It Could Be Anything

THE WEIRD WORLD BEYOND

Brett had to get out of Casperton.

It was a small town, Casperton, and although Brett loved his Aunt Haicey and would miss the lovely Pretty-Lee, his girl-friend, he wanted to see the wide, wide world beyond.

The ocean! The mountains! Big cities! Brett had only seen pictures of them before he got on the train that fateful day . . .

But then the train had stopped. Brett discovered there was no engine and the tracks ahead. . . . stopped!

He walked onward and found a city. . . . but it was a city was full of "golems." A true human being Brett met, Dhuva -- was taken underground by the fearsome secret masters of the city -- the Gel.

Brett had to save Dhuva and unlock the secret of this city . . . and of "reality" itself.

John Keith Laumer (1925 - 1993) was an American science fiction author. Prior to becoming a full-time writer, he was an officer in the United States Air Force and a diplomat in the United States Foreign Service. His older brother March Laumer was also a writer, known for his adult reinterpretations of the Land of Oz (also mentioned in Laumer's The Other Side of Time). Frank Laumer, their youngest brother, is a historian and writer. Keith Laumer is known for the Bolo and Retief stories. Stories from the former chronicle the evolution of super 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 US Foreign Service. In an interview with Paul Walker of Luna Monthly, Laumer states "I had no shortage of iniquitous memories of the Foreign Service."