The Stainless Steel Rat

Stainless Steel Rat, Book 1

By: Harry Harrison

Narrated by: Phil Gigante

Length: 4 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

It's hard to identify with a rat.

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

The basic story line was fine, however the main character is supposed to be brilliant, but makes decisions that are not.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

For the first half of the book you could easily identify with the main character. After he obtained the love/hate relationship with the villain his decision making became out of character.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

A less wise cracking voice might have made the character more likable.

Engaging, overdramatic and fun SCIFI.

What did you love best about The Stainless Steel Rat?

The over the top performance and story line. A pleasure, guilty or not.

What did you like best about this story?

The narration. It wouldn't be the same story without this 'fits like a glove' narration.

What does Phil Gigante bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

A star performance.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

A bad idea in the twenty-fifth millennium.

Any additional comments?

The story is fun. The action compelling. I hope to hear more episodes.

Fun Read, Good Reading

A fun, innovative action story with several twists. Both the Sci Fi and noir detective fan should enjoy this one. The anti-hero Jim is novel and easy to like.

classic Harry Harrison

The stainless steel rat has the first in Harry Harrison's series by the same name. The material is clearly dated, but it is also still fun. This is a novella but certainly a good start to the series. If you just have an extra credit, it's fun and easy. This is one that periodically comes up on sale due to its age. Recommended, but not necessarily urgent.

brings me back to the first time I read it.

great production. author was expressive and brought the characters to life. I especially enjoyed the accents.

What great fun!

Make a great series😀 Very well performed by Phil Gigante. I remember hearing about this many years ago but never read it.

Exciting and efficient

Not a wasted word. Very fun spy vs spy in a Sci-Fi setting. Great voice actor.

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