What do you think?
Rate this book
The Cool War
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 vivacious Alys Brant - and her husbands and wife. At nearly forty, his life was placid, almost humdrum.
The very next day, Horny Hake was first enlisted as an unwilling agent of the Team - secret successor to the long-discredited CIA - and then courted by an anti-Team underground group. In practically no time at all, Horny and Alys were touring Europe on a mission about which he knew zip, except that it was a new move in the Cool War, the worldwide campaign of sabotage that had replaced actual combat.
For the team and its opponents, though, the Cool War could be as perilous as any hot one, as Horny Hake discovered when he came up against
*Leota, lovely leader of the underground cabal, dedicated to destroying the Team;
*Yosper, the Bible-thumping, foul-mouthed nonogenarian killer;
*The Reddi twins, professional terrorists who turned up in the oddest places at the worst times and always managed to make Horny's life miserable;
*And Pegleg, master of such lethal toys as the Bulgarian Brolly and the Peruvian Pen.
Picaresque and fast-moving, THE COOL WAR is also a deeply ironic, often hilarious, yet thought-provoking look at where we could be, some forty years from now.
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 vivacious Alys Brant - and her husbands and wife. At nearly forty, his life was placid, almost humdrum.
The very next day, Horny Hake was first enlisted as an unwilling agent of the Team - secret successor to the long-discredited CIA - and then courted by an anti-Team underground group. In practically no time at all, Horny and Alys were touring Europe on a mission about which he knew zip, except that it was a new move in the Cool War, the worldwide campaign of sabotage that had replaced actual combat.
For the team and its opponents, though, the Cool War could be as perilous as any hot one, as Horny Hake discovered when he came up against
*Leota, lovely leader of the underground cabal, dedicated to destroying the Team;
*Yosper, the Bible-thumping, foul-mouthed nonogenarian killer;
*The Reddi twins, professional terrorists who turned up in the oddest places at the worst times and always managed to make Horny's life miserable;
*And Pegleg, master of such lethal toys as the Bulgarian Brolly and the Peruvian Pen.
Picaresque and fast-moving, THE COOL WAR is also a deeply ironic, often hilarious, yet thought-provoking look at where we could be, some forty years from now.
278 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1981
10 people are currently reading
315 people want to read
About the author
Frederik Pohl
1,151 books1,057 followersFrederik 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
February 24, 2021
This is one of Pohl's more obscure novels, a picaresque view of life in the early 202os that was published forty years ago. It's a wild romp of a story, with silly situations and characters that one would have more likely expected to have found in a Ron Goulart novel of the same era than from Pohl the serious futurist. (The protagonist is a Reverend named Horny, for example.) The main concerns are the energy crisis brought on by the depletion of fossil fuels, and the waging of war by means of computer sabotage, technological suppression, and other economic means. Horny is put in charge of a tour group of school children who are carriers of a virulent flu-like disease that affects the 30 to 50 year old leaders of business and government and causes collapse in Europe. It's a thought-provoking work, and seeing what developments Pohl foresaw correctly and where he missed the mark is an added challenge and delight. The ending is a little unsatisfactory, but it's a fascinating look at the current world from the past.
May 23, 2012
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 characters, and a breakneck pace that combine for a thoroughly disorienting read. It's not totally unenjoyable, especially if you have a soft spot for "bad" bits of media, and I derived some pleasure from shouting out "What?" to myself in an incredulous voice at numerous points in the short novel.
Loosely following the adventures of a Unitarian preacher Hornswell Hake, who is refered to as "Horny" throughout the book, as he is drafted into a series of secret governmental agencies that are fighting a 'cool war' in a somewhat dystopian future. In the book's cleverest touch the 'cool war' is basically a war of annoyance fought by the Eastern and Western blocs in an attempt to make life less pleasent for the other side. This involves spreading virulent lily pads that clog up water treatment systems and other ridiculous plans that nudge the book towards a satire of cold war politics. (As it is the future there are also group marriages, wacky technologies, and resource rationing.) Horny bumbles about, not really understanding why he's doing anything or whom he's working for, and his perpetual state of confusion matches the readers' as the characters join into a jumble of changing names, allegiances, and random sexual encounters. (I did really enjoy the constant callbacks to his small new jersey congregation where he plans singles mixers, though.) Part spy thriller, part farcical comedy, and part sci fi satire, it's a weird book and I am somewhat happy to have read it, although I'll probably never get a chance to discuss it with anyone else.
Note: It's such a strange book that I would like to know the background of it's publication. Was he contracted to write a spy book? Or had to finish something to fulfill a publishing deal? Maybe I'll look into it.
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 characters, and a breakneck pace that combine for a thoroughly disorienting read. It's not totally unenjoyable, especially if you have a soft spot for "bad" bits of media, and I derived some pleasure from shouting out "What?" to myself in an incredulous voice at numerous points in the short novel.
Loosely following the adventures of a Unitarian preacher Hornswell Hake, who is refered to as "Horny" throughout the book, as he is drafted into a series of secret governmental agencies that are fighting a 'cool war' in a somewhat dystopian future. In the book's cleverest touch the 'cool war' is basically a war of annoyance fought by the Eastern and Western blocs in an attempt to make life less pleasent for the other side. This involves spreading virulent lily pads that clog up water treatment systems and other ridiculous plans that nudge the book towards a satire of cold war politics. (As it is the future there are also group marriages, wacky technologies, and resource rationing.) Horny bumbles about, not really understanding why he's doing anything or whom he's working for, and his perpetual state of confusion matches the readers' as the characters join into a jumble of changing names, allegiances, and random sexual encounters. (I did really enjoy the constant callbacks to his small new jersey congregation where he plans singles mixers, though.) Part spy thriller, part farcical comedy, and part sci fi satire, it's a weird book and I am somewhat happy to have read it, although I'll probably never get a chance to discuss it with anyone else.
Note: It's such a strange book that I would like to know the background of it's publication. Was he contracted to write a spy book? Or had to finish something to fulfill a publishing deal? Maybe I'll look into it.
September 4, 2022
This was fun mainly because it was written in 1979 and set in 2020. It's fun to see what bits he got kind of close to right and which bits he's way off on. (Energy crisis. Different types of alternative energy in use. But which ones are succeeding are different than in our current reality.) Plus it's written as a spoof of spy novels, so that was fun too. As mentioned in other reviews the end was definitely weak.
March 8, 2008
It was well written and an interesting setup, but I kept waiting for something neat to happen...and then the book ended.
February 15, 2023
I don't understand people who are disappointed in the end of the book. It is not a good guy, bad guy show off ending, but an ending that logically follows from everything previous in the book. There are no real winners or losers. The fact that the truth was shown to whole world, does not automatically mean that the protagonist of the book had completely won, or was completely out of trouble.
This book is from 1978, and I suppose that someone reading it then would think it far-fetched. Unfortunately, in the last 45 years things have evolved in such a way that a whole lot of things that are happening in the books have their equivalents in the now.
On the other hand, one premise in the book (maybe the real what-if, from which a whole lot of things automatically follow) is really far-fetched (maybe that makes it the real science-fiction), and that is that Israel has blown up the Saudi-Arabian oil wells, and that due to this, the whole world lives in a constant energy crisis, and has switched to a hydrogen-based economy.
I am pretty sure that in 1978, Norway, the UK, the US, Iran, the USSR and several other countries around the world also had oil, so the removal of Saudi-Arabia could be a problem, but I doubt it would have changed world economics very much.
So, if one can ignore this, the book is really fun to read, and has a very high level of realism. The reverend Hornswall Hake, is recruited by a shady US agency (against his will, but he still has a contractual duty) and trained in sabotage, and sent on some missions. Sabotage, which mostly consists of making the lives of people in other countries miserable, by means of diseases, and propaganda, and drugs,.. He also encounters a woman who figured this out when in university, but was expelled due to this (work of this shady agency). She makes him doubt his missions. Ultimately, they are lucky in uncovering the agency while preventing the sabotage of a solar power station. For some reason, the confrontation between them is broadcasted world wide and gives a small victory.
Well, one of the premises of the book is also that all governments are involved in the same sabotaging actions, so there is the possibility that some other agency steered the satellite the correct way to direct the broadcast. But that is not really implied, the protagonists ask themselves the same question.
This book is from 1978, and I suppose that someone reading it then would think it far-fetched. Unfortunately, in the last 45 years things have evolved in such a way that a whole lot of things that are happening in the books have their equivalents in the now.
On the other hand, one premise in the book (maybe the real what-if, from which a whole lot of things automatically follow) is really far-fetched (maybe that makes it the real science-fiction), and that is that Israel has blown up the Saudi-Arabian oil wells, and that due to this, the whole world lives in a constant energy crisis, and has switched to a hydrogen-based economy.
I am pretty sure that in 1978, Norway, the UK, the US, Iran, the USSR and several other countries around the world also had oil, so the removal of Saudi-Arabia could be a problem, but I doubt it would have changed world economics very much.
So, if one can ignore this, the book is really fun to read, and has a very high level of realism. The reverend Hornswall Hake, is recruited by a shady US agency (against his will, but he still has a contractual duty) and trained in sabotage, and sent on some missions. Sabotage, which mostly consists of making the lives of people in other countries miserable, by means of diseases, and propaganda, and drugs,.. He also encounters a woman who figured this out when in university, but was expelled due to this (work of this shady agency). She makes him doubt his missions. Ultimately, they are lucky in uncovering the agency while preventing the sabotage of a solar power station. For some reason, the confrontation between them is broadcasted world wide and gives a small victory.
Well, one of the premises of the book is also that all governments are involved in the same sabotaging actions, so there is the possibility that some other agency steered the satellite the correct way to direct the broadcast. But that is not really implied, the protagonists ask themselves the same question.
November 27, 2022
Far from a new book, I just now caught up with reading Frederick Pohl’s “The Cool War” that he wrote in 1979.
The book follows the Reverend Hornswell Hake, who most of his acquaintances call “Horny”. He’s the pastor of a small church in Long Branch, New Jersey in a world where energy production and usage is quite a lot different.
For background, at some point some years before the book takes place, the Israelis nuked all the Arab oil fields as a way to reduce their power and worldwide influence. So, Hake’s world is powered by a lot of coal, some minimal oil, some solar, and it’s a lot more polluted than our world now.
Pohl’s characterization of Hake felt a lot more like sci-fi authors from the 50’s than from the late 70’s. Hake, and since it’s from his perspective, the reader, goes through most of the novel without much clue what’s going on.
As a reader, I felt more like I was stuck in the head of an idiot. At many points in the story I kept thinking he could’ve clarified a lot by asking some questions of others, but he never did and I felt dissatisfied.
Some of the espionage acts were interesting and some made me want more detail on what Hake’s associates were doing. But he was too stupid to ask the questions I wanted answered.
Overall, it was not a very good book. And even worse by late 70’s sci-fi literature standards than earlier.
The book follows the Reverend Hornswell Hake, who most of his acquaintances call “Horny”. He’s the pastor of a small church in Long Branch, New Jersey in a world where energy production and usage is quite a lot different.
For background, at some point some years before the book takes place, the Israelis nuked all the Arab oil fields as a way to reduce their power and worldwide influence. So, Hake’s world is powered by a lot of coal, some minimal oil, some solar, and it’s a lot more polluted than our world now.
Pohl’s characterization of Hake felt a lot more like sci-fi authors from the 50’s than from the late 70’s. Hake, and since it’s from his perspective, the reader, goes through most of the novel without much clue what’s going on.
As a reader, I felt more like I was stuck in the head of an idiot. At many points in the story I kept thinking he could’ve clarified a lot by asking some questions of others, but he never did and I felt dissatisfied.
Some of the espionage acts were interesting and some made me want more detail on what Hake’s associates were doing. But he was too stupid to ask the questions I wanted answered.
Overall, it was not a very good book. And even worse by late 70’s sci-fi literature standards than earlier.
October 1, 2020
I am really not sure why I didn’t enjoy this more than I did....
The premise is great: instead of open armed conflict between countries, everyone is doing everything they can to ruin things for the other guy.
And this is brilliant—and remarkably current. I mean, look at the mess that the US is in right now. Now imagine that the CA wildfires were started by German operatives in order to tax our resources and strain our economy. Or what if the Astros’ cheating scandal was arranged by Japan to make us all give up on watching baseball?
THAT’S where this book is coming from, and it seems like it should have been awesome. But I just wasn’t all that into it. I think on one hand, the writing style and characters are very very dated. So while the subject matter could fall in pretty much anywhere, the characters are very much stuck in the 70’s.
Also... it’s a bit boring. It should be tense and exciting, but it isn’t. It’s mostly exposition. And even the action scenes are a bit too slow.
The premise is great: instead of open armed conflict between countries, everyone is doing everything they can to ruin things for the other guy.
And this is brilliant—and remarkably current. I mean, look at the mess that the US is in right now. Now imagine that the CA wildfires were started by German operatives in order to tax our resources and strain our economy. Or what if the Astros’ cheating scandal was arranged by Japan to make us all give up on watching baseball?
THAT’S where this book is coming from, and it seems like it should have been awesome. But I just wasn’t all that into it. I think on one hand, the writing style and characters are very very dated. So while the subject matter could fall in pretty much anywhere, the characters are very much stuck in the 70’s.
Also... it’s a bit boring. It should be tense and exciting, but it isn’t. It’s mostly exposition. And even the action scenes are a bit too slow.
February 9, 2025
I have to admit this book had a hard time holding my interest as I just did not feel connected with the book.
The basic premise of the book is that the world has got to crap but instead of working together to get out, everyone is sabotaging everyone else. It kinda sounds like our current times with all the cyber hacking.
The main character was kinda lacking in a dynamic that connects with the reader and some of the plot points just did not have that energy to engage which is why this book became a side read and took me so long to finish.
The ending felt a bit rushed, like that author hit a point in the writing where he needed to finish the book.
The story concept is an interesting one that had much more potential than the author ended up putting on paper.
The basic premise of the book is that the world has got to crap but instead of working together to get out, everyone is sabotaging everyone else. It kinda sounds like our current times with all the cyber hacking.
The main character was kinda lacking in a dynamic that connects with the reader and some of the plot points just did not have that energy to engage which is why this book became a side read and took me so long to finish.
The ending felt a bit rushed, like that author hit a point in the writing where he needed to finish the book.
The story concept is an interesting one that had much more potential than the author ended up putting on paper.
June 15, 2020
I love Pohl’s more hard science fiction Heechee stories and I loved the cover of this edition of this book, so I was reasonably confident that I would enjoy this. However, I on turning the last page I feel that this work is not exactly the literary summit of Pohl’s career.
It has an interesting idea on how the nature of war might evolve but it is mixed with; some basic science fiction ideas on energy generation, and some of the genre’s most egregious examples of one dimensional characters. He then sticks all of that into a what can best be described as a dire romp plot that passes the time but does little more than that.
It has an interesting idea on how the nature of war might evolve but it is mixed with; some basic science fiction ideas on energy generation, and some of the genre’s most egregious examples of one dimensional characters. He then sticks all of that into a what can best be described as a dire romp plot that passes the time but does little more than that.
June 15, 2020
Alkoi hyvin ja huumori oli mahtavaa, mutta puolivälissä huumori tuntui katoavan ja kirja muuttui keskiverroksi agenttiromaaniksi. Plääh. Loppu myös vähän sellainen "no kaikki nyt selvisi jotenkin". Koko kirjan paras puoli oli se, miten "esitä että tiedät mitä olet tekemässä" asenne kirjan agenttijärjestölllä oli, mutta sekin loppua kohden häivytettiin pois. Alkoi nelosena, loppui kakkosena, puoliväli oli tasapaksua kolmosta.
July 4, 2020
Huvittava menneen ajan jakojäännös. Tässä ei oikeastaan tapahtunut mitään muuta kuin että hölmistynyt päähenkilö yritti pystellä kartalla mutta ei ihan onnistunut. Häntä vietiin puolelta toiselle eikä missään ollut mitään järkeä. Oliko tämä sitten pulp vai camp vai ihan muuta sitä en osaa sanoa. Kirja on oman aikansa lapsi joka ei ole kestänyt ajankulumista. No, nyt kirjan voi siirtää taas takaisin kirjaston löytöhyllyyn.
December 1, 2018
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.
August 6, 2020
A forgotten gem of futurism, this thriller explores some pertinent themes such as energy, environment and economic coercion. It is dated, especially the computer technology, but world events have only confirmed Pohl's analysis of our collective malaise.
If you have any interest in realpolitik or global economic development, you should seek this one out.
If you have any interest in realpolitik or global economic development, you should seek this one out.
March 15, 2022
The Cool War was recommended to me by author David Brin. It is a story about discovering that the state of world is caused by planned actions of adversaries against the public interest and common welfare. Although the novel was published about 40 years ago, many aspects described in this book resonate with the past and current events. It would be a very good book for a discussion group.
May 31, 2025
A sort of war story without battles, just sabotage, mostly by criminal elements. The MC does not appear to understand what is going on, and neither does the reader in my case, and as far as I could tell never does work out what is actually going on. There does not appear to be much resolution at the end, with the main characters just drifting off into the sunset. Not really one for me . . .
May 12, 2018
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.
December 16, 2020
I wanted to like this book but unfortunately it felt as though it was a slog to read. The characters are flat, the dialogue is lackluster, the plot is choppy. Parts of it are fun enough to avoid the 1 star rating but I can’t recommend this book.
December 26, 2022
An attempt by an otherwise respected and accomplished science fiction writer, to write a story of espionage and attempted international sabotage in a world where oil supplies have been destroyed. It doesn’t make much sense and it hasn’t aged well since it was written in 1979.
January 25, 2022
Dated, misogynistic, racist, dense and not amusing.
February 28, 2025
A decent read by Pohl. He generally has a somewhat cynical humorous approach to his writing. No exception here. It’s a quick read. Enjoyed it.
July 12, 2012
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 bit of a bumbling fool, constantly being played by either the Team or their enemies, who also try to recruit him to their side to fight the Team. There's a great bit of irony in the book and some good laughs too, but here are just some head scratching moments. Case in point: Horny and a parishioner named Alys (who is married to two men and a woman) are searching the Middle East for one of Horny's opposites, a woman he's got a thing for named Leota, who has been taken captive by a Mid East sheik to be in his harem. Horny and Alys travel through the desert to this sheik's place and spot Leota outside. There, instead of grabbing her and fleeing, Alys decides to exchange places with Leota, apparently because she thinks it a bit romantic, as well as the fact that she thinks she's better with men. Huh? They changed clothes with each other and then Horny and Leota take off while Alys stays. Pretty hard to believe, even if it is a sci fi novel.
I won't give away the ending, but Horny suffers through all sorts of personal turmoil to get to the end of the novel, only to have it "tied up" nicely by Pohl in just a few short pages, and frankly, rather unsatisfyingly to me. It seemed like he phoned that part of the book in. Weak ending. Still, I did generally enjoy reading it; I'm glad I did. I just can't recommend this book as a good representation of Pohl or even good sci fi. It's inventive, but rather mediocre.
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 bit of a bumbling fool, constantly being played by either the Team or their enemies, who also try to recruit him to their side to fight the Team. There's a great bit of irony in the book and some good laughs too, but here are just some head scratching moments. Case in point: Horny and a parishioner named Alys (who is married to two men and a woman) are searching the Middle East for one of Horny's opposites, a woman he's got a thing for named Leota, who has been taken captive by a Mid East sheik to be in his harem. Horny and Alys travel through the desert to this sheik's place and spot Leota outside. There, instead of grabbing her and fleeing, Alys decides to exchange places with Leota, apparently because she thinks it a bit romantic, as well as the fact that she thinks she's better with men. Huh? They changed clothes with each other and then Horny and Leota take off while Alys stays. Pretty hard to believe, even if it is a sci fi novel.
