The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted
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Average rating3.8
Jim was left in the custody of the League Navy, this story opens with him escaping from his prison cell on the League base on Steren-Gwandra, where he is awaiting deportation back to his home world. He has discovered that Bibs, a crew girl from Captain Garth's ship, is also a prisoner. Jim holds Garth responsible for the Bishop's death, and plans to hunt him down, with Bibs' help. Garth is really the crazed Captain Zennor, head of an army which continually defies League peace treaties, and now plans to invade and conquer the planet Chojecki. The people of Chojecki are pacifists, having no armies and no police. But Garth's generals decide to attack anyway, since there are no medals for "generals who bring back the troops intact." Jim must save the people of Chojecki before he can face Garth.
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10 primary books11 released books#2 in Stainless Steel Rat
Stainless Steel Rat is a 11-book series with 11 released primary works first released in 1961 with contributions by Harry Harrison.
Series
10 primary books11 released books#7 in Stainless Steel Rat (Publication Order)
Stainless Steel Rat (Publication Order) is a 11-book series with 11 released primary works first released in 1961 with contributions by Harry Harrison.
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ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.
This seventh novel in Harry Harrison???s Stainless Steel Rat series is actually the sequel to the prequel A Stainless Steel Rat Is Born. Young Jim DiGriz is alone, back in prison, and out for revenge. After he escapes and is tracking his nemesis, he gets captured and drafted into the military.
At this point, The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted (1987) turns into anti-military propaganda that doesn???t even try to be circumspect. The army are the bad guys ??? all blood-hungry idiots ??? and they???re preying on a planet who practices Individual Mutualism, an anti-work-ethic cooperative utopian philosophy that could never stand up to human nature. While the Stainless Steel Rat books are definitely meant to be fun, these types of themes come up often enough that I can???t help but think of them as ???agendas,??? and this particular anti-military agenda is likely to be perceived as insulting and disrespectful to the brave men and women all over the world who risk their lives to protect their countries.
Unfortunately, even if you manage to overlook the agenda, The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted offers little new entertainment for fans who???ve seen most of Jim???s antics before. If you haven???t read any of the Stainless Steel Rat books, you???re likely to be more forgiving than I am, and this book is a fine place to start ??? it will actually help if you haven???t read most of the previous books.
The redeeming factor for the audiobook version of A Stainless Steel Rat is born is Phil Gigante???s narration ??? that???s entertaining in itself. I???m not giving up on The Stainless Steel Rat, but I hope the next book will offer more creative entertainment and less ridiculous political philosophy.
