Any of you who know Carl would easily guess that he was the impetus behind me trying out this series by Harry Harrison. I also need to give Chris my thanks, for it was his review that actually made me pop over to Amazon and pick it up a few months back.
Science fiction is pretty foreign land to me, and I won't pretend to know anything about it. I'm sure there's probably a proper term for the type of science fiction that The Stainless Steel Rat represents, but I couldn't tell you what it is. To me, this book is pure action-adventure. It contains all those things that my uneducated mind associates with science fiction...things like travel around the universe that is as easy as hopping a plane is to us today and robots of all levels of sophistication.
But if I had to pick one single word to describe this book, it would have to fun! Had it been possible, I would have undoubtedly read this in one sitting...I was annoyed every time I had to set it down. It's told in the first person, by our hero/anti-hero, Jim diGriz. He's a crook, though an utterly likeable one, in a universe where crime is nearly non-existent. Nearly. For he is finally caught by the Special Corps, an elite crime-fighting organization, whose head is a brilliant ex-criminal himself. Instead of being imprisoned, however, diGriz is recruited to be an agent for the Special Corps. And why wouldn't they want diGriz...he's intelligent, he's industrious, and he's quite moral in areas where it really counts. And from here, the story only gets better...
What can I say? I just loved this book! As I said, it was just plain fun. Adventure, humor, ingenious schemes...yep, this book has all that and more.
5 comments:
It does sound like lots of fun, and I've been in the mood for a fun book. I wonder if I could find it at any of the libraries here.
I see this book in my near future. Hubby loves the Stainless Steel Rat and I haven't read 'em yet and he was all pouty the other day, "You never read anything I recommend to you!" So,I guess I should appease him and put an end to the pouting.
(and it helps to have your second opinion on the matter! LOL)
It really was a fun book and I can't wait to start the next one. It's going to be my first read for the sci-fi experience if I ever get started on another book! There's a cliffhanger there at the end that I need to know about...I've been waiting patiently for months!!! I can certainly see why Carl would begin a love affair with sci-fi after reading these. They're classics in the classic sense and it was just the definition of what I've always imagined a good pulp sci-fi book to be.
So glad to hear that you enjoyed it. I always wonder what others think of these who didn't fall in love with them as a preadolescent like I did. The second one is definitely worth getting to as part of it picks up right where this one left off. More recruits for Harry Harrison is good for me!!!
well, like you, carl has also infected me with a strong desire to read this! and, if it could be possible, with your review i'm even more interested in reading this!
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