I won't give away the ending, but Horny suffers through all sorts of personal turmoil to get to the end of the novel, only to have it "tied up" nicely by Pohl in just a few short pages, and frankly, rather unsatisfyingly to me. It seemed like he phoned that part of the book in. Weak ending. Still, I did generally enjoy reading it; I'm glad I did. I just can't recommend this book as a good representation of Pohl or even good sci fi. It's inventive, but rather mediocre.
April 8, 2015
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 within the country, but by pulling down the other guys. From the aspect of an adolescent, or someone with an eighty IQ it might seem plausible.
Our protagonist, Rev. Horny Hake, gets sucked into one of these groups--he's called up from the military reserves, threatened with jail time if he doesn't join up and is giving some positive benefits as well. On his first mission he unwittingly helps with one of these plans. The group seems to be part of the government, so he doesn't really have any recourse. There is a "rebel" group that is trying to stop them, and confront Horny with the facts.
Obviously he doesn't want to be a part of starting some crop failure in Europe, or disabling a solar powered electrical power plant.
Like I said the story is well written and is fairly entertaining. It's just the premise is hard to take.
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 within the country, but by pulling down the other guys. From the aspect of an adolescent, or someone with an eighty IQ it might seem plausible.
Our protagonist, Rev. Horny Hake, gets sucked into one of these groups--he's called up from the military reserves, threatened with jail time if he doesn't join up and is giving some positive benefits as well. On his first mission he unwittingly helps with one of these plans. The group seems to be part of the government, so he doesn't really have any recourse. There is a "rebel" group that is trying to stop them, and confront Horny with the facts.
Obviously he doesn't want to be a part of starting some crop failure in Europe, or disabling a solar powered electrical power plant.
Like I said the story is well written and is fairly entertaining. It's just the premise is hard to take.
August 8, 2025
Pohl has written some outstanding novels including The Space Merchants (co-authored with C.M. Kornbluth), Man Plus, and Gateway. The Cool War is not as good as any of those, but I still enjoyed it. Pohl imagines a near future Earth that has been crippled by the lack of fossil fuels after the Israelis nuke the Arab oil fields. The world is also beset by many minor "plagues" including power shortages, invasive plant species, and engineered illnesses. The protagonist is Hornwell Hake ("Horny"), a Unitarian minister recruited by The Team, a pseudo-CIA organization that plagues other governments through a campaign of inventive plagues. Horny's first mission is to act as a carrier for a virus that infects Europe hampering the economy. He then receives rigorous training and becomes a willing agent of The Team. While the tone of the novel is fairly light, the novel does pack a punch when you consider that we have been in a "Cool War" for some time evidenced by disinformation campaigns and a constant barrage of cyberattacks. I'd rate this higher, but tone is not quite right. It feels like Pohl is shooting for something like PKD, but he does not quite pull it off because he does not have PKD's talent for the absurd. I like this novel, but I can't really recommend it. Pohl fans only.
December 13, 2022
This really didn't grab me the way I wanted it to, based on the description. It couldn't seem to decide what it wanted to be - a fish-out-of-water story? Satire in the vein of Heller's _Catch-22_? Something more surreal, like Vonnegut or J.G. Ballard? The characters were nearly all two-dimensional archetypes that felt more like bad jokes, the dialogue was bad (even for being a product of the late 1970s), and the tonal shifts were somewhat jarring.
October 1, 2012
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?
July 18, 2016
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.
July 17, 2013
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.
August 26, 2018
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.
August 15, 2010
A sci-fi relic, dystopian and morally shocking in its day but overtaken by events and now merely curious.
September 1, 2012
Among Pohl's worst. I did like the concept of a war in which nations try to irritate each other the most.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews