Between the years 1960 and 1979, fifty-three books were published under the name Keith Laumer--a guide to building model airplanes, a mystery, a general-fiction novel, and fifty science-fiction novels or story collections. Although he is not as well-known as Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, or Robert Heinlein, his best work rivals theirs, and he is one of the prominent figures of the last two decades in science fiction. His work sometimes reveals the mark of hasty composition--weak character development and unrealized scenes--and he has been stereotyped, inaccurately, as an action writer. But his best fiction contains both action and an exploration of ideas and human situations on a deep and mature level.

John Keith Laumer was born in Syracuse, New York, where he lived until he was twelve. He then moved with his family to Florida, where he has lived for much of his life, and which serves as the...