Stainless Steel Rat Paperback – 1 Jan. 1988

I wanted to read this again because I remember reading some of these books at school. Overall it was an enjoyable trip down memory lane. It's really interesting to read the technology which now seems very dated and anachronistic - paper tape computer inputs for example feature quite heavily in the story. It almost reads like a parallel universe in which certain types of technology got stuck in the 1970s. It also made me wonder how much future technology we simply are not able to imagine at present - even in sci-fi writing.

I've known about The Stainless Steel Rat series for many years, so under recommendations, I decided to read it.This book is like a boys own adventure with tech and space. Published in 1957, it is very much of its time. The plot is fun, adventurous and enjoyable. With plenty of pipes at odd angles, the maze for the rat to run down. If it defiiately wortnh reading anf and I would recommend reading to one. However, for the modern reader you do have to not think too deeply about some to the sexist commentary, as I said, its of it's time.

Arguably Harrison's most popular series, The Stainless Steel Rat introduces us to "Slippery" Jim diGriz, a thief and con man living a life of crime in an otherwise relatively crime-free future that spans many planets and systems, bound by The League of Planets. The title stems from the fact that in this future, brick and mortar has been replaced by the sheen of stainless steel, and Slippery Jim represents the rat that those in charge want to eradicate - one of stainless steel itself. After one con too many, he gets captured by the Special Corps and summarily taken into their employ and sent on a dangerous mission. However, not everything goes to plan...Yes, it's a little old, but reading this harkens back to a more innocent, fun-loving time which stands at odds against all the darkness, negativity and angst of contemporary SF. It also contains an almost childlike sense of morality in its simplicity - diGriz refuses to kill, and makes sure there are no victims to his crimes. Cap that with his quick wit and ability to survive in difficult situations, and you have a memorable character.This is a short read, great fun and with a streak of humour often missed today and has aged well with a few out of date references. The SF Gateway edition contains a couple of errors such as the odd missing full stop or misspelling. FYI, check out the bundled collection of the first 6 books in the series, instead of buying this one then buying the rest individually, like I did.

Bought this book in 1978 and have been reading it off and on since then. I still have it, even though it is now falling apart hence the reason I now have a Kindle Paperwhite to read it on which does not :-) . Its a sci-fi version of "It Takes a Thief to Catch a Thief" and the main character Slippery Jim D'Griz is a criminal of the future, needing to be a Stainless Steel Rat in order to hide in the concrete cracks of society.As with any new book in a series, time is spent developing the character in order to find out who he is, but unlike other stories this is brief and the action starts straight away and we are quickly introduced to Jim and the gadgets he uses to ply his trade.A good read with humour, passion, gadgets and sci-fi. Bit like a James Bond, but with a criminal bent. Well worth a read even though it is of its time and lots of references pay homage to the time in which it was created. A great start to the series which I also own and have also replaced with Kindle versions.

Bereft of anything to read I returned to this series, I 1st read at school. Harrisons work holds up quite well. Probably more 3 1/2 than a 4 good easy read through.

Bought it for my son, ended up re-reading it. Not as overtly humorous or pithy as Pratchett but still a fun read. It has dated a bit, but not as much as Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers.

There will be a thousand reviews better than this one, but if you are a sci fi fan coming to this late it is a 'must read'. Brilliant!

I just love these Books and this one was the first one I read, that was over 40 years ago and made me an instant Harry Harrison fan, at the time he was described as the "Monty Python of the space ways" since then i have pretty much read everything he's written and loved most of it.The 1st 4 stainless steel rat books are by far the best of the series and this one is my favourite. they are fun to read and remembering it was first published in 1961 and should be read as classic not contemporary sci-fi should put you in the correct frame of mind to enjoy them.