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Keith Laumer Super Pack
Collected here for the first time in this massive omnibus collection are three novels and twenty-two short stories by multiple Hugo and Nebular Award nominated author, Keith Laumer. That’s more than nine hundred pages of top notch adventure science fiction. This book is jammed packed with some of Laumer’s best work including stories set in both the Retief and Bolo series. Laumer’s experience as an officer in the United States Air Force and a diplomat in the Foreign Service shines through in many of these stories. One of science fiction’s true luminaries. This is the largest collection of Laumer’s work ever assembled in one binding. If you enjoyed this book, you’ll want to search on “Positronic Publishing Super Pack” and check out all our other Super Packs! Included Greylorn Worlds of the Imperium Doorstep The King of the City The Frozen Planet Gambler’s World The Yillian Way The Madman from Earth Retief of the Red-Tape Mountain A Trace of Memory Aide Memoire Cultural Exchange The Desert and the Stars Cocoon It Could Be Anything The Walls Saline Solution The Long Remembered Thunder A Hoax in Time End as a Hero The Star-Sent Knaves Mightiest Qorn The Night of the Trolls The Governor of Glave Diplomat-at-Arms
- GenresScience Fiction
994 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 29, 2020
About the author
Keith Laumer
502 books229 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 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 5, 2021
This is a good collection of Mr. Laumer's work, even though it contains no Bolos. Retief is well-represented, including a couple that I had never read before (I'm as astonished as you are!). Well worth the insanely low price and numerous typos.
If you haven't read any Laumer, this would be a good place to start. Mr. Laumer served in the US Air Force and as a diplomat, thus his stories of Jame Retief, of the Corps Diplomatique Terrestrienne, are often extremely pointed and howlingly funny.
Highly recommended.
If you haven't read any Laumer, this would be a good place to start. Mr. Laumer served in the US Air Force and as a diplomat, thus his stories of Jame Retief, of the Corps Diplomatique Terrestrienne, are often extremely pointed and howlingly funny.
Highly recommended.
June 11, 2021
LOVED THE BOOK -TOO MANY TYPOS
Terrific collection of Keith Laumer's work, but the numerous typos are really distracting. Couldn't even report them all. Sadly, this series has a lot of silly typos. They need better proofreaders.
Terrific collection of Keith Laumer's work, but the numerous typos are really distracting. Couldn't even report them all. Sadly, this series has a lot of silly typos. They need better proofreaders.
March 21, 2022
Quite complete.
Three novels and several short stories. No bolo stories which was disappointing. But three retief stories I hadn't seen before. Laumer was a big believer in the idea that individuals could turn the wheel of time . These stories are heavy on action and derring do.
Three novels and several short stories. No bolo stories which was disappointing. But three retief stories I hadn't seen before. Laumer was a big believer in the idea that individuals could turn the wheel of time . These stories are heavy on action and derring do.
July 3, 2025
A Great Read!
Laumer never disappoints. Classic, intriguing stories that are well-told and entertaining. The final story is particularly riveting and a fitting end to the Retief stories. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys old-school science fiction.
Laumer never disappoints. Classic, intriguing stories that are well-told and entertaining. The final story is particularly riveting and a fitting end to the Retief stories. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys old-school science fiction.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews