Keith Laumer Books

Planet Run takes you back to the frontier, the frontier of space. When the galaxy starts to fill up and become too civilized, men battle for the last bit of wilderness. A planet is being opened for settlement, and the rush is on. Some search for the treasure they are sure awaits, others because it's the last of its kind.

Keith Laumer's long and varied career as a science fiction writer has seen all manner of interesting stories come and go. No matter what you think of his writing style, his ideas are as varied as one could possibly wish for.

Some of his books are better than others, like any writer, and I want to say that if you have enjoyed *anything* he has written, you owe it to yourself to find a copy of this book.

Now, I don't want to spoil the story - I don't consider the job of a book reviewer to tell you the plot, or even tease you with a little bit of the plot - so you will find no spoilers here. Instead, let me tell you that the book will leave you thrilled and awed, not to mention envious.

This isn't a new book, and it is so easy for SF to become dated. But that doesn't happen here, because although the story is certainly set in such a way as to be basically unrecognizable to us as "here" and/or "today" for the vast majority of the work, Laumer pulled off what few SF authors manage. That is create a book without any significant anachronisms or techno-blunders, areas where modern technology obsoletes an idea or even a plot line. The book actually reads just as well today as it did when it came out. Maybe better.

So if you're looking for a galactic odyssey, or a galactic adventure, this is the book to get and read. Prime grade-A good stuff from one of the most productive and interesting times for science fiction.

By the way, when young people express an interest in SF in book form, this is the first book I give them. Hooks 'em every time. *Every* time.

Invasion! At first the U.S. army--what was left of it--thought it was battling a communist invasion. The truth was much worse. It wasn't until Jeff Mallory awoke one morning to find that all his fellow townsfolk had become sleep walking zombies, and that a tower had been erected in the center of town, a tower that seemed to stretch to the stars, that the horrible truth began to unravel. Earth had been invaded--not by a race of alien conquerers, but by a disease. A disease with a brain...

This is the first book (well, technically, set of stories) I have read by Keith Laumer, but it won't be the last. Written from the late 60s into the early 70s, many of these stories still seem fresh today. Space exploration, coming of age, alien invasions - all of these and more are covered in the stories in this excellent book. Although sometimes the writing jumps between scenes without warning, it is for the most part crisp and clean and very enjoyable. Eric Flint did the editing honors and there is a foreword by Joel Rosenbaum that helps to set things into perspective. All-in-all, highly recommended by this reviewer.

Take suspense and blend it with science fiction using the short story format and you have a set of truly gripping adventures, as represented in Keith Laumer (Eric Flint, Editor)'s The Long Twilight and Other Stories. From a final combat between two forces in an uncontrolled experimental power plant that threatens Earth to a detective who is given devices to aid his investigation which seem far beyond any Earthly technology, this collection holds an outstanding selection of vivid plots and action, and is a top pick for any serious science fiction collection.

No writter can do sci-fi better than Keith Laumer,but with this book he outdid even himself. This is by far the best of the best;even if you never read another sci-fi book make sure you don't miss The Return Of Retief; he's back and he's better than ever.

If you like the style of Laumer or of Roger Zelazny, this is a good book that you will enjoy. This book features the character Lafayette O'Leary, who is the aforementioned World Shuffler. The plot, tone, etc, is often reminiscent of Zelazny's "Nine Princes in Amber". I like this book, more than the sequels (the last book in the series was difficult for me to finish and it took me several tries). Personally, I enjoyed this first book (World Shuffler) so much that I've read it three times in the past ten years. I just revisit it. And various images, events, and phrases stick in my mind to never be removed. Must be good, eh?

This has to be one of the best books I have read in my entire life. I have read it twice already, will wait a while, and probably read it again. The !*!*! are an awesome enemy, yet, the bolo is an awesome foe. The final battle is tremendous, as is all previous minor ones. There are never parts of the book that are dull. I have always liked bolos, and this was....just amazing.

Mr. Keith's Bolo books do very well in maintaining the quality of the series. Like several reviewers of this and other Bolo books, I tend to view a Bolo book with too much emphasis on human drama and interaction as a waste of money. Mr. Keith is able to walk that fine line and write a book that melds well-developed human characters with the action and adventure we want from a Bolo book. I have enjoyed his contributions to this series and sincerely hope he writes more...I hope that the more recent "Road to Damascus" is not an indication of the way the Bolo series is going. That one has so much mother-daughter stuff and teenage angst in it that it should be serialized on the Lifetime Channel.

