A Stainless Steel Trio
category: science fiction, humour, author:Harry Harrison
contains books 1, 2 & 3 of Stainless Steel Ratoriginal copyright 1985/87/94,
read in October 2010
Agamedes' opinion: 5 out of 10
A Stainless Steel Trio contains the first -- is story chronology -- three stories of the Stainless Steel Rat series. I have already reviewed the first novel, A Stainless Steel Rat is Born. In that review I wrote, "By the end of the volume -- I suspect that I will have raised my rating..." I was wrong.The second and third novels -- The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted and then Sings the Blues -- take problems from the first and make them worse.
The Rat himself is strong, intelligent, agile, good at everything... When he was Born he was learning. Now, he is perfect. Yukk!
Worse yet, everyone else is a fool, a total moron, weak, or strong but uncoordinated. In the army the Rat does meet -- as he tells us -- the one person who actually earned the medals that he was wearing... So what happens? The Rat runs, then picks on the next person in line, who is the standard strong but thick moron.
There is a handful of more capable characters. These all turn out to be bad guys who are revealed then easily defeated, or good guys who recognise the greatness of the Rat and swoon at his feet. Sheesh! Two-dimensional boredom!
In an introduction, Harrison claims that the Rat's adventures in the army reflect Harrison's own period as an army draftee. Sorry, but it takes more than bitter memories to create humour.
It's quite a few years since I read the original -- first written -- Stainless Steel Rat novel. I remember enjoying it, quite a lot. Has my taste in books changed so much? Or has Harrison simply grown old and retreated into the simplicity of churning out formulaic potboilers based on sarcasm and stupidity...
Oh well. A least these books are light enough to read quickly.
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