The Merchants' War

The Space Merchants #2

by Frederik Pohl

The witty sequel to Frederik Pohl's & C. M. Kornbluth's legendary science fiction classic The Space Merchants, written 30 years later.

Great advertising agencies still dominate the world and control all governments and every aspect of human behavior. When a handful of renegades on Venus zealously opposes the so-called “benefits” of the hucksters’’ paradise, it seems inevitable that the all-powerful account executives of Earth will stop at nothing, not even war, to force the rebels to submit.

But the Veenies have a plan….

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Dystopia, Speculative Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Audiobook, Literature

296 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 1981

About the author

Frederik George Pohl, Jr. was an American science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career spanning over seventy years. From about 1959 until 1969, Pohl edited Galaxy magazine and its sister magazine IF winning the Hugo for IF three years in a row. His writing also won him three Hugos and multiple Nebula Awards. He became a Nebula Grand Master in 1993.

Reviews

[Julieta Steyr · Rating 4 out of 5]

En mi opinión es mejor este libro que su antecesor, Mercaderes del espacio.
Ya me estaba cansando y estuve a punto de abandonarlo cuando me faltaba 1/4 de libro para terminarlo cuando repentinamente Pohl se iluminó, se inspiró o lo que fuera que haya pasado que lo finalizó de una forma que no puedo quejarme. Lo intuí, aún así no puedo quejarme porque es el final más difícil y el que mejor encajaba.
La verdad, Pohl escribe mejor solo que en compañía. Tiene mucha más coherencia este libro y, si bien empezamos viendo un Venus 30 años después del primer libro de la serie, todo es un conjunto homogéneo. Venus es el rebelde antipublicidad y la Tierra es el paraíso de la publicidad, en medio de la puja hay diversas regiones. En medio de la puja nos encontramos con montón de sarcasmo e ironía que parece ser molestar a los jóvenes lectores, también encontramos una descripción bastante completa de las adicciones y del mecanismo por el cual funciona la publicidad, es cierto que es más o menos como lo plantea.
Tennison "Tenny" Tarb no sabe ser nada más que un publicitario de pies a cabeza, su mente existe para eso, se deleita creando slogans, imaginando cómo manejar una campaña, etc. Así que Tenny pasará de todo un poco, desde Venus viajando hacia la Luna, pasando por las urbes terrestres a los desiertos. Toda la mala suerte para que él nos explique las costumbres terrestres, el por qué y entendamos cómo gira todo en torno a la publicidad.

[Oscar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tennison Tarb, el narrador, es un ejecutivo publicitario, en misión diplomática en Venus, planeta que rechaza las prácticas publicitarias desatadas de la Tierra. Pero le queda poco para volver a la Tierra de nuevo. Sin embargo, un incidente lo cambiará todo y su regreso se acelerará. Ya en la Tierra, asistiremos a una trama publicitaria que envolverá a Tarb en un descenso a los infiernos.

‘La guerra de los mercaderes’ es la continuación, treinta años después, del clásico ‘Mercaderes del espacio’, esta vez escrito únicamente por Frederik Pohl, ya que C.M. Kornbluth falleció en 1958. En ‘La guerra de los mercaderes’, Pohl nos describe una sociedad absorbida totalmente por la publicidad, donde gran parte de la población sufre la adicción de ciertos productos, y malvive a base de nutrientes de calidad ínfima.

Sin llegar a la calidad de ‘Mercaderes del espacio’, esta continuación sufre de ciertos altibajos, aunque se lee bien. Entretenida sin más.

[Marcela · Rating 4 out of 5]

A poor sequel to 'The Space Merchants.' The plot is almost identical -- an insider of the marketing/advertising governance comes to his senses with the help of a female love interest who turns out to work for the 'other' side. As a sequel, it's crap.

If, however, one looks at it as a rewrite, rather than a sequel, this novel is far more developed, nuanced, fleshed out, and, yes, interesting than the 'Merchants.' And, it could stand alone. If it *did* stand alone, this would be a five-star knock-out.

