Jim was left in the custody of the League Navy, this story opens with him escaping from his prison cell on the League base on Steren-Gwandra, where he is awaiting deportation back to his home world. He has discovered that Bibs, a crew girl from Captain Garth's ship, is also a prisoner. Jim holds Garth responsible for the Bishop's death, and plans to hunt him down, with Bibs' help. Garth is really the crazed Captain Zennor, head of an army which continually defies League peace treaties, and now plans to invade and conquer the planet Chojecki. The people of Chojecki are pacifists, having no armies and no police. But Garth's generals decide to attack anyway, since there are no medals for "generals who bring back the troops intact". Jim must save the people of Chojecki before he can face Garth.
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"The grandaddy of all heist series. Depicting the birth of a (human) con arrist. In the past we had rats sneaking through the holes in the wooden framework of society in the very distant future the rats must be made out of stainless steel to fit through and make a living in the spaces of a society. "
— Theodore (4 out of 5 stars)
" 2 stars only because I loved HH's books when I was a child. In fact I didn't finish this one. It was boring. I noticed that all his books are very much alike. too much alike... "
— Irissska, 12/25/2013" Harry Harrison is brilliant. This book continues the saga of the Rat before he becomes what we all know as the Stainless Steel Rat as he is in the book named for him. "
— Nathaniel, 11/8/2013" Good read, won't tax the brain cells too much, good Summer holiday read "
— Martin, 6/7/2013" More Stainless steel rat - best read in order "
— Peter, 5/13/2013" The Stainless Steel Rat series was an excellent and entertaining read. "
— Dehibberdwrites, 4/14/2013" Loved this one. I learned that I needed to be able to do hundreds of push-ups and sit-ups... just in case. "
— Dan, 3/29/2013" This whole series was wonderful when I was young. I loved it. "
— David, 12/23/2012" This was not one of the better stainless steel rat books "
— Michael, 3/16/2012" A fluffy action movie of a story. Jim diGriz is too much of a Marty Stu for my liking, and his friend Morton does nothing except snivel and give Jim someone to take responsibility for. "
— Octochan, 2/16/2012" My favorite of the Stainless Steel Rat books. "
— Sarah, 12/11/2011" I loved Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat series as a kid and I'm buying them for my Kindle now. Harry was a good storyteller. "
— Michaela, 6/9/2011" a brilliant book of the young rat "
— Ross, 5/25/2011" Still great fun, but these are prequels and have a less edgy feel. Worth a read but go for the originals first "
— Egrommet, 5/3/2011" Yummy pulp scifi from my younger days. "
— Saeed, 1/10/2010" i really liked this book! funny, fast paced, AWESOME, etc. "
— Laila, 12/9/2009" 'loved this book... Harry Harrison is funny in all his books, but I especially loved these first few in the Stainless Steel Rat series. "
— Aaron, 3/23/2008Harry Harrison (1925-2012) was drafted into the Army after finishing school and served in World War II, where he learned both to shoot guns and repair analogue computers. Leaving the Army at the end of the war, Harrison teamed up with Wally Wood and produced professional comic book art. When the comic book boom came to an end, Harrison moved from drawing to writing. In 1957 his story, “The Stainless Steel Rat” was published in Astounding, and introduced a character which would stay with him (and readers) for the next forty-odd years. In 1975 Harrison had his first brush with Hollywood when his novel, Make Room! Make Room! was used for the basis of Soylent Green. His novels have also been successfully adapted for other media: radio plays and readings, a board game, at least one computer game, and, taking us full-circle, comic books, most notably 2000AD’s adaptations of the Stainless Steel Rat books.
In a career spanning sixty years, Harrison produced more than a hundred short stories, edited over thirty anthologies, and published more than sixty novels.
Phil Gigante has narrated more than two hundred audiobooks, earning ten AudioFile Earphones Awards and three of the prestigious Audie Awards for best narration. An actor, director, and producer with over twenty years of experience in theater, film, television, and radio, he is currently the artistic director of Gigantic Productions and Little Giant Children’s Theatre.