Retief At Large
Keith Laumer - Retief At Large
Jaime Retief is a secondary level diplomat in the CDT - Corps Diplomatique Terrestrienne - that represents the interest of Earth humans ("terries") in the galaxy. The main political opponent of humans are the Soviet analogue aliens named Groaci, who are just about as devious as you can think of.
Retief is also apparently the only Terran diplomat who is not a corrupt careerist, ineffective pen-pusher or buffoon mainly interested in embassy parties. His immediate superior Mag is also absolute coward. So guess who ends up saving the day in every conceivable occasion?
Laumer used to be part of American diplomatic corps so these stories probably represent his view of certain diplomatic efforts.
Retief is a man of action but not in the way depicted in the many covers of the books (he is also depicted as a blonde, when he actually has dark hair). In every cover he carries a gun - when in stories he barely pulls the trigger once. He has more sophisticated methods in his disposal.
In one of the first stories here is also hints to carnal relations but apparently the James Bond lifestyle did not carry over to the later stories. Good, since too many of those damsels were airheads.
Retief does work for Earth and its interests, especially against the machinations of the Groachi. However, in some stories he actually takes the side of the natives against human schemes - to destroy the main part of ecosystem to get all the minerals, for example. (Minerals seem to be extremely important in this future). No wonder he will never be promoted.
Other human characters are usually obvious caritatures down to their names. Laumer is famous for his military fiction so from the soldiers' point of view the politician and diplomats are mainly talkative buffoons interested in finery and protocol that rarely achieves anything. (well, in some cases diplomat's job seems to be to ensure that nothing happens).
And staff meetings are just the drudgery everybody knows they are, Diplomats are mainly looking for opportunities to spout diplomatic platitudes, have embassy parties and do nothing in a complex way.
Okay, why would anyone use paperclips (not to mention paper) on the future. Wait a minute, computers have existed for couple of decades now but...
This entry was originally posted at http://elfbiter.dreamwidth.org/2679.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Jaime Retief is a secondary level diplomat in the CDT - Corps Diplomatique Terrestrienne - that represents the interest of Earth humans ("terries") in the galaxy. The main political opponent of humans are the Soviet analogue aliens named Groaci, who are just about as devious as you can think of.
Retief is also apparently the only Terran diplomat who is not a corrupt careerist, ineffective pen-pusher or buffoon mainly interested in embassy parties. His immediate superior Mag is also absolute coward. So guess who ends up saving the day in every conceivable occasion?
Laumer used to be part of American diplomatic corps so these stories probably represent his view of certain diplomatic efforts.
Retief is a man of action but not in the way depicted in the many covers of the books (he is also depicted as a blonde, when he actually has dark hair). In every cover he carries a gun - when in stories he barely pulls the trigger once. He has more sophisticated methods in his disposal.
In one of the first stories here is also hints to carnal relations but apparently the James Bond lifestyle did not carry over to the later stories. Good, since too many of those damsels were airheads.
Retief does work for Earth and its interests, especially against the machinations of the Groachi. However, in some stories he actually takes the side of the natives against human schemes - to destroy the main part of ecosystem to get all the minerals, for example. (Minerals seem to be extremely important in this future). No wonder he will never be promoted.
Other human characters are usually obvious caritatures down to their names. Laumer is famous for his military fiction so from the soldiers' point of view the politician and diplomats are mainly talkative buffoons interested in finery and protocol that rarely achieves anything. (well, in some cases diplomat's job seems to be to ensure that nothing happens).
And staff meetings are just the drudgery everybody knows they are, Diplomats are mainly looking for opportunities to spout diplomatic platitudes, have embassy parties and do nothing in a complex way.
Okay, why would anyone use paperclips (not to mention paper) on the future. Wait a minute, computers have existed for couple of decades now but...
This entry was originally posted at http://elfbiter.dreamwidth.org/2679.html. Please comment there using OpenID.