The Governor of Glave by Keith Laumer

When Ambassador Sternwheeler's mission on Glave is upended by a workers' and peasants' junta, the diplomatic staff descends into panic, posturing, and career-saving speculation. Retief, as dryly practical as ever, cuts through the bluster, dismisses the official alarm, and insists on seeing the situation for himself, even as the new regime warns the embassy to stay away. Landing on an eerily quiet world, Retief quickly discovers that the revolution is less a clean victory than a shaky occupation held together by fear, resentment, and bad judgment. At customs, in the capital, and then at a power plant and communications district, he exposes the nervous incompetence beneath the new order and senses that Glave's calm surface is being maintained by force rather than competence. His guide, Jake, grows increasingly uneasy as Retief presses him about the purged "big shots," the hidden leadership, and a forbidden sub-station. At Sub-station Number Nine, Retief confronts the blustering General Sozier, whose threats collapse under Retief's sarcasm and tactical nerve. After provoking Sozier into retreat, Retief enters the station and meets Manager-General Corasol, who reveals the deeper truth: Glave is a harsh, overmanaged world dependent on vast, unsustainable systems that few understand and even fewer can replace. As the uprising threatens to unravel everything, Retief must navigate political absurdity, hidden power structures, and a planet one bad decision away from total failure. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.