Keith Laumer Books

The Concordiat is threatened once again, this time by velociraptors in space. The author does a very good job creating the dino-invader world, but struggles in creating the Bolo thoughts. Overall, the story is fun and interesting, but it falls flat at the end. The final invasion is just too poorly written. The invaders go from being incredibly savage and smart warriors to impatient idiots who land on the planet before the invasion has actually begun, which just happens to help the good guys win.

This is a fun, quick, mindless read that lacks any attempt at reality.

This book was a very enjoyable read. Bolo fans will notice that instead of being several short stories about different Bolo marks, this is actually a novel about two "obsolete" Mark XXIV Bolos who were thought to be past their prime. While I'm normally very fond of the short story approach, this novel was well written and held my attention through the entire story. A "must read" for any Bolo fan!

This is one of those books you can read again and agian. Entertaining to the last. Believable characters and an extrodinary setting. I really wish (hint HINT) that a followup would come along one day.

Bolo brigade is a well crafted, actioned packed story in the universe of Keith Laumer's Bolos, giant sentient tanks that are humanity's most stalwart defenders.

In Bolo Brigade, a bolo officer with a dead end career winds up posted to a backwater planet that is about to become a raging battleground. The Malach, a race of reptile-like aliens appears from the depths of space and invades the planet. The only force that can stop them are two old bolos and whatever forces the planetary government can muster.

Bolo Brigade thunders to a crescendo of action that is glittering in in its intensity and at one point seems to literally roar with the fury of battle. The bolos display courage and humanity that goes far beyond the call of duty, and the ending may even leave you with tears in your eyes.

Sometimes authors just nail it right on the head and William Keith excels with Bolo Brigade.

This is not particularly great space opera but it was an enjoyable way to waste a day sitting home sick.

The story is of a young officer who has been exiled to a distant post because of his brashness. He gets the job done in spite of incompetent leadership higher up. He is assigned to command two BOLOs which are well past their prime. He has trouble from day one because his new bosses do not appreciate his past talent for making them look bad and neither do they trust the sentient armored vehicles (BOLOs) assigned to them. He has to try and cope with laziness and a maintenance unit that sees no point in working hard when nothing much happens in that dist reach at the edge of the galaxy. Also troubling is the fact that the two BOLOs seem to be quite a bit more self-aware than should be expected for their model numbers.

Meanwhile, a new set of aliens has decided to invade. These are vaguely like carnivorous dinosaurs and have the same sort of table manners. Their biochemistry means that they cannot eat humans but that does not take the fun out of hunting them. Their civilization depends upon conquering others and looting refined metals. Their fleet is huge and they are without mercy.

It is all up to our young hero to stop them. He has two aging tanks at his disposal and will have to fight his own command authority as well as the aliens.

Other BOLO books have been better but this one did provide a few hours of enjoyment. It is worth reading and will even be remembered for a while.

Keith Laumer is among my favorite writers of "light" sf, and these three books, the first in the long series (13 volumes that I know of, counting each original volume as one) of Retief adventures, show why. Filled with sharp pokes at government bureaucracy (Laumer himself was connected with it for many years and knew whereof he wrote), they follow the wild adventures of Jaime Retief, a member of the Corps Diplomatique Terrestrienne with more than a touch of James Bond in his makeup. Constantly redeeming his superiors' blunders, usually by making an end run around the "accepted" way of doing things, he bounces in and out of serious bodily peril and thwarts at every turn the machinations of the Groaci, whispering five-eyed aliens with a penchant for torture and a thirst for universal domination. (The books were originally published in 1963, 1965, and 1968, in the very heart of the Cold War, which suggests that these villainous beings were intended as an analogue of the Communists.) Yet the stories never take themselves too seriously, and very little happens that couldn't safely be shared with a child. I've collected Retief religiously, and joyously, for some 30 years, and I don't regret a bit of it. You won't either.

Retief, the unorthodox diplomat, is assigned the hardest jobs(often self-assigned), works against incompetence and active opposition from his side, not to mention the opposition's opposition - and succeeds. This was one thing I enjoyed when I first read the stories in the magazines, and maybe what I enjoy most now. You don't have to have perfect conditions or helpful allies to get results. This is frequently screened by strange-looking aliens, odd cultures, color and glitter, and some laughs - but those are also aspects of the stories that I enjoy.

