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The Cool War
by
Fred Pohl, multiple winner of science-fiction's top awards, presents a breathtaking romp through the energy-poor world of the 2020s - a gripping chase-intrigue novel with a highly unlikely stand-in for James Bond.
One day, the Reverend Hornswell Hake had nothing worse to contend with than the customary power shortages and his routine pastoral chores, such as counseling the ...more
One day, the Reverend Hornswell Hake had nothing worse to contend with than the customary power shortages and his routine pastoral chores, such as counseling the ...more
Mass Market Paperback, 288 pages
Published
March 1982
by Random House Inc.
(first published 1981)
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I got a pristine hardback copy of this in the 1990s for 3 dollars because it was in some cut-out bin at a used book shop that I liked. I recall enjoying it a lot. It's an amusing take on cold war, with some fun ideas. But, alas, I read it so long ago that I can't vouch for it much in terms of style or what have you, except that I do remember the episodes made me chuckle.
I haven't read any of the author's other works. But, this one was a muddled and meandering story-- sort of a mash-up, or a futuristic spy farce. I would say that as I read I had to check the copyright date a few times, because some of his material was as current as today's news.
This novel inhabits that strange satirical world populated by other works such as perhaps On Her Majesty's Occult Service or Modesty Blaise serials and even The Loo Sanction or maybe even Catch-22. Pohl does not pull his punches, and so absurdity has a backbone to it.
This is good for a light read, though it is quite dated.
For a book written in the 1980s (set in the 2020s), it seems to mispredict a lot about communications and politics. One plot point depends on how the main character will reveal his findings to the world before the government silences him. In the age of Wikileaks and YouTube, it should be a trivial effort at best. Computers are rare and a library search engine is treated as a new technological marvel. Everyone still uses typewriters and tape ...more
For a book written in the 1980s (set in the 2020s), it seems to mispredict a lot about communications and politics. One plot point depends on how the main character will reveal his findings to the world before the government silences him. In the age of Wikileaks and YouTube, it should be a trivial effort at best. Computers are rare and a library search engine is treated as a new technological marvel. Everyone still uses typewriters and tape ...more
Continuing my lifelong interest in pulp sci fi, I found this beat-up paperback at a place where I volunteer and knew by it's garish 70s cover and not-so-clever title that I was in luck (I found another that I will review later).
I've read a few of Pohl's books, he was a very prolific writer and my hometown's library had many of them, and most of them are better quality than a lot of pulp sci fi and a few are quite good, even great. This one, though, has an almost incoherent plot, unbelievable cha ...more
I've read a few of Pohl's books, he was a very prolific writer and my hometown's library had many of them, and most of them are better quality than a lot of pulp sci fi and a few are quite good, even great. This one, though, has an almost incoherent plot, unbelievable cha ...more
I like Frederik Pohl, but by his standards, this book was pretty lightweight. It's set in the not-too-distant future where there is a "cool war" between East and West. In it, the spies merely try to irritate each other in order to sow chaos. Amusing, but just barely.
Hornswell Hake, a Unitarian minister referred to as "Horny" throughout the book, is recruited by the Team, the post-CIA spy agency, to unwittingly create chaotic events throughout the world in travels they send him on. Sadly, he's a ...more
Hornswell Hake, a Unitarian minister referred to as "Horny" throughout the book, is recruited by the Team, the post-CIA spy agency, to unwittingly create chaotic events throughout the world in travels they send him on. Sadly, he's a ...more
I got introduced to Pohl by reading Gateway (1977) (winner of the Hugo Award and Nebula Award). I went on to read Beyond the Blue Event Horizon (1980), Heechee Rendezvous (1984), and Annals of the Heechee (1987). It is a great series, right up there with Foundation, Dune, and Dickson's Childe Cycle.
The Cool War, is written as well as these other books, but the premise is a little shaky. The premise being that there are factions that are trying to advance their country not by making progress wit ...more
The Cool War, is written as well as these other books, but the premise is a little shaky. The premise being that there are factions that are trying to advance their country not by making progress wit ...more
An interesting scifi spy novel that blends 2 very interesting themes...
the idea of a cool war as apposed to an active or hot war as well as a passive or cold war the cool war is one of harassment and annoyance of the citizenry of a rival nation making their lives uncomfortable and annoying them etc.. sound familiar?
hypnosis and cognitive state what is normal behavior?
the idea of a cool war as apposed to an active or hot war as well as a passive or cold war the cool war is one of harassment and annoyance of the citizenry of a rival nation making their lives uncomfortable and annoying them etc.. sound familiar?
hypnosis and cognitive state what is normal behavior?
Not Pohl's best, but it was an interesting look at war without all the bloodshed; I wouldn't doubt many of the things happening today are the result of this sort of behind-the-scenes activity.
The book does place high on the deceptive cover list, though, as there's not a darn thing in this book that resembles what happening on the cover.
The book does place high on the deceptive cover list, though, as there's not a darn thing in this book that resembles what happening on the cover.
Visit to a time where sabotage has replaced the old fashioned kind of war. Written in the 1970's, set in 2020, we are rapidly catching up. For better or worse, Pohl's vision of 2020 appears to me to be more on target than Orwell's 1984.
Among Pohl's worst. I did like the concept of a war in which nations try to irritate each other the most.
Not the best Pohl story: an interesting idea, but the story arc is a little rough and the ending was more abrupt and less conclusive than I preferred.
A sci-fi relic, dystopian and morally shocking in its day but overtaken by events and now merely curious.
It was well written and an interesting setup, but I kept waiting for something neat to happen...and then the book ended.
Sep 26, 2012
Howard
added it
6
Wry, entertaining, picaresque.
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Frederik George Pohl, Jr. was an American science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career spanning over seventy years. From about 1959 until 1969, Pohl edited Galaxy magazine and its sister magazine IF winning the Hugo for IF three years in a row. His writing also won him three Hugos and multiple Nebula Awards. He became a Nebula Grand Master in 1993.
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