WEDNESDAY’S SHORT STORIES #18: RETIEF: EMISSARY TO THE STARS By Keith Laumer

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

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15 thoughts on “WEDNESDAY’S SHORT STORIES #18: RETIEF: EMISSARY TO THE STARS By Keith Laumer

  1. Steve Oerkfitz

    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.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      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.

      Reply
  2. Jeff Meyerson

    I have two of the Retief collections from Baen Books but haven’t read more than one story in them.

    Reply
  3. Jerry House

    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.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      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.

      Reply
  4. Patti Abbott

    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.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      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.

      Reply
  5. wolf

    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

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Wolf, I have the entire Retief series. But the later works, after Laumer suffered a stroke, are nowhere as good as the early stories.

      Reply
  6. Jeff Smith

    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.

    Reply

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