Product Description
The First book about Retief - Machiavelli of Cosmic Deplomacy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Tongue-in-Cheek Space Opera
_Galactic Diplomat_ (1965) is the second collection of stories about Jame Retief of the Terran Diplomatic Corps, who manages to solve planetary problems in spite of his bungling superiors. The stories are unabashed space opera, so perhaps a few words might be in order about the changing nature of space opera over the years.

Space opera refers to a kind of colorful, romantic, action-adventure spaceship yarn. From the late 1920s through the 1940s, a kind of space opera called "classical space opera" was being written. It was done straight, or at least with a poker face, and was frequently taken very seriously by its practicioners. Prominent writers of classical space operas were E.E. Smith, Edmond Hamilton, John W. Campbell, Jr., Ray Cummings, and Jack Williamson.

But starting in the 1950s, writers had become much more conscious of the traditions of space opera. While classical space opera was not completely dead, it was in disrepute. More space opera was now being written in a tongue-in-cheek manner. It was intended to mock its own traditions, to be comical rather than serious. Writers of tongue-in-cheek space operas included Poul Anderson, Randall Garrett, Harry Harrison, Douglas Adams, and Keith Laumer. The Retief stories, of course, are in this second tradition. We aren't meant to take them too seriously.

There are nine stories in the collection, all originally published in _If_ between 1961 and 1965. The earliest story, "Courier," briefly overlaps with another series by Laumer, the Bolo stories. Retief encounters one of the deadly war machines near the end of the story. Several other good stories are "Saline Solution," which involves double and triple crosses at an asteroid mine, "Ultimatum," in which Retief's superior Magnan becomes a hero in spite of himself, "The Brass God," in which Retief becomes a human sacrifice, and "Wicker Wonderland," which deals with a tempest-tossed planet and that rarest of reptiles, a _good_ Groaci. In some of the later Retief books, Laumer forgot that his primary function was to entertain; the results were disasterous. But here he is at the top of his form. Satire and storytelling balance one another. _Galactic Diplomat_ is one of the best of the Retief books.

An Absolute Classic
One of my all-time favorites, staggeringly funny.Retief, Magnan and a revolving cadre of ever-more-bizarre aliens will have your sides aching with laughter very quickly.I've never recovered from Ambassador Hindbinder's "egg sac" and neither will you, probably.It's a total MUST READ!

** ... Read more

Book Description

----------------- The ceremonious protocol of the Yills-
------------------was impressive, colorful-and, in the-
------------------long run, deadly!

Customer Reviews (4)

Good but not his best
A fast-paced, alternate universe story that will keep you on the edge of your seat.This still doesn't read dated, and the story was done before Philip K. Dick did 'The Man In The High Castle.'Sorry, Phil, he beat youto it.

Well-written parallel universe story
Brion Bayard, a perfecrly normal guy from our world, isn't too amused when he is trapped and kidnapped by the inhabitants of a parallel universe inhabited with the same persons as ours, but with another history. His mind changes, as he learns to know what essential task he is needed for: The peaceful world of his hosts is in danger of being atomically devastated by invaders from another parallel world. This world is ruled by an evil dictator, with the name and the look of - Brion Bayard. The kidnapped Brion is destined to replace the dictator, but this is anything else but an easy task - and nothing is like it seems to be... This isn't one of the best Laumers (and definitely not as good as his Retief stories), but worth a look or two. For Laumer fans a must.

His mission:assasinate his alternate self
The first in the adventures of Colonel Brion Bayard and the Imperium.The Imperium is a force that keeps parallel universies in check from their own world in Zero Zero Stockholm.When war faces the Imperium from an alternate reality they find their only chance in traveling to our "earth" and finding the duplicate of the person who leads the army of the attacking universe.Enter Brion Bayard.In order to ensure that his world and the Zero Zero line can remain in existance he must go on a thrilling adventure and assasinate his alternate self.Sequels include:The Other Side of Time, Assignment in Nowhere, and Zone Yellow.

The 1962 ace double novel version.
I have not read any other editions of this novel other than the 1962 Ace Double Novel edition.

Worlds of the Imperium is a classic story of alternate worlds and what one man must face when confronted by his alternate self.A short but nicely done story that heralded Laumer's later works. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

The Two-fisted Diplomat
_Envoy to New Worlds_ (1963) is the first collection of Retief stories by Keith Laumer. There are six tales, all published in _If_ between 1961 and 1962. For those not in the know, Jame Retief is a low-ranking official in the Terran Diplomatic Corps, an organization that seems to be willfully determined to work against the best interests of Earth. Retief, using a bit of trickery and martial arts, manages to foil pirates, villainous aliens, and dictators in spite of his superiors.

The stories are all good fun. But Judith Merrill raised a question some years ago that I find hard to forget. Here is Retief-- dashing, witty, intelligent, and heroic. There is the CDT, filled with personnel who are crooked, stupid, hidebound, and bungling. Why does Retief stay with them? We see that he enjoys sticking pins in pompous bureaucrats. And we see that he manages to do good for worthy people from time to time. But somehow these reasons do not seem to be quite enough. Couldn't he accomplish good things outside the CDT?

We don't really know Retief's motives because we see him only from the outside. We hear what he says, we watch him in action, but we are never privy to his thoughts and feelings. He is like-- well, like a diplomat. He keeps his cards close to his vest.

The stories themselves are all of comparable quality. My favorites, by a slim margin, are "Cultural Exchange," for its absolutely slick foiling of a revolutionary plot; "Aide Memoire," in which Retief teaches some manners to seventy-five year old juvenile delinquents; and "Palace Revolution," involving some double crosses on a world of gamblers. Certainly not great science fiction. But the book is first class entertainment.

'Envoy' great, but almost the same as 'Retief Unbound'
'Envoy' (134 pages) includes stories Protocol, Sealed Orders, Cultural Exchange, Aide Memoire, Policy, and Palace Revolution.'Retief Unbound' (343 pages) includes all those except Cultural Exchange, plus Retief's Ransom.Love these stories but you don't have to buy both books.

pretty good
this is one of the first science fiction books that i read. I must say i really liked it. I prefer the sci fi books with alot of action, and this book has just that. It is definetly worth reading.

Envoy toNew Worlds
This is one of the better Reteif books. I like the whole series for the sense of humor Keith Laumer has. Reteif is a 6ft. hunk of a hero with a sidekick who happens to be his boss (at least on paper). He never followsdirections from the home office but uses his head to fix the situation anddefeat the Groaci.Keith is very funny and had several years as a militaryatache with the diplomatic corps that makes his satirical style even morefun. A great read for someone looking for a few chuckles on a rainy day. ... Read more

Product Description
multiple books ship as one item. save on shipping/handling charges. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document, covering the life and work of (John) Keith Laumer, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thompson Gale. The length of the entry is 2299 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author

Customer Reviews (6)

Super Reader
Bloke recruited to be poor woman's Iron Man and goes Starship Trooping.

or

Given that he signs up for the Invulnerable Man program, and is assured he won't have to wear a red S, even though he has seen Batman and Robin, and is not an alcoholic womanising billonaire playboy weapons dealer, this is what he is stuck with.

Besides, given the measly one ton lifting capacity of his suit, an army of alien monsters has a lot more chance of survival than going to toe to toe with the Hulk for even the number of seconds you can count on one hand.

Laumer's Best
While I've always enjoyed his lighter works, such as the adventures of Retief, "The Time Trap", and the Lafayette O'Leary tales, Keith Laumer's finest work was in his stories of a lone man battling against overwhelming odds, usually against gigantic organizations or conspiracies. And, while I adore "Night of Delusions" and "The House in November", Keith Laumer's finest novel was "A Plague of Demons".

The action is first-rate, the science fiction concepts are solid and well-thought out...and exciting. And the story continually expands, like an onion being peeled in reverse...much as the Lensman stories of Doc Smith did. Bravais (the hero...and I do mean HERO) seems to be investigating a minor matter at story's beginning. By story's end, however, both story and Bravais have undergone astonishing changes!

Buy this book...read it...keep it...you'll come back and read it again!

Spy-fi!
Keith Laumer, A Plague of Demons (Paperback Library, 1965)

Keith Laumer may be a science fiction writer, but don't let that fool you. I'd bet a week's pay the guy was sitting there at his typewriter in a trenchcoat and fedora, unfiltered Lucky hanging from his lip, reading back his prose in a Bogart voice. The first two-thirds of this book is straight out of the world of hardboiled detective fiction. Well, okay, as long as you leave out the dog-faced aliens, invisibility suits, anti-gravitydevices, you get the idea.

The scene is present-day Algeria, where your basic world war has come down to a seemingly endless conflict between Algeria and Tunisia, with the rest of the world powers backing one side or the other. Jack Bravais, an American general, is sent to observe the fighting and report back to his superiors, or so we think. His best friend, an operative for a secret government espionage agency, has different orders for him and a cover that's bound to stir up trouble-- make Bravais look like he's plotting against the UN, and a fellow American general in particular. As if that isn't enough for Bravais to get himself into, he very quickly finds out that his real mission (find out why the estimated casualty numbers for battles dating all the way back to WWI don't match the actual body counts) involves proving the existence of aliens. Well, alrighty then.

The book's got a slow beginning, but it takes off around chapter three, and never looks back. The tone changes, inexplicably, about two-thirds of the way through and the book becomes much more a hard SF novel (one can almost hear the publisher screaming "there aren't enough damn robots in here!" at the first draft), but that doesn't take away from the enjoyment to be found in Bravais and his dimwit sidekick Joel (no last name). If you're a sci-fi fan looking for a good mystery, or a mystery fan looking for some aliens to play with, this is right up your alley. Have fun. ***

A Life Changing Book
This is one of those rare books that you not only read and re-read, but you largely memorize, and speak / tell the story to individuals and groups .... a compelling narrative that is / was ahead of it's time ---- an old-fashioned good read ....very highly recommended .... one of those little known truly exceptional tales

The book that got me started..
I got this book when I was 10 (now 29) and it really sparked my imagination. It's one of the best short novels I have ever read in this field. Sadly I lost it after a while but now I own a copy of it again after all these years thanks to Amazon! Thanks guys! Keep up the good work! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

My Introduction to Bolos
Picked up this old collection by chance in a public library.I believe that this is the first collection of Bolo stories.

The first story - "The Night Of The Trolls" - is a little slow.

Then comes a Retief story with "Courier."Not much Bolo action in this one but Retief is hilarious.

The third story, "Field Test" hooked me on Bolos.If the end of this story hits you in the gut - you are a Bolo fan.If not, find something else to read.

The rest of the stories are strong and will leave you looking for more Bolo adventures.

I read this on a friends recommendation...
I enjoyed the different short stories that represented different times in the future. On one of the short stories I was really wanting that to be an entire novel instead of just a short story (Retrief was awesome!).

Similar to my review on Theives' World the stories are great but there are very thin threads tying it all together and no real following of a select group of characters.

A good read and I hear that the rest of the books in the series are the same and just as enjoyable as the first.

Bolo & Artificial Intelligence
A collection of stories that represent the future of AI as implemented by massive war machines that are used to conduct war on a planetary scale... ... Read more

Product Description
April 1987 ... Read more

Book Description
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