Retief! (A Collection of Stories) [Mass Market Paperback]

Keith Laumer (Author), Eric Flint (Compiler)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: Baen (January 2, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671318578
• ISBN-13: 978-0671318574
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,171,034 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Diplomacy Saves the Galaxy--Sort Of, March 28, 2003

By 

Chrijeff (Scranton, PA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Retief! (A Collection of Stories) (Mass Market Paperback)

Keith Laumer is among my favorite writers of "light" sf, and these three books, the first in the long series (13 volumes that I know of, counting each original volume as one) of Retief adventures, show why. Filled with sharp pokes at government bureaucracy (Laumer himself was connected with it for many years and knew whereof he wrote), they follow the wild adventures of Jaime Retief, a member of the Corps Diplomatique Terrestrienne with more than a touch of James Bond in his makeup. Constantly redeeming his superiors' blunders, usually by making an end run around the "accepted" way of doing things, he bounces in and out of serious bodily peril and thwarts at every turn the machinations of the Groaci, whispering five-eyed aliens with a penchant for torture and a thirst for universal domination. (The books were originally published in 1963, 1965, and 1968, in the very heart of the Cold War, which suggests that these villainous beings were intended as an analogue of the Communists.) Yet the stories never take themselves too seriously, and very little happens that couldn't safely be shared with a child. I've collected Retief religiously, and joyously, for some 30 years, and I don't regret a bit of it. You won't either.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Ain't nobody as peaceful as a dead troublemaker.", January 17, 2002

By 

Dr. van der Linden (Williamstown, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Retief! (A Collection of Stories) (Mass Market Paperback)

Edited and compiled by Eric Flint, and with a foreword by David Drake, this book is one of the best buys Baen has offered in a long time. In addition to "Diplomat-at-Arms" (the first-written of the Retief stories, and one of the hardest to find), this compilation includes the entire short novel *Retief's War* (whence we draw the immortal quotation recapitulated above). Flint did a fine job of ordering the stories contained in this book, and did even more shortly thereafter (including collecting Laumer's adventure stories in *Odyssey* and a non-Retief anthology of *The Lighter Side* of Laumer's work).

I grew up reading the Retief stories in *Astounding*, and I'm grateful to Flint (and Baen Books) for having given us the chance to revisit so much of the best of Laumer's stuff in this volume.

...

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Undiplomatic Diplomat, April 14, 2002

By 

Elliott (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Retief! (A Collection of Stories) (Mass Market Paperback)

I first came across the Retief stories in Analog/Astounding in the early '60's. They were greatly enjoyable then, and still retain their pleasure.

Unfortunately, we can see from current events that diplomats still screw up international relations, which makes these stories topical today.

Retief is a very junior diplomat when these stories begin(as edited and arranged by Eric Flint) and they follow him through his career. He never rises very high, because he is more concerned with results than appearances. As a result, he gets the job done, but never finds approval of his superiors, who are only concerned with how it looks.

Laumer's foreign service experience makes these stories quite effective. I only wish we had more diplomats like Retief, instead of what we have.

His characters act believably, even if the situations are somewhat unbelievable. Then, I remember the history of the second half of the 20th century, and the situations become quite believable. They are both enjoyable as stories and as satire, and the humor is quite good.