This book was so enjoyable, funny, well written, entertaining, and compelling that I read it in one sitting. Then I walked several miles to the nearest used book store and bought every novel by Keith Laumer they had. Didn't even have to feel guilty, since all of them were out of print. But this book is so much worth the price... it's just funny! Unfortunately I think it's sometimes too close to home, especially the story about "Retief of the Mountain of Red Tape".

Most SF readers have heard of Laumer's Retief series. Many of them have read some of them. There've been compilations, sets, and short stories release for years. This time, however, Baen and Mssr's Flint and Drake have done a wonderful job compiling some of the best (and hardest to find) Retief stories in one place.

If you've never read Retief, try it - you'll like it. And this is a great way to get your feet wet.

I first came across the Retief stories in Analog/Astounding in the early '60's. They were greatly enjoyable then, and still retain their pleasure.

Unfortunately, we can see from current events that diplomats still screw up international relations, which makes these stories topical today.

Retief is a very junior diplomat when these stories begin(as edited and arranged by Eric Flint) and they follow him through his career. He never rises very high, because he is more concerned with results than appearances. As a result, he gets the job done, but never finds approval of his superiors, who are only concerned with how it looks.

Laumer's foreign service experience makes these stories quite effective. I only wish we had more diplomats like Retief, instead of what we have.

His characters act believably, even if the situations are somewhat unbelievable. Then, I remember the history of the second half of the 20th century, and the situations become quite believable. They are both enjoyable as stories and as satire, and the humor is quite good.

I've been a fan of Keith Laumer since the 1960s. Most of his novels are considered "light" science fiction, but that doesn't begin to describe the strength of the writing. He usually seems not to take his own stories very seriously, but that's just his writing style. I guarantee he labored hard over them. Dinosaur Beach is one of his more serious efforts, and in my opinion his best work. The main character is a time traveler, on a mission to undo a lot of damage done to the timestream by previous time-travelers. The book starts, in typical Laumer fashion, with the main character being warned that he's about to he murdered. He's not impressed with the news, and asks what business the guy has telling someone they were going to die, even if it's true. Things get crazier and crazier, and in the end, make perfect sense. Laumer is a master at creating situations where things get so screwed up that one starts to think no author could make sense out of it, and then he proceeds to make such perfect sense of it that the reader asks himself how he didn't see it coming. And in the meantime, as one tries to unravel the plot, the writing style keeps the reader marvelously entertained, never letting up on the pace and keeping us guessing at every turn. I've read this book several times, and lent it to friends so often that I had to buy it again twice. This is a science fiction classic, and a masterpiece.

This one is pretty much definitive. It will keep your attention. Tersely and well written. Pretty amazing considering how early in Keith Laumer's career this was - a pretty diverse guy in style.

Put this on the shelf next to The Big Time-- together these books say everything interesting there is to say about time travel based warfare. This is one of Laumer's best, with a nice balance between his silly and his serious sides. Highly recommended-- hope it's back in print soon.

I read Dinosaur Beach years ago; the delightful imagination and use of the time travel angle coupled with a love story made an interesting and wide ranging yarn. One of my Laumer favorites. I actually met with Keith Laumer in 1986 at his island house in Florida, and among other interesting topics, he stated that the book was even being considered for a movie at one time.

This book can be read on many levels. At once it is a love story, a book about time travel, war, the future of mankind and above all, consciousness itself.
Perhaps I am reading too much into this little novel, but it struck me on a very deep level. The last 3 chapters of the book have a poignancy for me which I will never forget, which, upon reading it again, still brings a tear to my eye. It speaks to me of the nature of consciousness itself, which is not destructive, but loving.
To me this is a superbly written classic, a beautiful novel that can be read as just good SF, or as a description of the universal nature of consciousness.
I rank this little book at the very top echelon of the greatest SF of all time; indeed as one of the best works of fiction I've ever read.

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.

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!

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

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-gravity devices, 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. ***

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!

_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' (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.

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.

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 follows directions from the home office but uses his head to fix the situation and defeat the Groaci. Keith is very funny and had several years as a military atache with the diplomatic corps that makes his satirical style even more fun. A great read for someone looking for a few chuckles on a rainy day.

