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Keith Laumer: The Lighter Side
Two complete novels in one volume feature hapless heroes caught in an out-of-kilter spacetime clockwork: Chester W. Chester IV, who has inherited his great-grandfather's lifework--a super computer that can bring any situation or time to life; and Roger Tyson, who is being pursued through time by a motorcycle-riding, rutabaga-like alien in a world where eras millions of years apart have been combined into an insane smorgasbord of eons.
Contains:
In the Queue
The Planet Wreckers
The Body Builders
The Devil You Don't
The Exterminator (aka "A Bad Day for Vermin")
The Big Show
Goobereality
Prototaph
The Great Time Machine Hoax
Contains:
In the Queue
The Planet Wreckers
The Body Builders
The Devil You Don't
The Exterminator (aka "A Bad Day for Vermin")
The Big Show
Goobereality
Prototaph
The Great Time Machine Hoax
512 pages, ebook
First published April 30, 2002
5 people are currently reading
515 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.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
June 19, 2009
"In the Queue" was nice, but the few others I sat through weren't worth it and I abandoned this. It's nice to know I have some capacity for limiting the crap I read.
You may enjoy it if you're the type who listens to novelty songs about Star Trek.
You may enjoy it if you're the type who listens to novelty songs about Star Trek.
July 4, 2019
Different short stories of varying lengths tended to disappear like ice in the desert: once you started reading, the time flew and the tales melted behind you as you finished each one. This book is a keeper for re-reading purposes.
April 9, 2025
This is a collection of ten stories of varying lengths (including two novellas), originally published between 1964 and 1970.
Keith Laumer (1925–1993) normally wrote sf of a more serious kind, but I suppose the environment of the 1960s sometimes inspired him to let off steam in a wackier mode, and here are the results.
At first reading, I found the stories imaginative and mildly entertaining; I’m not sure how rereadable they’ll be.
Some reviewers have commented that the stories are dated and sexist. If you sit down to read sf written in the 1960s by a writer born in 1925, what else would you expect? It would be more remarkable and worthy of comment if Laumer had managed to write timeless and unsexist stories.
Keith Laumer (1925–1993) normally wrote sf of a more serious kind, but I suppose the environment of the 1960s sometimes inspired him to let off steam in a wackier mode, and here are the results.
At first reading, I found the stories imaginative and mildly entertaining; I’m not sure how rereadable they’ll be.
Some reviewers have commented that the stories are dated and sexist. If you sit down to read sf written in the 1960s by a writer born in 1925, what else would you expect? It would be more remarkable and worthy of comment if Laumer had managed to write timeless and unsexist stories.
February 21, 2017
Very, very dated humor. The female characters are, for the most part, simpering idiots.
As with any short story collection, has its decent ones and its poor ones, but the decent ones aren't all that good either, at least in my opinion, so skip it and go read something more interesting.
As with any short story collection, has its decent ones and its poor ones, but the decent ones aren't all that good either, at least in my opinion, so skip it and go read something more interesting.
August 14, 2012
Previously read October 2003
Another freebie from the Baen Free Library.
Since I read this e-book in moments snatched here & there over the past few months - it's difficult to recall some of the material. "In the Queue" is a pointed look at bureaucracy, and "The Planet Wreckers" is film noirish, with a twist that you may have seen on South Park, of all places.
"The Body Builders" gives us a look at society where you can replace your physical body with various makes & models at will, and yes, Kurt Vonnegut wrote something along these lines, too. (Amusingly enough - I read this story while attending physical therapy for knee problems...)
The last story - "The Great Time Machine Hoax" was basically two stories in one - the protagonist discovers a priceless treasure in his eccentric grandfather's home; the repercussions of its discovery include him ending up in a situation that reminded me of Heinlein's "Coventry".
I had some difficulty following "Time Trap", which may have been intentional on Laumer's part.
I might have enjoyed this collection a little more had I read it in a more contiguous manner; although I still think the Retief stories are Laumer's legacy to SF(I haven't yet read any of the Bolo series, so forgive my prejudice)
I do recommend picking up this book in a library, or a used bookstore or via the aforementioned Baen Free Library.
Another freebie from the Baen Free Library.
Since I read this e-book in moments snatched here & there over the past few months - it's difficult to recall some of the material. "In the Queue" is a pointed look at bureaucracy, and "The Planet Wreckers" is film noirish, with a twist that you may have seen on South Park, of all places.
"The Body Builders" gives us a look at society where you can replace your physical body with various makes & models at will, and yes, Kurt Vonnegut wrote something along these lines, too. (Amusingly enough - I read this story while attending physical therapy for knee problems...)
The last story - "The Great Time Machine Hoax" was basically two stories in one - the protagonist discovers a priceless treasure in his eccentric grandfather's home; the repercussions of its discovery include him ending up in a situation that reminded me of Heinlein's "Coventry".
I had some difficulty following "Time Trap", which may have been intentional on Laumer's part.
I might have enjoyed this collection a little more had I read it in a more contiguous manner; although I still think the Retief stories are Laumer's legacy to SF(I haven't yet read any of the Bolo series, so forgive my prejudice)
I do recommend picking up this book in a library, or a used bookstore or via the aforementioned Baen Free Library.
January 25, 2013
I'm rereading a bunch of the old paperback SF that I have another dozen boxes of to go through and get rid of most of. What one finds when rereading old Keith Laumer is that a little bit goes a long way, and that rereading an entire volume gets tiresome. It's dated, it's sexist, it's not nearly as funny as it all seemed back in the 60s when I was reading it in Galaxy magazine as a teenager. The cover illustration, a giant rutabaga on a motorcycle, is pretty funny, and a few pages of the story it illustrates are funny as well ("The rutabaga! It's still alive - and after me!")
Best taken in small doses.
Best taken in small doses.
January 18, 2012
Did not enjoy this book. With that said, I always find some short story books difficult to read as I cannot keep my attention on different characters and plots; I lose interest. I find his writing a little dull and found myself scheming just to be able to finish the book (I cannot stand leaving a book I've started reading unfinished.
August 13, 2010
I found this collection of short stories/novellas to be a mixed bag. Some were clever, some were interesting, but some were pretty corny/forced in their attempts at humor. I ended up skipping over a couple of the stories, while quite enjoying some of the others.
March 2, 2014
Tapping the vein in the screwball comedy genius of Keith Laumer, the most popular science fiction writer and creator of the Retief series, this volume contains two complete novels of hapless heroes caught in out-of-kilter spacetime clockwork. (May)
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August 22, 2008Keith Laumer: The Lighter Side by Keith Laumer (2002)
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January 9, 2010baen ebook
February 9, 2010
Some interesting ideas in this book, but nothing spectacular.
August 20, 2010
Some great stories, some not so great, but all at least interesting.
March 6, 2011
Crazy book.
May 1, 2011
More humorous stories in fast, hard-boiled prose from Keith Laumer. Well worth a read.
September 3, 2012
Laumer���s funnier side; short stories and novellas.
January 30, 2009
Had a hard time getting into this bbok. Finally dropped it and went on to something else.
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May 20, 2015Time-Travel
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews