Reasonably entertaining tale in the Stainless Steel Rat series. Hypercompetent family takes on the military dictatorship of an entire planet, and wins due to cunning and massive technological advantage. ( )

I need a break from all this serious reading, and the Stainless Steel Rat books are always amusing. In fact, this book was much better than the previous two I have read (The Stainless Steel Rat Saves The World and The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You) as it didn't suffer from the incredibly weak plot lines that books involving time travel seem to cause for Harrison.

This book is back to the classic rat -- a simple criminal romp through an unsuspecting society, his hottie wife in tow, and with his two now grown kids along for the fun. I enjoyed this book a lot.

http://www.stillhq.com/book/Harry_Har... ( )

So, who knew that a book written in 1982 would be almost two decades ahead of it's time. The plot? Well, a planet is lead by a ruler who *cough* is voted into office every four years by rigged electronic voting machines, has secret police, controls the media, etc.

It's great.

It is guilty of the standard cliche where a part of Earth (South America) is stretched out to cover a complete planet. On the other hand, the careful insertion of Spanish words and cultural bits is good for making it feel like somewhere in the Latin world.

Um, you know that the Stainless Steel Rat is going to win. Because it's just that kind of a series. And Harry Harrison loves to soft-sell you on what I assume is his Esperanto-Atheist thinking. But the real fun is living briefly in the Stainless Steel Rat's head. ( )

I actually have the 1982 Hardbound version of this book. Good luck finding it!

I’ve read this book several times now, and it’s always a treat to go back to when you don’t have anything else to read. Harrison did a great job with Slippery Jim DiGriz. ( )

Another amusing installment of the Stainless Steel Rat series. When Slippery Jim di Griz is on holiday with his easy on the eyes spousal unit, he deals with the local politician, who keeps himself in power though skullduggery.

The Rat is a master of this, and decides to go into politics and beat him at his own game, and much entertainment is had by all.

http://superprose.blogspot.com/2007/0... ( )

Some re-reading, I keep seeing them in $2 boxes at Elizabeth's and thinking "Why not?"

And indeed why not, the Stainless Steel Rat is funny, cute, amoral and talented as he charges through the universe creating work for the police, livening up economies and giving the newspapers something to write about.