Keith Laumer Super Pack (Positronic Super Pack Book 44)

Keith Laumer is among the most popular authors of a generation back.He writes stories that will lead you to understand our diplomatic services and our diplomats. Retief is.not a typical diplomat.

I’ve been reading a bit of classic science fiction lately, after a long absence from the genre, and a friend mentioned Laumer as a classic writer from out youth. While he does have some clever ideas, most of this is the sort of heavy-handed writing seen in the pulp magazines of the 50s and 60s rather than the more modern writing of later years. It’s fun, but I find myself skipping a lot of stories after reading a few pages. Still, it’s so cheap in this format that it’s worth buying just to get a taste of the author.

I encountered a short story about Retief in a Sci-Fi anthology and was instantly in awe of the character. I purchased this collection of stories and novellas by Keith Laumer, and am very glad to have done so. Both the stories about Retief and stand alone characters are full of deep philosphical meaning, fantastic adventures, discussions of quantum physics and manifestation of thoughts, written in clear and vivid language. There is something in this book for everyone. I'll be buying more books by Keith Laumer.

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.

Keith Laumer is very variable in quality, his best work is superb and his pot-boilers lazy and sloppy. This has them all. But he is a thinking man and his best ideas are heroic.

Retief is one of my favorite characters. In "Diplomat at Arms" we see a deeper more complex character than usual. An older Retief with moments of self-doubt. Good sci fi puts realistic human characters in unusual environments. Laumer creates different worlds and cultures with practiced ease. Reader beware that Laumer's works are repackaged under different titles a lot. It is too easy to buy a collection that duplicates what you already have.

I had forgotten how well Keith Laumer crafted his RETIEF and BOLO tales. This is a clever & cheap way to try out some of the best in older SF. I found several short stories which I had missed when they were 1st published. The only problem is with typos.

I already had most of these books, but I enjoyed reading them again. You have to admire his knowledge, he brings diplomacy to life.