Product Description
The definitive Harry Harrison bibliography, with lengthy annotations and a special bonus--the Harrison story written for Harlan Ellison's unpublished "Last Dangerous Visions" anthology. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Not as good as the title makes it sound...
This is a bloody fantasy novel dealing with the Celts, ancient Mycenae and Crete (called Atlantis in this book).None of the characters are sympathetic, the swordplay is at times pointless, and the plot is unengaging.The writer's contention is that old Santorini was Atlantis (the Atlanteans are made to be the bad guys), and, if that is not bad enough, he has one of his professor friends adamantly backing up the claim in the epilogue of the book.That dry husk of an observation aside, this is the kind of book that speed reading was invented for.Why Atlantis even had to be included in the title was beyond me, other than to sell more copies. ... Read more

Product Description
This title has fewer than 24 printed text pages.

Toy Shop is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Harry Harrison is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Harry Harrison then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Product Description
The Stainless Steel rat is back!Slippery Jim diGriz, the future's most lovable, laughable, larcenous conman tumed counterspy, retums for yet another high-tension mission.

This time the Special Corps has given the Rat a daring assignment - liberate a backward tourist planet from the clutches of an aging dictator.With his lovely but lethal wife, Angelina, and his two stalwart sons, James and Bolivar, diGriz pits ballots against bullets in the fight for freedom.He's vowed to restore truth, justice, and democracy to the world of Parisio-Aqui, if he has to lie, cheat, and steal to do it. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Super Reader
Another amusing installment of the Stainless Steel Rat series. When Slippery Jim di Griz is on holiday with his easy on the eyes spousal unit, he deals with the local politician, who keeps himself in power though skullduggery.

The Rat is a master of this, and decides to go into politics and beat him at his own game, and much entertainment is had by all.

Slippery Jim DiGriz is more himself than ever
The Stainless Steel Rat is back and he's... well, he's exactly the same as he was in his previous books, except now he's got a wife and two grown sons who are exactly the same as well.And that's as it should be.Reading a SSR book isn't about character development, or moral complications, or really anything at all other than watching an incredibly cool, practically unstoppable James Bond style superman work his way through platoons of bad-guy minions.The fact that we get a liberal sprinkling of science fiction goodies like space-ships and sleep bombs only adds to the fun.

I particularly liked this book for the way it changed the typical conflict: Instead of requiring a solitary mission to snatch some valuable item or stop some particular bad guy Slipper Jim must steal an entire election in order to save a planet under the dictatorial rule of a "president for life".This expanded the tricks necessary to win the day and introduced many amusing concepts, from voting the graveyard to protecting your political rallies from ballistic missile attack.Now if Harry Harrison could just have realized a little earlier that Esperanto was never going to be a Galactic lingua fraca, the entire book would have been one perfect romp.

One of the funniest books in a very amusing series
Harry Harrison does comedy better than almost any other Science Fiction writer, and the Stainless Steel Rat - Slippery Jim Di Griz - is probably his funniest creation. This is my personal favourite of the Stainless Steel Rat books.

After one adventure too many, Slippery Jim, his beautiful but slightly murderous wife Angelina, and their two sons decide to have a rest on a backward planet. However, they get mixed up in the planet's politics, challenging the military dictator who has maintained himself in power for hundreds of years by rigging electors.

If you enjoy this, another comedy SF series which might amuse you, by Harrison's only serious competitor for the title of funniest Science Fiction writer, is the Miles Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold. The first book about Miles is "The Warrior's Apprentice."

Looking back on the events of "The Stainless Steel Rat for President" I wonder if Ferdinand Marcos read it. If so, unluckily for him, so did his opponents ....

Strongly recommended

Stainless Steel Rat Still Untarnished
One has to keep in mind that once a pop culture symbol such as James Bond secures a certain niche in society that a bit of parody is to be expected.Such is the case with the television series "Get Smart" which mocked Bond to perfection and such it is with The Stainless Steel Rat.Spending a belated honeymoon with the reformed femme fatale, Angelina, who is now his beloved wife they find themselves embroiled in intrigue and andventure when fate places them on a planet run by an evil, tyranical dictator who rigs the elections for certain victory.Though Jim DiGriz is seen as having matured a bit since his last outings his stainless steel exterior hasn't tarnished in the least.Amidst the mayhem humor abounds for an enjoyable laugh at what the life of a government agent might be like in a galaxy soon to come but not, necessarily, so far away.

