The Stainless Steel Rat Saves The World (1973) - Plot & Excerpts
Within the pantheon of endearing, morally-deficient scamps and scoundrels, James “Slippery Jim” Bolivar DiGriz (aka the Stainless Steel Rat) is up there with Bugs Bunny…except not quite so nasty. Jim is one of those characters you just want to hang out with and he's always good for a few laughs and an elevated level of happy. This series is your basic literary pick me up. For those unfamiliar with the world of the Stainless Steel Rat series, allow me to brazenly pimp out my previous review of book one: Steve’s blatant vote whoring link to his earlier review. Go on, take your time and check it out...the rest of us can pass the time looking at a couple of random funny pics until you get back... ... ……great, we’re all caught up now. PLOT SUMMARY:In his latest escapade, Jim is called upon to pretty much save the universe from a group of time traveling criminal butt stains who’ve traveled into Earth’s distant past (the 1970’s) to wipe out the Special Core as a prelude to taking over the future (circa. 36,970…give or take century). The Special Core is the elite police force and spy agency of the 350th Century, made up mostly of former criminals like Jim. Before the last of the Special Core goes poofing out of existence, they arrange to toss Jim back to 1975 where he can undue the damage down to the time stream. Before you go too far down the rabbit hole, let me warn you that if you try to form a straight line of the brain-pretzeling logic behind the various time jumps in the story, you risk nervous exhaustion and possibly even an aneurysm. I advise you to just go with it. The main bad guy is He-Who-Will-Take-Over the Universeor simply “He” (no relation Haggard’s She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed). He (i.e., He) is a whacked out nutbag with a short temper and a several large handfuls of surly. He’s also 9 feet tall and red as a fire truck.The rest of the story is Jim popping from 1975 to 1805 then 20,000 A.D, etc. all in an effort to thwart the criminal shenanigans of He and his gang. THOUGHTS:To Harrison’s credit, he makes it pretty easy to roll with the whole time travel/paradox/fate vs. free will/cause-effect conundrum loop and I thought he did an admirable job not allowing it to overly distract from the story.This is certainly the wackiest of the Stainless Steel Rats’ adventures I have read so far and it was also my least favorite. I still thoroughly, and I really do mean thoroughly, enjoyed it, but not quite to the same torrent of joy-gush that the first two books inspired in me. I think the muted enthusiasm is attributable to two primary aspects of the book.First, I listened to the audio version which is, for the most part, excellent. However, one of my gripes was the annoying Jersey/Scottish accent and jargon used when Jim was in 1975. This may not be much of a detractor for those reading the print version but it was forks on a chalkboard to me listening to it. Luckily, it didn’t last more than about 20 pages. Second, I am just not a big fan of time-travel stories that go beyond a simple one jump plot device. I’m fine with man/woman from future visits past or vice-versa, but once you start getting all time paradoxy on me, I usually find myself feeling confused like a child who accidentally walks in on their parents for the first time while they’re “cuddling”…….. (whoa….major traumatic childhood memory flashback). Still, the Stainless Steel Rat series is an absolute gem and even this weaker installment is worth reading. If you haven’t sampled any of them before, start with the first two books (duh) and I am pretty sure you will find a full dose of cozy, mood-enhancing comfort food to lift your spirits. These are great stories when you are having one of “those” days. 3.0 stars. Recommended!!