[Erik · Rating 5 out of 5]

better than the space merchants. characters were much better, satire more satirical. Plot not really predictable

you think its going to be a rehash of the old book, but it really goes in much different directions.

ending reminded me a bit of the diamond age.

still probably too short, but this book definitely achieved what it set out to do - a thoroughly enjoyable scifi satire in an ultra-capitalist universe.

RIP Frederik Pohl

[Marty · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best part of this hyper-capitalist dystopian sci-fi book was when the main character was forced to eat a “soy steak and nondairy milkshake” which was what I had for dinner last week.

[Tomislav · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is Frederik Pohl's 1984 sequel to Pohl and Kornbluth's 1952 The Space Merchants. It is approximately one generation later, and while Mitch and Kathy had escaped Earth and established an anti-commercial society of Venus, the situation on Earth itself has not changed. This novel follows a new main character along a similar political journey, only now with the added complexity of "Veenie" agents operating on the Earth. There was still plenty of hyperbolic exaggeration to keep me amused. Still, the ending was naively optimistic - the Earth of this future has already passed the point of no return. But as satire, realism isn't so important, I guess.

[Onetwofoureight · Rating 4 out of 5]

hits hard. easy to read. offers some still up to date insights. advertisements and consumption are the prime evils.

[Edith Romero · Rating 4 out of 5]

La trama sigue el mismo hilo de Mercaderes del espacio, un mundo sumergido en la vorágine publicitaria llevando a las mentes hacia un abismo consumista donde ya no haya más futuro que seguir consumiendo. Tennison es un personaje con presencia y carácter que me supo llevar en sus ideas con su encanto. El final es inesperado, no supe qué pasaría hasta poco más de la mitad del último capítulo. ¡Excelente lectura!

[Tatjana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ovo je pravo vreme za citanje ove knjige

[Alex Memus · Rating 1 out of 5]

Без Корнблата получается кринжово, а не смешно.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was about what I expected, after reading the first book in the series (and the 'fact' that this book was written quite a bit after the first book). Granted, the title is very deceiving (just as it is for the first book, as well). It is more about the journey the main character has to travel in order to become a 'better' person (or a 'different' person). It moved at a decent pace, overall. There were some parts I felt could have been shorter. I think I almost wish the author had tried alternating 'first-person' with 'third-person' or even two different 'first-person' point-of-views, as it seemed to be lacking 'something,' being told entirely from Tenny's perspective. It has a "wicked" underlying sense of obnoxious sarcasm that permeates the story (probably why it's a satire, right?) that makes some of it outrageously funny (it made me chuckle a time or two).

It is not a 'war' in the sense that I think of warfare being fought. It is more along the lines of secret agents and double agents working to counter the opposition. Apparently Earth has been trying quite hard to sabotage Venus and Venusian industry over the course of a generation or two; Venus has learned some 'tricks' of its own and has sent agents to Earth to cause their own unique set of troubles on Earth. However, these agents are novices and 'babes-in-the-woods' when compared to Earth's agents.

The pedicabs were hilarious to me, because of their description. To be honest, they reminded me of the Flintstones and the vehicles driven by the Flintstones. I know it has to do with the description(s) in the book and how my mind was picturing it, but they kept talking about running one's feet along the road to keep the vehicle (cab) in motion. In addition, one of the characters was talking about an 'older model' which had higher acceleration because you 'sat' hunched over and used your left foot for propulsion. So, yeah, I kept seeing the Flintstones driving around every time vehicles were mentioned in the book. It was pretty crazy that they had rockets and shuttles and other assorted flying aircraft but used pedal-propelled vehicles (I assume they were propelled by pedals, like a bicycle) on the ground.

I did like the ending, to be honest. I did not expect it to go down the way it did. I did wonder if Mitsi was a double-agent after Tenny arrived back at Earth, from the get-go, so that was not much of a surprise to me. I was 'happy' to see that Tenny kicked his addiction to that soft drink, . . . Mokie Kokie? Granted, his having to go through Detox really opened up his eyes and transformed his life/mindset, which really 'improved him' as a person. So that was a surprising turn of events. He was quite the jerk throughout most of the story; maybe eve more than Mitchell Courtenay was in the first novel. I thought the author did a good job bringing Tenny around as a character and making his character's "change in behavior" fairly believable.

