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  • The Stainless Steel Rat

  • Stainless Steel Rat, Book 1
  • By: Harry Harrison
  • Narrated by: Phil Gigante
  • Length: 4 hrs and 53 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (294 ratings)
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The Stainless Steel Rat cover art

The Stainless Steel Rat

By: Harry Harrison
Narrated by: Phil Gigante
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Summary

Audie Award, Science Fiction and Fantasy, 2011

DiGriz is caught during one of his crimes and recruited into the Special Corps. Boring, routine desk work during his probationary period results in his discovering that someone is building a battleship, thinly disguised as an industrial vessel. In the peaceful League no one has battleships anymore, so the builder of this one would be unstoppable. 

DiGriz' hunt for the guilty becomes a personal battle between himself and the beautiful but deadly Angelina, who his planning a coup on one of the feudal worlds. DiGriz' dilemma is whether he will turn Angelina over to the Special Corps, or join with her, since he has fallen in love with her. 

©2010 Harry Harrison (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

What listeners say about The Stainless Steel Rat

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    187
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    25
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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Absorbing narrative style for a classic book

I was first introduced to The Stainless Steel Rat back in the late 1970’s when he appeared in the late great and sadly missed 2000AD comic of the era. Since then I have read the books and loved every one of them.



This absorbing narrative style by Phil Gigante rounds the character off perfectly for me, filling out the character as I remember him in the comic version back in the day, well deserving of the name “slippery” Jim DiGriz. I always imagined his character being acted on screen by Lee Marvin, which is close to how he was drawn in the comic strip.



For those who have not met “The Rat”, he is a confident and well-established con-man, expert and accomplished bank robber and a master of lies, disguise and martial arts. He can talk his way out of almost anything and claims to provide entertainment for the enjoyment of humanity.



He also has a strong sense of morality, making sure before he steals from any corporation, that they have fully paid-up insurance so that they have a chance of claiming compensation “after the event”.



His wife, Angelina, is a little more ruthless and a lot more willing to kill. Their two sons, James and Bolivar, fortunately follow after their father.



If you are a fan of Harry Harrison’s protagonist, you probably will not be too disappointed in this well presented audio narrative, delivered with an easy style which is in perfect harmony with the character it portrays.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A product of the time it was written.

I loved this book as a kid -- it was featured as a graphic story in 2000AD comic in the 1970s, which then inspired me to get the book, in fact it inspired me to get all the books and Slippery Jim became my favourite sci-fi character (pre Hitchhiker's Guide of course).

But today it's old hat -- the technology we have has surpassed the imagination of Harry Harrison, and as such it doesn't quite work alongside where we are now.

I could have overlooked this, of course, as I have with other great works, but unfortunately the narration doesn't really engage me enough to make me want to listen further -- and that's a bit of a shame.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Old classic, well read

I loved Slippery Jim as a character when I was a teen, and OK the style is a bit dated nowadays but still a lot of fun. Performance was great, and suited the style very well. Really enjoyed this trip back to my youth.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

2 dimensional comic book story

Revisited out of nostalgia: I read this series as a teenager after reading about the stainless steel rat in 2000AD.

The story is uninspiring without a twist or any drama & characters are 2 dimensional: fine for a comic book. Audio performance is not great. I won’t be revisiting anymore in the series. Pity.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Steel Rat trap!

Great story that I originally read roughly forty years ago. Thought I’d reread/listen again for nostalgia. The book is still good but it’s delivered terribly by the
Narrators awful accent and strange accentuation of the story

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Well wrotten and fantastically narrated

Good sci-fi book that even those who are not into this genre will enjoy. I'll renew my membership to listen tonthe other ones.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

stainless steel rat forever.

these stories were my introduction to Si Fi o er 50 years ago. They are fun easy reading and even easier listening. intricate, irreverent and beautifully written. nicely narrated and very entertaining. Highly recommended.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great trip down memory Lane

Makes me want to find the sequels
Very well done and still a great story

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great fun

The narrator was very good though he struggled with accents, when narrating the main character (the majority of the story)
he was fine.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

2000AD FOREVER...

As I listened, I felt in my minds eye, Every Bit of the THRILL POWER from when I first read the chronicles of The Stainless Rats 44 years ago in the comic 2000AD...

ALL HAIL THARG the MIGHTY...

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