Status
Available
Call number
Publication
L'Hospitalet Llobregat Tridente D.L. 1990
Description
Jim DiGriz is caught during one of his crimes and recruited into the Special Corps. Boring, routine desk work during his probationary period results in his discovering that someone is building a battleship, thinly disguised as an industrial vessel. In the peaceful League no one has battleships anymore, so the builder of this one would be unstoppable. DiGriz' hunt for the guilty becomes a personal battle between himself and the beautiful but deadly Angelina, who his planning a coup on one of the feudal worlds. DiGriz' dilemma is whether he will turn Angelina over to the Special Corps, or join with her, since he has fallen in love with her.
User reviews
LibraryThing member ABVR
Harry Harrison’s The Stainless Steel Rat is one of those SF classics I’ve known about for years (probably since the days when I was 8 or 9 and scanning the family bookcases for amusingly odd titles) but never gotten around to reading. Its reputation far, far preceded it: A short, fast, funny
The 83 pages I made it through before giving up are filled with incidents, but – although they occur in a non-random order and one leads logically to the next – there’s no sense that they add up to an actual plot. I had the sense that the hero was after something more specific than freedom, wealth, and a good cigar . . . but no clue what that was, or how he intended to get it.
The far-future empire in which all this takes place is lightly sketched at best: a mixture of lightly disguised late-50s American cities and the conceptual furniture of decades of galactic-empire tales (faster-than-light travel, psi-based communications, and sentient robots). The supporting characters are two-dimensional at best, with none of the vibrant eccentricity that writers like Donald Westlake and Carl Hiaasen brought to the comic crime novel, or that Mike Resnick brought to his own sprawling galactic empire.
And that brings me to “Slippery Jim” Di Griz, who – despite his reputation as a swaggering antihero – came off, for me, as oddly colorless and humorless. He has the disregard for rules and authority that befits a Trickster, but not the playfulness or the exuberant delight in his own cleverness. He never seemed to be having any fun, and – by page 83 – neither was I.
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read about a roguish master criminal loose in a far-future galactic empire. All that sounded like a good match for a January night (or two), so I pulled it off the shelf.The 83 pages I made it through before giving up are filled with incidents, but – although they occur in a non-random order and one leads logically to the next – there’s no sense that they add up to an actual plot. I had the sense that the hero was after something more specific than freedom, wealth, and a good cigar . . . but no clue what that was, or how he intended to get it.
The far-future empire in which all this takes place is lightly sketched at best: a mixture of lightly disguised late-50s American cities and the conceptual furniture of decades of galactic-empire tales (faster-than-light travel, psi-based communications, and sentient robots). The supporting characters are two-dimensional at best, with none of the vibrant eccentricity that writers like Donald Westlake and Carl Hiaasen brought to the comic crime novel, or that Mike Resnick brought to his own sprawling galactic empire.
And that brings me to “Slippery Jim” Di Griz, who – despite his reputation as a swaggering antihero – came off, for me, as oddly colorless and humorless. He has the disregard for rules and authority that befits a Trickster, but not the playfulness or the exuberant delight in his own cleverness. He never seemed to be having any fun, and – by page 83 – neither was I.
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LibraryThing member UnderMyAppleTree
Jim DiGriz is a likeable a con man, a smooth, slippery rat of a guy, a stainless steel rat. Crime is rare in his world and a criminal of DiGriz’ skills is difficult catch. But eventually he does get caught and it’s all over for him. Or is it? Soon he is recruited into the Special Corps, a law
This book was originally published in 1961 and is now considered classic sci-fi. It is book one in a series of Stainless Steel Rat books. If you are of a certain age and you read science fiction in your younger days, chances are good you already know about these books. Somehow I missed out on this series. Oh, I knew about them I just never got around to reading them. When I saw book one had been reissued in audio book I grabbed a copy from the library to find out what I had been missing.
This is a book with a sense of humor. The story is not deep and I don’t think it was intended to be. I laughed out loud more than a few times at the sometimes corny and sometimes clever dialog. Science fiction doesn’t have to be technical or exist in a complex, carefully built world. It can be entertaining, fun and campy. The audio was nicely performed by Phil Gigante. I enjoyed his interpretations and portrayal of the characters. At only 4 CDs for the unabridged version, this is a short book and easy to listen to.