I also liked how Tenny found a way to stop both Terrans from attacking Venus and Venusians from destroying Earth's economic infrastructure (which would have mean death tolls in the billions as people would no longer have the ability to take care of themselves, having become so dependent upon the society in which they lived). I think that was an incredible amount of growth in Tenny's character, that he was not on either party's side, that he sought a 'middle ground' that would save Earth and save Venus at the same time. I was wondering how the author was going to make everything work out, as the focus of the book seemed to begin to favor the Venusians.

I did find it hilarious that Tenny revealed a huge chunk of Earth's spy network to Mitsi, not realizing at the time she was a Venusian agent. I was laughing pretty hard, as I had already figured there was something fishy going on about her returning to Earth with Tenny after they had been in that horrible accident.

I did think it pretty clever how Tenny figured out that Earth was going to invade Venus using technology in a vain attempt to force Venusians to become addicted to consumerism and buying items they do not need. It was a nice series of connecting the dots, and he definitely figured it out faster than the Venusians on Earth did - not that the Venusians had any kind of clue until Tenny forced his way into the core group of Venusian leaders and revealed it to them. It was also interesting to read the responses of the Venusian leadership as they realized they had various clues and hints before them but ignored them. Cleary, you cannot follow every lead lest you get bogged down, but it was still interesting to read their reactions when they realized how wrong they were. and how right Tenny was.

I don't know if I quite agree with the author's assessment of religion, but that is okay. That is his opinion versus mine. It was still an interesting take on using religion to control people via consumerism and 'substitution.'

This book did start out slow, to be honest, and I wasn't sure how much I would like it. As it progressed (and, as it turned out), the 'tone' changed about two-thirds of the way through and I actually started enjoying it. I figured out there were Venusian saboteurs and spies on Earth before it was revealed, but I was not sure of all of their identities. It did pick up the pace a bit as it drew closer to the end. I did find myself enjoying it far more than I thought I would by the time I finished it, which was a pleasant surprise.

[Cocodras · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me costó un poco meterme en la historia. Desde el primer momento me pareció interesante la crítica al consumismo, sin embargo no acababa de engancharme. Analizándolo intentando ser objetiva, los elementos estaban ahí: conflicto tras conflicto, intrigas, acción. Quizás mi estado de ánimo era lo que me impedía disfrutarlo. La segunda mitad la disfruté más, me encanta el desenlace y la evolución de la personalidad del protagonista.

He visto que es continuación de otro, Mercaderes del espacio, pero se puede leer sin haber leído el primero.

[Skylar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like all the best satire, Merchant's War stays close to the truth and explores how following a "greed is good" philosophy to its absurd extreme would look. At times, I was waiting for the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition to be brought out.

[Eloi Puig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ressenya en català (2003):

http://www.elkraken.com/R-guerra%20de...

Reseña en castellano (2003):

http://www.elkraken.com/Esp/R-guerra%...

[Pedro L. Fragoso · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've not read all that many books by Frederik Pohl, but of those I read, this is the one that exudes the more impressive “effortless” shine; it is done with a masterly assurance over style, structure, plot and characters, a quite impressive feat. The world is solidly developed and in its fundamental concerns, which are relevant, the book holds surprisingly well. But, but! I can be impressed by Pohl, I can immensely respect Pohl, but I definitely won’t ever love this writer. There is a chasm between the published copy and my sensitivity, or something. I can’t explain it, I’ll have to think about the subject. I intend to read the rest of the Heeche books (I only read Gateway), let’s see what that will enlighten.

Pohl’s writing can be brilliant, that’s for sure. This book really works as the second part of “The Space Merchants” and makes the whole much better, and with a much more satisfying ending. Another proof of mastery, to compellingly show that he does know better, and prove it beyond any doubt.

