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Retief #12
The Return of Retief
PLANET AFTER PLANE FELL TO THE REE A vast and powerful race, the Ree needed breeding room for an ever-increasing population - and their expansion plans took no account of human territory. The farmers and miners of Tip Space were helpless against the Ree invasion. Still the Terran diplomats dithered, holding back the Navy, hoping for a truce. Retief, already on probation for undiplomatic behaviour, earned himself the assignment parleying with the Ree when he urged force against them. A suicide mission? Perhaps...but Retief is Retief.
236 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1984
138 people want to read
About the author
Keith Laumer
500 books224 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 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 8, 2024
i picked this up in a used bookstore, having fond memories of this series. This is the 12th book in the series, and was written by Laumer following a stroke which kept him from writing for a couple of years. While not his best (some reviewers have said this is a rehash of previous books) I still really liked it. the Retief series was part of a trend by SF writers to be VERY satirical, and it can read somewhat over the top. I'm think of authors like Ron Goulart and John Sladek. Lamer had served in the Air Force and the diplomatic service.
Retief is a diplomat in an interstellar diplomacy corp. The series paints a very broad stroke of the incompetency of bureaucracy and the diplomatic corp. The book is very topical, and could be a commentary on today's US diplomatic approach toward Iran. I plan to go back and read some of the earlier books in the series that were written pre stroke.
Retief is a diplomat in an interstellar diplomacy corp. The series paints a very broad stroke of the incompetency of bureaucracy and the diplomatic corp. The book is very topical, and could be a commentary on today's US diplomatic approach toward Iran. I plan to go back and read some of the earlier books in the series that were written pre stroke.
August 25, 2009
Retief is possibly Science Fiction's most humorous, and also invariably triumphant, recurring character; embodying the intelligence and machismo of James Bond (Retief's portrayal on the cover art of some of the books is rather remininiscent of James Coburn as Derek Flint from the Our Man Flint movies) and the wit and behind-the scenes manipulation of P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves.
Pick up any Retief novel or short-story collection and you're in for a rollicking "Good Read"! So uncork a bottle of Bacchus Black or Bacchus Red and toast the skewering of any number of Groacci foes (rhymes with whacky) accompanied by a repast of toasted Gribble Grubbs and sliced Hoob Melons for dessert.
Pick up any Retief novel or short-story collection and you're in for a rollicking "Good Read"! So uncork a bottle of Bacchus Black or Bacchus Red and toast the skewering of any number of Groacci foes (rhymes with whacky) accompanied by a repast of toasted Gribble Grubbs and sliced Hoob Melons for dessert.
May 8, 2021
Many years ago I devoured a number of Retief novels that were at that time recently republished: they were witty, fast-paced, and imaginatively conceived send-ups of militaristic bureaucracy and the "man of action" popularized by Ian Fleming. I enjoyed them a lot for the rapid enjoyment those novels provided.
Thinking to find something similar, I read The Return of Retief, one of the novels that I hadn't previously encountered in the republished collection. Maybe it is the time that has passed and that I have changed; maybe it is Laumer's exhaustion with his own creation. In any case, what I found was a tired and rarely funny echo of those earlier novels, with the funniest idea a recurring suggestion that there is a handbook of "looks" which bureaucrats constantly perform and comment on. Otherwise, I found the characters flat and the story relatively pallid. Not something I would recommend.
Thinking to find something similar, I read The Return of Retief, one of the novels that I hadn't previously encountered in the republished collection. Maybe it is the time that has passed and that I have changed; maybe it is Laumer's exhaustion with his own creation. In any case, what I found was a tired and rarely funny echo of those earlier novels, with the funniest idea a recurring suggestion that there is a handbook of "looks" which bureaucrats constantly perform and comment on. Otherwise, I found the characters flat and the story relatively pallid. Not something I would recommend.
June 22, 2022
The Retief series is just silly, brainless stories.
July 20, 2023
Excellent command of English language. Sense of humor. Allows audience to think for themselves. While political satire plays a pivotal role herein the author doesn't get hung up in political correctness nor soppy irrelevant romanticism. Just far too short which which seems to let full development go wanting. For example, Pushy and his kind open a door to wanting more.
April 28, 2020
I was antagonizing to read this book. No real plot, poor quality writing and stupid ideas in. And the only book I have left to read is another by the same author. It can't be worse and might even be readable.
July 17, 2008
retief relief..lol!
December 15, 2014
1988 grade C-
Retief!
series book R?
Retief!
series book R?
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews