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A review by ianbanks
The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted by Harry Harrison
3.0
Ths begins almost immediately after the close of the last book. This is a very rare occurrence in the life of the Rat. And while it does add to the immediacy of the story it does make the reader want to compare the two adventures more than they might normally. Which is a shame because this is probably the weakest of the Rat's adventures so far: it's a good fun read, but it covers no new ground, feels like a rerun of capers past and has possibly the clunkier exposition in a series that relies on exposition as part of its tropes and formulae.
Put simply, it's a bit of a dud. An entertaining dud but it contradicts a few points of continuity - the idea of interplanetary invasion being expensive and pointless, for one; the continuing references to Earth/ Dirt, although that ship sailed very early on in the series, to be honest; and the entirety of the plot of The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge seems to be cribbed here, if I'm honest - but we do get a deepening of Jim's personal philosophy as well as a few glimpses into his life that we hadn't had before, so it's worth it for bridging the gap between the callow youth we met in the previous book and the seasoned criminal we meet in the (actual) first novel of the series.
Jim's capers are still one of the best ways to waste your time, though, even with a subpar entry in the series.
Put simply, it's a bit of a dud. An entertaining dud but it contradicts a few points of continuity - the idea of interplanetary invasion being expensive and pointless, for one; the continuing references to Earth/ Dirt, although that ship sailed very early on in the series, to be honest; and the entirety of the plot of The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge seems to be cribbed here, if I'm honest - but we do get a deepening of Jim's personal philosophy as well as a few glimpses into his life that we hadn't had before, so it's worth it for bridging the gap between the callow youth we met in the previous book and the seasoned criminal we meet in the (actual) first novel of the series.
Jim's capers are still one of the best ways to waste your time, though, even with a subpar entry in the series.