Some illuminating quotes.

“When I looked at the life ahead of me I could see two yawning chasms. On the one side, Haseldyne would, after all, use the suicide note and that would be the end of Tennison Tarb forever. On the other, discovery, arrest, brainburning. Between the two was a narrow knife-edge that I might hope to walk—leading to a future in which my name would forever be reviled by generations of schoolchildren to come. It was a great blessing that I had the long green pills.”

“I sat back and gazed at my brassy lady. So this was what I had committed myself to—an immense and lethal conspiracy, planned by eggheads, conducted by zealots.”

“When you come right down to it, I guess nothing is ever anybody’s fault, or anyway nobody ever thinks it is. You have to do what you have to do.”

“But what degree of wickedness was appropriate to achieve that nonwicked end?”

“You know Scheherazade? That’s what I was, telling a story every night to stay alive the next morning, because I hadn’t forgotten how expendable I was.”

“Without Mokes or little green pills to hide behind, what I saw when I opened my eyes was naked reality. It was not an attractive sight, for it was full of problems.”

“(…) because the first one was Val Dambois. Sneaky son of a gun! You couldn’t even trust him to stay tricked when you tricked him, because he’d obviously tricked me right back.”

“You’ll fail, Tenny. You can’t defeat evil with namby-pamby piety!”
“Maybe not. Maybe you can’t defeat evil at all. Maybe the world’s social ills are too far along and evil’s going to win. But you don’t have to be an accomplice to it, Mitzi.”

[José Luis Valenciano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frederik Pohl (1919-2013), fue uno de los pilares de la edad dorada de la ciencia ficción, tanto en calidad de autor como en su papel de editor y agente literario, con una carrera que se extendió a lo largo de 75 años.
Solamente "Los mercaderes del espacio" (1953), una verdadera distopía futurista de un mundo controlado por la publicidad y las grandes empresas, donde los estados existen de modo nominal, sometidos a lo que los consejos de administración puedan decidir, merece colocarle entre los más grandes escritores de ciencia ficción de todos los tiempos.
Su continuación, "La guerra de los mercaderes" (1984), fue escrita en solitario, a diferencia de la primera parte, en colaboración con el malogrado Cyril M. Kornbluth, quien falleció en 1958 a los 35 años de un infarto.
La acción arranca cuando ya han transcurrido años desde que el protagonista original, ya fallecido, huyera a Venus, último bastión de la humanidad no corrompido por la manipulación extrema de la publicidad, donde el individuo todavía tiene valor como tal, y no solo por su condición de consumidor.
Tennison Tarb, publicista en la cima de la pirámide de la sociedad terráquea, realiza servicios en la embajada de la Tierra en Venus que podrían calificarse de espionaje y sabotaje, para intentar convertirles al consumismo terrestre. Tras su vuelta a la tierra, cae en una profunda adicción a una bebida vendida mediante técnicas que, hasta para los estándares publicitarios de allí, resultan reprobables, pero no ilegales pese a todo.
Su adicción le lleva a lo más bajo de la sociedad, pero sus habilidades innatas y profesionales le devuelven a lo más alto para volver a caer miserablemente. Sin darse cuenta hasta casi el final, deviene un peón fundamental en un tablero de juego global donde compiten venusianos y terrícolas. Con lo que no cuentan ambos contendientes, es en el desarrollo de algo tan extraño como una conciencia en Tarb, que le llevará a tomar decisiones inesperadas.
La novela sigue un ritmo frenético de principio a fin, con personajes que rara vez son lo que parecen y una feroz crítica a lo peor del sistema capitalista estadounidense.

[Artur Coelho · Rating 3 out of 5]

Talvez não seja dos livros de Pohl que melhor envelheceu, mas há algo de infelizmente intemporal nesta sátira velada ao consumismo. No mundo ficcional destes livros, a humanidade divide-se entre a Terra e outros planetas do sistema solar, dos quais se destaca a sociedade venusiana, por ser profundamente incompatível com a terrestre. A Terra é mercantilista, a sociedade assenta no dever de consumismo, toda a cultura, sociedade e política está à mercê de agências publicitárias. Toda uma sociedade dedicada ao marketing, a assimilar povos vistos como menos esclarecidos porque preferem a sua cultura ao brilho comercial. Apenas Vénus, que rejeita este modo de vida, apresenta uma oposição alternativa.

