The Stainless Steel Rat

Stainless Steel Rat, Book 1

By: Harry Harrison

Narrated by: Phil Gigante

Audie Award, Science Fiction and Fantasy, 2011

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.

©2010 Harry Harrison (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

A fun engaging story

This is a fun little story and I enjoyed every minute of it. It's short, just about 5 hours long, but there's a great story compacted in those short hours. It's a light read that you can listen to while you're working, and I've found this is a book that I keep listening to over and over again.

The audiobook revived my love for this story

I just listened to the audiobook of The Stainless Steel Rat, and remembered why I have loved this story and character for years. My original copy of The Adventures of the Stainless Steel Rat (The Stainless Steel Rat, The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge, and The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World) is tattered from many re-readings over the years. It is no secret to those who know me that I prefer my science fiction in the more cheerful and optimistic vein, and those who want a more dystopic, dark story with antiheroes and ambiguous motivations should really stay away. I suspect the humor doesn't work for everyone either, since humor is so individual. But for me, this is a perineal comfort read.

So, on to the story. The Stainless Steel Rat was written in 1961, and it shows. Both faster than light spaceships and punchcard computers show up. The gender attitudes are old fashioned, but not misogynistic or dismissive. Slippery Jim diGriz's arch nemesis, Angelina, is his alter ego - just as smart, resourceful, and fearless, but lacking the moral code that makes thief and con artist Jim a good candidate for recruitment to the Special Corps. Jim never kills unless he has to in a struggle for his own life. Angelina kills casually and with pleasure. She must be stopped, but how can Jim turn over such a remarkable woman to have her personality erased? An early example of a shambling, almost drooling ex-criminal is a stark example of what will happen to Angelina if she is ever caught.

This story is an excellent example of a parody. It both mocks and has fun with the stereotypes of the pulp scifi genre and at the same time is a very good story within the genre. You both laugh at Jim's escapades and are on the edge of your seat waiting for them to play out. Jim hops from world to world in his chase, and each society is at a different level of technological and societal development. Friebur in particular is both fascinating and hilarious. The coal-powered robot startled me as much as it did Jim, while the family vendetta is really scary.

I highly recommend the audiobook of this story. The reader is excellent, and the humor and personalities come through nicely.

Great book and narrater

The story was very entertaining. I am looking forward to other books in the series. The narration was a bonus use of tone and presentation a true pleasure

Not as good as I remembered

I read these books as a kid and loved them. Maybe I just hadn't read any good literature to compare it to. Hearing them now, I realized they are way too predictable and simple. Premise is awesome. Storytelling is weak.

Great!

Would you listen to The Stainless Steel Rat again? Why?

I read this book in high school. I still have my original copy although the front cover is a part of ritz box and held together with duct tape. I bought it for old times sake and it was every bit as good as I remembered.