The aliens, it turns out, speak many different languages, but have settled on Esperanto to communicate amongst themselves and Jim of course knows Esperanto. There are LOTS of bad jokes, like aliens named Sess-pul. James Bolivar DiGriz (Slippery Jim, the Stainless Steel Rat) is called upon by the Special Corps once again to save the universe! First he has to break his sons out of jail, rescue his wife from the taxman and build himself his own slimy disguise to become 'Sleepery Jeem.' Just like in War of the Worlds, Earth is being menaced by cephalopods of all shapes, sizes and degrees of sliminess. There was more than enough silliness in this book to achieve my aim. Here is a list of the books in the order they take place, rather than the order they were written (publication year in parentheses).I started this book this week because I had the post-Xmas-vacation blues really badly and needed something to make me smile. The books are written in semichronological order it breaks the continuity during part of the series to focus on the Rat's early career, then returns to 'modern-day'.

Reluctantly recruited, this former (?) thief becomes an agent for peace and good.most of the time. But the best-laid plans of mice (and stainless steel rats) sometimes go astray and he attracts the attention of the Special Corps, the elite law-enforcement and spy agency led by the former greatest crook in the Galaxy, Harold P. He has a strict moral code against taking life, using non-lethal methods to perpetrate his crimes. He soon finds a mentor ( The Bishop) who imparts on him the knowledge and inspiration to begin his career as a criminal, a vocation James regards as noble in that it adds excitement to the monotonous existence of the every-day person and gives gainful employement to the last remaining law enforcement agencies. There are exceptions, and young James sees himself as one of them. Earth (or 'Dirt') is just a legend now, and crime has been genetically bred out of the human race.or so it seems.

The books follow the adventures and exploits of James Bolivar diGriz, 'Slippery Jim' to some, as he begins his life as a lonely misfit young man in a far-off future of sedate and mentally-domesticated human beings living in scattered colonies around the galaxy. There are twelve books in the series and two compilations to date. The 'Stainless Steel Rat' is a series of science fiction short stories and novels by author Harry Harrison.

The stainless steel rat goes to hell