O livro foca-se nas peripécias de um publicitário caído em desgraça, que acaba por se ver envolvido numa conspiração venusiana para acabar de vez com o comercialismo terrestre.

As desventuras de um publicitário apanhado nas engrenagens desta sociedade doentia são uma perfeita caricatura dos vícios do século XX: o estímulo ao consumismo, o valor económico como bússola da sociedade, o militarismo interventivo para libertar povos da cegueira de não seguirem a uma ideologia, as intensas trapaças dos indivíduos que vivem no ecossistema do mundo corporativo, a lógica de adição que sustenta o consumismo. O problema, é que ao ler esta sátira datada ao século XX, demasiadas vezes vi os paralelos com os tempos de hoje.

[Rafael Morillo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the sequel to the Space Merchants by Frederik Pohl. It is a satire on society and materialism and can be clever in certain parts. The protagonist is Tennison Tarb who works at the Earth embassy on Venus. Tarb is an undercover agent who is trying to persuade certain inhabitants of Venus from their anti-Earth politics. The story has a few twist and turns and a good ending. Overall I enjoyed the first book more.

[Luc Lefere · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not for me. Largely a repeat of the first book with a naïve and simplistic ending. The love interest is, like in the first book, predictable and a bit silly, verging on slightly sexist. The twists are so predictable they are almost funny. And, again like the first book, everybody, apart from the main character, is stupid, inept and easily fooled. I hate to give up on a book, especially by an author I usually like, but I struggled with this one.

[Kevin Phyland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tarb is an adman, an ace adman. After doing a spell on Venus he goes back to Earth to
resume his high-life as a corporate ideas man but is unexpectedly zapped by a powerful advertising mindbeam and is addicted to Mokie-Moke, a stimulant drink. His ideas spinning off haphazardly he somehow contrives to be enveloped in a product war between Earth and Venus... It's Pohl, it's satire and it's all over far too quickly. :)

[Xabi1990 · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10. Media de los 13 libros leídos del autor: 7/10

Aunque tiene este y muchos otros libros muy legibles, me quedo con su Saga Heeche y, en menos medida, con la de "Mercaderes del espacio".
Si ya has leído el primero de Mercaderes leerás esta segunda parte. No mejora ni decae, continuista en ritmo.

[Orin Buck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thirty or so years later there is even more to write about what the world would look like if run by admen. The ideas are more developed and prolific than I remember from 1952's The Space Merchants, and the story development is masterful. The ending is a bit too easy, but hard to engineer in any other way. This is not like other SF, a welcome relief from the military SF the title evokes.

[Elenaran · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was kind of trudging along through this book, disappointed it wasn't as good as the original, but then I got to the end. What a triumphant ending! I have to say many books I read have weak endings - it's nice to read a good one for once.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book to which this is a sequel, "The Space Merchants", was surprisingly forward thinking and low on sexism and racism for its time. This one, written decades later, has significantly more racist tropes. It's also kind of a repetitive drag until the last 50 pages or so. Sigh.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

2/5 . Al principio bien satírico y sabrosón. De la mitad para el final se transforma en un "meh" con una pseudo trama de espías que me he puesto a leer en diagonal. He disfrutado mucho más y con diferencia la primera parte.

[Djordje · Rating 5 out of 5]

My rating: ★★★★★

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great multifaceted sf sequel; as an unexpected bonus, a timely reflection of some of my own situation!!!

[Tapani Aulu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vaikka olikin jo vanhempi kirja, oli tässä silti hyvää satiiria tähänkin päivään.

[Cheryl]

do *not* reread 'first' book... see others' reviews why it's best enjoyed for itself

[Kristian Jensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5
God historie, godt fortalt, men lidt for langtrukken.