The early Bolo stories were touching, to say the least. Self aware, highly intelligent tanks which applied themselfselves selflessly to their duty. This book has gone a long way from there. From a military point it is unbelievable, even in its most basic tenets. David Drake assumes vast strides in technology and comes up with 170 ton tanks; well okay so it is SF. Here we see a 32000 ton "tank". If there is one thing military history has taught about armour it is to use tanks together in highly mobile formations. You only use very heavy stuff if you want to invite defeat. Using armour out of support range is to invite defeat. Here a single damaged Bolo takes on an enemy which not only was victorious but has had a year on planet to replenish itself, and and has vast numbers of highly intelligent weapons under a unified command. Please!

The first 150 pages consist of how deep humans have fallen and their bickering and complaining (reading one in ten words is quite enough). In the rest of the book there is action. This can perhaps be best illustrated by the Bolo's fight in the closing pages. The Bolo, in its own words, fires "fusillade after shrieking fusillade" with "all remaining weapons". A little later it "redoubles its hammerings" in spite of increasing damage. A little later onwards it "gathers its power". All in all the book reads like one of Ron Hubbard's efforts.

This book exceled among all others in my line of favorites. I have read various war books. Such titles are Team Yankee, Red Storm Rising, Hunt for Red October...etc. This book combines plot, and scenery to capture your atention, in even the first 3 pages. This book, being staged in the future, refers to past incedents, uses things that we are accustomed to, and explains things we otherwsie wouldn't understand in great detail. This book surprised me, and kept me on the edge of my seat, the only reason I put it down, was because school and sleep kept inturupting me. I recommend this book to all those who like adventure, suspense, and an all around greatly written book.

This was a totally satisfying bolo novel. I have read a number of others, but most of the best are in the past. I'm delighted that a talented writer has gotten his teeth into this series, and hopefully can continue to breathe life into it.

The personalities were developed very well for an action novel. As well as we could ask. Hector's personality came alive as his "blocks" were slowly removed, one by one, and his real personality emerged.

Battle scenes were gripping, and they were abundant. You got to really care about the characters, also. The ambiguous ending makes us wonder if William Keith is planning a sequel. I hope so.

One theme that unifies the book and adds a bit more than just the "thriller" aspect is the exploration of "machine intelligence." The aliens are machines also, and the contest is not just based on gunfire, but on whether Hector's mental processes can "checkmate" the alien thoughts of the /*/*/*/, as the invaders call themselves.

David Drake's books are great, but he has totally stopped writing future war novels. Too bad. Now let's just hope that Mr. Keith picks up the mission and pumps out a few more.

Can't put this book down ! ! !

Earthblood (1966) by Keith Laumer and Rosel George Brown - 311 pages - rating: 7.0/10

A boy is born to foster parents in the slum of a far away planet and yearns to discover his roots.

This cross galaxy space adventure has weird creatures, mutant human pirates, space battles and lots of fighting. I like the gritty unpolished feel of the narrative. At times it feels like a book written for a younger audience and yet at others the violence and gore is clearly meant for older readers.

The sensibilities are unusual and one wonders at some of the authors' plot choices. But while its apparent that the authors do not necessarily give you the good feeling of everything working out well for the hero all the time the result does have a more realistic and less fairytale feel. Some people may not like this approach.

There were periods where I loved this book and others when I felt myself just waiting for it to get good again. Perhaps this can be explained by the fact it was written by 2 authors.

Overall a good, but not great space opera.


Claus Kellermann
2006 June 5
Sci_Fi_Researcher@yahoo.com

I read this many years ago a a teenager, I felt that it spoke to the yearning that many of us have to "do" something important with our lives. Over the years I have revisited this book several times until, during a move, it was lost.
Looking this book after a space of about 20 years I can more easily see its flaws (ethnocentrism), but in spite of that I believe that if anything this was an honest attempt to tell a good story.
This is one story that is begging to be made into a movie, I hope that someday it is and that the focus is maintained and the special effects are done as well as they can be with today's technology.

As with many other reviewers, I first read this book when it came out (I still have my SF Book Club edition) and re-read it every few years. It is as perfect an example of the 'space opera' genre as you could ask for: a tragic and somewhat flawed main character with a mysterious origin, driven to find what happened to the now-vanished Terran empire. One reviewer here (Steve Duff) criticized it as brutal and violent; I suggest he go read some biographies of Alexander the Great.

Again, as with others, echoes of this book stay with me. The child Roan growing up among aliens and Terran hybrids and struggling to hold his own. His joining, of all things, an interstellar circus, and then a crew of interstellar pirates. Searching for Terra, the homeworld, and what he finds there. And all along the way, making mistakes, hurting those who love him the most, and suffering bittersweet loss.

A great read, and one that will stay with you, too.

I first read this book at the age of 13. Before I was 20 I'd read it 14 times. Now, at 42, I've read it again, and my opinion has changed greatly. This novel has many things right with it but oh so many things wrong.

