Keith Laumer (1925–1993)

Laumer, Keith. Retief: Envoy to New Worlds. 1963. Retief No. 1. Baen, 1987.
Imagine that James Bond turned in his license to kill for a good course in martial arts and a career in extraterrestrial diplomacy. That brings you close to Keith Laumer’s Retief. He is a diplomat in Earth’s Corps Diplomatique Terrestrienne. Their job is to spread goodwill to new races and keep their interstellar competitors from gaining influence. The Corps suffers from a bad case of red tape and rank inflation, show more but in any given mission, whatever his putative rank, Retief is always the third man in the diplomatic pecking order. At the top is a self-absorbed, grossly incompetent ambassador. The satirical attack on him reminded me of Joseph Heller’s satire of the military in Catch 22, published just two years before Envoy to New Worlds. The ambassador’s second in command is the well-meaning but none-too-bright Magnan. Retief is always Magnan’s subordinate. Magnan is often assigned to keep Retief out of trouble but usually needs to be rescued himself. Retief is observant and can always tell the good guys from the baddies, because unlike his colleagues, he bothers to learn the alien languages. He is always the epitome of cool. Retief began, I think, as a character in the science fiction pulps. Laumer recycled the stories in several collections, and the character became a 30-year favorite. This earliest collection was fun to reread. 4 stars. show less

Written at the beginning of Laumer's peak in popularity, A Trace of Memory is a fast-paced adventure/thriller mystery about a lone-wolf human aiding and befriending a stranded humanoid alien on Earth. Legion is a layabout itinerant worker with former Army intelligence training, who uses an opaque job posting in the paper to avoid going to jail. Foster, the large and imposing man who posted the advertisement (seeking a willing companion for an unspecified adventure) suffers from long-term show more amnesia, but possesses an indestructible journal with indecipherable hints as to his history.

The novel version of A Trace of Memory still roughly contains the three chunks that it was serialized in, all told through the first person perspective of Legion. Unfortunately, some of these chunks are better drawn than others. Perhaps the best of the three is the first, where the majority of Foster's identity is unraveled through high-action drama. The pair travel to Stonehenge, battle mysterious life-stealing orbs, and cope with Foster's sudden rejuvenation into a younger body. Laumer throws lots of twists and turns into the mix which keeps things fresh and exciting, diverting attention away from a plot that suffers from a lot of conveniences and believability issues. The middle third is by comparison more bland, bridging the gap between more interesting plot threads with Legion's rise to wealth exploiting some of Foster's alien technology. Doing so exposes him to the fury of U.S. and Russian government agencies, which he predictably escapes the clutches of by seeking asylum on his friend's distant world.

The climactic final portion is certainly the most interesting from an ideas perspective but is also messy and less coherent than the other two. Foster's alien culture has achieved near immortality through bodily rejuvenation and memory transference, though it's implied that his species and humans come from the same stock, the difference being that they developed an inoculation against a disease that causes aging in both body and mind. Because of their longevity, they have the continuity required to develop a better form of society and high technology. It is in describing this culture that Laumer can tend towards clunky, mystifying passages. Unfortunately for Legion, the society he finds on the planet has fallen from these heights into a more socially mobile version of medieval earth, complete with feudal territories, slavery, despot kings, and war. Legion must climb the social ladder and find Foster while trying to unleash the potential that he knows exist within this alien world.

Unlike a lot of serialized adventure stories of the time, the central relationship is not one between a macho hero and a witless princess. The camaraderie between Foster and Legion is at the core of the novel, and with it comes a certain brand of uncontained optimism about human endurance and ingenuity. Despite seemingly insurmountable odds Legion never seriously doubts his ability to overcome his circumstances. Even when faced with certain death, Legion's internal monologue comforts him with the thought that at least he tried his best for his friend. Legion ends up sacrificing a lot for his friendship with Foster, but is ultimately rewarded for it.

Legion's biblical name suggests even more positivity, implying that most people (at least men) are capable of great achievements despite their mortal failings and limitations. Legion himself, however, suffers from an unbearable case of being a smartass, who is unable to stop himself from responding to every circumstance or question with dated zingers (like comparing Foster's forgotten spaceship to a taxi parked with the meter running). I could practically hear the drum sting implied with these lines which left me seriously distracted.

A Trace of Memory is a decent but unimpressive showing from Laumer, and from what I understand typical of his trappings and style. Despite some of the novelties it has in comparison to pulp contemporaries, it doesn't come off as very memorable or remarkable. Best fit for a brainless action/SF movie. show less

A mixed bag of mid 1960s SF that demonstrates both the prevalent weaknesses of SF of that time and the occasional item of interest. Laumer was one of the more popular American authors of that period, famous primarily for two series of stories and novels: The cynical Retief series about an ambassador to the stars, and the Bolo series about a variety of large intelligent war machines.

This collection has one of the early Bolo stories, The Last Command. Implausible in set up (a Bolo has been show more buried and somehow forgotten until a highway project awakens it and it begins a slow trek to destroy the nearest city) and very imitative of Heinlein in characterization, it's an enjoyable read that could make an OK action film.

Most of the other stories that are either throwaways with premises that exist solely to set up a punchline or crisis (Prototaph, The Exterminator, Mind Out of Time), or bad action-adventures, including the impossible to follow pulp detective style Worldmaster, the forgettable colonist rebellion piece Founder's Day, and the anti-abortion screed The Lawgiver. These stories are aall male, all white, with minimal world development, and of no value today.

Then there's the title story, Once There Was a Giant. While still all male, this would fit in with any collection of modern space opera. The story is pared down to just two people. Time is taken to develop relationships. Much is left unsaid. When technology appears, it operates at time scales and energies beyond human, but never dominates the story. Info dumps are avoided. Background information is held and revealed at the natural moment.

While the collection is not recommended, Once There Was a Giant is. show less

The set up here is that each contributing author has a short narrative to begin, and they must finish the story from there - the given narrative has a character going into a government administered euthanasia center and accepts his fate. But what fate? The best of the stories comes from [[Poul Anderson]], a surprise for me because I haven't otherwise enjoyed his work. Anderson takes the character through multiple, ever-changing iterations of an after-life - the purpose, to learn from these show more varying waters how to keep the destabilizing world on track. [[Harlan Ellison]]'s take was near undigestible altogether. The other three were passable, if a little strained for working too hard at the tasking. On balance, I expected more from these luminaries.

2 bones!! show less