The Cold Cash War

First edition (publ. St. Martin's Press)
Cover design by Irene Friedman

The Cold Cash War is a 1977 science fiction novel by Robert Asprin, an expansion of his novelette "Cold Cash War" from the August 1977 issue of Analog magazine.

Plot

The story takes places in a semi-dystopian near-future in which enormous corporate cartels dominate the world economy, and are beginning to compete in the military sphere, as well. Intercorporate conflicts are usually fought under nonlethal rules of engagement, using "killsuits" - a reverse version of powered armor which immobilizes the wearer if the on-board computer detects a disabling hit. Major Steve Tidwell, a veteran mercenary who has been blacklisted by his American employer over an inexplicable lapse in the field, is offered a lucrative contract by the Zaibatsu - a conglomerate of major Japanese corporations - who wish to raise a strike force that has been trained to Western standards.

The novel has been noted as an example of proto-cyberpunk: nation-states are less relevant in world affairs than corporations, communications technology is of prime importance, and the West is coming to terms with the rising economic power of Japan.

Sequel

Asprin revisited the setting in 1989 with Cold Cash Warrior, an interactive fiction coauthored with Bill Fawcett and using the Combat Command TRPG system. Mainly a tabletop RPG rulebook and scenario, it also included roughly a novelette's worth of prose, a detailed description of a tactical encounter in one of the inter-corporate conflicts of the setting.