt divided between his American and Chinese heritage—Ackerman and Stavridis stage a harrowing global conflict that pits military might against an appetite for justice. As always, the authors spin geopolitical anxiety into exciting, discomfiting genre fiction. The result is equal parts haunting and entertaining. Agent: Andrew Wylie, Wylie Agency. (May)