Perhaps I should open with a bibliographical note. I first read this Keith Laumer novel as a three part serial in _Fantastic_ back in 1963 under the title, "A Hoax in Time." I greatly enjoyed it. Several years later, I picked up a copy of _The Great Time Machine Hoax_ (1964), expecting to reread an old favorite under a slightly different title. Only, it wasn't the same novel. Some new scenes were added, and other scenes were cut. The sequence of events was drastically altered. Dialogue was modified. I won't make a laborious, point-by-point comparison, but the reader should be aware that the book version is markedly different from the original serial. I suppose that on the balance, it is a little better. But I sometimes find myself bemused by the multitude of changes that were made.

Whichever version you read, think of it as a fantastical romp-- the sort of novel that Fletcher Pratt and L. Sprague de Camp used to write for _Unknown_. There's not really a serious bone in its body, but there is a philosophy of sorts. It may best be described as a kind of amiable hedonism. The hero tells a mountain man who is leading a bunch of grubby "free men" in the wild:

"You're echoing a long line of philosophers who concluded that the secret of the universe consisted of sitting around in your own dirt-- all the way from early Christians to twentieth-century beatniks. I can be just as self-righteous as the next fellow, while I'm sitting in an air-conditioned restaurant ordering _haute cuisine_ with one hand and lighting up an expensive dope stick with the other, with a well-stacked young lady occupying the rest of my attention." (130)

And the story? Chester W. Chester IV has inherited a run-down circus, a neo-Victorian mansion with some awesomely ugly artifacts, a super computer in the wine cellar with Great Grandfather Chester's personality... and millions of dollars in back taxes. Chester and his carney pal Case Mulvihill gradually hatch a plot. With a bit of preparation, they might be able to con the Internal Revenue Service into believing that they have a real live time machine.

And then we are off and running with an account of cavemen, dinosaurs, beautiful Genies, the _real_ story of the _Marie Celeste_, the truth about flying saucers, an unorthodox academy with an amiable but crafty instructor, hordes of bungling policemen, and model airplanes. (Laumer once wrote a nonfictional book on the subject.) It is a grand adventure. I won't say that _The Great Time Machine Hoax_ is the very best novel that Laumer wrote, but I will say that it is very good-- very good indeed. Put a double decker sandwich and a drink by your side. Nestle down into your favorite chair. Prop up your feet on a footstool. Pick up the book. Enjoy.

If one were to lift the edge of the cosmic consciousness and find a chuckle underneath it would be entirely congruent with Laumer's approach to the human condition. While dealing with the big issues of human evolution, civilization and the nature of time and matter "The Hoax" manages to be extremely humorous and cognizant, in a down-to-earth way, of the motives and passions of humans. I read this book when it came out (about 30 years ago) and while it is not quite as well written as I remember it, the concepts and synthesis are powerful and the humour is classic.

I've always been fascinated by the idea of time travel, so this book's title fairly jumped off the shelf of a used book store I frequented back in college. Don't let the title, The Great Time Machine Hoax, fool you. This isn't some piece of second-rate science fiction that winds up reneging on its promises of adventures through time; the essence of the "hoax" can only be found in the writing itself. I wouldn't call this novel incredibly visionary, either, but it does provide much food for thought in terms of the philosophy of science.

Of course, you can just read the novel for the story itself and get your money's worth. Laumer mixes plenty of wit and comedy into the adventures of our main characters. As the book opens, Chester W. Chester IV has been legally declared the sole heir of his quirky great-grandfather's estate; unfortunately, the back taxes that have accrued over the full century of legal wrangling over the will seem to do Chester more harm than good. In order to raise money, he is forced to close down his Wowser Wonder Shows circus. Case Mulvihill, the man running the circus, is determined to find a way to save the business, and he focuses his attention on the giant computer in Chester's great-grandfather's house. Chester's ancestor had poured the bulk of his money and the last quarter century of his life into building the Generalized Non-Linear Extrapolator; basically, the idea was to connect an ungodly amount of memory to the processor and input all the knowledge known to man into the machine. Of course, actually making use of all this information is the proverbial rub. Chester and Chase visit the house and start asking the computer questions. Eventually, Case tests the machine by asking for realistic looks into the distant past. This is where the trouble starts. The two men, and the female named Genie the computer creates to be their guide, wind up trapped and separated in time, in eras ranging from that of cavemen to a future society based on philosophy and science. For Chester, rescuing his friends and getting back home safe and sound stands as a true challenge indeed.

