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.
The Space Merchants Series
This satirical science fiction series paints a dystopian future dominated by powerful advertising corporations. In an overcrowded world, the battle for consumer attention and lucrative business deals escalates into absurdity. Follow the protagonists as they navigate corporate espionage, dangerous chases, and outlandish marketing schemes. It's a sharp commentary on media power and consumerism, wrapped in a thrilling adventure.
Recommended Reading Order
Les gogos contre-attaquent
- 256 pages
- 9 hours of reading
Sur Terre, devenus omnipotents, les publicitaires sont désormais prêts à tout, y compris la guerre à coups de projecteurs limbiques, de techniques de conditionnement et de suggestion hypersophistiquées, pour réduire les derniers foyers de réfractaires au dieu Consommation. Mais chez les écolos exilés sur Vénus, la résistance s'organise. Ceux qui ne veulent pas arroser leur Poulgrain�de Surcafé en y trempant des mouillettes de Co-pain, l'oeil rivé sur l'Omni-V, ceux qui refusent les offres promotionnelles et les objets en similivoire véritable ont décidé de reprendre le flambeau de M. Courtenay. Trente ans plus tard, sans Cyril M. Kornbluth, mais avec une verve juvénile qui lui rend hommage, Frederik Pohl reprend lui aussi le flambeau pour nous raconter la revanche des gogos...