Retief's War - Keith Laumer

Retief is an interstellar diplomat who prefers a bit of hands (or guns, knives, or whatever is necessary) on peacekeeping, compared to the more paper-pushing-loving members of his bureaucracy.

To get an idea of some of the Yes Minister, or Grass Roots, or The Games still of satire :-

"Oh, prime minister, eh? Who gave him that title?" "Why, he advised the ambassador that it was conferred early this morning by unanimous vote of the Council of Drones." Retief followed Magnan into the lift; the doors closed with a soft whoosh! of compressed air. The car lurched, started heavily upward. "Let's see," Retief mused. "That's the dummy legislature he set up to satisfy the ambassador's passion for democracy, isn't it? It was fortunate he had seventy-three senile uncles handy to appoint; saved the bother of breaking in strangers." "Yours is a distorted view of the evolution of representational government here on Quopp," Magnan said reprovingly. "Closer attention to your Daily Bulletin from the Bird's Nest would go far toward homogenizing your thinking on the subject."

"I thought that was something they "The term refers to voluntary alignment of viewpoint toward a group-oriented polarity; a sort of linkage of moral horsepower for maximal thrust toward the objective." "I'm not sure that pasteurized thinking is rich enough in intellectual vitamins to satisfy my growing curiosity about just what Ikk is up to."

In this particular escapade, a native conflict is being stirred up by his old antagonists, and he gets to go wheeling (the natives have wheels/rotors etc.) around the place to see what he can do about it.

3.5 out of 5

http://freesf.blogspot.com/2008/07/re... ( )

Best Sci-Fi Ever Written!

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.

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 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. ( )