What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

Mercenary
This topic is about Mercenary
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SOLVED: Adult Fiction > SOLVED. SF novel where corporations fight wars with weapons invented before 1900 and there is also a caste system with multiple lower, middle and upper levels like upper-middle, etc. [s]

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message 1: by Carlo (new)

Carlo | 5 comments read this book at some point in the late 1970s to mid 1980s.

Other parts of the environment was that the wars were heavily televised and there was a cult hero following of the soldiers in the war and therefore more success on the battlefront meant advancement in society.

I specifically also remember that the cast system was in nine (9) levels: lower-lower, lower-middle, lower-upper, middle-lower, middle-middle, middle-upper, upper-lower, upper-middle and upper-upper.

The protagonist of the story is a military officer fighting for one of the corporate armies who was born into one of the lower classes (can't remember which one) and was trying to move upwards through fame in battle.

The kicker of the story == SPOILER ==

is when the protagonist comes with the idea to use aerial reconnaissance and at first is challenged about this technology being invented after 1900, but he shows that as early as the US Civil War, aerial balloons had been used for battlefield observations.


message 2: by Carlo (new)

Carlo | 5 comments Bump comment


message 3: by Andy (new)

Andy | 2124 comments This is a Mack Reynolds story. Stand by while I find it.


message 4: by Andy (new)

Andy | 2124 comments It's "Mercenary" by Mack Reynolds - available here https://www.gutenberg.org/files/24370...


message 5: by Carlo (new)

Carlo | 5 comments Indeed it is! Thank you Andy!!


message 6: by Andy (new)

Andy | 2124 comments Glad to help.


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