Odyssey

Rating:
Summary: Recommended for your collection
Review: Odyssey is a joy of a book.

First of all, it's not a novel and it's not a collection of short stories; it contains `Galactic Odyssey' and `Dinosaur Beach', both older, shorter novels; `Once there was a Giant', tipping the scales at a novella; and four significant shorter stories: `A Trip to the City', `Hybrid', `Combat Unit', and `the King of the City'.

I wouldn't mind owning any of the longer books just for itself and the combination of short stories is also attractive. Having all of them together in one package is very convenient - I don't have to worry that somewhere down the line I will pick up the book to re-read my favorite story and continue reading and waste my time with a stinker. There is no stinker in this collection.

What do you get with the collection? Here are my summaries of each story. I recommend every one of them.

Galactic Odyssey is the prototypical `man kidnapped from Earth who meets the space girl, loses her, and spends many episodes trying to rescue her'. However, it's more than cheap space opera - the writing is smooth and transparent, so that when Laumer introduces little futurisms like `a dreamer and a supply of tapes' to explain Our Hero's further education you nod and go on. The characters are all interesting, the dialog is quirky rather than dated, and the story is still completely believable - something hard to get from a plain old space opera first published in 1967.

A Trip to the City presents another idea that has been explored many times - what if part of the world we live in is a stage set that has been set up by aliens for reasons of their own? Laumer's hayseed Brett, with his open mind and disdain for pretense, is the perfect man to deal with the situation.

Hybrid throws together the big, tough bully, the nerdy biologist who knows a lot but isn't listened to, and a giant alien tree with a very strange method of reproduction. The story is just the right length for the idea and one to come back to again.

Combat Unit is a Bolo story in all but name. (I checked and the word `bolo' is not used in the story.) Those of us who enjoy these giant robotic tanks will also enjoy this story of an big intelligent weapon that wakes up in a room in bad shape but determined to carry out its mission - if it can figure out what its situation is and remember its mission.

The King of the City starts off with the hero signing on as a driver for a transportation company in a post-apocalyptic Greater New York - but since this isn't a movie the point isn't just to shoot the gangsters up or exact revenge on some bad guy. Laumer reminds us that real heroes have a purpose in mind when they wade in.

Once There was a Giant stars an antihero, a civilized contract killer who `always made a point to accept contracts only on marks that I agreed needed killing'. Of course he gets framed into taking on a job he wouldn't necessarily want to take. Through the clever device of trying to make murder look like an unfortunate accident, our assassin's murder weapon is attempting to run his victim into the ground by having him help rescue a crashed ship's container full of medical patients just too far away from to get to in deadly territory. Our hero spends plenty of time getting to know the Giant, long enough that he (and we readers) gets to know what really makes a great man.

Dinosaur Beach is the last story and bookends the collection with another novel-length story. This is one heck of a convoluted time-travel story. What if time travel not only exists, but it's poking holes in time, and an agency has been created to go back and fix things messed up by earlier time travelers? Not only that, but a 2nd, then a 3rd agency have come along whose missions are to fix the messes created by the earlier agencies? And what if our hero has not only been planted at some moment in time with the tools to do his job but also conditioned not to realize that he's a time agent or that he has certain skills until he needs to know his job or use his skills? And while we're at it, how many times and ways can this guy interact with the same-but-different girl? If you think an author can't tie up all the possibilities in such a mess - read the story, Laumer did it.

That's it, a fine collection of work by a great science fiction author. Recommended for any decent SF collection.

Rating:
Summary: Recommended for your collection
Review: Odyssey is a joy of a book.

First of all, it's not a novel and it's not a collection of short stories; it contains 'Galactic Odyssey' and 'Dinosaur Beach', both older, shorter novels; 'Once there was a Giant', tipping the scales at a novella; and four significant shorter stories: 'A Trip to the City', 'Hybrid', 'Combat Unit', and 'the King of the City'.

I wouldn't mind owning any of the longer books just for itself and the combination of short stories is also attractive. Having all of them together in one package is very convenient - I don't have to worry that somewhere down the line I will pick up the book to re-read my favorite story and continue reading and waste my time with a stinker. There is no stinker in this collection.

What do you get with the collection? Here are my summaries of each story. I recommend every one of them.

Galactic Odyssey is the prototypical 'man kidnapped from Earth who meets the space girl, loses her, and spends many episodes trying to rescue her'. However, it's more than cheap space opera - the writing is smooth and transparent, so that when Laumer introduces little futurisms like 'a dreamer and a supply of tapes' to explain Our Hero's further education you nod and go on. The characters are all interesting, the dialog is quirky rather than dated, and the story is still completely believable - something hard to get from a plain old space opera first published in 1967.

A Trip to the City presents another idea that has been explored many times - what if part of the world we live in is a stage set that has been set up by aliens for reasons of their own? Laumer's hayseed Brett, with his open mind and disdain for pretense, is the perfect man to deal with the situation.

Hybrid throws together the big, tough bully, the nerdy biologist who knows a lot but isn't listened to, and a giant alien tree with a very strange method of reproduction. The story is just the right length for the idea and one to come back to again.

Combat Unit is a Bolo story in all but name. (I checked and the word 'bolo' is not used in the story.) Those of us who enjoy these giant robotic tanks will also enjoy this story of an big intelligent weapon that wakes up in a room in bad shape but determined to carry out its mission - if it can figure out what its situation is and remember its mission.

The King of the City starts off with the hero signing on as a driver for a transportation company in a post-apocalyptic Greater New York - but since this isn't a movie the point isn't just to shoot the gangsters up or exact revenge on some bad guy. Laumer reminds us that real heroes have a purpose in mind when they wade in.

Once There was a Giant stars an antihero, a civilized contract killer who 'always made a point to accept contracts only on marks that I agreed needed killing'. Of course he gets framed into taking on a job he wouldn't necessarily want to take. Through the clever device of trying to make murder look like an unfortunate accident, our assassin's murder weapon is attempting to run his victim into the ground by having him help rescue a crashed ship's container full of medical patients just too far away from to get to in deadly territory. Our hero spends plenty of time getting to know the Giant, long enough that he (and we readers) gets to know what really makes a great man.

Dinosaur Beach is the last story and bookends the collection with another novel-length story. This is one heck of a convoluted time-travel story. What if time travel not only exists, but it's poking holes in time, and an agency has been created to go back and fix things messed up by earlier time travelers? Not only that, but a 2nd, then a 3rd agency have come along whose missions are to fix the messes created by the earlier agencies? And what if our hero has not only been planted at some moment in time with the tools to do his job but also conditioned not to realize that he's a time agent or that he has certain skills until he needs to know his job or use his skills? And while we're at it, how many times and ways can this guy interact with the same-but-different girl? If you think an author can't tie up all the possibilities in such a mess - read the story, Laumer did it.

That's it, a fine collection of work by a great science fiction author. Recommended for any decent SF collection.

Rating:
Summary: Awesome space opera...and more
Review: This collection includes some of Laumer's best work. If you like space opera in the "down-and-out earth guy kicks galactic but" vein, you'll love Galactic Odyssey.Other selections include the Twilight Zone-like "A Trip to the City", the Bolo story "Combat Unit", the awesome time travel paradox novel "Dinosaur Beach", and a couple of others that are incredibly enjoyable but less easily categorized. "Once There Was a Giant" is one of the most powerful fiction pieces I've ever read, and it never fails to choke me up. But I'm a softy. If you like good SF (and who doesn't?) you'll enjoy this collection. Thanks to Baen for bringing Laumer back into print!

Rating:
Summary: Odyssey
Review: When I first read this book about 40 years ago I remember thinking that no government could be so spineless. Today when I see the way politicans are acting it is enough to make me wonder if Keith Laumer had a crystal ball or just a lot of experience with governments. I enjoyed this book immenselly when I was 16 and enjoyed re-reading it today. The adventures of Billy Danger as he wonders thru the Galaxy are fun reading.