Books by Keith Laumer
Born: 06/09/1925; Died: 01/23/1993Keith Laumer Biography & Notes
John Keith Laumer attended Indiana University in 1943 and 1944 before leaving school to join the Army during World War II. In 1948 he attended Stockholm University, married Janice Perkinson in 1949, and graduated from the University of Illinois in 1950 with a B.S. in architecture. Laumer joined the Air Force in 1953, where he served for three years. He was then attached to the U.S. Foreign Service in Burma for a few years. During this time, Laumer began publishing fiction--his first work was a short story, "Greylorn", which appeared in 1959. The next year, he rejoined the Air Force as a captain, serving for another five years before starting to write full time. During his second Air Force stint, Laumer began working on two separate series, the Imperium and Retief books, and also published several non-series titles. The first series began with THE WORLDS OF IMPERIUM (1962), his first novel. ENVOY TO NEW WORLDS (1963) started the Retief books, and drew heavily on Laumer's own experiences in both diplomacy and the military. In addition to these novels, during this period he wrote over 40 short stories, most of which were military-oriented science fiction. After leaving the Air Force, Laumer averaged three novels and seven short stories a year until 1973, when he began to suffer health problems. He continued to write series titles--introducing the Bolo and the Lafayette O'Leary books--as well as continuing the Imperium series to four volumes and Retief to 16, the last one of which was his last published book in 1993--and a number of stand-alone novels. With the Bolo books, Laumer firmly established himself as the premier writer of militaristic science fiction. These books, and their associated short stories, follow the adventures of a group of self-aware, tank-like robots constantly engaged in state of war. Other authors continued the Bolo series after Laumer's death, while many of its ideas have been lifted wholesale by countless others for novels and films. Laumer died in 1993, but his work seems to have taken on a life of its own, with a new generation of readers discovering his particular brand of science fiction.
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Alien Minds by Keith Laumer ( 1991) |
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Assignment in Nowhere by Keith Laumer ( 1972) |
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Back to the Time Trap by Keith Laumer ( 1992)
As superbeings from the end of time struggle for control of the universe with aliens from another galaxy, Roger and his friends find themselves face to face with history's bad guys in their quest to return to their own time. Original.
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Beyond the Imperium by Keith Laumer ( 1986)
The Lord of the Timelines explores alternate realities and parallel worlds that include an Earth destroyed in an atomic holocaust, and Earth where the Magna Carta was never signed, and an Earth where homo sapiens stand at the lowest point on the biological spectrum.
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Beyond the Imperium by Keith Laumer, Copyright Paperback Collection (Library of Congress) ( 1981) |
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Bolo Annals of the Dinochrome Brigade by Keith Laumer ( 1986) |
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Bolo Rising by William H. Keith, Keith Laumer ( 1998)
The enemy has struck the human colony of Cloud with an attack so deadly that even the world's sole Bolo, a Mark XXXIII Mod HCT named Hector, has been overwhelmed. One human, however, refuses to accept defeat. Major Jamie Graham will free his companions or die trying. It's the story of Spartacus reborn in steel, a daring slave revolt against impossible odds.
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The Breaking Earth by Keith Laumer ( 1988) |
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Chrestomathy by Keith Laumer ( 1984)
Excerpts from sixteen of the author's novels are accompanied by his comments on the background of each story.
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Cold Steel by Keith Laumer ( 2002)
The Bolos, huge, heavily armored tanks programmed by an artificial intelligence to protect humans at any cost, battle humankind's enemies wherever they are found throughout the universe. Original.
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The Compleat Bolo by Keith Laumer ( 1991)
Brings together the previously published Bolo and Rogue Bolo in one book that follows the gigantic, robotic Bolo tanks, designed to be servants to mankind, into battle against an alien force. Reissue.
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Dinosaur Beach by Keith Laumer ( 1986) |
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End As a Hero by Keith Laumer ( 1985)
During Earth's war with the hideous Gool, interstellar operative Grantham goes behind enemy lines to destroy the Gool's secret weapon--a long-range brain probe that uses telepathic mind control to subvert loyal humans.
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Envoy to New Worlds by Keith Laumer ( 1972) |
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Future Imperfect by Keith Laumer, Eric Flint ( 2003) |
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Galactic Odyssey by Keith Laumer ( 1987) |
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The Galaxy Builder by Keith Laumer ( 1984)
Kidnapped and sent to an alternate reality, Lafayette O'Leary must find the source of his own power to alter reality in order to return to his wife in his home world, Artesia.
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Gambler's World by Keith Laumer ( 2009) |
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Gambler's World by Keith Laumer ( 2009) |
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The Glory Game by Keith Laumer ( 1985) |
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The Great Time Machine Hoax by Keith Laumer ( 1984) |
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Greylorn by Keith Laumer ( 2009) |
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Honor of the Regiment by Keith Laumer ( 1993)
The future of war--and the fate of man--lies with one machine: the Bolo. With plated armor, a laser cannon, an electronic brain, and wheels, it defends humanity from aliens that threaten the entire species. Now comes the amplified history of the Bolo in stories by David Drake, S.M. Stirling, Mercedes Lackey and others.
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It Could Be Anything by Keith Laumer ( 2009) |
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Judson's Eden by Keith Laumer ( 1991) |
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Knight of Delusions by Keith Laumer ( 1988) |
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Last Stand by Keith Laumer ( 1997)
Even a terminally damaged Bolo is still an opponent to reckon with, and as long as a Bolo's artificial intelligence retains a flicker of consciousness, its indomitable drive to defend the human race against all enemies will propel it forward. Bolos can be destroyed--but they never surrender!
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Legions of Space by Keith Laumer ( 2004)
An omnibus edition containing two complete novels and four short novellas features A Trace of Memory, in which a drifter named Legion, hired by an amnesiac millionaire, finds himself on a prehistoric starship en route to the unknown, and Planet Run, written with Gordon R. Dickson, about two ancient heroes seeking the truth about an unexplored planet. Original.
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The Lighter Side by Keith Laumer ( 2002)
Two hapless heroes struggle with a world gone mad in a pair of whimsical science fiction novels that chronicle the misadventures of Chester W. Chester IV, who gets more than he bargained for when he inherits his great-grandfather's super computer, and Roger Tyson, who finds himself pursued through time by a bizarre alien while trying to convince a race of superbeings that the human race is not vermin. Original.
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The Long Twilight by Keith Laumer ( 2008) |
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The Monitors by Keith Laumer ( 1984)
Ace Blondel joins the underground movement desperately fighting against the strange alien invaders who have conquered earth and rule the planet.
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Night of Delusions by Keith Laumer ( 1972) |
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Odyssey by Keith Laumer ( 2002)
An omnibus edition containing a selection of the author's acclaimed action-packed space adventures chronicles the adventures of Billy Danger, who seeks refuge from a blizzard in what turns out to be an alien starship; Ravel, a time-traveling agent out to ensure the future of humankind; and Baird Ulrik, a killer-for-hire forced into a dangerous and distasteful mission. Original.
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Once There Was a Giant by Keith Laumer ( 1984)
Tells the stories of an assassin framed for a crime he didn't commit and a future Earth ruled by alien invaders.
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The Other Side of Time by Keith Laumer ( 1968) |
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The Other Sky by Keith Laumer ( 1968) |
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The Other Sky/the House in November/2 Books in 1 by Keith Laumer ( 1985) |
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A Plague of Demons by Keith Laumer ( 1985)
Investigating the disappearance of soldiers in the midst of battle, John Bravais is transported off-planet by alien beings who are using soldiers from Earth to fight an interstellar war.
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Planet Run by Gordon R. Dickson, Keith Laumer ( 1982)
Two space explorers decide to take part in a land rush, a merchant crash-lands on a wilderness planet, and a farmer is assigned to be a prince's bodyguard.
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Retief Unbound by Keith Laumer ( 1985)
Jame Retief, Vice-Consul and Third Secretary in the Corps Diplomatique, is again called upon to protect Terra from aliens in a collection of five stories and the novel Retief's Ransom.
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Retief and the Pangalactic Pageant of Pulchritude by Keith Laumer ( 1986)
Retief must use all of his diplomatic skills when he chaperones Earth's entrant to a pangalactic beauty pageant on the planet Boondock, where beauty is in the eye--or eyes--of the beholder.
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Retief and the Rascals by Keith Laumer ( 1993)
Terran diplomat and interplanetary troubleshooter Jame Retief must stop the belligerent, five-eyed Groaci from invading the beleaguered planet of Bloor, which is already plagued by violence between rival gangs. Original.
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Retief and the Warlords by Keith Laumer ( 1986)
PAUPER, an earth protection agency, extends aid to the Haterakans, lobsterlike aliens, through James Retief, a 27th century diplomat.
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Retief at Large by Keith Laumer ( 1985) |
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Retief in the Ruins by Keith Laumer ( 1986)
Retief is sent as an observer for the Corps Diplomatique Terrestrienne to Popu-Ri to keep an eye on the Groaci's progress in building a galactic warfleet.
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Retief of the Cdt by Keith Laumer ( 1985)
Retief, an official of the Corps Diplomatique Terrestrienne, combats the enemies of outer space with courage and humor.
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Retief to the Rescue by Keith Laumer ( 1983)
Jame Retief must go over the heads of his superiors in order to discover the source of conflict between the Hither and Nether Furtheronians.
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Retief's Peace by Keith Laumer, William H. Keith ( 2005)
Drummed out of the Corps Diplomatique Terretrienne for his insubordiante attitude, Retief nevertheless must come to the rescue when the imperialistic Krll come up with a scheme to use the Peace Movement as a means to force the Terrans to abandon the planet, leaving it ripe for conquest, in a novel based on the series by the late Keith Laumer.
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Retief's War by Keith Laumer ( 1985)
James Retief, assigned to unite hostile Quoppian tribes for the sake of Earth's security, must first foil the destructive plans of the evil Groaci and encounters the beautiful princess, Fifi.
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The Return of Retief by Keith Laumer ( 1985)
On probation for undiplomatic behavior, Retief is given the task of negotiating with the Ree, a vast and powerful race seeking breeding room for a rapidly expanding population, who now threaten human territory.
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Reward for Retief by Keith Laumer ( 1989)
Intergalactic diplomat Jame Retief investigates the planet Sardon whose inhabitants have a marked dislike for Terrans and who also appear to be hiding something from outsiders.
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Rogue Bolo by Keith Laumer ( 1986)
Danger threatens the human race when a powerful, self-directed fighting machine begins to strike out on its own.
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Short Stories of John Keith Laumer by Keith Laumer ( 2008) |
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Star Colony by Keith Laumer ( 1982)
A cleverly imagined and skillfully rendered account details the history of mankind's first extraterrestrial colony.
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The Star Treasure by Keith Laumer ( 1986)
The entire structure of his galactic society is threatened when Ban Tarleton attempts to investigate the death of a friend.
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The Stars Must Wait by Keith Laumer ( 1990)
Astronaut John Jackson expects to wake from suspended animation in another world, but instead he opens his eyes a century later to an Earth populated by post-Armageddon nasties.
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The Time Bender by Keith Laumer ( 1984)
Lafayette O'Leary travels to a strange primitive world through self-hypnosis and is forced to fight for his life against brutal warriors.
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Time Trap by Keith Laumer ( 1987)
A Coast Guard cutter spots an ancient Portuguese galleon and the crew find themselves in a strange world which transcends time.
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Trace of Memory by Keith Laumer ( 1991) |
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The Triumphant by David Weber, Keith Laumer ( 1995)
Two new powerhouses of SF, Weber and Evans, continue the amplified history ofBolo, the nearly indestructible tank/artificial intelligence that changed theshape of the galaxy.
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The Ultimax Man by Keith Laumer ( 1987) |
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The Universe Twister by Keith Laumer ( 2008)
Hurtled into the exotic world of Artesia thanks to an experiment with self-hypnosis, Lafayette O'Leary must contend with a variety of bizarre creatures, including hungry dragons, as he uncovers the secret of multiple universes, in a trilogy of novels of cross-dimensional adventure--
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The World Shuffler by Keith Laumer ( 1984) |
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Worlds of the Imperium by Keith Laumer ( 1986) |
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Zone Yellow by Keith Laumer ( 1990) |
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