DINOSAUR BEACH By Keith Laumer

DinosaurBeach_daw2
For those of you experiencing  Time Travel Week withdrawal, here’s a 1971 Keith Laumer SF novel about a Time agent marooned in the Jurassic Era. Ravel has just completed a mission in 1936 Buffalo, NY when he’a approached by a Karg–a robot from the Future. Ravel returns to his Time Base in the Jurassic when it is attacked by war machines from the Future and utterly destroyed. Ravel is stuck in the Jurassic. Of course, Keith Laumer’s plots are always twisty and Dinosaur Beach is no exception. If you’re looking for a Time Travel adventure novel with dinosaurs, this delivers. John O’Neill at BLACK GATE has some insightful comments about Dinosaur Beach here. GRADE: B+

20 thoughts on “DINOSAUR BEACH By Keith Laumer

  1. Wolf Böhrendt

    Keith also was one of my favourites when I discovered the pulps in the 60s!

    But I found his Retief series even greater than the time travel stories – those diplomats reminded me so much of our bumbling politicians on the international stage!

    Reply
  2. Jeff Meyerson

    I’d be more interested in what was going on in 1936 Buffalo that drew him there!

    I’ve got three of Laumer’s Baen collections – RETIEF!, THE LIGHTER SIDE and A PLAGUE OF DEMONS & Other Stories – sitting on the shelf.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Jeff, BAEN Books has done a great job in reprinting the works of Keith Laumer. The Buffalo subplot leads to the Jurassic story.

      Reply
    1. george Post author

      Bob, back in the Sixties and Seventies Keith Laumer was one of my favorite SF writers. His Retief stories are unrivaled!

      Reply
  3. John O'Neill

    George,

    Thanks for the signal boost! Great to see some love for Keith Laumer’s books, 40 years later.

    For me, tracking down the old covers is as much fun as talking about the books.

    John O’Neill
    Black Gate

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      John, your posts are my favorites on BLACK GATE! Our tastes are very similar! Keith Laumer wrote great SF adventure novels like DINOSAUR BEACH that are only enhanced by the great covers ACE Books and DAW wrapped them in. Keep up the good work!

      Reply
      1. Wolf Böhrendt

        George, I have to confess that some times when looking through the shelves of the London book shop “Fantasy Centre” (closed now, alas) or browsing in one of London’s markets I would buy one of those ACE doubles just because its covers were so “garish” and funny!

        Of course second hand books at that time were really cheap – almost a dime a dozen, until people realised their value. So when I came to the USA and also wanted to get “new” old books to complete my collection I really had to look around to find them cheap or at least affordable.

      2. george Post author

        Wolf, those classic ACE Doubles have pretty much disappeared around here. We’re down to a couple used bookstores. All the “Good Stuff” is online at higher prices now.

  4. R.K. Robinson

    Great pick! I’d hoped for on of his books last week, so I’m grateful for this. Yes, I’ve seen that cover, and read this one, and I agree about Baen doing good by keeping these in print. Too bad the Baen editions also go OP so fast!

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Rick, I could have done a month of Time Travel books and movies. I love the genre and there are so many good SF novels that use Time Travel to power their plots!

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *