Jame Retief


Jame Retief is the main character in a series of satirical science fiction stories by Keith Laumer. The stories were written over a span of thirty years beginning in the early 1960s, without much regard for chronology or any particular scheme.
Detailing the travails of Jame Retief in the Corps Diplomatique Terrestrienne, the stories have a base in Laumer's experiences in the United States Foreign Service, notably his time as vice consul in Burma in the 1950s. Reorganizations in the Foreign Service both before and after World War II were a source of considerable conflict at the time, as the diplomatic "old guard" were confronted with a new world situation and a new generation of diplomats, men like Laumer, who took a more pragmatic approach to the service. This conflict undoubtedly informs the Retief stories, in which stubborn and often ignorant superiors mired in bureaucracy cause him endless difficulties in the carrying out of his duties.
The first Retief story, Diplomat-at-Arms, appeared in the magazine Fantastic Science Fiction Stories in January 1960.

History, skills and appearance

Retief's physical appearance is rarely described and then only in the broadest of terms, though his activities within the stories indicate that he is physically fit and quite athletic, with unusual upper-body strength. In the various stories, Retief can be found swimming, skiing, mountain climbing, scuba diving, combat driving, and piloting various types of air- and spacecraft. He also shows a wide knowledge of history, art, languages, and politics, usually beyond that of his superiors in the CDT.
According to Jan Strnad, who adapted several Retief stories into a comic book series published by Mad Dog Comics in the mid-80s, Laumer informed him that he had always pictured Retief as having black hair, and looking somewhat like Cary Grant. Laumer also indicated that he was displeased with the covers of the mid-80s Baen Books reprintings of the Retief books, since they presented Retief as a blond-haired character. The model for these book covers was Corbin Bernsen.
In many of the stories Retief is shown to have a taste for fine wine, though he doesn't hesitate to down a prospector's homemade booze if offered. He also enjoys fine cigars and fine food as well. One also notices that women in the storylines tend to fall for him even if they are already in relationships, and he behaves more like a gentleman than anyone while simultaneously being the most uncouth by disregarding Corps protocol.
The origins of the character's name are likely South African: "Retief" is an Afrikaans surname common among the descendants of French Huguenots in South Africa. During an interview with Paul Walker, Laumer states:

Inadvertently, I dredged the name Retief up from the depths of my subconscious; I could taste the flavor of the name, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I thought of various place names such as Tenerife and Recife and finally Retief popped into my mind. Many years later, Jack Gaughan pointed out to me that an actual historical character named Retief had lived in South Africa and had been massacred by the Zulus and been mentioned in an H. Rider Haggard novel, Marie. I had read the book but had no conscious recollection of it.

Algis Budrys noted that the name "Retief" is, approximately, "fighter pronounced backwards".

Themes

In the course of the stories, Retief encounters and resolves problems, usually between multiple parties, on numerous worlds. Whether establishing new missions on alien worlds, dealing with the clash of self-determination with established interests, preventing war, or solving cultural clashes, the devil is in the detail. He is master of derring-do, a cunning, fast-thinking, smooth-talking, tough brawler, solving problems through the rapid application of clever dealing, judicious violence, and complete disregard for the directives of the Corps and his immediate superiors. In contrast, most of his fellow diplomats in the CDT are protocol-obsessed, petty, small-minded, arrogant, ignorant, cowardly, and notoriously corrupt. Naturally Retief's career in the CDT is often stalled and he is very poorly regarded by his peers. The only member of the CDT who has any respect whatsoever for Retief's resourcefulness is Retief's immediate superior, a feckless, pencil-pushing career bureaucrat named Ben Magnan who often ends up in the field with Retief.
Many stories begin with a quote from the official CDT history, praising the Corps' high-minded ideals and giving all the credit for the triumph in the following story to anyone other than Retief. Targets of bureaucratic and geo-political excess skewered by Laumer include hair-splitting diplomatic protocol, meaningless awards, the Cold War, and a panoply of excruciatingly nuanced facial expressions, catalogued by number in the official CDT handbook, and exemplified in the following quote:

Reception

Reviewing Galactic Diplomat, an early Retief collection, Algis Budrys reported that he "enjoyed the daylights out of this book, without for an instant being able to distinguish between one story and the next".
Theodore Sturgeon rather caustically dismissed the series in 1971, saying: "I find nothing admirable or amusing about lies and double-dealing ... What slams the ultimate lid on the whole scam is Laumer/Retief's light-hearted callousness toward one species or another of funny little green niggers".
Retief is featured in the Aldebaran III "world" written by Peter Langston for Wander his text adventure game engine.

Connections to the Bolo series

The Retief stories seem to have a loose connection to the Bolo stories, also created by Laumer. Several Retief stories make references to the Concordiat of the Bolo series. There are hints that the Concordiat had ceased to exist by the time of Retief. There are also brief references of technology mentioned in the Bolo works. In the Retief story "Courier", a Bolo tank makes an appearance. In "Cultural Exchange", Bolo Model WV/1 tractors are mentioned for strip mining. They are Continental Siege Units with half-megaton-per-second firepower—plus a blade added for demolition work. However, it is not known whether or not Laumer intended for both series to be treated as one universe, or just have similar elements.

List of stories

The Retief stories are:
  • "Diplomat-at-Arms", Fantastic, January 1960.
  • "The Frozen Planet", If, September 1961.
  • "Gambler's World", If, November 1961.
  • "The Yillian Way", If, January 1962.
  • "The Madman from Earth", If, March 1962.
  • "Retief of the Red-Tape Mountain", If, May 1962.
  • "Aide Memoire", If, July 1962.
  • "Cultural Exchange", If, September 1962.
  • "The Desert and the Stars", If, November 1962.
  • "Saline Solution", If, March 1963.
  • "Mightiest Qorn", If, July 1963.
  • Envoy to New Worlds, August 1963. First issued as Ace Double #F-223 with Flight from Yesterday by Robert Moore Williams. Collects "Protocol", "Sealed Orders", "Cultural Exchange", "Aide Memoire", "Policy" and "Palace Revolution". A Baen Books variant from April 1987, Retief: Envoy to New Worlds, adds "Rank Injustice".
  • "The Governor of Glave", If, November 1963.
  • "The City That Grew in the Sea", If, March 1964.
  • "The Prince and the Pirate", If, August 1964.
  • "The Castle of Light", If, October 1964.
  • "Retief, God-Speaker", If, January 1965.
  • "Trick or Treaty", If, August 1965.
  • "Giant Killer", If, September 1965.
  • Galactic Diplomat, 1965. Collects "Ultimatum", "Saline Solution", "The Brass God", "The Castle of Light", "Wicker Wonderland", "Native Intelligence", "The Prince and the Pirate", "Courier" and "Protest Note".
  • Retief's War, serialized in three parts in If, October, November and December 1965, first book publication 1966.
  • "Dam Nuisance", If, March 1966.
  • "Truce or Consequences", If, November 1966.
  • "Forest in the Sky", If, February 1967.
  • "Retief, War Criminal", If, April 1967.
  • "Clear as Mud", If, August 1967.
  • Retief and the Warlords, 1968.
  • Retief: Ambassador to Space, 1969. Collects "Giant Killer", "The Forbidden City", "Grime and Punishment", "Dam Nuisance", "Trick or Treaty", "The Forest in the Sky" and "Truce or Consequences".
  • "Retief, the Long-Awaited Master", If, April 1969.
  • "The Piecemakers", If, May–June 1970.
  • "Ballots and Bandits", If, September–October 1970.
  • "Pime Doesn't Cray", Worlds of If, January–February 1971.
  • "Retief, Insider", If, March–April 1971.
  • Retief of the CDT, July 1971. Collects "Ballots and Bandits", "Mechanical Advantage", "Pime Doesn't Cray", "Internal Affair" and "The Piecemakers".
  • Retief's Ransom, If, September–October 1971.
  • "The Garbage Invasion", The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, December 1972.
  • "The Negotiators", Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, February 1975.
  • "The Hoob Melon Crisis", Retief: Emissary to the Stars, December 1975.
  • "The Troubleshooter", Retief: Emissary to the Stars, December 1975.
  • Retief: Emissary to the Stars, December 1975. First edition collects "The Hoob Melon Crisis", "The Garbage Invasion", an excerpt from Retief and the Warlords, "The Troubleshooter" and "The Negotiators". The 1979 edition adds "Giant Killer", "The Forest in the Sky" and "Trick or Treaty". The 1985 edition reprints the 1979 edition minus the novel excerpt. The 2016 SF Gateway edition is the 1975 edition with the novel excerpt removed and "Diplomat-at-Arms", "The Secret" and "The All-Together Planet" added.
  • Retief at Large, August 1978. Collects "Cultural Exchange", "Saline Solution", "The Castle of Light", "Wicker Wonderland", "The Brass God", "Mechanical Advantage", "Dam Nuisance", "Grime and Punishment", "The Forbidden City", "The Piecemakers", "Ballots and Bandits" and "Pime Doesn't Cray".
  • Retief Unbound, May 1979. Collects "Protocol", "Sealed Orders", "Aide Memoire", "Policy", "Palace Revolution" and Retief's Ransom.
  • "The Secret", Retief: Diplomat at Arms, October 1982.
  • Retief: Diplomat at Arms, October 1982. Collects "Ultimatum", "Native Intelligence", "The Prince and the Pirate", "Courier", "Protest Note", "Truce or Consequences" and "The Secret".
  • Retief to the Rescue, February 1983.
  • The Return of Retief, September 1984.
  • "Retief and the Pan-Galactic Pageant of Pulchritude", Retief and the Pangalactic Pageant of Pulchritude, March 1986.
  • Retief and the Pangalactic Pageant of Pulchritude, March 1986. Includes "Retief and the Pan-Galactic Pageant of Pulchritude" and Retief's Ransom.
  • "Retief in the Ruins", Retief in the Ruins, November 1986.
  • "There is a Tide", Retief in the Ruins, November 1986.
  • "The Woomy", Retief in the Ruins, November 1986.
  • Retief in the Ruins, November 1986. Collects "Retief in the Ruins", "There is a Tide" and "The Woomy".
  • "Rank Injustice", New Destinies, March 1987.
  • Reward for Retief, February 1989.
  • Retief and the Rascals, May 1993.
  • Retief!, January 2002. Collects the contents of Envoy to New Worlds and Galactic Diplomat, Retief's War and "Diplomat-at-Arms", edited by Eric Flint
  • Retief's Peace, September 2005. Created by Keith Laumer, written by William H. Keith.