Jun 22
Click for full imageSarah Comments: This cover raises a lot of questions. Are those pointed shoes? What’s up with his hands? Do all “galactic Machiavellis” keep the souls of deceased dinosaurs in their cloaks? Why does he look as though a slight breeze would knock him over?
Published 1973
Leggings and a dinner suit. Good look!
Many thanks to Sarah!
(Rating: 7.89 out of 10)
Loading ...
June 22nd, 2010 at 10:14 am
Oh whatever happened to the mens cape. There was a day when a gentlemans suit was not complete without one.
That one above seems to have suffered slightly from daemonic possession!
June 22nd, 2010 at 10:36 am
If he’s underwater, then he’s farting up a typhoon behind him.
June 22nd, 2010 at 11:00 am
Now you mention it, that pose does look completely unstable.
But forget that — I want his cape SO BADLY. The whole ensemble, in fact, if the suit is available in a colour that’s less Father Christmas and more Space Machiavelli: The Sequel.
June 22nd, 2010 at 11:23 am
WARNING: book may or may not contain vampires.
June 22nd, 2010 at 11:44 am
Since when did the Wizard of Oz have a Buck Rogers ray gun?
June 22nd, 2010 at 12:09 pm
Do you see those “planets” up in the sky? They’re actually balloons. FILLED WITH METHANE. I think that explains a fair bit of the picture, don’t you?
June 22nd, 2010 at 1:32 pm
I’d be more interested in NASAs space program if they made the astronauts wear capes which imprison the souls of the teeming undead.
June 22nd, 2010 at 1:55 pm
Choose a caption:
A) “Whoa-whoa-whoa…” *BONK* “I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up!”
B) “Ed Wood Jr. presents… CRISWELL AND THE AMAZING BLACK-AND-WHITE DREAMCOAT!”
C) “I almost caught a ravenous bugblatter beast, and it was THIS big…!”
June 22nd, 2010 at 1:57 pm
“Hey, pssssst, wanna buy some fogmonsters? … Or we can play with my tiny spaceship.”
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:12 pm
‘The Galactic Machiavelli’ looks like a children’s tea-party entertainer
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:13 pm
On closer examination, it’s Christopher Plummer during panto season!
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:33 pm
>>e.lee a children’s tea-party entertainer
Holy crap if that guy showed up at my kid’s party I’d call the cops. Or put a web cam on him and make a few bucks.
June 22nd, 2010 at 6:24 pm
‘And our envoy is … the phantom raspberry-blower of old London town!’
June 22nd, 2010 at 7:48 pm
that font is really really bad
June 22nd, 2010 at 10:02 pm
In all the Retief books I’ve read, not once did Laumer mention that he was a flamboyant zombie with grey-green skin.
June 22nd, 2010 at 10:43 pm
@ DeadRobot ‘Hey kiddies! With the help of his wispy cloak underlings, The Great Retief will inflate all the balloon animals!”
June 23rd, 2010 at 2:08 am
Fingers is hard to draw
June 30th, 2010 at 9:08 am
He’s thrusting his groin forward in a way that makes a swift punch to it almost compulsory.
July 20th, 2010 at 3:36 pm
Amazing that they had a George Clooney look-alike back in ’73.
January 22nd, 2011 at 8:08 pm
Alternate cover blurbs to match the “stunning” artwork:
A) “Retief – the galactic Halloween party crasher!”
B) “Retief – the galactic Confuse-A-Cat!”
C) “Retief – the galactic WTF??”