Mercenary

Description

Mercenary, by Mack Reynolds, is a short story set in a dystopian future and provides a very interesting take on what the world would be like when countries no longer have armies of their own and rely on mercenaries to get on with their fights instead.

Though a pact forbids countries to have armies of their own, conflicts are not abolished, only the methods used for solving them have changed – disputes are not settled by the countries themselves, but by large corporations that work in secret, hiring mercenaries who fight battles in secret, in restricted warzones called military reservations. The story set in the future follows one mercenary in particular, a man called Joe Mauser (the protagonist of numerous other novels and short stories by Reynolds) and his ascension to the highest military ranks in this secret hierarchy by means of excellence and ambition.

Mercenary is an amazing piece of writing on many levels. The story is exciting and the excellent plot combines with radical social criticism and an often satiric take on the future of humanity. These features can be found in numerous other writings by Reynolds. They are what made his writings popular in the period starting with the 1950’s, when he published his first writings in popular science fiction magazines and ending in 1983, with the author’s death, and they are what makes Reynolds’ stories popular today as well.

The author published many of his books and stories under the pen name Mack Reynolds, but the pieces signed by Clark Collins, Guy McCord, Mark Mallory and Dallas Ross are also his stories. Many Reynolds stories feature the protagonist of Mercenary, Joe Mauser, so if you liked this strong, clever and ambitious character, you can try The Earth War and Time Gladiator, as well.
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