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Bolo #1-2 omnibus
The Compleat Bolo
The classic military dilemma--preventing those who defend you from turning on you--is seemingly solved with the implementation of the Bolos, mechanical servants with artificial intelligence and state-of-the-art high-tech weaponry. But when the implacable alien Deng invade Earth, the Bolos leap to the offensive with a war plan that doesn't take humanity into account.
Mass Market Paperback
First published June 1, 1990
8 people are currently reading
305 people want to read
About the author
Keith Laumer
498 books225 followersJohn Keith Laumer was an American science fiction author. Prior to becoming a full-time writer, he was an officer in the U.S. Air Force and a U.S. diplomat. His brother March Laumer was also a writer, known for his adult reinterpretations of the Land of Oz (also mentioned in Keith's The Other Side of Time).
Keith Laumer (aka J.K Laumer, J. Keith Laumer) is best known for his Bolo stories and his satirical Retief series. The former chronicles the evolution of juggernaut-sized tanks that eventually become self-aware through the constant improvement resulting from centuries of intermittent warfare against various alien races. The latter deals with the adventures of a cynical spacefaring diplomat who constantly has to overcome the red-tape-infused failures of people with names like Ambassador Grossblunder. The Retief stories were greatly influenced by Laumer's earlier career in the United States Foreign Service. In an interview with Paul Walker of Luna Monthly, Laumer states "I had no shortage of iniquitous memories of the Foreign Service."
Four of his shorter works received Hugo or Nebula Award nominations (one of them, "In the Queue", received nominations for both) and his novel A Plague of Demons was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1966.
During the peak years of 1959–1971, Laumer was a prolific science fiction writer, with his novels tending to follow one of two patterns: fast-paced, straight adventures in time and space, with an emphasis on lone-wolf, latent superman protagonists, self-sacrifice and transcendence or, broad comedies, sometimes of the over-the-top variety.
In 1971, Laumer suffered a stroke while working on the novel The Ultimax Man. As a result, he was unable to write for a few years. As he explained in an interview with Charles Platt published in The Dream Makers (1987), he refused to accept the doctors' diagnosis. He came up with an alternative explanation and developed an alternative (and very painful) treatment program. Although he was unable to write in the early 1970s, he had a number of books which were in the pipeline at the time of the stroke published during that time.
In the mid-1970s, Laumer partially recovered from the stroke and resumed writing. However, the quality of his work suffered and his career declined (Piers Anthony, How Precious Was That While, 2002). In later years Laumer also reused scenarios and characters from his earlier works to create "new" books, which some critics felt was to their detriment:
Alas, Retief to the Rescue doesn't seem so much like a new Retief novel, but a kind of Cuisnart mélange of past books.
-- Somtow Sucharitkul (Washington Post, Mar 27, 1983. p. BW11)
His Bolo creations were popular enough that other authors have written standalone science-fiction novels about them.
Laumer was also a model airplane enthusiast, and published two dozen designs between 1956 and 1962 in the U.S. magazines Air Trails, Model Airplane News and Flying Models, as well as the British magazine Aero Modeler. He published one book on the subject, How to Design and Build Flying Models in 1960. His later designs were mostly gas-powered free flight planes, and had a whimsical charm with names to match, like the "Twin Lizzie" and the "Lulla-Bi". His designs are still being revisited, reinvented and built today.
Keith Laumer (aka J.K Laumer, J. Keith Laumer) is best known for his Bolo stories and his satirical Retief series. The former chronicles the evolution of juggernaut-sized tanks that eventually become self-aware through the constant improvement resulting from centuries of intermittent warfare against various alien races. The latter deals with the adventures of a cynical spacefaring diplomat who constantly has to overcome the red-tape-infused failures of people with names like Ambassador Grossblunder. The Retief stories were greatly influenced by Laumer's earlier career in the United States Foreign Service. In an interview with Paul Walker of Luna Monthly, Laumer states "I had no shortage of iniquitous memories of the Foreign Service."
Four of his shorter works received Hugo or Nebula Award nominations (one of them, "In the Queue", received nominations for both) and his novel A Plague of Demons was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1966.
During the peak years of 1959–1971, Laumer was a prolific science fiction writer, with his novels tending to follow one of two patterns: fast-paced, straight adventures in time and space, with an emphasis on lone-wolf, latent superman protagonists, self-sacrifice and transcendence or, broad comedies, sometimes of the over-the-top variety.
In 1971, Laumer suffered a stroke while working on the novel The Ultimax Man. As a result, he was unable to write for a few years. As he explained in an interview with Charles Platt published in The Dream Makers (1987), he refused to accept the doctors' diagnosis. He came up with an alternative explanation and developed an alternative (and very painful) treatment program. Although he was unable to write in the early 1970s, he had a number of books which were in the pipeline at the time of the stroke published during that time.
In the mid-1970s, Laumer partially recovered from the stroke and resumed writing. However, the quality of his work suffered and his career declined (Piers Anthony, How Precious Was That While, 2002). In later years Laumer also reused scenarios and characters from his earlier works to create "new" books, which some critics felt was to their detriment:
Alas, Retief to the Rescue doesn't seem so much like a new Retief novel, but a kind of Cuisnart mélange of past books.
-- Somtow Sucharitkul (Washington Post, Mar 27, 1983. p. BW11)
His Bolo creations were popular enough that other authors have written standalone science-fiction novels about them.
Laumer was also a model airplane enthusiast, and published two dozen designs between 1956 and 1962 in the U.S. magazines Air Trails, Model Airplane News and Flying Models, as well as the British magazine Aero Modeler. He published one book on the subject, How to Design and Build Flying Models in 1960. His later designs were mostly gas-powered free flight planes, and had a whimsical charm with names to match, like the "Twin Lizzie" and the "Lulla-Bi". His designs are still being revisited, reinvented and built today.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
October 21, 2014
The first three Bolo books, all together in one volume. Some of the stories moved slower than others. One, however, moved me to tears. I don't know why the story of a machine giving its life should cause tears, but it did. Includes a basic primer on the origin of the Bolos.
December 26, 2014
The only people I cared about in this book were not people. They were machines. Robots. Toasters. Whatever. The people in this book, the actual human characters suck donkey balls. I mean they're just so bad. But the robots... Oh my god. Love 'em. They're articulate and intelligent. They have more feeling than any of the stupid humans running them.
This is the story of a war. A war fought mostly by robots. A war that would have been won, had the dumbfucks just let the robots do what they wanted, and whoop some motherfucking ass. But nooo.
Instead, we've got some idiot rednecks running these robots, and they don't know what the bloody fuck they're doing. And the robots even tell these guys "Hey man, we should really kill those guys over there. They're totally going to destroy us if you keep fucking around."
But the dumbfuck rednecks are too goddamn stupid to listen to the robots. "Fuck that thar robot. He ain't no nothin' 'bout na gadnumb war fightin'." That's how these rednecks talk in this book. And it's annoying as fuck.
I'm still glad I read this book. The robots are fascinating. They have real intelligence, and even feelings. They get sad when their fellow robots get destroyed. They actually fear their own demise.
The problem is, that's like 5% of this book. The rest is utter garbage. I really wish this had just been a short story about robots. Unfortunately, the robot bits are strewn within this pile of rubbish. It makes me a sad robot.
This is the story of a war. A war fought mostly by robots. A war that would have been won, had the dumbfucks just let the robots do what they wanted, and whoop some motherfucking ass. But nooo.
Instead, we've got some idiot rednecks running these robots, and they don't know what the bloody fuck they're doing. And the robots even tell these guys "Hey man, we should really kill those guys over there. They're totally going to destroy us if you keep fucking around."
But the dumbfuck rednecks are too goddamn stupid to listen to the robots. "Fuck that thar robot. He ain't no nothin' 'bout na gadnumb war fightin'." That's how these rednecks talk in this book. And it's annoying as fuck.
I'm still glad I read this book. The robots are fascinating. They have real intelligence, and even feelings. They get sad when their fellow robots get destroyed. They actually fear their own demise.
The problem is, that's like 5% of this book. The rest is utter garbage. I really wish this had just been a short story about robots. Unfortunately, the robot bits are strewn within this pile of rubbish. It makes me a sad robot.
January 16, 2013
Although I liked Laumer's Retief material, I enjoyed this more. It's a set of disconnected stories that happen to feature Bolos (A.I. Tanks), including a Retief story I hadn't read. Like Asimov's Robot stories, the concept didn't blow me away, but the writing hooked me. The Bolos were very sympathetic in some stories. Also, the stories had a pretty good variety of styles to them, especially considering the supposedly common subject matter. Some of the stories barely include a bolo, so it's a bit strange to lump them together in a book that's supposedly concentrating on them, but I found all the stories to be enjoyable. A couple of them used the style King used in Carrie, where newsclippings, quotes from officials, etc. are interspersed throughout. I'm pretty impressed by Laumer now, so I picked up Odyssey, which is a collection of some varied serious material by him. I look forward to it!
August 11, 2021
Very good collection of short stories centered around humongous battle machines called Bolo AI tanks. These colossal weapons tasked with protecting humanity are constantly being watched and sometimes threatened by that very humanity because of the very simple reason - self evolving AI wielding this much power is a total unknown to the very Bolo commanders, what if Bolo decides to go his own way? Very interesting points that are actual today - we are full of talk of self evolving AI but we actually have no clue how would it evolve and think (we are still at the dawn, maybe 11 am of finding out how human brain works - we know how to manipulate people but inner workings of brain are still not fully grasped) and we are ready to let it in our very heart, electronic systems controlling every aspect of our life. Same happens here - Bolo's are capable of leveling continents and destroying armies but they have mind of their own.
Bolo's are main protagonist here and we follow these gallant war machines as they work hard to save the humanity , even if the humanity is not aware it needs saving.
Only downside of this collection is first book (out of 2) of Rogue Bolo. While it is written ina very interesting way as a series of articles and correspondences centered around the building of Bolo tank for protection of Terran Empire that suddenly starts to make very strange decisions (from human perspective) it became very tedious read with constant switches and POV changes.
That aside pretty good collection. Recommended to all fans of SF and rmilitary robots.
Bolo's are main protagonist here and we follow these gallant war machines as they work hard to save the humanity , even if the humanity is not aware it needs saving.
Only downside of this collection is first book (out of 2) of Rogue Bolo. While it is written ina very interesting way as a series of articles and correspondences centered around the building of Bolo tank for protection of Terran Empire that suddenly starts to make very strange decisions (from human perspective) it became very tedious read with constant switches and POV changes.
That aside pretty good collection. Recommended to all fans of SF and rmilitary robots.
November 21, 2023
Not a bad collection of short stories, just not very good. I am not very familiar with Bolos- though I recall over the years reading a book or two as well as some short stories that I do not remember. The stories in this book are each stand alone, but frequently do not seem to exist in the same historical universe (with the exception of the Bolos). The short summary at the end "A Short History of the Bolo Fighting Machines" is pretty generic, and the outlines are so broad that it does not shed light on these stories- the Bolo world is certainly not comprehensive. My biggest negative is that these stories are geared toward teenage boys. The characters and world building are pretty simple- and all the characters remind me of a 1950's TV show.
If I read these when I was 12 I probably would have given this short collection a third star. They are short quick reads and frequently sentimental- geared towards 11-16 year olds. As it is I am getting old- and these stories are just not that good.
If I read these when I was 12 I probably would have given this short collection a third star. They are short quick reads and frequently sentimental- geared towards 11-16 year olds. As it is I am getting old- and these stories are just not that good.
January 24, 2017
The writing has not weathered the ravages of time as well as the machines in the stories. I enjoyed the stories whenever this paperback was published in 1990 though now on re-reading in 2017 I am finding the 1960's material to be hard to get through.
Actually the machines in writing still hold up. A little luster has gone from the durachrome hulls but their characterization is still formidable. The humans suffer the most from the change in time. Oddly the humans in the final prices, written in the late 1980's are the most painful. Whereas the first stories characters are well written and motivated but are slightly cigarette smoking and mildly chauvinistic.
Perhaps the reason is the author tried to match his style from the earlier period and it deformed the later characters, or perhaps he wrote from exceptionally old drafts without feeling a need to modernize.
The three stars is based on my enjoyment from the 90's and a mix of my disappointment from now.
Actually the machines in writing still hold up. A little luster has gone from the durachrome hulls but their characterization is still formidable. The humans suffer the most from the change in time. Oddly the humans in the final prices, written in the late 1980's are the most painful. Whereas the first stories characters are well written and motivated but are slightly cigarette smoking and mildly chauvinistic.
Perhaps the reason is the author tried to match his style from the earlier period and it deformed the later characters, or perhaps he wrote from exceptionally old drafts without feeling a need to modernize.
The three stars is based on my enjoyment from the 90's and a mix of my disappointment from now.
January 24, 2020
I much preferred David Weber's Bolo! to Laumer's original. The Compleat Bolo doesn't feel like one story, or even one universe. I was constantly confused as to the sequence of events, and at times I wondered if the different stories were completely different timelines. I understand it's an anthology, but there's so little to connect the stories that they feel like they're unrelated to one another.
May 28, 2017
I love this book, but, objectively, I have to admit it is not very well written. But it is old school science fiction. Not really space opera but close to it. Giant cybernetic tanks! Who can complain about that?
May 8, 2017
classic SF, although I found I had read most of these stories before
June 1, 2019
Do you like giant robots? Do you like them smart? Do you like to feel sorry for robots? Do you see AI dwarfing our own intelligence? Do you like heroics? Then you better read this.
November 22, 2020
A reread after many years. Just as good as it ever was.
May 11, 2022
Laumer's writing is all over the place for both style and story. At the end I was vaguely entertained but nothing I'd ever want to read again.
May 13, 2023
It's a summary...I think of the Bolo series. Heads up - read the book don't read the summary unless you're taking a test.
July 17, 2023
I love the Bolo series. Not what you expect at first glance. Really interesting stories.
April 24, 2025
Best book about giant self aware battle tanks I’ve ever read
November 2, 2016
I wondered where the famous network tank battle game Bolo (by Stuart Cheshire) got its name, and I found this during a trawl of books recommended by the tribe. It's ostensibly an account of the evolution of mechanised warfare to the point where tanks are sentient and all-but invincible. But really, it's a study of human nature. The series of stories presented in this anthology portray the Bolo as brave and honorable warriors, contrasted with the human mechanisms which are disorganised, self-destructive, self-absorbed, and when successful, accidentally so. In a sense, the machine is what the human aspires to be. But it's not as simple as that, and you should read this book to discover the subtleties.
I was initially most surprised to find that the book was first published in 1990, as it reads like it was written much earlier. However, that's the publication date of the *anthology*. The first Bolo book dates back to 1960, and that seems stylistically more accurate. I have my issues with future humans being depicted as they are today, but really, Bolo's message goes much much deeper than that.
(Special shout-out here to the episodes that are mixed-paragraph from different sources. Masterful stuff from an expert on modern culture. And hilarious!)
I was initially most surprised to find that the book was first published in 1990, as it reads like it was written much earlier. However, that's the publication date of the *anthology*. The first Bolo book dates back to 1960, and that seems stylistically more accurate. I have my issues with future humans being depicted as they are today, but really, Bolo's message goes much much deeper than that.
(Special shout-out here to the episodes that are mixed-paragraph from different sources. Masterful stuff from an expert on modern culture. And hilarious!)
March 5, 2017
Having seen and heard much about the Bolo Series, and having bought some later books in said series, I had to read the originals first... I'm sequential like that. Being a collection of stories involving sentient (AI) tanks, each one is different, but I won't get that specific here. In general the stories are well written and they are what I've come to expect from Laumer stories. The ones in this collection are not the best of his that I've read due to the dated nature of some, the lackluster finale of others, and the lack of character development in a few. I'm not saying that about all of them, just mentioning a few weak points IMO. The good points are there also, humorous situations and characters, a broad universe linked by snapshot tales, and of course the hero Bolos themselves... always dedicated, honorable, patient and self-sacrificing. I call this one a Good Read and will be reading more in the series.
April 1, 2015
I’ve always enjoyed Keith Laumer, especially his Retief series.
I got hooked on the Bolo short stories a couple of decades ago. This book encompasses a number of the old Bolo stories along with some I’ve never seen before (including one that includes my old friend, Retief).
For some reason, probably because I’ve read some of them before, the stories didn’t grab me the way they did before. Certainly not because of a lack of plot and style. There’s even a couple that bring the same sort of lump to my throat that I get when faced with true (and fictional) war heroes who do their duty for all the right reasons, even if it might mean getting themselves killed.
If you like that sort of story and also get off on “muscle cars” and other monster machines, this is the book for you. I’m going to hang onto my copy and read it again in a few years, if I’m still around then.
I got hooked on the Bolo short stories a couple of decades ago. This book encompasses a number of the old Bolo stories along with some I’ve never seen before (including one that includes my old friend, Retief).
For some reason, probably because I’ve read some of them before, the stories didn’t grab me the way they did before. Certainly not because of a lack of plot and style. There’s even a couple that bring the same sort of lump to my throat that I get when faced with true (and fictional) war heroes who do their duty for all the right reasons, even if it might mean getting themselves killed.
If you like that sort of story and also get off on “muscle cars” and other monster machines, this is the book for you. I’m going to hang onto my copy and read it again in a few years, if I’m still around then.
April 28, 2014
Only recently came across this author after trawling through various searches for classic sci-fi.
Have read PAVANE which was a bit of a chore, so I didn't expect this to be any better but for the military/war aspect to this collection of stories, loosely connected though they were, so not total Bolo O.K
I don't normally read too much into the meanings or go too deep into the stories as a rule but it was easy to see the similarities between the Bolos and Vietnam vets.
On the whole a good collection of military tales though saying that the Retief story seemed oddly out of place as the Bolo in that story only made a cameo appearance and only lasted a paragraph or two.
Have read PAVANE which was a bit of a chore, so I didn't expect this to be any better but for the military/war aspect to this collection of stories, loosely connected though they were, so not total Bolo O.K
I don't normally read too much into the meanings or go too deep into the stories as a rule but it was easy to see the similarities between the Bolos and Vietnam vets.
On the whole a good collection of military tales though saying that the Retief story seemed oddly out of place as the Bolo in that story only made a cameo appearance and only lasted a paragraph or two.
March 24, 2014
The Bolo series explores the future of Tanks in combat. Keith does a great job of taking something that ought to be boring, a hunk of metal designed to cart around a cannon, and weaving a story of the lives touched by war. His heroes are always someone I can empathise with and care about. The stories about the machines that stand with them, and between them and harm, are favourites of mine.
I'm going to cut this review short. I have to go start work on my own Bolo Restartus prototype ;)
I'm going to cut this review short. I have to go start work on my own Bolo Restartus prototype ;)
February 27, 2023
It's the start of a universe, not necessarily the best stories in-and-of itself. One thing that does really confuse me is that the first half of this book seems to be the same story as that in the Stars Must wait... but shorter. Like he expanded it later. I don't see that shown anywhere in any descriptions, though.
July 11, 2014
Quick paced military action SciFi stories. Entertaining and sometimes quite moving, if not particularly thought-provoking. The I/machine perspective is very interesting in it's differences from, and yet insight into, human nature. He manages to avoid the stereotypical "machine turns on man" theme, which is kind of refreshing. An enjoyable afternoon or evening read.
December 6, 2009
Subpar compared to other Keith Laumer books. If it was a single novel, I would not have bothered to finish the book. Here I kept reading, hoping that the next story would be good, but only a couple of them are half decent. Most are terrible.
February 25, 2015
A good round up of classic science fiction based around the 'Bolo' tanks which happen to have a complex, and intelligent, system running on board. A sort of "what is it like to be a weapon of war if that weapon could tell you". A solid read.
January 15, 2008
Good, solid sci-fi. A classic series that inspired the OGRE game and perhaps even the Terminator films. I was surprised how much I liked these stories. Some of them were downright poignant.
April 22, 2008
An interesting twist on man versus machine.
Want to read
May 20, 2016webscription
January 9, 2012
I mainly read this for the Rogue Bolo stories as I have had for a long time the original Bolo book.
May 12, 2012
The original and best....
October 24, 2008
Nothing special here, move along.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews