The novel “Reward for Retief” by Keith Laumer was published for the first time in 1989. It’s part of the Retief series.
Jaime Retief is part of the diplomatic expedition that has the task of establishing a lasting relationship with planet U-784-a, discovered two centuries earlier. Due to a bureaucratic problem, the planet was ignored for all that time but finally the moment arrive to forge a friendship with the natives.
When the diplomatic expedition arrives on the planet, however, it’s received in an unfriendly way by natives who look like giant earthworms. The ambassador’s speeches are useless and Retief must beat some natives who want to capture him and his superiors. The Earthlings also hear telepathic voices and the reality around them is changing but the natives hostility remains constant.
Keith Laumer worked as a diplomat for the United States Foreign Service and from his experiences he got the inspiration to write the adventures of Jaime Retief, a low-level member of the Corps Diplomatique Terrestrienne (CDT). This series includes several stories but they’re all standalone so you can read “Reward for Retief” independently from the others.
These stories are of a satirical kind because they see Jaime Retief’s pragmatism opposed to his pompous superiors. Retief tries to solve the problems he faces in the course of his diplomatic missions but he does it in an unorthodox way. His superiors are generally ignorant and cowards but at the same time arrogant. Superficially, they scrupulously observe the rules of the CDT, so complex as to include even a catalog of facial expressions, but they’re often corrupt.
While the ambassadors waste time in useless talks, Retief might end up in a brawl but in the end he’s the one who solves the problems. Because of his style in dealing with situations, however, he’s not recognized any credit so he doesn’t advance in his career.
In his experience as a diplomat, Keith Laumer worked with ambassadors of an older generation, accustomed to an old-style diplomacy, which contrasted with the situation after World War II. Jaime Retief’s situation reflects in many ways Laumer’s experience. It’s no coincidence that in his stories the author gives the highest ranks of the diplomatic delegations funny names: for example, in “Reward for Retief” there are Overbore and Shortfall.
“Reward for Retief” is a rather surreal novel set on a planet not accidentally nicknamed Spookworld. The natives are quite unfriendly and Retief must once again use his far from orthodox methods to save himself and his superiors starting an adventure in places in which they can’t understand what’s real.
The plot is a bit loose because it’s essentially a comedy with surreal elements. In essence, Retief gets involved in various situations in which he often has to beat some natives, though he’s going against his superiors orders as they think they can solve any problem with their pompous speeches.
When he’s not too busy brawling, slowly Retief manages to reconstruct the last two centuries of the planet’s history. As usual, his superiors don’t like the results he achieved through his actions, absolutely against the policy of the CDT.
In my opinion, “Reward for Retief” is a bit too long and Retief’s adventures on planet Spookworld are a bit repetitive. The novel is far from a masterpiece but for those who appreciate reading humorous science fiction it can be fun.
