Keith Laumer

Keith Laumer

Keith Laumer c. 1966
Born (1925-06-09)June 9, 1925
Syracuse, New York, United States[1]
Died January 23, 1993(1993-01-23) (aged 67)
Occupation Novelist, short story author
Genre Science fiction
Laumer's novel Worlds of the Imperium was serialized in Fantastic in 1961.
Laumer's "The Yillian Way", a "Retief" story, took the cover of the January 1962 issue of If
Laumer's novel A Trace of Memory was serialized in Amazing Stories in 1962.
Laumer's "Cocoon" was the cover story for the December 1962 issue of Fantastic
Laumer's novelette "End as a Hero" took the cover of the June 1963 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction

John Keith Laumer (June 9, 1925 – January 23, 1993) was an American science fiction author. Prior to becoming a full-time writer, he was an officer in the United States Air Force and a diplomat in the United States Foreign Service.[2] His older brother March Laumer was also a writer, known for his adult reinterpretations of the Land of Oz (also mentioned in Laumer's The Other Side of Time). Frank Laumer, their youngest brother, is a historian and writer.

Writing career

Keith Laumer is known for the Bolo and Retief stories. Stories from the former chronicle the evolution of super 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 US Foreign Service. In an interview with Paul Walker of Luna Monthly, Laumer states "I had no shortage of iniquitous memories of the Foreign Service."

In addition to his Bolo and Retief stories, Laumer's more serious adventures included the subjects of time travel and alternate-world adventures such as found in his The Other Side Of Time, A Trace Of Memory, and Dinosaur Beach.

Four of his shorter works received Hugo or Nebula Award nominations ("In the Queue", was nominated for both) and his novel A Plague of Demons (1965) received a nomination for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1966.

During the peak years of 1959–1971, Laumer was a prolific science fiction writer. His novels and stories tend to follow one of three patterns:

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 Dream Makers Volume II (1983), 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 published which had been unpublished at the time of the stroke.

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 re-used scenarios and characters from earlier works to create new books, which one critic felt limited their appeal:

Alas, Retief to the Rescue doesn't seem so much like a new Retief novel, but a kind of Cuisinart mélange of past books.
—Somtow Sucharitkul (The Washington Post, March 27, 1983. p. BW11)

His Bolo creations were popular enough that other authors have written standalone science-fiction novels about them.

An anthology "Created by Keith Laumer", Dangerous Vegetables, appeared in 1998. Actually edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Charles G. Waugh, the book's introduction (by Ben Bova) said the book was Laumer's idea but that he had died without completing it.

Model airplane designer

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 Aeromodeller. 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.

Bibliography

Bolo

Books concerning the Bolo self-aware tanks. Co-author book credits also indicated at Bolo Self-aware Tank.

Retief

Satirical adventures of Retief, the galactic diplomat. Most are collections; novels are shown as (n).

Imperium

Books set in the Imperium mythos: a continuum of parallel worlds policed by the Imperium, a government based in an alternate Stockholm. In the science fiction novel Worlds of the Imperium, the Imperium is formed in an alternate history where the American Revolution did not occur, and the British Empire and Germany merged into a unified empire in 1900. The protagonist, American diplomat Brion Bayard, is kidnapped by the Imperium because the Brion Bayard in a third parallel Earth is waging war against his abductors. Further adventures follow after Bayard decides to remain in the service of the Imperium.

Time Trap

Lafayette O'Leary

A comic equivalent of the Imperium mythos, in which the hero has the ability to travel to feudal/magical alternate Earths.

The Avengers (based on the TV series)

The Invaders (original novels based on the TV series)

Standalone books

Collections

Non-genre

Comics

Mad Dog Graphics: Keith Laumer's Retief

  1. Policy (1987)
  2. Sealed Orders (1987)
  3. Protest Note (1987)
  4. Saline Solution (1987)
  5. Ultimatum (1988)
  6. The Forest in the Sky (1988)

Adventure Comics: Keith Laumer's Retief

  1. The Peace Makers (1989)
  2. Ballots and Bandits (1990)
  3. Mechanical Advantage (1990)
  4. Aide Memoire (1990)
  5. Wicker Wonderland (1990)

Adventure Comics: Retief and the Warlords

Adventure Comics: Retief: Diplomatic Immunity

  1. The Forbidden City (1991)
  2. The Castle of Light (1991)

Adventure Comics: Retief the Giant Killer

  1. The Giant Killer (1991)

Adventure Comics: Retief: Grime & Punishment

  1. Grime & Punishment (1991)

Adventure Comics

References

  1. ↑ http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?Keith_Laumer
  2. ↑ Reginald, Robert (2009). Contemporary Science Fiction Authors. Wildside Press. ISBN 9781434478580.
  3. ↑ http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?52428
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