The Merchants' War (Pohl novel)

The Merchants' War is a 1984 satirical novel by Frederik Pohl of a near future commercial dystopian interplanetary society. The novel was a sequel to The Space Merchants, and was originally co-published with it as VENUS, INC. However, Pohl's collaborator in the first novel, C.M. Kornbluth, died in 1958, and so did not contribute to this sequel. In the story, the colony on Venus has managed to stabilize itself to a point. However, agents from the trans-national corporations on Earth attempt to undermine the stability of the colony. The story follows the trail of two advertisement company employees from the colony back to Earth, as one of them, Tennison Tarb, struggles with addiction and its effect on his advertising career. Eventually, he uncovers a 'Veenie' plot to take over Earth and has to choose sides. As with the preceding book, the characters are not what they seem, and the main character's loyalty changes drastically.