Line #36 Literature/HostileTakeoverShwartz


1	A science fiction novel by Susan Shwartz.
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3	Corporate climber CC Williams is sent to the asteroid Vesta-g to investigate possible insider trading, fraud or embezzlement.
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5	CC puts on all the appearances of being a perfect corporate drone. But having bootstrapped her way out out of the slums and into an upwardly mobile career, her debts mean she is one false move away from forced emigration, indentured servitude, organ harvesting or worse.
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7	While a hard science fiction, ''Hostile Takeover'' has several unique twists to classic science fiction formulae. For instance, in approved GoldenAge manner, the main protagonist is a hard-science type; however, instead of nuclear physics or mechanical engineering, she is a financial analyst.
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9	This work is {{troperiffic}} in the extreme. Gleeful {{shout out}}s abound to both classic and contemporary media.
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11	Not to be confused with a trilogy [[Literature/HostileTakeoverSwann of the same name]] written by S.A. Swann.
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13	----
14	!!''Hostile Takeover'' provides examples of:
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16	* AcePilot: Marc is a space-fighter pilot, and has the swagger to go with it.
17	%%* AlienInvasion
18	* AlienNonInterferenceClause: Though it gets broken, obviously, or where would the drama come from?
19	* ArtificialGravity: Doesn't show up until the very end, though.
20	* AmbitionIsEvil: Explored quite a bit with CC and John. John is a greedy scumbag with no moral compass, while CC is actually quite a romantic, with a desperate desire to secure financial security and safety for herself and future children.
21	* AnxietyDreams: CC's dreams are stalked by what faces her if she fails to pay her debts--namely coldsleep and organ harvesting.
22	* AsteroidMiners: Vesta and nearby asteroids are chock full of precious stones and minerals.
23	* AsteroidThicket: Where Vesta is located.
24	* BelligerentSexualTension: C'mon, Marc. Stop being such a Jerkass. You know you want to give CC "every cooperation." And the feeling is obviously mutual.
25	* BlueBlood: In the "industrial dynasty" sense of the word. Marc may put on a gruff, fighter-jock persona, but he comes from money--a great deal of very old money.
26	* BodyHorror: What debtors face [[OrganTheft if they can't pay the bills]].
27	* ContinuousDecompression / ExplosiveDecompression: [[AvertedTrope Trope averted]]. [[ShownTheirWork Work shown]].
28	* CoolStarship: The ''Rimrunner'' and Davidoff's space fighter.
29	* CorruptCorporateExecutive: John, though he's more like a middle manager with aspirations.
30	* DarkAndTroubledPast: CC and John.
31	* DistressCall: [[spoiler:Vesta is saved by the man who was colluding with the aliens putting out a distress call to...the rest of the aliens, and getting the smugglers arrested.]]
32	* ElaborateUndergroundBase: Vesta Colony, essentially.
33	* EvilCounterpart: John to CC. Having almost identical backstories, one would think they would be [=BFF=]s. Not so, mostly because John is an amoral backstabber who will do literally ''anything'' to climb the corporate ladder.
34	* FasterThanLightTravel: It's theorized to be impossible, but Marc can still dream...
35	* GivingRadioToTheRomans: [[spoiler:The aliens have essentially blackmailed the humans of Vesta into trade with them. They do get some cool tech out of the deal.]]
36	* HarmlessFreezing: Except for the fact that it allows peculators to siphon off your funds.
37	* HigherTechSpecies
38	* HumanResources: Pay your debts. That is all.
39	* HumanPopsicle: There are hundreds of humans frozen for various reasons in the story.
40	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Davidoff, to the nth power. Mac, to a lesser degree.
41	* ScienceHero: CC uncovers a diabolical conspiracy...[[ForScience With Math]]!
42	* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: Nicely averted. Vesta-g ''is'' an asteroid, not a BabyPlanet.
43	* ShoutOut: Where do we start...
44	* ShownTheirWork: Vesta is described in loving and accurate detail.
45	* ShipperOnDeck: Margaret, though she's pretty subtle about it. Later on [[EveryoneCanSeeIt everyone gets in on the act]].
46	* SpaceFighter: It seems like everyone in Earthserv is a pilot.
47	* SpaceMarine: ...and they are all Marines for some reason, when Air Force or Navy would be equally, if not more logical.
48	* StayInTheKitchen: Invoked by Marc, to yank CC's chain.
49	* ThereAreNoTherapists: Well, there are; they just work for The Man.
50	* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman: Seriously, who else but a compulsively detail-oriented financial analyst could have found the diabolical scheme buried in all those spreadsheets? And what other world-ending conspiracy could she possibly have averted with that skill set?
51	* {{Tsundere}}: Poor repressed CC.
52	--> He hadn't even tried to kiss her. Not that he should, seeing as she was engaged. And not that she wanted him to. But [[ArentYouGoingToRavishMe he hadn't even tried]].
53	* UnitedEurope: Also we have The Americas and Eurasiazone.
54	* UnusualUserInterface: Having jacks in your wrist (or scars from their removal) is stigmata of the academic and administrative underclass, who need the efficiency and speed they offer. CC and John are both in deep debt to cover the scar-covering surgery. Also, some Earthserv pilots have neurocannulae to interface with their {{Space Fighter}}s, but that's considered, well, really cool.
55	* WeWillUseManualLaborInTheFuture: A major internal inconsistency with this one. Early in the book, CC observes that there is near-universal employment on Vesta because human labor is cheaper than robot assistants; but later she admires how Margaret cleverly programs her party lighting to make up for the fact that human labor was at a premium. Wut??

Context Literature / HostileTakeoverShwartz