History Literature / HostileTakeover

''Hostile Takeover'' is the title of multiple unrelated works. You may have been looking for:

* ''Literature/HostileTakeoverSwann'', a science fiction trilogy that forms part of S. Andrew Swann's ''Literature/TerranConfederacy'' setting.
* ''Literature/HostileTakeoverShwartz'', a hard-SF corporate drama novel by Susan Shwartz.

See also CorruptCorporateExecutive, a character type that uses hostile takeovers in the business sense.
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[[redirect:HostileTakeover]]

''Hostile Takeover'' is the title of multiple unrelated works. You may have been looking for:

* ''Literature/HostileTakeoverSwann'', a science fiction trilogy that forms part of S. Andrew Swann's ''Literature/TerranConfederacy'' setting.
* ''Literature/HostileTakeoverShwartz'', a hard-SF corporate drama novel by Susan Shwartz.

See also CorruptCorporateExecutive, a character type that uses hostile takeovers in the business sense.
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[[redirect:Main/HostileTakeover]]

[[redirect:Literature/HostileTakeoverShwartz]]

[[redirect:Literature/HostileTakeoverSchwartz]]

A science fiction novel by Susan Shwartz.

Corporate climber CC Williams is sent to the asteroid Vesta-g to investigate possible insider trading, fraud or embezzlement.

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.

While it lands very high on the MohsScaleOfSciFiHardness, ''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.

This work is {{troperiffic}} in the extreme. Gleeful {{shout out}}s abound to both classic and contemporary media.

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!!This work contains examples of:

* AcePilot
* [[spoiler:AlienInvasion]]
* {{Alien Non-Interference Clause}}
* ArtificialGravity: Doesn't show up until the very end, though.
* 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.
* AsteroidMiners
* AsteroidThicket
* BadDreams
* BelligerentSexualTension: C'mon, Marc. Stop being such a Jerkass. You know you want to give CC every cooperation. And the feeling is obviously mutual.
* BodyHorror: What debtors face [[OrganTheft if they can't pay the bills]].
* ContinuousDecompression / ExplosiveDecompression: [[AvertedTrope Trope averted]]. [[ShownTheirWork Work shown]].
* CoolStarship: The ''Rimrunner'' and Davidoff's space fighter.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: John, though he's more like a middle manager with aspirations.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: CC and John.
* DidDoTheResearch: Vesta is described in loving and accurate detail.
* DistressCall
* ElaborateUndergroundBase: Vesta Colony, essentially.
* 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.
* FasterThanLightTravel: It's theorized to be impossible, but Marc can still dream...
* GivingRadioToTheRomans
* HarmlessFreezing: Except for the fact that it allows peculators to siphon off your funds.
* [[spoiler:HigherTechSpecies]]
* HumanResources: Pay your debts. That is all.
* HumanPopsicle
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Davidoff, to the nth power. Mac, to a lesser degree.
* ScienceHero: CC uncovers a diabolical conspiracy...[[ForScience With Math]]!
* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: Nicely averted. Vesta-g ''is'' an asteroid, not a BabyPlanet.
* ShoutOut: Where do we start...
* ShipperOnDeck: Margaret, though she's pretty subtle about it. Later on [[EveryoneCanSeeIt everyone gets in on the act]].
* SpaceFighter: It seems like everyone in Earthserv is a pilot.
* SpaceMarine
* StayInTheKitchen: Invoked by Marc, to yank CC's chain.
* ThereAreNoTherapists: Well, there are; they just work for The Man.
* 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?
* {{Tsundere}}: Poor repressed CC.
--> 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]].
* UnitedEurope: Also we have The Americas and Eurasiazone.
* 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.
* 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??
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