I loved Keith Laumer’s Retief stories when they appeared in Analog, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and other Science Fiction magazines in the 1960s and 1970s. Retief is a clever diplomat for the Corps Diplomatique Terrestrienne who foils the sinister schemes of the slimy-tentacled Groaci aliens.
Keith Laumer’s years in the U.S. diplomatic corps reflects on the actions of these fun stories. Bureaucratic bungling and Groaci treachery can only be undone by Retief’s cunning actions. Each story in this collection ends up being a puzzle that only ingenuity and boldness can solve. If you’re looking for a fun set of stories that still evoke that Sense of Wonder you had in your youth, give Retief: Emissary to the Stars a try. GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- 1 • The Hoob Melon Crisis • [Retief] • (1975) • novelette by Keith Laumer
- 47 • The Garbage Invasion • [Retief] • (1972) • novelette by Keith Laumer
- 91 • The Troubleshooter • [Retief] • (1975) • novelette by Keith Laumer
- 143 • The Negotiators • [Retief] • (1975) • short story by Keith Laumer
- 175 • Giant Killer • [Retief] • (1965) • short story by Keith Laumer
- 201 • The Forest in the Sky • [Retief] • (1967) • novelette by Keith Laumer (variant of Forest in the Sky)
- 233 • Trick or Treaty • [Retief] • (1965) • novelette by Keith Laumer
George, did you ever read the story of how Laumer’s brother March submitted his first story for him to Cele Goldsmith?
Todd, I vaguely remember that story submission story.
I read a lot of his Retief stories back in the 60’s. Mostly in If magazine if I remember right. I found them enjoyable.
Steve, Keith Laumer was very prolific in the 1960s. He was writing novels–some of which were serialized in IF–and plenty of short stories. Laumer’s stroke in the 1970s put his volume of writing to an end.
I have two of the Retief collections from Baen Books but haven’t read more than one story in them.
Jeff, Retief stories are like potato chips for me: I can’t stop at one!
Coincidently, I just started this book yesterday. Just goes to show that great minds yadda yadda yadda.
The early works by Laumer, including Retief, can be addictive. An entertaining writer, the quality of his work took a sharp decline after his stroke in 1971, which also left him with some negative personality changes. There was a time, however, when I was gobbling up his books and stories as fast as I could.
Jeff, like you I was eagerly reading Keith Laumer novels and stories in the 1960s. He was one of my favorite SF writers at that time.
I am wondering if I had any sense of wonder in my early years. I seem to have been born with my feet in realism.
Patti, when we were reading FUN WITH DICK AND JANE in Second Grade, I was the kid who skipped ahead to the Fairy Tales and Myths sections of the reading textbook. I’m always looking for stories with a Sense of Wonder. That will never change.
SF has a fair amount of reasonably realistic fiction within it.
Retief was also one of my favourite “heroes” – I hot more than a dozen books featuring him!
1RETIEF : AMBASSADOR TO SPACE
1RETIEF : DIPLOMAT AT ARMS
1RETIEF : EMISSARY TO THE STARS
1RETIEF AND THE PANGALACTIC PAGEANT OF PULCHRITUDE
1RETIEF AND THE RASCALS
1RETIEF AND THE WARLORDS = DIPLOMAT DER GRENZWELTEN
1RETIEF AT LARGE
1RETIEF IN THE RUINS
1RETIEF OF THE CDT = DER MANN VOM CDT
1RETIEF TO THE RESCUE
1RETIEF UNBOUND
1RETIEF’S RANSOM (INCL.IN RETIEF UNBOUND)=FRIEDENSKOMMISSARE DER GALAXIS
1RETIEF’S WAR = DIPLOMAT UND REBELL VON TERRA
1THE RETURN OF RETIEF
1REWARD FOR RETIEF
Wolf, I have the entire Retief series. But the later works, after Laumer suffered a stroke, are nowhere as good as the early stories.
Like Steve, I never saw Retief stories in any magazine but IF, where I read them regularly. I don’t know that I ever bought any of the books.
Jeff, I bought an ACE Double in 1963 which was the first Retief book: ENVOY TO NEW WORLDS. Robert Moore Williams’ FLIGHT FROM YESTERDAY was on the other side.