Unusually for a science fiction novel, it starts before the main character is born. The book is wildly colorful and bathed in blood from the very beginning, as Roan Cornay's future parents are attacked shortly after purchasing him as an embryo. After birth, Roan begins to learn of his unique heritage as a Terran, member of a race which once ruled the galaxy until they were challenged by the powerful Niss. The war between the Terrans and Niss ended, seemingly, in mutual destruction 5,000 years earlier, and now Terrans are rare in the galaxy.

Roan grows up in poverty among many races of aliens on a dirty, backwater world. Logical problems manifest themselves immediately, as the book begins to play on its theme of human superiority by showing us species with limited abilities, primarily lacking the capacity for creative thought and relying instead on pre-programmed instinct. Unfortunately, the point is carried to ludicrous extremes with a species called Gracyls (actually, the name for a species of crow) who, despite an ability to fly, cling to trees in blind panic when attacked by lumbering saurians. Laumer and Brown obviously gave little thought to the process of Darwinian evolution. On our world, even the stupidest flying insects fly away when attacked. In the Laumer and Brown universe, winged beings with written language and technology have failed to manage this instinctive response. So much for the science in this science fiction novel.

Rosel George Brown was a female writer who came late to the field of letters. Keith Laumer was a devotee of Raymond Chandler novels and aped his style. However, the melding of the two writers produced a hyper-macho tale with zero feminine edge. The style is brash and the plot soon decomes drowned in a sea of brutality.

When Roan is a teenager, he's kidnapped by a traveling space circus. This is probably the best extended sequence in the book. The beings are colorful and credit must be given to Laumer and Brown for doing good work on the backstories of various characters. The character of Iron Robert is especially compelling.

Laumer's affinity for the Chandleresque tough-guy style gives this book a meaner edge than any other sf adventure I've read, and in many ways a more believable one. The novel is driven by the passions of even relatively minor characters such as the angry Itch. This gives the book a certain gut-level realism that's refreshing in the often plot-oriented world of sf.

Roan Cornay proves to be a tremendous brawler. Unlike most other sf heroes, Roan is willing to go to any length, however vicious, to win a fight. He doesn't merely beat his opponents, he mangles, disfigures and cripples them. Indeed, he's something of a sociopath.

We can commend the bravery Laumer and Brown showed in creating such a flawed character. Roan, driven by the anger and violence within him, makes many mistakes and senselessly kills several people.

Roan is captured by space pirates who raid the circus. This eventually leads to a scene on the planet Aldo Cerise which, in my view, is the single most beautiful passage in the book. However, it also has its share of logic flaws.

As the book rushes towards its conclusion, the level of violence and illogical plot twists rises. Death loses its dramatic impact. Situations and plot twists become more contrived and unbelievable, and almost always result in someone (often many someones) being killed. The violence, the macho posturing and platitudes, become wearying. Also wearying is all the lunkhead tough-guy dialog.

This is unfortunate. While it's true that "Earthblood" is entirely lacking in speculative rigor and instead intensifies the shopworn elements of space opera, it's also true that the scope of this book exceeds that of any other space opera I've encountered. This novel could have been a masterpiece if handled with more restraint, if it had been allowed greater length so as to avoid the rushed feeling of its conclusion, and if the characterization had been more nuanced. It would have been better without silly 'love at first sight' disease. It would have been better if...

There are too many ifs. In the end this is a very flawed book. In many ways it's a fairly dumb novel, a comic-book novel. The final scene is practically imbecilic. From my own experience, I'd say it's a great novel to read when you're a teenager. It would also make a fantastic movie. Older readers will want to think twice about this one.

Finally, I wanted to rate this book two-and-a-half stars, but that wasn't available, so for the sake of sentiment I went with a higher rating.

Like other reviewers, I first read this book in my teens in the late 60's. It immediately clicked with me and I've reread the book at least once every five years since.

We don't know what's happened to humanity, but its legacy is a proud one. And embryos with human genes are prized above all others. Roan is 'purchased' as an embryo, brought to term and raised by his adopted parents, and spends his life seeking his roots. His trials and adventures appeal to teenagers and teenagers-at-heart with questions of 'Who am I?', 'Where did I come from?', 'Why am I different from everyone else?', 'What makes me unique?'.

Roan's parents bankrupt themselves for the opportunity to purchase a son that may actually be human. As a boy living a poor, integrated neighborhood (with all forms of aliens), Roan experiences poverty, prejudice, fear, and dreams for a better life. A traveling, galactic circus gives Roan a chance to experience a new life, where friendship, love, loyalty, and competition give him a chance to develop and forge new relationships while exploring the possibilities of his heritage.

