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stephenmeansme's review
2.0
Nowadays Keith Laumer doesn't really rank up there with "old-school sf writers you should know," unless he's in a list written by an sf writer of an older generation. It's sometimes interesting to read works by someone who was considered great by his peers, but of whom not much is said anymore. Is his latter-day obsolescence warranted, or is he unfairly underrated?
The Planet Wreckers ★★ | Aliens want to destroy the earth in a literal disaster movie, and one wrong-place-wrong-time hero is the only one who can stop them. Oh yeah, there's another character too, but she's out of action most of the time (I guess at least she's not a damsel?). Halfway amusing idea and fun, pulpy writing, but fairly forgettable.
The Body Builders ★★★ | In the future, lots of people store their organic bodies away and remotely control synthetic ones via radio. An interestingly Sixties take on the "Ghost in the Shell" concept, with no "mind uploading" techno-mysticism and (because the Sixties) a boxing plot. That said, it makes sense even in the modern day when boxing has declined significantly in popularity, just because the technology enables it. Good stuff, marred slightly by a ridiculously cliched ending scene.
Cocoon ★★★★ | A surprisingly dark and nihilistic tale, that starts out as what seems like an broad satire of Sixties suburban television culture. The disaster that befalls our cocooned hero and necessitates his escape from the facility is anachronistic Sixties silliness, but it's still effective.
The Lawgiver ★★ | A predictable overpopulation/abortion-debate thriller that is interesting mostly for its historical place just before Roe v. Wade and just after The Population Bomb. Needless to say, the future came out just a bit more nuanced than the story portrays.
Thunderhead ★★½ | A Navy outpost lieutenant finally receives orders for a mission, twenty years after he assumed he was forgotten. Good in spots, but overlong and some of the dialogue (the kid, the commodore, the aliens) was just ridiculous, like low-grade Twilight Zone stereotypes.
Hybrid ★½ | Interesting idea but barely a plot and the narration for the tree was ponderous (even for a giant tree).
Doorstep ★★ | A glory-crazed military commander mucks up a first-contact scenario. You get the sense that Laumer had some personal experience with arrogant upwardly-mobile senior officers during his time in the military... The actual story is fairly predictable, meanwhile.
A Relic of War ★★★½ | The people of a backwater colony confront the military history of their giant rusted battle robot "mascot." Possibly the best-crafted story in the collection in terms of length-to-plot-to-characterization ratio. "Cocoon" edges it out slightly because of the dramatic tonal shift and nihilistic punch.
OVERALL : ★★½, rounded down to ★★. There are some good stories in here (I recommend "Cocoon," "A Relic of War," and to a lesser extent "The Body Builders") but as a collection, especially a "Best of" collection, I don't recommend it.
The Planet Wreckers ★★ | Aliens want to destroy the earth in a literal disaster movie, and one wrong-place-wrong-time hero is the only one who can stop them. Oh yeah, there's another character too, but she's out of action most of the time (I guess at least she's not a damsel?). Halfway amusing idea and fun, pulpy writing, but fairly forgettable.
The Body Builders ★★★ | In the future, lots of people store their organic bodies away and remotely control synthetic ones via radio. An interestingly Sixties take on the "Ghost in the Shell" concept, with no "mind uploading" techno-mysticism and (because the Sixties) a boxing plot. That said, it makes sense even in the modern day when boxing has declined significantly in popularity, just because the technology enables it. Good stuff, marred slightly by a ridiculously cliched ending scene.
Cocoon ★★★★ | A surprisingly dark and nihilistic tale, that starts out as what seems like an broad satire of Sixties suburban television culture. The disaster that befalls our cocooned hero and necessitates his escape from the facility is anachronistic Sixties silliness, but it's still effective.
The Lawgiver ★★ | A predictable overpopulation/abortion-debate thriller that is interesting mostly for its historical place just before Roe v. Wade and just after The Population Bomb. Needless to say, the future came out just a bit more nuanced than the story portrays.
Thunderhead ★★½ | A Navy outpost lieutenant finally receives orders for a mission, twenty years after he assumed he was forgotten. Good in spots, but overlong and some of the dialogue (the kid, the commodore, the aliens) was just ridiculous, like low-grade Twilight Zone stereotypes.
Hybrid ★½ | Interesting idea but barely a plot and the narration for the tree was ponderous (even for a giant tree).
Doorstep ★★ | A glory-crazed military commander mucks up a first-contact scenario. You get the sense that Laumer had some personal experience with arrogant upwardly-mobile senior officers during his time in the military... The actual story is fairly predictable, meanwhile.
A Relic of War ★★★½ | The people of a backwater colony confront the military history of their giant rusted battle robot "mascot." Possibly the best-crafted story in the collection in terms of length-to-plot-to-characterization ratio. "Cocoon" edges it out slightly because of the dramatic tonal shift and nihilistic punch.
OVERALL : ★★½, rounded down to ★★. There are some good stories in here (I recommend "Cocoon," "A Relic of War," and to a lesser extent "The Body Builders") but as a collection, especially a "Best of" collection, I don't recommend it.
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