Keith Laumer 44 min read

Adjusting the four sets of lapels on his vermilion cutaway, the wry diplomat Retief prepares for another delicate mission, and another chance to fix what his pompous superiors are about to bungle.

Keith Laumer's 1961 Retief story pits the sardonic troubleshooter against galactic bureaucracy and intrigue on a world of gamblers. Fast, funny, sharp social space opera. Read it for classic comic SF as Retief outmaneuvers the paper-pushers and saves the day.

In its time

Published in 1961, during the 1960s, new wave revolutionizes the genre.

Reading it

44 min read (a novelette, room for a turn or two).