Customer Reviews

The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Man, Harry Harrison's good at this stuff. This is one of my favorite Rat books. It's got a good storyline and a good (bad?) enemy, which every book needs in my humble opinion.

Slippery Jim DiGriz is back. Back in time, that is. The evil villain who calls himself "He" has been using time travel to try to rid the world of the Special Corp (including Jim and Angelina) by eliminating them before they were even born. As his world is quickly fading in front of his eyes, Jim jumps back to a planet called "Dirt" (that's Earth) in their year 1975 so he can kill He before He can work His evil plan. Before the adventure is over, Jim ends up fighting He-possessed Napoleon Bonaparte who has occupied London (the history is a little different in He's time warp).

Don't worry about the mind-boggling impossibilities and plot holes here -- just go along for the ride and, if you can, do it in audio. I don't know how the Stainless Steel Rat books come across in print, but in audio format, with their quick pace (less than 5 hours) and Phil Gigante's wonderful voices, they're immensely entertaining. In this installment, Mr. Gigante gets to show off a few more of his brilliant accents. This time it's British, French, and Gangsta. Even when the plot gets a little slow for a few minutes, Gigante carries it along with his fabulous narration.

I first learned of the Stainless Steel Rat over thirty years ago. I had no idea this book was one of many.

Over thirty years later, I've started buying (and reading) the other books (and Esperanto books).

Folks, this book may have had holes in the plot, but for me to remember it for thirty years and then start buying the rest of the series, it simply couldn't have been that bad. Gee, maybe it's very good!

This was not as good as the previous two books in the series. Another adventure for him, a strange antagonist, and some time travelling that seemed a bit out of place. France? Jim has to stop people messing around with time.

Anyway, it is ok, but there are definitely better books in this series.

Harry, how could you! After creating the inimitable Stainless Steel Rat, you put in in a STUPID non-existent storyline! You send Slippery Jim back and forth in time aimlessly, the archvillain is titled "HE" (was that name the best you could do?), and then the end is not the least satisfactory. Harry, the absurd point of the story was to make sure the Stainless Steel Rat could not be around to be a father to his twins. What a disappointment when the best part of the story is the brief repartee between Slippery Jim and his boss, Inskipp. I know you can do better, Harry, because you have in your other books. Readers, if you like the Rat, skip this one.