Originally posted on SpecFic Junkie.After frustration with other time travel books (think Blackout/All Clear) I'm reminded that time travel stories can be fun. Granted, The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World is pointing out how ridiculous time travel stories can be half the time... so maybe it's not the best example.Time travel is being used as a weapon, and the Special Corps are being wiped out. It's up to Slippery Jim to save the day (and of course, save Angelina). However, he quickly finds out that time travel is complicated and after he goes back to one spot (on the fabled Earth, of course) he has to go to another spot because that spot was a trap and they knew because time travel.Things go on like this for a bit, but eventually our intrepid hero ain't getting out of this one. Of course, it helps that he has a wife as skilled at crime as she is beautiful. Angelina shows up to save her husband (with their twin six-year-olds). Naturally, it takes some work, but they eventually get it done.The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World had never been one of my favorite Stainless Steel Rat books, and looking back, I think I can sort of see why. Right now, it's a refresher after reading too many time travel stories, but when I read it as a kid, I either wasn't fed up with them (likely) or wasn't reading as many of them (also likely).I certainly had a good enough handle of scifi at that point to understand a lot of the parody, but I don't think most of it hit home. Especially for this book. I still think this is definitely one of the weaker books in the series, but still absolutely worth every moment. (It's short, so that probably helps.)Annoying side-note:So, like I've stated before, pretty much all of these books are out of print. You can get compilation versions: The Adventures of the Stainless Steel Rat and A Stainless Steel Rat Trio, which are the first three books and the first prequel books respectively. However. There are four books that are not covered in these two compilations, not counting The Stainless Steel Rat Returns, which isn't out of print yet, I don't think, or the CYOA book.So do check your libraries and used book stores. They do pop up, and they've lovely.
What do You think about The Stainless Steel Rat Saves The World (1973)?
Cuando compre este libro no esperaba encontrarme con que en definitiva, solo puede ser llamado un “diamante en bruto”. Es una novela que, a pesar de ser la numero 6 de una saga, me atrapo al instante. Es verdad, empieza y no entendes nada. Segun parece hubo un robo y acusan al personaje principal del delito. Pero, “Oh sopresa!”, la historia toma una un giro inesperado y nuestro personaje tiene que viajar al pasado para salvar el futuro.Muchas veces uno piensa que ya conoce todos los artefactos que emplea la ciencia ficcion y, personalmente, me resulta muy placentero cuando encuentro un autor que me sorprende gratamente con su historia. La verdad es que no esperaba que el libro tuviera tanntos conceptos “novedosos” de ciencia ficcion. Drogas, artefactos ingeniosos, bombas/granadas de bolsillo, jetpacks, etc.Ademas, me parecio muy original como el personaje principal no es el tipico heroe, sino que tiene un lado “caotico neutral” (if you know what I mean) que hace que no sea tan cliché, agregando dialogos divertidos y por momentos muy elocuentes.Definitivamente tengo que conseguirme el resto para averiguar que paso antes.
—Matias
Swashbuckling adventurer, thief, and all-around anti-hero travels into the past and the future(occasionally against his will) to save his planet, his woman, and ALL TIME ITSELF.Not really my thing. It's obviously all meant in fun, but every time Jim gets himself out of trouble by pulling out yet another futuristic high-tech toy that he never informed the reader about, well it all gets a little stale. The time-travel wrap-up is cute for about a page, but lets face it, if you've seen "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure", then nothing here is really going to blow your mind. Good for a laugh, but I can't see myself reading the rest of the series.
—Kathryn
ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.Slippery Jim DiGriz is back. Back in time, that is. The evil villain who calls himself “He” has been using time travel to try to rid the world of the Special Corp (including Jim and Angelina) by eliminating them before they were even born. As his world is quickly fading in front of his eyes, Jim jumps back to a planet called “Dirt” (that’s Earth) in their year 1975 so he can kill He before He can work His evil plan. Before the adventure is over, Jim ends up fighting He-possessed Napoleon Bonaparte who has occupied London (the history is a little different in He’s time warp).Don’t worry about the mind-boggling impossibilities and plot holes here — just go along for the ride and, if you can, do it in audio. I don’t know how the Stainless Steel Rat books come across in print, but in audio format, with their quick pace (less than 5 hours) and Phil Gigante’s wonderful voices, they’re immensely entertaining. In this installment, Mr. Gigante gets to show off a few more of his brilliant accents. This time it’s British, French, and Gangsta. Even when the plot gets a little slow for a few minutes, Gigante carries it along with his fabulous narration.
—Kat Hooper
