The Space Merchants

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The Space Merchants
Cover of first edition (hardcover)
Author	Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre(s)	Science Fiction/Satire
Publisher	Ballantine Books
Publication date	1953
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	179 pp
ISBN	NA
Followed by	The Merchant's War

The Space Merchants is a science fiction novel by Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth that was first published in book form in 1953 (having been a Galaxy Science Fiction magazine serial entitled Gravy Planet in 1952).

The book is widely regarded as an SF classic. It is also ahead of its time in stressing the importance of limiting population growth and conserving natural resources.

[edit] Plot introduction

In a vastly overpopulated world, businesses have taken the place of governments and now hold all political power. States exist merely to ensure the survival of huge trans-national corporations. Advertising has become hugely aggressive and by far the best-paid profession. Through advertising, the public is constantly deluded into thinking that the quality of life is improved by all the products placed on the market. 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; the colonists would have to endure a harsh climate for many generations until the planet could be terraformed.

The protagonist, Mitch Courtenay, is a star-class copywriter in the Fowler Schocken advertising agency who has been assigned the ad campaign which would attract colonists to Venus. But a lot more is happening than he knows about. It soon becomes a tale of mystery and intrigue, in which many of the characters are not what they seem, and Mitch's loyalties and opinions change drastically over the course of the narrative.