I think the writing in this novel is a tad bit uneven at times, but this is a quick and entertaining read blessed with both comedy and insight. By far the most fascinating section to me was Chester's reeducation in a future academy. A lifetime's worth of learning is packed into a single year, and Laumer takes the opportunity to introduce some truly thought-provoking ideas about mental and physical education, the mastery of mind over pain and boredom, and the making of a man in his most enlightened and nature-attuned form. Some of the philosophy proffered here borders on the esoteric (the starting point and unofficial school "motto" is "Is-not is not not-is") yet much of it seems to merit consideration in the reader's own approach to life.

Keith Laumer's 1963 The Great Time Machine Hoax is just very good science fiction. It offers a rousingly good story that anyone can enjoy, yet it goes beyond the surface to mine for a few nuggets of intellectual ore in the ground of the human mind. This is the kind of novel that can give birth to a love of science fiction in the mind of someone new to the genre.

I first read The Great Time Machine Hoax some years ago because I was 'into' SF. I have since returned to it several times because of Laumer's interest in philosophical precepts concerning the nature vs nurture controversy. Using a delightfully acerbic tone, Laumer turns a modern wimp into an actualized man by placing him in a futuristic academy dedicated to improving all his inherent physical and mental capacities to their ultimate state of perfection. Laumer makes us wonder if it is possible to attain self-actualization through operant conditioning and pain avoidance/pleasure seeking. Would these techniques benefit society? These are the issues I like to ponder. Of course, the hero returns to save the beautiful girl and his best friend. What makes Laumer unique is his humerous portrayal of the stupidities of modern man, particularly our vanities. Fans of Keith Laumer's "Retief" series will be greatly entertained by this novelette. Fans of social commentary, a la Mark Twain's 'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court', will be at home in this book. A great light read, with room for thought if you like. One of my favorites

The novel is episodic - you will have to keep reading to see them together. I had to go back and re-read many sub chapters - its just that kind of book. But it will grip you. Also, it doesn't spell everthing out for you - requires a good imagination.

This book tells the tale of a civilization that has been taken over by machines, where humans and other biological constructs are grown by machine and programmed with memories from the past. One man learns the truth and disobeys the "orders" he receives from his superiors that would result in the destruction of an inhabited planet (Earth). In order to keep his ship from carrying out the orders he crashes it on the planet. His friend comes to rescue him only to discover that he doesn't desire rescue.

Although the book is at times slightly confusing, the tale that's being told will grab you and won't let go. The story of two immortals stranded on earth and battling one another through the ages must certainly have inspired the writers of the first Highlander film. Inspiring book, highly recommended.

For thousands of years, Grayle and Falconer have battled--and their superhuman struggle has turned into legend (they are also known as Thor and Loki). Now, human technology has enabled them to accomplish their mission--the destruction of Earth. Falconer knows he must go forward with the mission despite Grayle and despite the death of billions.

Laumer writes great superhumans, but he does an especially good job humanizing them. Through each character's interaction with ordinary humans, we learn to sympathize and empathize with them, to care about them as people. Written in 1969 at the height of Laumer's power, the novel employs that quick-paced style that made Laumer so popular with his Retief series, but in a far darker and more profound novel.

You'll want to read the entire novel in a sitting, then flip it and start over. A great book.

This book contains adventure tales that are a fast read, light yet satirically wild. There are two novels about hapless heros caught in a world with changing time streams out of their control. We follow the heros as they travel through these differrent times and deal with the obstacles they encounter, as they try to get back to where they started from.

This collection of Mr. Laumer's works even contains three short stories which are worth reading on their own merit. One has Satan asking a professor to aid him save Hell. Another is a movie production studio using Earth as a set, and they plan to blow the set up at the end of the movie. and the final short story is about a time where you can purchase any body you can afford.

If you do not have this book, buy it. If you have it, read it. You will be glad you did.

KEITH LAUMER: THE LIGHTER SIDE combines two novels along with a number of short stories written by the SF classic author Keith Laumer.

In the Queue tells of a planet-wide waiting list. People wait their entire lives to move up, holding their places not only for themselves, but also for their children. A nice twist at the end makes this one memorable. The Planet Wreckers confronts an every-man with a galactic movie crew intent on staging the world's largest disaster film. The Body Builders explores a future where people (except a few fanatics) have abandoned their bodies for robots. The Devil You Don't is a romp with a demon. The Exterminator explores America's fascination with violence as a unversal solution. The Big Show blurs reality with entertainment. Gooberreality mixes an every-man with a government/business society where independence is impossible. Protothap confronts an every-man with the impossible--he can't buy life insurance (the twist is in why). Reflecting an earlier era in SF where the short story was a key part of the genre, these stories demonstrate Laumer's skill, provide insights into the America of the 1960s (most of which apply today), and generate some nice chuckles.

