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Title: The Stainless Steel Rat Joins The Circus (Stainless Steel Rat) by Harry Harrison ISBN: 0-8125-7535-0 Publisher: Tor Science Fiction Pub. Date: 15 October, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 2.5 (12 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Sloppy.
Comment: First there was "The Stainless Steel Rat", our introduction to the character of Slippery Jim DiGriz, aka the Stainless Steel Rat, galactic con man, thief, and all-around troublemaker. This was followed by four sequels: "The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge", "The Stainless Steel Rat Saves The World", "The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You", and "The Stainless Steel Rat For President". Then, apparently growing bored with the direction his stories had taken, Harrison wrote a prequel, "The Stainless Steel Rat is Born", followed by a sequel to the prequel, "The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted", and a sequel to the sequel to the prequel, "The Stainless Steel Rat Sings The Blues". Then he returned to the original sequence with a sequel to "The Stainless Steel Rat For President", with "The Stainless Steel Rat Goes To Hell". This book follows that one.
In the initial book of the series, we are told that Jim has had a long and successful career being one jump ahead of the law, but we see that career coming to an end as he is recruited by the galactic Special Forces as an agent, on the theory that it takes a thief to catch a thief. He is "recruited" by being caught and faced with the choice of joining or going to prison.
That pattern is repeated throughout the series; he's supposed to be incredibly talented, clever, and intelligent, but he is invariably outmanuevered whenever it's necessary for plot development. This book continues that pattern; he is outmanuevered consistently throughout the book. Just once I'd like to see him actually demonstrate his claimed competence. But beyond that objection, this story was very poorly written, or at least very poorly proofread. There's a typo (generally involving a missing word or a wrong word being used) about every 30 pages, and as some other reviewers have mentioned, the author even gets his characters confused late in the book; admittedly, they're twins, and I understand if another character can't tell them apart. But there's no excuse for an author making such a sloppy mistake, and not catching it himself or making sure his book is proofread well enough to catch it. (One of the twins approaches DiGriz, and he calls out "Bolivar!", but the twin says, "No, James. Bolivar is..." otherwise occupied. But then on the next page, the present twin is continually referred to as "Bolivar".)
Like the others in the series, this book is fun brain candy. But unlike the others, it's not even particularly well-written brain candy. Read it for a quick lark if you are familiar with the series, and have missed ol' Slippery Jim, but if you are new to the series, there's no reason to bother with it.
Rating: 2
Summary: Light-hearted sci-fi comedy, emphasis on light. =)
Comment: Hello, fellow readers!
This book was purchased mainly to complete my current SSR collection, and although decent at a few places, it lacked the comedy "punch" that the others in the series had. In my opinion, the comedy aspect in this book compared to the others in the series is the worst, but then again it did provide a nice mystery, which I reluctantly followed. Still, it was worth the few bucks I paid. Don't get if you don't follow the SSR series, though, it'll be a waste of time.
Rating: 3
Summary: New Rat Not So Rusty
Comment: I must admit that I was a little hesitant about reading SSR Joins The Circus. As a big rat fan of many years I had been disappointed by Harrison's last couple of attempts. SSR Sings The Blues and Goes To Hell were both pretty poor in comparison to earlier rat books so it was with almost reluctance that I read his latest chapter in the life of Jim DiGriz.
However SSR Joins The Circus is a pretty good rat book. The story is well paced and exciting enough to keep you interested and the world of Fettorr is well developed and interesting. Not as good as Harrison's earlier ones but non the less a quite enjoyable read. The main villain in very menacing and has poor old Jim on the ropes for the majority of the tale, but this is also one of the books major flaws. DiGriz doesn't seem anywhere near as sharp as he used to be, yes he pulled off a couple of nice capers to appease his blackmailer but you get the distance feeling that poor old Jim is getting a little dim witted in his later years.
Once again he is forced to rely upon the twins to get him out of tight scrapes. I have personally never been a fan of the twins as they provide Jim with an easy escape route anytime things get tough instead of doing it himself. That plus the fact that Harrison can't tell them apart anymore and gets them mixed up towards the end of the book. Also the book has a number of typos and you get the feeling that it was thrown togeather very fast.
Yet despite these shortcomings SSR Joins The Circus is a pretty good read if you enjoy the exploits of the Stainless Steel Rat as I do. Not Harrison's best effort of behalf of good old Jim, but certainly not his worst either.
3 out of 5
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Title: The Stainless Steel Rat Goes to Hell by Harry Harrison ISBN: 0812551079 Publisher: Tor Science Fiction Pub. Date: 15 January, 1998 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: A Stainless Steel Trio by Harry Harrison ISBN: 0765302780 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World (Stainless Steel Rat Books (Paperback)) by Harry Harrison ISBN: 0441779131 Publisher: Ace Books Pub. Date: 01 November, 1989 List Price(USD): $3.50 |
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Title: The Stainless Steel Rat for President (Stainless Steel Rat Books (Paperback)) by Harry Harrison ISBN: 0553276123 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 July, 1988 List Price(USD): $4.99 |
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Title: The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You! (Stainless Steel Rat Books (Paperback)) by Harry Harrison ISBN: 0553276115 Publisher: Bantam Spectra Pub. Date: 01 June, 1985 List Price(USD): $4.99 |
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