The Space Merchants

Paperback

English language

Published Dec. 30, 2011 by Thomas Dunne Books.

ISBN:: 978-1-250-00015-6
OCLC Number:: 1037472991

(1 review)

In a vastly overpopulated near-future world, businesses have taken the place of governments and now hold all political power. States exist merely to ensure the survival of huge transnational corporations. Advertising has become hugely aggressive and boasts some of the world's most powerful executives.

Through advertising, the public is constantly deluded into thinking that all the products on the market improve the quality of life. However, the most basic elements are incredibly scarce, including water and fuel.

The planet Venus has just been visited and judged fit for human settlement, despite its inhospitable surface and climate; colonists would have to endure a harsh climate for many generations until the planet could be terraformed.

Mitch Courtenay is a star-class copywriter in the Fowler Schocken advertising agency and has been assigned the ad campaign that would attract colonists to Venus, but a lot more is happening than he knows about. Mitch is …

In a vastly overpopulated near-future world, businesses have taken the place of governments and now hold all political power. States exist merely to ensure the survival of huge transnational corporations. Advertising has become hugely aggressive and boasts some of the world's most powerful executives.

Through advertising, the public is constantly deluded into thinking that all the products on the market improve the quality of life. However, the most basic elements are incredibly scarce, including water and fuel.

The planet Venus has just been visited and judged fit for human settlement, despite its inhospitable surface and climate; colonists would have to endure a harsh climate for many generations until the planet could be terraformed.

Mitch Courtenay is a star-class copywriter in the Fowler Schocken advertising agency and has been assigned the ad campaign that would attract colonists to Venus, but a lot more is happening than he knows about. Mitch is soon thrown into a world of danger, mystery, and intrigue, where the people in his life are never quite what they seem, and his loyalties and core beliefs will be put to the test. --back cover

19 editions

Thom reviewed Space Merchants by Frederik Pohl

Review of 'Space Merchants' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

First published in 1952, this book shows a future with advertising agencies on top of the heap, and life isn't pretty for the rest of us. The environment is shot, cities are crowded and food tasteless (and very much GMO).

By coincidence, I was reading this at the same time as [b:The Evening Star: Venus Observed|1911358|The Evening Star Venus Observed|Henry S.F. Cooper Jr.|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1266924830s/1911358.jpg|1913297], and unlike other science fiction from the early 50s, Venus was known to be hot and inhospitable. Scientists have a plan to terraform and colonize, led by advertising executive Mitch Courtenay.

I enjoyed the twists and turns of the plot and nodded at some of the foresight. At the time this book didn't rate any award nominations, but it is now on several recommended lists and the SF Masterworks. It is also relatively short, and definitely worth a read. Frederick Pohl penned a sequel 32 years later, …

First published in 1952, this book shows a future with advertising agencies on top of the heap, and life isn't pretty for the rest of us. The environment is shot, cities are crowded and food tasteless (and very much GMO).

By coincidence, I was reading this at the same time as [b:The Evening Star: Venus Observed|1911358|The Evening Star Venus Observed|Henry S.F. Cooper Jr.|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1266924830s/1911358.jpg|1913297], and unlike other science fiction from the early 50s, Venus was known to be hot and inhospitable. Scientists have a plan to terraform and colonize, led by advertising executive Mitch Courtenay.

I enjoyed the twists and turns of the plot and nodded at some of the foresight. At the time this book didn't rate any award nominations, but it is now on several recommended lists and the SF Masterworks. It is also relatively short, and definitely worth a read. Frederick Pohl penned a sequel 32 years later, and I will probably add it to my reading list.