Imperium (Hardcover)

by Keith Laumer (Author), Eric Flint (Editor)
Key Phrases: Imperial Intelligence, Colonel Bayard, Mother Goodwill (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Three complete novels of cross-time action and suspense by Keith Laumer, grand master of science fiction adventure. Brion Bayard was an American diplomat . . . until he was kidnapped on the streets of Stockholm, and thrust into what he thought was a truck. At first, he was relieved to find that his abductors were very apologetic, and very British. Then they began speaking about nations and leaders which Bayard had never heard of. That was understandable, they told him, because they were from Earth, but not his Earth. There are millions or more parallel Earths, each different in some slight way from the other, where history has taken every possible turn, where the heirs of Napoleon rule Europe, where King John tore the Magna Carta to shreds and executed those who had presented him with it, even one where the ancestors of Homo sapiens lost the evolutionary struggle to another upright ape, who became the dominant intelligent lifeform. But mostly there are uninhabitable worlds, destroyed by the discovery of the technology to travel from one parallel Earth to another and the misuse of it. The Earth of the Imperium is at war with another parallel Earth and Bayard can stop the war by killing the ruler of the aggressor Earth and replacing him-because the ruler is a parallel version of Bayard. But when Bayard goes on his mission to the alternate Earth, things don't turn out to be quite that simple. And that was only the beginning of Bayard's adventures as he defends his new homeworld, both from internal enemies and invaders from the other side of time, becoming the staunchest and most resourceful defender of the Imperium! Publisher's Note: Imperium has previously appeared in parts as Worlds of the Imperium, Assignment in Nowhere and The Other Side of Time. This is the first unitary edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Baen (May 3, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743499034
• ISBN-13: 978-0743499033
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #910,956 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Reminder Of A Writer Too Often Forgotten, April 29, 2008

By	Peter Dykhuis (Grandville, MI USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I picked this novel up with some trepidation. I am not usually one who enjoys omnibus editions of older works. I can get prejudiced by three or four supposed novels only taking up about 300 pages total. In this case there are three novels written by a writer who once was of some fame who is today nearly forgotten. Keith Laumer.

The books all deal with the concept of parallel universes. The concept is relatively well thought out by Laumer and given to us in more detail then I expected he would do in such short novels. The stories deal with the conflicts played out between the worlds of these parallel universes and how they impact each other both knowingly and unknowingly.

Overall I thought this was a really good read. The pace of the stories was fast and what one would expect of a tightly written story. It always amazes me how much thicker today's science fiction novels tend to be versus those of 30 or 40 years ago. Could it be as simple as the art of tight writing and a strong editor are lost today?

The characters are not that strongly developed and this seems to be the sacrifice Laumer makes to keep the stories to the point. The characters are developed only as absolutely necessary to the story so of course the only character we are attuned to is the single main character.

Of the three books in this omnibus I enjoyed the first two the best. The last had the main character in it but as a supporting role. I did not think the third book was written as strongly as the other two.

This was the first time I remember reading Laumer although his works have been on my bookshelf for years. The experience was one that I enjoyed enough that the next book I picked up to read was Laumer's Legions of Space.

I recommended and if you enjoy the genre at all I think you will enjoy the novel as well.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars classic tales of multi-universal hopping, March 8, 2007

By	W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This book reprints 3 classic stories by Laumer, about alternate history and a multi-universe spanning organisation. If you have read and enjoyed the works of H Beam Piper and his Paratime universes, and Poul Anderson's Time Patrol, then Laumer's stories will be a great treat.

The first story of the book starts off the series, explaining how an American diplomat in our universe, in the years after World War 2, gets kidnapped by the Imperium, based in a Sweden [!sic] that benignly rules another Earth. The stories are now some 40 years old. But they hold up well. Plenty of action, without drowning you in the cyberpunk pervasive computing of more recent science fiction. Laumer had a gift for combining the spy novel with high technology in a fluid synthesis that sweeps the reader along.

The only pity is that Laumer never wrote many stories in this series.

Flint and the publisher are to be thanked for bringing these stories back into print for a new generation of readers.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great classical SF multiversal yarn , August 6, 2006

By	Ventura Angelo (Brescia, Lombardia Italy) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I just love tales of parallel universes and time-travel, and this classic by Keith Laumer is one of the best of the genre, rich both in action and in daring speculations. Intriguing as Paratime by H. Beam Piper and Time Patrol by Poul Anderson. A must have for the transdimensional SF fan!