Retief!

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.

This book was so enjoyable, funny, well written, entertaining, and compelling that I read it in one sitting. Then I walked several miles to the nearest used book store and bought every novel by Keith Laumer they had. Didn't even have to feel guilty, since all of them were out of print. But this book is so much worth the price... it's just funny! Unfortunately I think it's sometimes too close to home, especially the story about "Retief of the Mountain of Red Tape".

Most SF readers have heard of Laumer's Retief series. Many of them have read some of them. There've been compilations, sets, and short stories release for years. This time, however, Baen and Mssr's Flint and Drake have done a wonderful job compiling some of the best (and hardest to find) Retief stories in one place. If you've never read Retief, try it - you'll like it. And this is a great way to get your feet wet.

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.

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. ...