What do you think?
Rate this book
The Big Show & Other Tales
Contains the
In the Queue (1970)
A Relic of War (1969)
The Big Show (1968)
Message to an Alien (1970)
The Plague (1970)
Test to Destruction (1967)
In the Queue (1970)
A Relic of War (1969)
The Big Show (1968)
Message to an Alien (1970)
The Plague (1970)
Test to Destruction (1967)
153 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1972
About the author
Keith Laumer
503 books229 followersJohn Keith Laumer was an American science fiction author. Prior to becoming a full-time writer, he was an officer in the U.S. Air Force and a U.S. diplomat. His brother March Laumer was also a writer, known for his adult reinterpretations of the Land of Oz (also mentioned in Keith's The Other Side of Time).
Keith Laumer (aka J.K Laumer, J. Keith Laumer) is best known for his Bolo stories and his satirical Retief series. The former chronicles the evolution of juggernaut-sized tanks that eventually become self-aware through the constant improvement resulting from centuries of intermittent warfare against various alien races. The latter deals with the adventures of a cynical spacefaring diplomat who constantly has to overcome the red-tape-infused failures of people with names like Ambassador Grossblunder. The Retief stories were greatly influenced by Laumer's earlier career in the United States Foreign Service. In an interview with Paul Walker of Luna Monthly, Laumer states "I had no shortage of iniquitous memories of the Foreign Service."
Four of his shorter works received Hugo or Nebula Award nominations (one of them, "In the Queue", received nominations for both) and his novel A Plague of Demons was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1966.
During the peak years of 1959–1971, Laumer was a prolific science fiction writer, with his novels tending to follow one of two patterns: fast-paced, straight adventures in time and space, with an emphasis on lone-wolf, latent superman protagonists, self-sacrifice and transcendence or, broad comedies, sometimes of the over-the-top variety.
In 1971, Laumer suffered a stroke while working on the novel The Ultimax Man. As a result, he was unable to write for a few years. As he explained in an interview with Charles Platt published in The Dream Makers (1987), he refused to accept the doctors' diagnosis. He came up with an alternative explanation and developed an alternative (and very painful) treatment program. Although he was unable to write in the early 1970s, he had a number of books which were in the pipeline at the time of the stroke published during that time.
In the mid-1970s, Laumer partially recovered from the stroke and resumed writing. However, the quality of his work suffered and his career declined (Piers Anthony, How Precious Was That While, 2002). In later years Laumer also reused scenarios and characters from his earlier works to create "new" books, which some critics felt was to their detriment:
Alas, Retief to the Rescue doesn't seem so much like a new Retief novel, but a kind of Cuisnart mélange of past books.
-- Somtow Sucharitkul (Washington Post, Mar 27, 1983. p. BW11)
His Bolo creations were popular enough that other authors have written standalone science-fiction novels about them.
Laumer was also a model airplane enthusiast, and published two dozen designs between 1956 and 1962 in the U.S. magazines Air Trails, Model Airplane News and Flying Models, as well as the British magazine Aero Modeler. He published one book on the subject, How to Design and Build Flying Models in 1960. His later designs were mostly gas-powered free flight planes, and had a whimsical charm with names to match, like the "Twin Lizzie" and the "Lulla-Bi". His designs are still being revisited, reinvented and built today.
Keith Laumer (aka J.K Laumer, J. Keith Laumer) is best known for his Bolo stories and his satirical Retief series. The former chronicles the evolution of juggernaut-sized tanks that eventually become self-aware through the constant improvement resulting from centuries of intermittent warfare against various alien races. The latter deals with the adventures of a cynical spacefaring diplomat who constantly has to overcome the red-tape-infused failures of people with names like Ambassador Grossblunder. The Retief stories were greatly influenced by Laumer's earlier career in the United States Foreign Service. In an interview with Paul Walker of Luna Monthly, Laumer states "I had no shortage of iniquitous memories of the Foreign Service."
Four of his shorter works received Hugo or Nebula Award nominations (one of them, "In the Queue", received nominations for both) and his novel A Plague of Demons was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1966.
During the peak years of 1959–1971, Laumer was a prolific science fiction writer, with his novels tending to follow one of two patterns: fast-paced, straight adventures in time and space, with an emphasis on lone-wolf, latent superman protagonists, self-sacrifice and transcendence or, broad comedies, sometimes of the over-the-top variety.
In 1971, Laumer suffered a stroke while working on the novel The Ultimax Man. As a result, he was unable to write for a few years. As he explained in an interview with Charles Platt published in The Dream Makers (1987), he refused to accept the doctors' diagnosis. He came up with an alternative explanation and developed an alternative (and very painful) treatment program. Although he was unable to write in the early 1970s, he had a number of books which were in the pipeline at the time of the stroke published during that time.
In the mid-1970s, Laumer partially recovered from the stroke and resumed writing. However, the quality of his work suffered and his career declined (Piers Anthony, How Precious Was That While, 2002). In later years Laumer also reused scenarios and characters from his earlier works to create "new" books, which some critics felt was to their detriment:
Alas, Retief to the Rescue doesn't seem so much like a new Retief novel, but a kind of Cuisnart mélange of past books.
-- Somtow Sucharitkul (Washington Post, Mar 27, 1983. p. BW11)
His Bolo creations were popular enough that other authors have written standalone science-fiction novels about them.
Laumer was also a model airplane enthusiast, and published two dozen designs between 1956 and 1962 in the U.S. magazines Air Trails, Model Airplane News and Flying Models, as well as the British magazine Aero Modeler. He published one book on the subject, How to Design and Build Flying Models in 1960. His later designs were mostly gas-powered free flight planes, and had a whimsical charm with names to match, like the "Twin Lizzie" and the "Lulla-Bi". His designs are still being revisited, reinvented and built today.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 27, 2025
Seis cuentos de este escritor norteamericano. Historias bien escritas, que resisten adecuadamente el paso del tiempo (escritas en los sesentas, más o menos).
Algunos cuentos más conceptuales/casi abstractos (como "En la cola") y otros más militarizados y directos (como "Mensaje a un Enemigo" o "Reliquia de Guerra" donde usa uno de sus temas favoritos: los tanques sintientes.). Es una buena mezcla y la escritura de Laumer es de esas que te mantiene dentro y hay que terminar sí o sí de leer.
Un escritor que tiene bastantes obras traducidas al español, pero que no conocía.
Punto aparte mencionar que este libro es parte de la colección argentina de libros de ciencia ficción "Fotón", una joya coleccionable.
Bien.
Algunos cuentos más conceptuales/casi abstractos (como "En la cola") y otros más militarizados y directos (como "Mensaje a un Enemigo" o "Reliquia de Guerra" donde usa uno de sus temas favoritos: los tanques sintientes.). Es una buena mezcla y la escritura de Laumer es de esas que te mantiene dentro y hay que terminar sí o sí de leer.
Un escritor que tiene bastantes obras traducidas al español, pero que no conocía.
Punto aparte mencionar que este libro es parte de la colección argentina de libros de ciencia ficción "Fotón", una joya coleccionable.
Bien.
March 5, 2017
This is a small compilation of Keith Laumer short stories, most of which I'd already read in other collections. 'The Plague' was about the only one I had not read, and it and 'In The Queue' are probably the best ones in this book. Keith Laumer had a style all his own, and I believe I could pick out a story by him without even knowing it was him at this point. I recommend any of his works, and call this one a Good Read.
March 9, 2020
A small collection of short SF stories written between 1967-1970. The back cover proclaims this book is by THE MAN WHO INVENTED RETIEF, which makes me sad, because probably almost nobody has even heard of Retief or read any of the Retief books nowdays. Laumer was known for two main series: Retief, who was kind of a dashing space diplomat constantly having to work around bureaucratic idiocy from above, and Bolo, sapient tank-like war machines. I do remember reading a few Retief novels back in high school, but mostly I preferred the Bolo books, because I'm a sucker for a sapient machine.
These short stories are all entertaining and, in 2020, rather dated, but there are still some good ones. Of course, I bought this for the first story, A Relic of War, in which a village discovers the rusted out old tank that's been sitting in their village square for generations is actually still conscious and capable of saving the town from an alien threat (I choose to believe this is a final Bolo who is left behind in the town after the war finally ends). There were several other good ones though; in Queue, we see a world in which the only point of life is queuing, and when a man finally gets through the queue, he literally has no idea what to do with himself. In The Big Show, a TV actor is co-opted by the CIA to infiltrate an enemy plot, with surprising and yet not-surprising results. And Message To An Alien is a fairly predictable story of underappreciated and demoted competent military leader having to save the world singlehandedly because bureaucracy and government refuse to acknowledge the threat.
All very 60s/70s style, but Laumer was a good writer and they're still an entertaining read and a taste of classic SF.
These short stories are all entertaining and, in 2020, rather dated, but there are still some good ones. Of course, I bought this for the first story, A Relic of War, in which a village discovers the rusted out old tank that's been sitting in their village square for generations is actually still conscious and capable of saving the town from an alien threat (I choose to believe this is a final Bolo who is left behind in the town after the war finally ends). There were several other good ones though; in Queue, we see a world in which the only point of life is queuing, and when a man finally gets through the queue, he literally has no idea what to do with himself. In The Big Show, a TV actor is co-opted by the CIA to infiltrate an enemy plot, with surprising and yet not-surprising results. And Message To An Alien is a fairly predictable story of underappreciated and demoted competent military leader having to save the world singlehandedly because bureaucracy and government refuse to acknowledge the threat.
All very 60s/70s style, but Laumer was a good writer and they're still an entertaining read and a taste of classic SF.
August 30, 2021
This book has more military scifi short stories. Even though it's about fifty years old, I didn't give it five stars because it isn't one of Keith Laumer's more famous works.
Nonetheless, it's a crackling good collection of military stories. I noticed some of Laumer's characteristic impossible odds facing his antagonist, which are eventually overcome.
Recommended for any fan of military scifi, short stories, or Keith Laumer.
Nonetheless, it's a crackling good collection of military stories. I noticed some of Laumer's characteristic impossible odds facing his antagonist, which are eventually overcome.
Recommended for any fan of military scifi, short stories, or Keith Laumer.
September 17, 2023
I liked the stories "In the Queue," "A Relic of War," and "Message to an Alien," but the other three fell short for me, especially "The Plague," which descended into a particularly cornball and mean-spirited Libertarian screed that was just painful to have to go through.
Alas, they can't all be winners, eh?
Alas, they can't all be winners, eh?
September 26, 2015
I picked this up on a fluke, at random, at my favorite used bookstore (Book House, St. Louis), just to have something S-F to read. This book is a collection of six short stories (some approaching novella length) by Keith Laumer, a late (died in 1993) hard S-F author with both military and diplomatic backgrounds. He is best known for two series of novels, the Bolo series (about self-aware tanks) and the Retief series, a satirical take on being an intergalactic diplomat. (Wikipedia).
I found this to be a fun reading experience, what with innovative scenarios and intriguing characters. My favorites of them are: “The Queue,” sort of a post-apocalyptic story of one person’s waiting in line for a VERY long time, and becoming acclimated to it, in an existential manner, with a not-surprising-but-nonetheless-satisfying ending; The titular story, “The Big Show,” about a game-show host who is drafted to do a sort of “National Geographic” series on Antarctica (but then…well, let’s say international intrigue is a major player…); and “A Relic of War,” about a once-useful-but-now-decrepit war machine which has been guarded for quite some time and is scheduled for the scrap heap – or maybe not(?).
This was a nice surprise, and I’d recommend it - you’re gonna have to scour a few used bookstores or perhaps B&N or Amazon, well worth the effort.
I found this to be a fun reading experience, what with innovative scenarios and intriguing characters. My favorites of them are: “The Queue,” sort of a post-apocalyptic story of one person’s waiting in line for a VERY long time, and becoming acclimated to it, in an existential manner, with a not-surprising-but-nonetheless-satisfying ending; The titular story, “The Big Show,” about a game-show host who is drafted to do a sort of “National Geographic” series on Antarctica (but then…well, let’s say international intrigue is a major player…); and “A Relic of War,” about a once-useful-but-now-decrepit war machine which has been guarded for quite some time and is scheduled for the scrap heap – or maybe not(?).
This was a nice surprise, and I’d recommend it - you’re gonna have to scour a few used bookstores or perhaps B&N or Amazon, well worth the effort.
March 19, 2024
Like a lawn mower that's sat for a while, it may take a few starts before many of the stories in this collection get going but once they do, they can really go. The pace of "The Big Show" or "A Relic of War" stand out to me as moving at a pretty good clip but all of them feel like they go at a pretty good pace.
My biggest issue though is the problematic world view that shines through some of these stories.
It's not just pessimism. It can be compelling to read about a possible future that's been ruined by technology rather than saved by it or a world that's been made worse by the possible choices we make. However, the way the futures in some of these stories are framed tell a story all their own beside the story on the page.
In "The Plague," a family of space colonists have worked hard to make a life for themselves on the backwater planet Kaka Nine. (good one, Keith) Life has been hard for them but they've managed to set up a power generator, water filtration, crops, etc. Then a large boat shows up on the family's dock and starts unloading equipment, shouting orders, and commandeering the family's hand-built home. The family learns that this is legal because they haven't technically lived on their claim for enough time for them to legally own the land, despite them paying homesteading fees. They then take matters into their own hands to get their home back.
A solid premise.
Where I find issue is that the comically evil invading force is a humanitarian group. They are setting up a refugee camp to accept people who are overflowing from elsewhere. The story goes out of its way to emphasize all the work that was put into making this slice of Kaka habitable and goes out of it's way again to tell up that this group of invaders is uninterested in putting in the same work themselves and that the kind of people they are trying to house are just as uninterested. We are told that these refugees don't want to work or learn. They just want to take whatever they can get for free.
It doesn't take a scholar to see the message here.
While none of the other stories are as overt in the way they portray their politics, many have a kind of paternalistic bent. "Message to an Alien" for instance sees the protagonist, a disgraced veteran of a recent alien war, single handedly fighting those aliens again when they try to invade and convincing them to leave after he kills half their landing force. The main thing stopping him from doing this officially is the bureaucracy of military action. He knows best about how to solve the war, not the groups of ambassadors or generals or whatever.
The book is still a quick, fun read but the opinions being shared by the stories stood out to me. Of all the stories collected here, I think I enjoyed "A Relic of War" most. I don't think I can fully recommend it but if you stumble across it at a used book store it might be worth a flip through if you're into this era of sci-fi.
Thank you.
My biggest issue though is the problematic world view that shines through some of these stories.
It's not just pessimism. It can be compelling to read about a possible future that's been ruined by technology rather than saved by it or a world that's been made worse by the possible choices we make. However, the way the futures in some of these stories are framed tell a story all their own beside the story on the page.
In "The Plague," a family of space colonists have worked hard to make a life for themselves on the backwater planet Kaka Nine. (good one, Keith) Life has been hard for them but they've managed to set up a power generator, water filtration, crops, etc. Then a large boat shows up on the family's dock and starts unloading equipment, shouting orders, and commandeering the family's hand-built home. The family learns that this is legal because they haven't technically lived on their claim for enough time for them to legally own the land, despite them paying homesteading fees. They then take matters into their own hands to get their home back.
A solid premise.
Where I find issue is that the comically evil invading force is a humanitarian group. They are setting up a refugee camp to accept people who are overflowing from elsewhere. The story goes out of its way to emphasize all the work that was put into making this slice of Kaka habitable and goes out of it's way again to tell up that this group of invaders is uninterested in putting in the same work themselves and that the kind of people they are trying to house are just as uninterested. We are told that these refugees don't want to work or learn. They just want to take whatever they can get for free.
It doesn't take a scholar to see the message here.
While none of the other stories are as overt in the way they portray their politics, many have a kind of paternalistic bent. "Message to an Alien" for instance sees the protagonist, a disgraced veteran of a recent alien war, single handedly fighting those aliens again when they try to invade and convincing them to leave after he kills half their landing force. The main thing stopping him from doing this officially is the bureaucracy of military action. He knows best about how to solve the war, not the groups of ambassadors or generals or whatever.
The book is still a quick, fun read but the opinions being shared by the stories stood out to me. Of all the stories collected here, I think I enjoyed "A Relic of War" most. I don't think I can fully recommend it but if you stumble across it at a used book store it might be worth a flip through if you're into this era of sci-fi.
Thank you.
April 17, 2024
Keith Laumer is one of those perennial names you find in the sci-fi shelves of used bookstores here in the states. I may have checked a book or two of his out from the library when I was a kid but I can't swear to it. This slim paperback came across my desk from a charity book sale that my wife volunteers for. Knowing I'm a fan of vintage science fiction she asked if it would be something I'd be interested in. It contains 6 stories from 1967 (that story "Test to Destruction" from DANGEROUS VISIONS) to 1970. The stories originally appeared in ANALOG (formerly ASTOUNDING, if it matters) and GALAXY, with the exception of the "Test" for the Harlan Ellison anthology. The stories range from okay to not so okay. They were written during the "new age" era of science fiction, but do not fall into that category. "In the Queue" was a good opener, a psychological study of conforming to rigid discipline. The next story "A Relic of War" is about an ancient war machine that sits rusting in the center of a small town. It's become something of a mascot for the locals, until a government agent comes to "decommission" it. It was okay. Laumer was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and this story and others here come under the military sci-fi umbrella. The title story of the collection "The Big Show" was a struggle to get through. It felt like another lame attempt at being zany that some writers feel they have to do which for me never works. It was all over the map and made no sense and I kept looking to see how many pages were left to go in it. "Message to an Alien" returns to military sci-fi about a deceptive "invasion" and a gung-ho warhawk. It was another one that was just okay. By the penultimate story in the collection "The Plague", a story about socialism vs rugged individualism that reminded me of a plot you'd find in a western, I realized what what missing in the book. That's a depiction of inner struggle, inner conflict. The characters are presented with a situation and respond to it and the story is over. There was never a sense of emotional reconciling to be determined. Only the 1st story "In the Queue" had anything coming close to an interior struggle with external conflict. The last story, "Test to Destruction" was one I read years ago when I read DANGEROUS VISIONS but I don't remember it. I'll read it again and when I finish it this paperback will go back into the charity sale for someone else to find. Ultimately, it's a 2.5 star collection that didn't give me any of that old sense of wonder I look for in old science fiction. I doubt I'll be bringing home any other books by Laumer from any used bookstores out there. Those that may be left, that is.
May 10, 2026
Dumb fun, but more dumb than fun.
From worst to best:
6. The Plague: Very strange neoliberal Ayn Rand ass short story where the main antagonist is nameless, faceless “welfare society” who take advantage of a repressive government leeching off hard-working farm folk. Decent world building but just a weird ass plot, feels like seeing into the repressed fantasies of a hardcore conservative.
5. In The Queue: Predictable, uninspired but all-around harmless short story, you can predict the ending two pages in. Feels like one of those old Stephen King dystopic sci-fi stories but much less fleshed out or creative.
4. A Relic of a Warrior: Fine story which has been done much better before, the themes are way overstated with a clunky emotional ending. Not a bad idea but the execution was very underwhelming and you don’t really have time to connect with any character.
3. The Big Show: Keith Laumer showcases a surprising sense of humor in this one. The story is all over the place but I really respect the attempt at least. Feels like a dollar-store Kurt Vonnegut story.
2. Message to an Alien: Equal parts goofy and thrilling story which feels like a Jerry Bruckheimer movie. Of course the protagonist is a Maverick-like character who can barely speak in complete sentences, but in a story like this, it’s part of the fun.
1. Test to Destruction: Legitimately pretty good short story, blending noir with cosmic sci-fi. The protagonist John Mallory is by far the most engaging character out of all the stories. Ending is what’d you expect but not bad. Not sure how often I’ll return to the other stories but this one is definitely a keeper.
From worst to best:
6. The Plague: Very strange neoliberal Ayn Rand ass short story where the main antagonist is nameless, faceless “welfare society” who take advantage of a repressive government leeching off hard-working farm folk. Decent world building but just a weird ass plot, feels like seeing into the repressed fantasies of a hardcore conservative.
5. In The Queue: Predictable, uninspired but all-around harmless short story, you can predict the ending two pages in. Feels like one of those old Stephen King dystopic sci-fi stories but much less fleshed out or creative.
4. A Relic of a Warrior: Fine story which has been done much better before, the themes are way overstated with a clunky emotional ending. Not a bad idea but the execution was very underwhelming and you don’t really have time to connect with any character.
3. The Big Show: Keith Laumer showcases a surprising sense of humor in this one. The story is all over the place but I really respect the attempt at least. Feels like a dollar-store Kurt Vonnegut story.
2. Message to an Alien: Equal parts goofy and thrilling story which feels like a Jerry Bruckheimer movie. Of course the protagonist is a Maverick-like character who can barely speak in complete sentences, but in a story like this, it’s part of the fun.
1. Test to Destruction: Legitimately pretty good short story, blending noir with cosmic sci-fi. The protagonist John Mallory is by far the most engaging character out of all the stories. Ending is what’d you expect but not bad. Not sure how often I’ll return to the other stories but this one is definitely a keeper.
Want to Read
September 10, 2025A Relic of War, in which a village discovers the rusted out old tank that's been sitting in their village square for generations is actually still conscious and capable of saving the town from an alien threat (I choose to believe this is a final Bolo who is left behind in the town after the war finally ends). There were several other good ones though
In Queue, we see a world in which the only point of life is queuing, and when a man finally gets through the queue, he literally has no idea what to do with himself.
In The Big Show, a TV actor is co-opted by the CIA to infiltrate an enemy plot, with surprising and yet not-surprising results. And Message To An Alien is a fairly predictable story of underappreciated and demoted competent military leader having to save the world singlehandedly because bureaucracy and government refuse to acknowledge the threat.
In Queue, we see a world in which the only point of life is queuing, and when a man finally gets through the queue, he literally has no idea what to do with himself.
In The Big Show, a TV actor is co-opted by the CIA to infiltrate an enemy plot, with surprising and yet not-surprising results. And Message To An Alien is a fairly predictable story of underappreciated and demoted competent military leader having to save the world singlehandedly because bureaucracy and government refuse to acknowledge the threat.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
January 5, 2010I have scanned in the cover here, but unfortunately I can not edit it.(first Ace Print, oct, 1972). The book is not title "Big Show" but "the big show" and it is not a hardcover but a paperback.
December 15, 2014
1984 grade B-
short stories
short stories
October 2, 2025
Overall: 3.0 Stars
2 Stars:
- Test to Destruction
3 Stars:
- In the Queue
- A Relic of War
- Message to the Alien
- The Big Show
4 Stars:
- The Plague
2 Stars:
- Test to Destruction
3 Stars:
- In the Queue
- A Relic of War
- Message to the Alien
- The Big Show
4 Stars:
- The Plague
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews