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The Space Merchants

  • Cyril M. Kornbluth,
  • Frederik Pohl

4.83

6 ratings

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.

Genres

  • Science fiction
  • consumerism
  • overpopulation
  • terraformation
  • shanghaiing
  • fiction
  • Fiction, science fiction, general
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About the authors

  • Cyril M. Kornbluth

    2 July 1924 - 21 March 1958

    4.14

    14 ratings · 122 works

  • Frederik Pohl

    26 November 1919 - 2 September 2013

    3.44

    103 ratings · 366 works

Editions

  • Edition cover

    Überarbeitete Neuausgabe 1/09

    Heyne

    2009

  • Edition cover

    Macmillan Audio

    May 05, 2014

  • Edition cover

    Denoël

    April 14, 1998

  • Edition cover

    1st St. Martin's Griffin ed.; Revised 21st Century Edition

    Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin's Griffin

    2011-12

Edition cover

New Ed edition

Gollancz

July 10, 2003

  • Edition cover

    SFBC

    2003-04

  • Edition cover

    1st ed.

    St. Martin's Press

    1985

  • Edition cover

    1st ed.

    Ballantine Books

    1976

  • Edition cover

    1st ed edition

    St. Martin's Press

    August 15, 1958

  • Edition cover

    Penguin

    1973

  • Edition cover

    1st St. Martin's Press mass market ed. (1)

    St. Martin's Press

    1987-03

  • Edition cover

    Walker and Company

    1969

  • Edition cover

    Ballantine

    1972

  • Edition cover

    Metis Yayinlari

    1996

  • Edition cover

    Brown, Watson

    1960

  • Edition cover

    Del Rey

    February 12, 1978

  • Edition cover

    Gollancz, Orion Publishing Group, Limited

    1972

  • Edition cover

    Ballantine Books

    1953

  • Edition cover

    Penguin

    1965

  • Edition cover

    Ballantine Books

    June 1953

  • Edition cover

    Ballantine Books

    November 12, 1974

  • Edition cover

    Del Rey

    June 12, 1981

  • Edition cover

    Ballantine Books

    1978

  • Edition cover

    Ballantine Books

    1952

  • Edition cover

    Heinemann

    1955

  • Edition cover

    Goodchild

    1984