After a pirate attack on the circus, Roan learns to exercise some control over his environment and to become a leader. Roan ultimately traces his lineage back to Terra, where he acts to replace the decadent descendents of humanity with a race that will one day reclaim its place in determining the destiny of the galaxy.

_A Trace of Memory_, Keith Laumer's second novel, was originally serialized in _Amazing_ in 1962 and published in book form the following year. It was immediately recognized as a good science fiction adventure story by critics and readers alike.

What was not discussed-- at least, not to my knowledge-- were the Arthurian threads running through the novel. The enigmatic Foster is revealed fairly early in the novel to be the historical King Arthur, who abandoned the throne of England when his knights began to realize that he did not age. A number of the names of people and places are Arthurian. Foster's companion whom he buries is named Ammaerlin (Merlin); his home planet is Vallon (Avallon), and its capital city is Okk-Hamiloth (Camelot); the villainous despot of Vallon is Ommodurad (Mordred); and the identity that Legion adopts on Vallon is Drgn (dragon). There are other names of this sort that you may look up if you wish. I don't want to give away the ending of the novel, but I think that it is fair to say that the last few chapters draw heavily on Arthurian legend.

Laumer reinforces the Arthurian threads with a number of circle images throughout the novel: a notebook cover and signet rings embossed with two concentric circles... Stonehenge... the double orbits of the two planets inthe Vallonian system... the rings on a tabletop in an ancient English pub... the great ring-boards of Okk-Hamiloth and Bar-Panderone... a sword embedded in a circular design in a castle wall... Collectively, they are reminiscent of the round table or of Excalibur-- of age, solidity, tradition.

Laumer also uses occasional musical images that reinforce the Arthurian tone of the novel. The hero, Legion, is a one-time music major. When Legion first stays at Foster's home, Foster is listening to the _Liebestod_. When Legion first enters the beautiful but empty city of Okk-Hamiloth, he plays Ravel's _Pavanne for a Dead Princess_ on the clarinet "and felt a forlorn nostalgia for a glory I had never known..." (109). But shortly afterward, when he is enslaved by a baser, more primitive civilization, he plays only tunes such as the _Beer Barrel Polka_ and _Little Brown Jug_. Laumer uses musical imagery to comment on man's nobility or lack of nobility.

Laumer also uses musical imagery to comment on Legion's character in one scene. Halfway through the novel, Legion has made his fortune on Earth. He is sitting on his island retreat smoking a fine cigar "and listening to the best music a thousand dollar hi-fi could produce" (76). It is an indication that Legion's concerns at this time are largely materialistic. He has not yet learned to to be more altruistic, to live for higher ideals.

It would be overstating the case to say that _A Trace of Memory_ is a retelling of the Arthurian legend. For one thing, Legion does not seem to be modeled on any Arthurian character. Indeed, through most of the novel, he is set up as a foil to Foster. He is more informal, more down-to-earth, more democratic, more practical, more witty. For another thing, the overall plot of the novel does not seem to rely heavily on any Arthurian legend. It is only at the end that the Arthurian references become obvious.

But if the novel is not a strict retelling of the Arthurian legend, it does seem to use Camelot as an ideal of chivalry and nobility that Laumer feels that most of mankind fails to obtain. It is also a goal toward which Legion unconsciously, almost against his will, strives. At the opening of the novel, he is a self-pitying vagrant contemplating robbery. At the close of the novel, he is a genuinely noble hero. Part of the fun is watching Legion change and grow along the way.

It's got one of the usual Laumer plots - an unusually gifted mentor (with a long lifespan) teaches a moderately ordinary guy incredible stuff with which the guy can conquer incredible odds and live in an exotic place. It's a good read and I can understand people wanting to read it again after a few years. His stuff is like that. But this isn't the book I'd recommend to a first-time Keith Laumer reader. (Dinosaur Beach, probably...)

This is Laumer's best - starting with a down-on-his-luck intelligence guy, and ending up with an entirely unexpected twist. It takes the reader from Earth, via Stonehenge, to another planet, where our hero loses his life and - well, regains it again. One of my early favourites. I wish I had a copy now!

The librarian at my high school introduced me to this book in 9th grade (1977) I was blown away by the creativity of the story. Today, I read the same tattered text (purchased during a library book sale) bound by the library. The story of Foster and his odd memories creates a world familiar yet surreal. Truly one of the best sci fi books I have ever read.

Always been a fan of Keith Laumer but this is one of his best. His books are full of wit and one liners. Hard to believe this book is out of print. I've read every book I could find by Keith Laumer and this is one of his best. I must have read this book 20 times at least. When I go on a short trip and am not reading anything else, i bring this book to re-read. Its full of action and humor. A great story from a great but under rated writer. I wish the science fiction book club would re-issue this book.