Halcyon

A chilling novel set in an alternate version of America’s recent past—about two self-made men confronting a world that seems to be moving on without them

Virginia, 2004. Gore is entering his second term as president. Our narrator, Martin Neumann, recently divorced, is living at Halcyon, the estate of renowned lawyer and World War II hero Robert Ableson. When news breaks that scientists funded by the Gore administration have discovered a cure for death, it calls into question everything Martin thought he understood about life, not least his work as a historian. Who is Ableson, really, and why did he draw Martin into his orbit? Is this new science a miraculous good or an insidious evil?

Stretching from pivotal elections to intimate family secrets, from the Battle of Saipan to the toppling of Confederate monuments, Halcyon is a profound and probing novel that grapples with what history means, who is affected by it, and how the complexities of our shared future rest on the dual foundations of remembering and forgetting.

Praise & Reviews

“An expert juggling act . . . Idiosyncratic and engrossing throughout.”
–Stephen Markley, New York Times Book Review

“Halcyon is an entertaining thought experiment, and Ackerman writes with a gentle, graceful style . . . Ackerman delivers a potent critique of the what-if nature of talking about history . . . Ackerman, as much as any working novelist today, is invested in getting the facts of war and history right.”
–Mark Athitakis, Washington Post

“A blend of counterfactual history and futurism and a way to think about some of our thorniest social and cultural issues today.”
–Jeffery Gedmin, American Purpose

“Frightening, funny, and thought-provoking.”
–Mark Braude, The Octavian Report

“Ingenious . . . Elliot Ackerman prefers challenging questions over convenient answers, leaving ample room for readers to engage in leaps of imagination as bold as the ones he’s undertaken . . . Blending alternative history with science fiction, Ackerman artfully explores several provocative issues that have become flash points in contemporary America.”
—Bookpage

“Thought-provoking . . . Visionary.”
—Publishers Weekly

“A novel of ideas in an age of opinions.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“A thoughtful and fascinating thought experiment, one that explores mortality, fate, and the malleability of historical memory.”
—Booklist