The Cool War (novel)
Encyclopedia
The Cool War is a science fiction
novel by Frederik Pohl
published in 1981 by Ballantine Books
.
is a major, albeit insufficient, source of power. Electricity is metered and cut off if a home exceeds a maximum amount of usage. "Power piggery", the profligate use of electricity, is a crime.
The Rev. H. Hornswell "Horny" Hake becomes embroiled in "the Cool War", in which each country tries to sabotage the economies of its rivals, even if politically they are allies. For instance, he is put in charge of a party of schoolchildren touring Europe. The children are, however, carrying a virulent flu-like disease that affects only adults aged between 30 and 50, the "prime of life" individuals who tend to run businesses and government in industrialized countries. As a result, industrial production in Europe falls drastically. The group who created the infection is known only as "The Team" and is composed of former agents of the CIA and other organizations.
However the War has produced a group of people who profit by its continuation and can suppress technologies that might solve humanity's problems. In particular a new form of solar energy collection relies on bio-engineered "sunflowers" which, while technically plants, have extremely reflective petals and can be trained to focus light from a wide area on a furnace or power generator. The Team is determined to destroy the technology because it was invented outside the United States. Hake has to recruit his friends, and some of his enemies, to prevent this and expose the Team to the world.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel by Frederik Pohl
Frederik Pohl
Frederik George Pohl, Jr. is an American science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career spanning over seventy years — from his first published work, "Elegy to a Dead Planet: Luna" , to his most recent novel, All the Lives He Led .He won the National Book Award in 1980 for his novel Jem...
published in 1981 by Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann AG in 1998 and remains part of that company today. Ballantine's logo is a...
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Plot outline
Like many of Pohl's novels, this opens in a world reduced by a crisis, in this case the loss of fossil fuels. Solar powerSolar power
Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation, along with secondary solar-powered resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most of the available...
is a major, albeit insufficient, source of power. Electricity is metered and cut off if a home exceeds a maximum amount of usage. "Power piggery", the profligate use of electricity, is a crime.
The Rev. H. Hornswell "Horny" Hake becomes embroiled in "the Cool War", in which each country tries to sabotage the economies of its rivals, even if politically they are allies. For instance, he is put in charge of a party of schoolchildren touring Europe. The children are, however, carrying a virulent flu-like disease that affects only adults aged between 30 and 50, the "prime of life" individuals who tend to run businesses and government in industrialized countries. As a result, industrial production in Europe falls drastically. The group who created the infection is known only as "The Team" and is composed of former agents of the CIA and other organizations.
However the War has produced a group of people who profit by its continuation and can suppress technologies that might solve humanity's problems. In particular a new form of solar energy collection relies on bio-engineered "sunflowers" which, while technically plants, have extremely reflective petals and can be trained to focus light from a wide area on a furnace or power generator. The Team is determined to destroy the technology because it was invented outside the United States. Hake has to recruit his friends, and some of his enemies, to prevent this and expose the Team to the world.