Retief! by Keith Laumer

Today I'm looking at an anthology of Keith Laumer writings, Retief!, which follows the adventures of galactic diplomat Jame Retief as he works to simultaneously ensure peace in the galaxy and subvert the orders of his superiors at the Corps Diplomatique Terrestrine. The reason I first picked up this book was because it was written by Keith Laumer, who as you probably remember was also the creator of the Bolo books which I am such a fan of. This book includes references to concepts Laumer used such as Bolos and the Concordiat but appears to exist in a slightly different universe. However this is definitely more of the pulp sci-fi action that I enjoy perhaps a little too much.

The Corps Diplomatique Terrestrine is a galactic organization with the missions of ensuring harmony between human-settled worlds, as well as protecting human interests in dealings with alien species. However the CDT as an organization has a distressing habit of being hidebound, corrupt, unimaginative, and desperately out of touch with conditions on the ground. It is perhaps only through the actions of imaginative field agents such as Retief that the CDT experiences any success whatsoever.

I will say that these stories are in many ways incredibly dated. Retief is a typical sci-fi action protagonist: ladies' man, habitual drinker, crack shot, skilled hand-to-hand fighter, smarter than his bosses, and able to develop instant rapport with the native species he encounters. In some ways you could call him a future space version of James Bond, but with slightly more emphasis on diplomacy than on spying. Not to say that this is inherently a bad thing, I rather enjoy the pulpy nature of this book as well as some of the older James Bond films. But that means that this book definitely shows its age. There are a couple of other examples where these stories definitely feel like they were written in the sixties, such as stating a ship full of women would march through a jungle in spike heels. At best it's an unfunny ''women amirite'' joke that's aged horribly. That was the worst example I could think of, but it does put a definite date on the book.

In hindsight, I have to admit Retief seems to do a lot of his negotiating at a barrel of a gun, whether literally or figuratively. There are some examples where he shifts CDT paperwork around and uses the bureaucracy to his advantage and to hinder his opponents, but for the most part a lot of his negotiating is done through violence. I don't know if that makes him a very good diplomat, after all the saying of the Foundation was ''Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.'' But for me that makes exciting reading.

Ultimately I have to say that this book is what it is. It's a lot of pulp sci-fi action adventures and if you like that sort of thing this will definitely be the sort of book for you. If you're not a fan or want something a little more introspective then I'd suggest looking somewhere else.

- Kalpar