Although dated the story has held up fairly well. Thankfully attitudes towards women and the way they are portrayed have, for the most part, changed. While Angelina was initially portrayed as brilliant and strong she quickly turned into the stereotypical femme fatal which had me gritting my teeth and grumbling gaaaah, gaaaah! Setting that aside, it was enjoyable and I’ll be listening to the next book in the series.
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enforcement group made up of ex-criminals. It takes a criminal to catch a criminal. In no time Jim is chasing after a thief that has stolen an industrial ship with the intent to build it into a battleship. The fun starts when Jim catches up with the thief, the beautiful Angelina. He has met his match.This book was originally published in 1961 and is now considered classic sci-fi. It is book one in a series of Stainless Steel Rat books. If you are of a certain age and you read science fiction in your younger days, chances are good you already know about these books. Somehow I missed out on this series. Oh, I knew about them I just never got around to reading them. When I saw book one had been reissued in audio book I grabbed a copy from the library to find out what I had been missing.
This is a book with a sense of humor. The story is not deep and I don’t think it was intended to be. I laughed out loud more than a few times at the sometimes corny and sometimes clever dialog. Science fiction doesn’t have to be technical or exist in a complex, carefully built world. It can be entertaining, fun and campy. The audio was nicely performed by Phil Gigante. I enjoyed his interpretations and portrayal of the characters. At only 4 CDs for the unabridged version, this is a short book and easy to listen to.
Although dated the story has held up fairly well. Thankfully attitudes towards women and the way they are portrayed have, for the most part, changed. While Angelina was initially portrayed as brilliant and strong she quickly turned into the stereotypical femme fatal which had me gritting my teeth and grumbling gaaaah, gaaaah! Setting that aside, it was enjoyable and I’ll be listening to the next book in the series.
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LibraryThing member suzemo
I think the best thing I can say about this book is that it does not age well.
In the far future (which, I think would be about now, although I'm willing to forgive the book this bit), people have been selectively bred to be socially conscious and responsible. The few malcontents that are born are
Which is all well and good, if it weren't for the fact that diGriz is possibly one of the most irritating main characters I've had the misfortune to read. He's brash and amazing and clever and witty and oh-so-awesome. And one note (although all characters are dimensionless). And then there's the "gentle" misogyny rampant through the book. There is no world building, there are no sane motivations for any of the characters. The world is, because the author says so. The characters just do, because the author writes them to.
The upside is that this book is fast. The action is non-stop, and since the book is so short, that means it doesn't take long to get through, and there is no lag-time that makes you want to put down the book.
It's decent, I suppose. It feels like a pulp-sci-fi from the 60s. So take it for what it is. If you enjoy the campy white-knight man rescuing the world from the evil clutches of a seductress-enemy that takes no direct action, but uses her "feminine wiles" to ensnare men to her bidding, then go for it. I won't be continuing the series.
In the far future (which, I think would be about now, although I'm willing to forgive the book this bit), people have been selectively bred to be socially conscious and responsible. The few malcontents that are born are
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weeded out fairly quickly, so that there is virtually no crime. So the whole wide world/civilization is fairly bland, with few exceptions. The main character, Jim diGriz, is one of those exceptions, and thanks to his criminal "ability" is recruited into being a kind of anti-crime agent to stop crimes and apprehend other criminals.Which is all well and good, if it weren't for the fact that diGriz is possibly one of the most irritating main characters I've had the misfortune to read. He's brash and amazing and clever and witty and oh-so-awesome. And one note (although all characters are dimensionless). And then there's the "gentle" misogyny rampant through the book. There is no world building, there are no sane motivations for any of the characters. The world is, because the author says so. The characters just do, because the author writes them to.
The upside is that this book is fast. The action is non-stop, and since the book is so short, that means it doesn't take long to get through, and there is no lag-time that makes you want to put down the book.
It's decent, I suppose. It feels like a pulp-sci-fi from the 60s. So take it for what it is. If you enjoy the campy white-knight man rescuing the world from the evil clutches of a seductress-enemy that takes no direct action, but uses her "feminine wiles" to ensnare men to her bidding, then go for it. I won't be continuing the series.
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LibraryThing member yhgail
I always wondered about this series. I can understand why it has been popular. Very entertaining but aimed at a young adult audience I think.
LibraryThing member Tony_A20
The first of the series. Harry Harrison at his best. Good story, interesting characters.
LibraryThing member bradsucks
This book was OK, decent start but wandered off clumsily. Mostly it suffered from shallow characterization. I felt I was told what to think and feel about the characters and plot but that the events in the story didn't back it up.
LibraryThing member TadAD
Though this the fourth book chronologically, it's really the first one to read as it introduces the characters the best.
I thought this was a very funny book. As the series goes on, the particular humor gets a bit old as it's pretty much just more of the same with each volume.
I thought this was a very funny book. As the series goes on, the particular humor gets a bit old as it's pretty much just more of the same with each volume.
LibraryThing member Andybaby
Harry Harrison sticks to the point in this novel "The Stainless Steel Rat". It is a good quick read, when most scifi today is bogged down and several hundred pages long, alot of it ultimately meaningless to the story, It is a good book to read between those. It gets the story out. with Minimal
After reading a book and you say. Ugh, that was long, Read this. Its short, Enjoyable, and will get your raring to go to read the next on your "to read" list.
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Descriptions, and Minimal Meanderings of thought.After reading a book and you say. Ugh, that was long, Read this. Its short, Enjoyable, and will get your raring to go to read the next on your "to read" list.
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LibraryThing member jeffjardine
The Stainless Steel Rat is a fast-paced, entertaining story. Utterly lacking pretension, it is basically a con man caper set in space. Just set your brain on cruise control and enjoy the ride.
LibraryThing member Veeralpadhiar
This was entertaining but not as good as 'Make Room! Make Room!' by the same author. But then again, the comparison is not fair as 'Make Room! Make Room!' is more serious than this. But reading 'SS Rat' once won't make you regret it.
LibraryThing member dbsovereign
A hero who always manages to somehow make it out of every scrape in one piece no matter what the odds. He is a survivor.
LibraryThing member Lyndatrue
It's a strange business, reading something that was originally published circa 1960. I read some of the pieces that this book was based on before I'd read the book, and it has been many years since I'd read either. Harrison could always write, and even though the tech is sometimes jarringly out of
Ah, Slippery Jim, you were always one of my heroes. Thanks for letting me revisit those days. Still an excellent read.
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synch with current reality, it's still fun.Ah, Slippery Jim, you were always one of my heroes. Thanks for letting me revisit those days. Still an excellent read.
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LibraryThing member fulner
The Stainless Steel Rat is a Sci-Fi crime thriller. It took me some time to realize that the protagonist is not, in fact, a rodent. Though that is never made completely clear, nor is it if the time line is some long time in our future, some other galaxy far away, or another universe altogether, but
Jim is a criminal. One of the few because the government has made it where people have the ability and desire to commit crime taken from them at a very young age. He's an outlaw in every sense of the word, until one day he is finally caught. How can he avoid being reassigned a new personality? Well become an undercover cop of course! Have to be a criminal to catch a criminal.
Goes on to find a battle ship that is being built, and the criminally has secretly gotten the government to pay it for him. Jim falls in love with the antagonist though, so the end may surprise you.
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I think it most likely to be a 200 or so years in our future. Jim is a criminal. One of the few because the government has made it where people have the ability and desire to commit crime taken from them at a very young age. He's an outlaw in every sense of the word, until one day he is finally caught. How can he avoid being reassigned a new personality? Well become an undercover cop of course! Have to be a criminal to catch a criminal.
Goes on to find a battle ship that is being built, and the criminally has secretly gotten the government to pay it for him. Jim falls in love with the antagonist though, so the end may surprise you.
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LibraryThing member grandpahobo
Great story. It moves along at a good pace. There is a lot of "and then something magically appears or is aquired", but it doesn't detract from the story. The main character is a combination of Simon Templar and James Bond set in a science fiction universe.
LibraryThing member kevn57
Terrific start to the series, fast funny and thought provoking all at once
LibraryThing member kslade
Read it in about 2010. It was sort of fun if I remember.
Awards
Audie Award (Finalist — Science Fiction — 2011)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1961-11
Physical description
245 p.; 18 cm
ISBN
9788487698002