TIME TRAP, the first novel in the collection, puts Roger Tyson on the spot. When he tries to flag down a beautiful woman on a motorcycle, she crashes. Dying, she insists that he take her "hearing aid" which turns out to be a futuristic computer device. Roger discovers that the world has been segmented and that, unless he can do something, Earth's entire existance will come to an end. He faces an apparently immortal giant rutabaga, and is both aided and opposed by futuristic scientists--including the dead woman.

THE GREAT TIME MACHINE HOAX is the gem in this collection. Chester W. Chester IV has a tax bill due and nothing but a moth-eaten circus and an estate with an expensive computer to pay it with. Checking out the computer with his friend Case, they realize the potential to make some money in entertainment--by faking a time machine. What they don't realize is that the computer takes them very literally. The strength of this story comes when Chester is forced to confront his own weaknesses. In an accelerated learning program, which Laumer suggests might have benefit to all of us, Chester learns confidence and overcomes fear and pain.

Keith Laumer is one of the great writers of the 1960s and this is a fine introduction to his non-series work. Laumer definitely lacks a progressive attitude toward women, generally treating them as prizes rather than as intelligent players, but if you're willing to overlook this outdated perspective, you'll find a lot to enjoy in THE LIGHTER SIDE.

These stories are a gas, but they often verge on the dark...think only of the poor guy in Time-Trap, maybe the best story in the book. This guy may be the predecessor of Paul Jonas, the Otherland character who was hurled from a strange environment to another, and who was also pursued by ghastly creatures. Thanks to Eric Flint for having made us rediscover these classic stories!

This collection includes some of Laumer's best work. If you like space opera in the "down-and-out earth guy kicks galactic but" vein, you'll love Galactic Odyssey.Other selections include the Twilight Zone-like "A Trip to the City", the Bolo story "Combat Unit", the awesome time travel paradox novel "Dinosaur Beach", and a couple of others that are incredibly enjoyable but less easily categorized. "Once There Was a Giant" is one of the most powerful fiction pieces I've ever read, and it never fails to choke me up. But I'm a softy. If you like good SF (and who doesn't?) you'll enjoy this collection. Thanks to Baen for bringing Laumer back into print!

Odyssey is a joy of a book.

First of all, it's not a novel and it's not a collection of short stories; it contains `Galactic Odyssey' and `Dinosaur Beach', both older, shorter novels; `Once there was a Giant', tipping the scales at a novella; and four significant shorter stories: `A Trip to the City', `Hybrid', `Combat Unit', and `the King of the City'.

I wouldn't mind owning any of the longer books just for itself and the combination of short stories is also attractive. Having all of them together in one package is very convenient - I don't have to worry that somewhere down the line I will pick up the book to re-read my favorite story and continue reading and waste my time with a stinker. There is no stinker in this collection.

What do you get with the collection? Here are my summaries of each story. I recommend every one of them.

Galactic Odyssey is the prototypical `man kidnapped from Earth who meets the space girl, loses her, and spends many episodes trying to rescue her'. However, it's more than cheap space opera - the writing is smooth and transparent, so that when Laumer introduces little futurisms like `a dreamer and a supply of tapes' to explain Our Hero's further education you nod and go on. The characters are all interesting, the dialog is quirky rather than dated, and the story is still completely believable - something hard to get from a plain old space opera first published in 1967.

A Trip to the City presents another idea that has been explored many times - what if part of the world we live in is a stage set that has been set up by aliens for reasons of their own? Laumer's hayseed Brett, with his open mind and disdain for pretense, is the perfect man to deal with the situation.

Hybrid throws together the big, tough bully, the nerdy biologist who knows a lot but isn't listened to, and a giant alien tree with a very strange method of reproduction. The story is just the right length for the idea and one to come back to again.

Combat Unit is a Bolo story in all but name. (I checked and the word `bolo' is not used in the story.) Those of us who enjoy these giant robotic tanks will also enjoy this story of an big intelligent weapon that wakes up in a room in bad shape but determined to carry out its mission - if it can figure out what its situation is and remember its mission.

The King of the City starts off with the hero signing on as a driver for a transportation company in a post-apocalyptic Greater New York - but since this isn't a movie the point isn't just to shoot the gangsters up or exact revenge on some bad guy. Laumer reminds us that real heroes have a purpose in mind when they wade in.

Once There was a Giant stars an antihero, a civilized contract killer who `always made a point to accept contracts only on marks that I agreed needed killing'. Of course he gets framed into taking on a job he wouldn't necessarily want to take. Through the clever device of trying to make murder look like an unfortunate accident, our assassin's murder weapon is attempting to run his victim into the ground by having him help rescue a crashed ship's container full of medical patients just too far away from to get to in deadly territory. Our hero spends plenty of time getting to know the Giant, long enough that he (and we readers) gets to know what really makes a great man.

Dinosaur Beach is the last story and bookends the collection with another novel-length story. This is one heck of a convoluted time-travel story. What if time travel not only exists, but it's poking holes in time, and an agency has been created to go back and fix things messed up by earlier time travelers? Not only that, but a 2nd, then a 3rd agency have come along whose missions are to fix the messes created by the earlier agencies? And what if our hero has not only been planted at some moment in time with the tools to do his job but also conditioned not to realize that he's a time agent or that he has certain skills until he needs to know his job or use his skills? And while we're at it, how many times and ways can this guy interact with the same-but-different girl? If you think an author can't tie up all the possibilities in such a mess - read the story, Laumer did it.

That's it, a fine collection of work by a great science fiction author. Recommended for any decent SF collection.

When I first read this book about 40 years ago I remember thinking that no government could be so spineless. Today when I see the way politicans are acting it is enough to make me wonder if Keith Laumer had a crystal ball or just a lot of experience with governments. I enjoyed this book immenselly when I was 16 and enjoyed re-reading it today. The adventures of Billy Danger as he wonders thru the Galaxy are fun reading.

_Retief and the Warlords_ (1968) is the second Retief novel, and it shares the same strengths and weaknesses as its predecessor, _Retief's War_ (1967). On the positive side, it has a certain amount of color, dash, and wit. On the negative side, it contains obviously cardboard characters and relies on external action with no internal conflict; we are never privy to the thoughts or feelings of any of the characters.

The action of _Retief's War_ took place on a single planet. The action of _Retief and the Warlords_ takes place on a variety of planets and along the space lanes of the troubled Goober Cluster. Otherwise, the formula is familiar. The ambassadors of the Terran Diplomatic Corps have empowered both Terran space pirates and alien space invaders, known as the Hatracks, who are preying upon peaceful Terran colonists and traders. The Hatracks are planning to breed humans for food. Retief eventually straightens out the mess, escapes a firing squad ordered for him by a senior ambassador, and negotiates a peaceful settlement with his two-fisted diplomacy. There is also a marvelous rescue scene in which Ben Magnan, of all people, saves the day with style and cunning.

As with the earlier Retief books, there is a balance between action and satire. But the satire in _Retief and the Warlords_ seems to be just a touch more heavy-handed than it was in the earlier books. Not enough to destroy the basic good fun, mind you. But enough to make the reader wish that Laumer had told his tale with a bit more of a poker face.

By far the greatest sci-fi series ever written. Follow James Retief and Ben Magnun on thier action packed, tounge-in-cheek adventures across the galaxy.

The Retief series started out as a series of short stories published the various science fiction pulps during the 1950's through to the 1960's. These are classic sci-fi as it was written before the days of the moon landing. All together there were more than 60 stories about Retief's space adventures.

In the 1970's after the death of Keith Laumer, editors began to compile collections of these classic pulp fiction stories into a book series. Each collection contains 3 to 5 or more stories.

Of the series this (Retief and the Warlords) is my fave!

If you like Douglas Adams' Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy than you're sure to love Retief.

I'd match Keith Laumer against Asimov, Heinlein or Clark in the SF arena when he's having a good day and in his Retief books he's at the top of his form. Jame Retief is a minor official in the interstellar diplomatic corps who always makes a major impact wherever he goes. Pulling chestnuts out of fires is his stock in trade. Retief works in a truly Dilbertesque bureucracy where most of the officials have not the slightest iota of common sense. There is no end of derring do and humor in the Retief series. Grab one and find out why. Big Hint. Get the early books. Later on when Retief's first name becomes Jim instead of Jame you'll be in for a let down.