The Space Merchants
The Space Merchants is a 1952 science fiction novel by American writers Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth. Originally published in Galaxy Science Fiction magazine as a serial entitled Gravy Planet, the novel was first published as a single volume in 1953, and has sold heavily since. It deals satirically with a hyper-developed consumerism, seen through the eyes of an advertising executive. In 1984, Pohl published a sequel, The Merchants' War. In 2012, it was included in the Library of America omnibus American Science Fiction: Four Classic Novels 1953–1956. Pohl revised the original novel in 2011 with added material and more contemporary references. It was rated the 24th "all-time best novel" in a 1975 Locus poll, jointly with The Martian Chronicles and The War of the Worlds. The novel was also included in David Pringle's list of 100 best science fiction novels.
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20recommend
54mentions
38people
2009–2026years
46% recommend50% neutral4% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- The Space Merchants is definitely worth a read.
- You may enjoy the 1952 novel The Space Merchants by Pohl & Kornbluth.
- A great (if not incredibly satirical and cynical) sci-fi book on Venus colonization is The Space Merchants
- It's like reading again this classic sci-fi novel "The Space Merchants" by Frederik Pohl.
- Or even Venus, as in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Marching_Morons
(Text here: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/51233/51233-h/51233-h.htm)
Both involved Cyril Kornbluth, what a great talent, taken far too soon.
Interestingly, Pohl wrote a sequel to The Space Merchants decades later, and I picked it up, fully expecting it to be terrible, and it was brilliant, and made me cry at the end.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Merchants%27_War_(Pohl_nov...
- > Luckily we already have this cool innovation called a market economy
Market economy got us into the situation where the most brilliant minds in the world are researching best ways to make internet advertisements as addictive as they can be.
Very cool innovation, indeed. Ever read The Space Merchants?
