Customer Reviews

Galactic Diplomat (Jaime Retief Series #2)

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_Galactic Diplomat_ (1965) is the second collection of stories about Jame Retief of the Terran Diplomatic Corps, who manages to solve planetary problems in spite of his bungling superiors. The stories are unabashed space opera, so perhaps a few words might be in order about the changing nature of space opera over the years.

Space opera refers to a kind of colorful, romantic, action-adventure spaceship yarn. From the late 1920s through the 1940s, a kind of space opera called "classical space opera" was being written. It was done straight, or at least with a poker face, and was frequently taken very seriously by its practicioners. Prominent writers of classical space operas were E.E. Smith, Edmond Hamilton, John W. Campbell, Jr., Ray Cummings, and Jack Williamson.

But starting in the 1950s, writers had become much more conscious of the traditions of space opera. While classical space opera was not completely dead, it was in disrepute. More space opera was now being written in a tongue-in-cheek manner. It was intended to mock its own traditions, to be comical rather than serious. Writers of tongue-in-cheek space operas included Poul Anderson, Randall Garrett, Harry Harrison, Douglas Adams, and Keith Laumer. The Retief stories, of course, are in this second tradition. We aren't meant to take them too seriously.

There are nine stories in the collection, all originally published in _If_ between 1961 and 1965. The earliest story, "Courier," briefly overlaps with another series by Laumer, the Bolo stories. Retief encounters one of the deadly war machines near the end of the story. Several other good stories are "Saline Solution," which involves double and triple crosses at an asteroid mine, "Ultimatum," in which Retief's superior Magnan becomes a hero in spite of himself, "The Brass God," in which Retief becomes a human sacrifice, and "Wicker Wonderland," which deals with a tempest-tossed planet and that rarest of reptiles, a _good_ Groaci. In some of the later Retief books, Laumer forgot that his primary function was to entertain; the results were disasterous. But here he is at the top of his form. Satire and storytelling balance one another. _Galactic Diplomat_ is one of the best of the Retief books.

One of my all-time favorites, staggeringly funny. Retief, Magnan and a revolving cadre of ever-more-bizarre aliens will have your sides aching with laughter very quickly. I've never recovered from Ambassador Hindbinder's "egg sac" and neither will you, probably. It's a total MUST READ!

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