Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Bantam Books (1985), Mass Market Paperback, 219 pages
Description
In this prequel to the Stainless Steel Rat, Slippery Jim is a brash 17-year-old who has left his parents' porcuswine farm, planning to embark on a life of crime. The book opens with Jim bungling a bank job so that he can be arrested and sent to prison, where he plans to learn the art of being a master criminal. Deciding that the Bishop should be his mentor, Jim sets about proving himself worthy of the master's attention. He eventually has to flee his home planet of Bit O' Heaven with the Bishop, but Garth, the Captain of the ship who promised them safe passage, sells them into slavery. The latter part of the book details Jim's adventures on the planet Spiovente, a semi-industrial world fighting feudal wars with weapons smuggled in (against League regulations) by Captain Garth.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member cahallmxj
Jimmy diGriz has an a goal in life. He wants to become the best criminal on Bit O` Heaven. He figures the best way to do that is to get some instruction from the master criminals in the planets jail. Once he gets inside, after a bit of a rigged trial (he did the rigging), he finds a bunch of thugs
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This is the prequel to the Stainless Steel Rat series. I haven't read any others so I can't comment on them but, this was a pretty good old fashioned sci-fi adventure. By that I mean that there is no sex, not a lot of swearing, and not a lot of over the top violence. The story does move at a pretty good clip and it kept me entertained, enough that I'm thinking of finding the rest of the stainless steel rat adventures. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a decent adventure that's not about someone racing around the universe to stop the big bad baddy that's going to eat the universe or something. I would also recommend this to younger readers, even though it is about a thief he does have his own moral code (that's generally higher than everyone else's) he follows and tends to be more like robin hood then a gangster. M.a.c
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and malcontents. They aren't very smart either. So Jimmy knows that he has to set his sights higher. The guards are slightly brighter but no match for Jimmy and he is soon on his way. But normal crime is boring, there are only so many ways one can rob so many banks. Depressed, Jimmy begins to think that he didn't think this through very well. Then one day he happens across a news report about the best criminal Bit O' Heaven has never seen. The Bishop. He was never caught. The only thing the police ever found was a drawing of a chess piece at his many crimes. His spree went on for 10 years before ending abruptly. Jimmy knows either the bishop is dead or he went into retirement, to live off the funds he liberated. Who better to learn from than the best? So Jimmy decides that he will resurrect the Bishop and hopes that a crime done in the old thief's name will draw him out. It does and Jimmy is soon on a adventure that will transform from the small time thief that he is, into the legendary Stainless Steel Rat. ----
This is the prequel to the Stainless Steel Rat series. I haven't read any others so I can't comment on them but, this was a pretty good old fashioned sci-fi adventure. By that I mean that there is no sex, not a lot of swearing, and not a lot of over the top violence. The story does move at a pretty good clip and it kept me entertained, enough that I'm thinking of finding the rest of the stainless steel rat adventures. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a decent adventure that's not about someone racing around the universe to stop the big bad baddy that's going to eat the universe or something. I would also recommend this to younger readers, even though it is about a thief he does have his own moral code (that's generally higher than everyone else's) he follows and tends to be more like robin hood then a gangster. M.a.c
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LibraryThing member abatishko
This book explains to the reader how James diGriz became a stainless steel rat. The story and plot twists are interesting and full of Harrison's odd sense of humor. This is definitely light reading, but definitely an entertaining story. 4/5
LibraryThing member ethayer
I remember this as being a great series. Some books were stronger than others, but overall they were a fun SF romp for a teenager. I haven't reread them in adulthood to see how they hold up.
LibraryThing member TadAD
See The Stainless Steel Rat.
LibraryThing member Lyndatrue
I'm not sure what it says about me, but two of my favorite fictional characters are Slippery Jim diGriz and Mr Slippery (from True Names). Jim's approach to the world is a sensible one, following the laws that make sense, and skirting the ones that do not. I don't recommend doing this in real life,
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but it is tempting, now and again. Show Less
LibraryThing member lente
Nothing about this book really stands out. It's just good, wholesome. Why the four stars? It's not easy to write a book that is just harmless fun, apparently. Most books try hard and then fail, or succeed and tax you emotionally, heavy. This book is entertainment without any unpleasant side
I'm definitely going to read more of these.
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effects. Think of a sitcom that doesn't try to be clever, sure it's not original and it has been done before, kinda, but it's just good. Good harmless fun. I'm definitely going to read more of these.
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LibraryThing member dbsovereign
The dirt on how our intripid hero came to be. More pulp action - a prequel.
LibraryThing member fulner
IF this audio book had been released in the 21st century rather than in '85 it would have been called a prequel. Definitely better than the sequeles to the Stainless Steel Rat, focusing on how Slippery Jim became a a criminal mastermind, rather than how he uses his criminals mastermind to keep
Starts out with robbing stores for candy bars, selling those to other kids, and then getting caught on purpose robbing a bank in hopes of learning from a true master.
Finally finds such a master and they make a humorous journey through procu-swine burgers to a far off planet.
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criminals in check. Starts out with robbing stores for candy bars, selling those to other kids, and then getting caught on purpose robbing a bank in hopes of learning from a true master.
Finally finds such a master and they make a humorous journey through procu-swine burgers to a far off planet.
Show Less
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1985
Physical description
219 p.; 17.5 cm
ISBN
0553247085 / 9780553247084
Local notes
Omslag: Jim Burns
Omslaget viser The Stainless Steel Rat i civil med en storby i baggrunden
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
The Stainless Steel Rat, bind 6
Dette er en prequel til The Stainless Steel Rat
Omslaget viser The Stainless Steel Rat i civil med en storby i baggrunden
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
The Stainless Steel Rat, bind 6
Dette er en prequel til The Stainless Steel Rat
Similar in this library
Pages
219
DDC/MDS
| 813.54 |