Friday, January 25, 2008

The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge by Harry Harrison


This is just one of the most fun series I've read. Thanks to Carl, I discovered The Stainless Steel Rat last year and I have to say that I enjoyed the second book in the series even more. So far, these books are classic crime/detective/space adventure sci-fi at it's best. It's everything you can hope for in a nice solid throwback novel. Whenever I hold this book in my hands, I feel like I have something special there, like I'm being brought back to that golden age of sci-fi. So The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge was the perfect first read for Carl's Sci-Fi Experience.

In this sequel, James DiGriz, aka The Stainless Steel Rat, is sent on another mission by Inskipp, a colonel who made a somewhat honest man out of this master criminal in book one of the series...or as honest as you're going to get. His mission this time is huge...he has to stop the invasion of a planet by a war hungry civilization. The book is non stop adventure from cover to cover and when I say non stop, I mean it - it never slows down and never takes a breath. Just as the first book did, this has a very James Bond feel to it which I loved. The Rat has some very cool gadgets and some awesome escape plans and I loved all of the combat.

The characters are wonderful too! Angelina is back in this book and that's all I'm going to say on that front as she was a character I had questions about after the end of the first. I was happy to see her back and I think that Harrison has created one of the hottest characters ever with her!
James DiGriz is just a top notch character. He's smooth, he's sharp, he's skillful, he's a crook, he's a sharp-shooter. He really reminds me of James Bond in the future! Harrison has something special with him. I can see why Carl fell in love with this series with the adventures surrounded around this guy. And then there was Kraj...the military general...the villain. This guy was pure evil and I just couldn't stand him. Complete with torture devices, no emotions, no respect for anyone, etc. Perfect villain that you just loved to hate.

If you're looking for a good sci-fi read, this series comes highly recommended from me! The books are such quick and fulfilling reads. I was going to go on to something else after this, but decided to read one more book in the series first, so tomorrow I'm starting The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World. I love the titles of these books :p

11 comments:

Carl V. Anderson said...

Yay! I've spawned a Rat fan!!! I'm so excited when others discover exactly what thrilled me about this series as a young man. I think sometime soon I am going to re-read the first book or two (its been awhile) and do a review since I've never done so on my namesake site! Bad me. Now that some of you have read or are reading it I think a review from me is far overdue.

Debi said...

I've been dying to dig into the second one ever since I finished up the first. I should just do it, I'm sure it will be a quick, highly enjoyable ride. I'm dying to find out about Angelina as well...I'm really wondering how Harrison could possibly make me like her. Knowing her past, softened me up, but still...she's one murderous bitch in that first one. Sure, hot and intelligent as they come, but...

Carl V. Anderson said...

Debi! 'Murderous bitch!'..for shame! ;) Don't worry, Harrison delivers in the second volume, no doubt about it.

The third story starts out a bit odd because of the time travel back to earth but once it picks up it really gets going.

chrisa511 said...

Carl, Uh, yeah! I'd say a review is long overdue..lol. I just started the third and this one is incredible! Time travel! I'm really loving these. It's going to be hard to not just keep going with these books, but I really have other challenge reading that I need to get done. I can't believe I signed up for so many damn challenges :p But yes, you've definitely spawned a rat fan...looks like you have one in Debi too ;)

Debi, It's very quick and very enjoyable! You'll LOVE Angelina's story. Maybe it's because I'm a guy, but I liked her from the get go...maybe it's the hot, murderous bitch thing :p All jokes aside, I think you'll like her in this one ;) I'm not giving you any story though on this one! You can get this book really cheap on Amazon. It's out of print, but you can buy it from used sellers for under a buck, which I think is cool because you get these awesome vintage covers.

Carl, just read your other post...and yeah, time travel! I love it! I couldn't stop laughing when he was being sent back to a planet called "dirt...or earth...or something like that" only about 20 pages in, and not much has happened yet, but I'm loving the premise of this one.

Bookfool said...

Damn, you've been a blogging fool, Chris. I have like 5 posts to catch up on. I haven't read this one, yet because I was so stunned.

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chrisa511 said...

Bookfool, LOL...yeah, everytime I think I have nothing to write about, things pop up in my head. But I'll be a stranger for the next few days with Megan in town! I should be back on Monday though! So have a great weekend!

Bookfool said...

You too, thanks!

Anonymous said...

Sounds interesting, I will keep an eye out for this series and try and find out some more about it. I have to admit to not reading much sci-fi, fantasy is much more my thing but it's always good to read something new.

Jeff S. said...

Chris - So glad to hear you enjoyed the second book as well. I'm about 30 pages from the end of book one and I'm really enjoying it. Very fun. The main character reminds me of a cross between Han Solo and James Bond. Great stuff.

Carl V. Anderson said...

By the way, I forgot to mention how much I love the suggestiveness of this cover. It certainly touches on an aspect of this story. Ha!

chrisa511 said...

Carl, Don't you love the cover? Ha! It's not the one I read...I read the "Adventures of the Stainless Steel Rat" that you sent me, but I had to post this cover ;)