Light-hearted sci-fi adventure book, can't really go wrong.
Hello, everyone! Owning a few of the other books in the Stainless Steel Rat series, I got this book second-hand from an Amazon vendor to complete my SSR collection that I've been slowly building up since my mid-teens. I got a very good copy for a few bucks, so it was a good deal. The book caused me to chuckle at a few places, but nothing over-the-top-funny. If you want a quick read that isn't too heavy, really recommended. Otherwise, you may want to look elsewhere for your sci-fi comedy, such as Douglas Adams' awesome stuff. Just my two cents! =) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

not so hot
Harry Harrison's "Captive Universe" is a short novel (160 pgs) that starts off well enough with a heart-racing scene. The father of the story's protagonist is running through cornfields and then killed by an Aztec Serpent Goddess for having committed an unpardonable act. The story then jumps exactly 16 years ahead and switches to the point of view of the woman who he seemingly forced himself upon. She seems to have been awaiting punishment for all 16 of these years and fears the punishment will fall upon her and/or her son Chimal. As the story progresses we find that there is much more going on than we might have at first thought.

The first third of the novel has much of the feel of a rather ordinary lost civilization tale complete with a sealed off valley and evil priests, or maybe more of a Turok Son of Stone comic book. Chimal is apparently much more intelligent and inquisitive about his world than others of his tribe. The story plays out as a bit of an underdog against the authorities adventure. However, I didn't feel that Chimal was drawn in such a way that I found myself sympathetic to him or his cause. As a result I was a rather passive observer to the adventure.

It isn't possible to really discuss the problems with this novel without big spoilers. And although the cover art itself is a spoiler I'd rather not completely spoil the story for the potential reader.

The novel has a fairly good reputation so I guess I expected a lot out of it. In my opinion the story breaks down once Chimal encounters the world outside of his valley. Once the full story is known the whole literally stupid society "setup" seems more than a little inane. I think my problem also lies with how smart and adaptive Chimal is and how quickly he rises above his first 21 years spent in a subsistence level life. I also had a problem with the "made up" words used infrequently and very oddly in the book. No apparent thought was given to language consistency it seems. For example, I have no idea what this sentence means: "She did not report for fermio last yerfb, she may be ill", nor is the reader likely to know after reading further what this is about. Luckily stuff like this is thrown in rarely, but it is jarring when it appears.

I generally have a pretty high regard for Harry Harrison's writings but this story was just too much of a stretch for me. I didn't hate the book but cannot really recommend it.

Makes you think about our own existence
I originally read this book over 20 years ago while I was in high school.Despite the time that has passed and the thousands of books I have read since then, I still remembered the plot and memorable elements from this book.I recently found it again on Amazon.com although I had to purchase it used since it was out of print. Needless to say I very much enjoyed rereading it.

Although written as an exciting sci-fi adventure, the book examines in the role of religion, intelligence and culture in regulating human life.The book follows a life of Chimal a boy born a genius amongst a civilization of below average intelligence Aztecs. The boy continually questions the cultural traditions and sometimes barbaric religious rules that his village has followed without question for hundreds of years. To his elevated intelligence some of those rules make no sense at all.

Needless to say his questioning gets him into trouble and on a series of adventures which reveal the true nature of the world in which he lives.

I find great parallels between Chimal's situation and those in the world today.Entire populations are being led by the teachings of religions. Many follow blindly while others question, some in secret in fear of their life. How many of us really know the reality of the world and universe out there.

Memorable Images
It's hard for me to review the language of this book, since I actually read it in Esperanto rather than the original English ("La Kaptita Universo").There are, however, many images from this book that will stick in your head.The vultures eating a man-sized piece of meat, the Aztec human sacrifice, and the main character "walking on the sky."Some of the science is dubiable, at best, and parts of the "Konceptisto's" (English:
Conceptualist? Visionary?I don't know what term the original used) vision are hard to fit in with human nature.The plot is average for science fiction.The visual imagery, however, is worth the trip

A hard to find favorite
When my dad used to read to us kids 'way back then', I remember Captive Universe as one of the more graphically vivid stories. Years later, I started looking for it in bookshops here and there -- no where to be found. I finally found an old paperback in a used book store. Just as fun as I remembered! For every nerdy kid (or adult) who felt the powers in charge were slow and didn't understand, we could see ourselves in the frustrations of the hero. Can't describe the story without giving away too much.

For years I could imagine Captive Universe as a great movie. I sometimes wish it were made into a movie, but after what they did to Starship Troopers, maybe not...

SF Aztec universe where things are not as they seem
I read this novel some years ago, and I though it was wonderfull, the best Harrison novel I have read so far. Not to spoil it, I should not mention too much of the plot, but it' s hard science fiction set in an aztec universe and things are not quite as they seem, as it becomes more and more obvious from the first page. This review makes no justice to the book, but it' s too good a book to be forgotten, I hope that any review is better than no review. ... Read more

Product Description
Bill's in trouble again. A hideous outer-space infection has transformed one of his feet into a satyr's hoof; he has two right hands; the nurses at the hospital where he lies recovering from his last escapade are steel robots. But soon he's off again in search of science fiction's greatest cliches. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

If you've read any cheese-ball sci-fi and loved it this is for you
If this is your first consideration of the Bill the Galactic Hero series consider this: 1) Do you like to laugh? 2) Do you laugh easily?

If you answered yes to either of these questions, preferably both, you'll enjoy this book.

As is common with most of Harrison's writing it relies on a number of sci-fi stereotypes and blows them out of proportion with hysterical results. ... Read more

Product Description
Every kid has heard of Harry Houdini, the famous magician who could escape from handcuffs, jail cells, and locked trunks. But do they know that the ever-ambitious and adventurous Houdini was also a famous movie star and the first pilot to fly a plane in Australia? This well-told biography is full of the details of Houdini's life that kids will really want to know about and illustrated throughout with beautiful black-and-white line drawings.

Illustrated by John O'Brien.
Cover Illustration by Nancy Harrison. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

7 year-old son LOVED it.
I read this book aloud to my 7 year-old son, and once we started, he did not want to stop. I've tried to read other biographies to him and many I have found so boring and poorly written that I dreaded finishing them. Not so with this one!This was written so as to be interesting for both children and adults.The author weaves in discussion of various historical events and figures and provides just the right amount of detail and analysis at just the right level of sophistication for elementary aged children (e.g., World War I, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Spiritualism, The Wright Brothers' first flight, etc.).He doesn't avoid difficult subjects like death, war, and poverty but at the same time maintains a reassuring tone appropriate for children.The upshot was that we both learned a lot from this book and had a great time reading it.I've now ordered 8 more books in the series and am looking forward to reading them aloud to my son. I can imagine that in a year or so he'll be reading these books on his own and using them for school reports.As an educational psychologist, I will highly recommend this series for my "reluctant readers" who often complain that reading (particularly expository text) is "boring."

my son loved it
What a great book for a kid. My third grader loved it. With houdini in the news again, and the recent movies about magicians out, it's something kids are becoming interested in again.

Harry Houdini-More than An Illusionist

If the picture on the cover is any indication, Harry Houdini is Sean Penn (there's a striking resemblance).This is an interesting book in the "Who Was" series, detailing Houdini's impoverished boyhood in America (after emigrating from Hungary), his early interest in magic, and a turning point, his discovery of a book about Jean-Eugene Robert-Houdin, the "father of modern magic."

Author Sutherland divided the book into 12 chapters, each beginning with "So you want to be a (Magician, Pilot, Hero, Detective, etc.), detailing Houdini's feats in many areas. Several of the escape illusions are briefly explained (including Houdini's great illusion making an elephant disappear!), and there's a humorous bent as the author admits that it's difficult to tell which of Houdini's many statements about himself are true!Houdini traveled from town to town, and it wasn't until he Martin Beck, head of the Orpheum Circuit's (a string of vaudeville houses), discovered Houdini that he earned international acclaim, staying five years in Europe.The book does a good job at showing how Houdini worked hard at his illusions, and how this practice (and a penchant for self-promotion) catapulted him to fame. It also emphasizes the real dangers and near disasters that Houdini faced, a far cry from today's televised illusionists.

Sutherland does a great job of providing relatively unknown information about Houdini: He was the first person to fly an airplane in Australia, his wife played an important part in his stage act, he was in five movies, and he and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (the author of the Sherlock Holmes series) debated the validity of Spiritualism (Houdini thought it was an exploitative sham).Sidebars about, for example, airplanes, movies, WWI add a historical context, During WW1, Houdini raised money for American troops, did shows for the wounded, and even taught soldiers how to escape from German handcuffs!

This is a fascinating book that teaches a lot about Houdini and his times. Sutherland doesn't talk down to his readers, and both adults and kids will learn a great deal. The book may even begin or reinforce someone's ambition to perform magic tricks and illusions. John O'Brien's small black and white illustrations add an important measure of interest. 105 pages, with sidebars, two timelines, but no index. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Not Free SF Reader
A good year for science fiction, claim the editors.Not particularly, going by this group that only averages 3.25.Only the final Silverberg story I would tag with that descriptor.

This also includes multiple reviews of 2001.

Harrison Aldiss 02 : Budget Planet - Robert Sheckley
Harrison Aldiss 02 : Appointment on Prila - Bob Shaw
Harrison Aldiss 02 : Lost Ground - David I. Masson
Harrison Aldiss 02 : The Annex - John D. MacDonald
Harrison Aldiss 02 : Segregationist - Isaac Asimov
Harrison Aldiss 02 : Final War - K. M. O'Donnell
Harrison Aldiss 02 : The Serpent of Kundalini - Brian W. Aldiss
Harrison Aldiss 02 : Golden Acres - Kit Reed
Harrison Aldiss 02 : Criminal in Utopia - Mack Reynolds
Harrison Aldiss 02 : One Station of the Way - Fritz Leiber
Harrison Aldiss 02 : Sweet Dreams Melissa - Stephen Goldin
Harrison Aldiss 02 : To the Dark Star - Robert Silverberg



3.5 out of 5

Not Free SF Reader
A good year for science fiction, claim the editors.Not particularly, going by this group that only averages 3.25.Only the final Silverberg story I would tag with that descriptor.

This also includes multiple reviews of 2001.

Harrison Aldiss 02 : Budget Planet - Robert Sheckley
Harrison Aldiss 02 : Appointment on Prila - Bob Shaw
Harrison Aldiss 02 : Lost Ground - David I. Masson
Harrison Aldiss 02 : The Annex - John D. MacDonald
Harrison Aldiss 02 : Segregationist - Isaac Asimov
Harrison Aldiss 02 : Final War - K. M. O'Donnell
Harrison Aldiss 02 : The Serpent of Kundalini - Brian W. Aldiss
Harrison Aldiss 02 : Golden Acres - Kit Reed
Harrison Aldiss 02 : Criminal in Utopia - Mack Reynolds
Harrison Aldiss 02 : One Station of the Way - Fritz Leiber
Harrison Aldiss 02 : Sweet Dreams Melissa - Stephen Goldin
Harrison Aldiss 02 : To the Dark Star - Robert Silverberg

Solar engineering.

3.5 out of 5


Gray Man patience.

3 out of 5


Micromood time.

3.5 out of 5


Hard to find lack of heart.

3.5 out of 5


Metallo wannabes.

3 out of 5


Girlybum company.

2.5 out of 5


Psychochemical perv.

2.5 out of 5


Old age resources finish.

3.5 out of 5


Credit card crime.

3 out of 5


Peace seed mockery.

3.5 out of 5


Not a real girl.

3.5 out of 5


Big adapted black hole confrontation.

4 out of 5




3.5 out of 5 ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

A young punk is transformed into a gentleman thief.
Jimmy diGriz has an a goal in life. He wants to become the best criminal on Bit O` Heaven.He figures the best way to do that is to get some instruction from the master criminals in the planets jail.Once he gets inside, after a bit of a rigged trial (he did the rigging), he finds a bunch of thugs and malcontents.They aren't very smart either.So Jimmy knows that he has to set his sights higher. The guards are slightly brighter but no match for Jimmy and he is soon on his way.But normal crime is boring, there are only so many ways one can rob so many banks.Depressed, Jimmy begins to think that he didn't think this through very well.Then one day he happens across a news report about the best criminal Bit O' Heaven has never seen. The Bishop.He was never caught.The only thing the police ever found was a drawing of a chess piece at his many crimes.His spree went on for 10 years before ending abruptly.Jimmy knows either the bishop is dead or he went into retirement, to live off the funds he liberated.Who better to learn from than the best?So Jimmy decides that he will resurrect the Bishop and hopes that a crime done in the old thief's name will draw him out.It does and Jimmy is soon on a adventure that will transform from the small time thief that he is, into the legendary Stainless Steel Rat.

----

This is the prequel to the Stainless Steel Rat series.I haven't read any others so I can't comment on them but, this was a pretty good old fashioned sci-fi adventure.By that I mean that there is no sex, not a lot of swearing, and not a lot of over the top violence.The story does move at a pretty good clip and it kept me entertained, enough that I'm thinking of finding the rest of the stainless steel rat adventures.I would recommend this to anyone looking for a decent adventure that's not about someone racing around the universe to stop the big bad baddy that's going to eat the universe or something.I would also recommend this to younger readers, even though it is about a thief he does have his own moral code (that's generally higher than everyone else's) he follows and tends to be more like robin hood then a gangster. M.a.c

Relentlessly entertaining and it sets the stage for more fun to come
The stainless steel rat series by Harry Harrison is one of the most entertaining set of science fiction books ever published. This book is the first in that series and properly sets the stage for the further joy to come. James (Jim) Bolivar diGriz is a teenage boy living on the planet called Bit O'Heaven. Like nearly all 17-year-old boys, he has a rebellious streak and finds school boring. To alleviate those problems, he turns to a life of crime. His hero is a master criminal known only as "The Bishop" and through a series of criminal maneuvers; he manages to make contact with the man.
This launches them on a series of adventures where they hide out, stow away on a space ship and are unceremoniously dumped on the backward planet of Spiovente. It has a feudal social and governmental structure, ruled by a set of lords called Capos, who reside in their walled castles and wage war against each other. Jim and his companion are immediately made slaves and fitted with controlling collars around their necks. These collars are remotely controlled and if the button is pressed long enough it will prove fatal.
Never losing his sense of adventure and humor through the mud, muck, blood and bad food, Jim manages to outwit all the dimwits around him, proving to be a force in the constant state of war.
The book is relentlessly entertaining; Harrison demonstrates his talent as a writer of science fiction with a comedic tone. His style is light, there is very little in the way of hard science, the plot deals more with the absurdity of human actions rather than the consequences of scientific advancement.

Lightweight Fun
"A Stainless Steel Rat is Born" provides an interesting and entertaining starting point for the saga of "Slippery Jim" Digriz, The Stainless Steel Rat: Space Age Rogue and Crook Extraordinaire; Anti-Hero and Master Criminal.

While not the first, or best written, book in the series, there's something you just have to like about this unapologetic and extremely capable, irreverent, alcoholic thief.

In this episode, we learn how 17 year old Slippery Jim graduated from his roots as a small time and frustrated thief to the big leagues - learning how he found his mentor - the Bishop: learning the finer points of "the craft" from him, then leaving the planet with him for new horizons when the local scene gets a bit too hot for the pair.

Unfortunately, they are sold into slavery by the captain of the ship they had bribed to help them escape from their decidely un-heaven-like home planet, "Bit O'Heaven".As in all of the Stainless Steel Rat novels, Jim's efforts to extricate himself from this predicament has wide ranging consequences.And, as in many of the novels, he is again an unwitting tool of the Space League's efforts to bring sanity to yet another dysfunctional culture - all the while lampooning fast food and various human foibles, and outsmarting or outmanuevering all authority figures who attempt to keep Jim and The Bishop from horning-in on their own profitable scams.

Even though decidedly cut from the same cloth as previous books in the series with little innovation in terms of plotline or themes, the book is a pleasant read: lightweight fun for "rat" fans.It is not as rich as some of the "rat" novels in terms of inspired zaniness, outlandish technology, and the humorous juxtaposition of themes and cultural icons - all of which are hallmarks of the series.Even so, I feel it is a worthwhile contribution to "Rat Lore" for Harry Harrison Fans.Three Stars!

Adequate SciFi Adventure
A STAINLESS STEEL RAT IS BORN is my first Harry Harrison novel. I would be willing to try another, but this novel did not send me rushing to the nearest bookstore for the next installment.

A STAINLESS STEEL RAT IS BORN tells you how Jim DiGriz embarked on a life of crime. DiGriz is 17, and the novel does do a good job of giving him a believable smug, smart voice. I would have liked this novel a lot if I had read it when I was about 15, I think.

Jim grew up on a planet called Bit O'Heaven. The fat, tame, insular, unimaginative adults that live on this "piggy planet" are most notable for their expertise at producing incredibly fattening fast food. Jim actually camps in an automated fast-food drive-though at one point. All of this lands as commentary on Americans, but there's no unpleasant bite to it. This is one of the funniest bits of the novel.

Our ambitious young hero decides that to become a Master Criminal, he needs a mentor. Master Criminals are hard to come by on Bit O'Heaven, but he does finally locate one. First, he has to notice that Master Criminlas would be the ones who don't get caught, and then figure out a way to connect. Once he does, he gets off planet. He is off on his first adventure, and things should heat up, but instead they slow down, as if Harrison had lost interest.

Overall, A STAINLESS STEEL RAT IS BORN comes across as lacking energy and inspiration. Probably the novels written earlier had more of that. I am willing to give the series another try, but I will find a fan and make sure I pick a really good one before I spend any more time on it.

Slippery Jim is what Mitnick wanted to be
I've read tons of Sci-Fi but somehow missed the Stainless Steel Rat series. Only read this one so far. It was a lot of fun. Made a guy want to take up a life of crime for fun and frolic! Bit 'O Heaven sure reminded me of Wisconsin or Iowa, complete with McSwiney's and big ornery farm critters to chase you around.

When he lands in that godforsaken warlord land, it made me wonder if Harry had ever been to Chechnya, Dagestan or Afghanistan. Except that if he had, I'd guess he'd have made the characters intervening with the warlords much less idealistic and a lot more clueless and idiotically bureacratic, as only the CIA can manage. In real life, nobody has a clue except the field ops guys and they can't make a decision.

I've met characters along the lines of Jimmy Digriz. They are alive and stealing millions from the World Bank in the Balkans and other places like that, arranging to have themselves kidnapped in the Caucasus, etcetera. Can't say as I like them - they do terrible damage, but Jimmy Digriz certainly makes it seem like the way to go.

Maybe ... :-) ... Read more

Product Description

There have been numerous books and articles written about how boomers lived in the good ol' days, but what are they up to now? You can have fun finding out-1001 times!

Harry Harrison Jr. is back once again with his trademark wit and wisdom, this time about what the generation that came to age in the 60s is doing now that they're facing their 60s. Between generation gaps, gender gaps, finances, health, and pets, Harry covers the gamut of what it means to be a boomer now. And with over two million books in the market, no one knows how to deliver such simple, powerful, and fun insights quite like Harry.

Product Description
The villainous He has travelled back in time to mankind's distant past on the legendary planet Earth (or 'Dirt') of 1984, where he is altering events so that people who opposed him in the Rat's present cease to exist, Angelina amongst them. Using the Helix, a time-travel device invented by the Special Corps' Professor Coypu, diGriz travels to 1984 America, and then to Napoleonic France where tanks and aircraft are helping bring about Napoleon's victory. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Super Reader
This was not as good as the previous two books in the series. Another adventure for him, a strange antagonist, and some time travelling that seemed a bit out of place. France? Jim has to stop people messing around with time.

Anyway, it is ok, but there are definitely better books in this series.

Wow!Talk about mixed reviews!
I first learned of the Stainless Steel Rat over thirty years ago.I had no idea this book was one of many.

Over thirty years later, I've started buying (and reading) the other books (and Esperanto books).

Folks, this book may have had holes in the plot, but for me to remember it for thirty years and then start buying the rest of the series, it simply couldn't have been that bad.Gee, maybe it's very good!

One of my FAVORITES
Man, Harry Harrison's good at this stuff. This is one of my favorite Rat books. It's got a good storyline and a good (bad?) enemy, which every book needs in my humble opinion.

HARRY HARRISON LOSES FACE
Harry, how could you!After creating the inimitable Stainless Steel Rat, you put in in a STUPID non-existent storyline! You send Slippery Jim back and forth in time aimlessly, the archvillain is titled "HE" (wasthat name the best you could do?), and then the end is not the leastsatisfactory.Harry, the absurd point of the story was to make sure theStainless Steel Rat could not be around to be a father to his twins.Whata disappointment when the best part of the story is the brief reparteebetween Slippery Jim and his boss, Inskipp.I know you can do better,Harry, because you have in your other books.Readers, if you like the Rat,skip this one. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

If you can find a copy, buy it.
I finally received a copy of Planet Story after reading a friends fifteen years ago! And it is every bit as good as I remember, a must have for any sci-fi collection. Plot development,characters ,humour all classic HarryHarrison.All that plus outstanding illustrations by Jim burns. Thanks Tommyfor an amazing find.

it is a very good book ,I love the strange and bizzar
I have a large paperback copy of planet storyand I'am wondering if the two men who did this book are still writing any other's and where Ican get them. if they are not what would this book be worth? ... Read more

Product Description
Jason dinAlt had been warned-KEEP OUT OR DIE! It made him curious. His first look at the planet Pyrrus was that of a sunny, green world. His first lesson was that the careless visitor never had a second look. Every animal, insect, plant on Pyrrus was dedicated to the elimination of mankind. Pyrran children learned to kill before they learned to walk. Pyrrus was no place for the curious. A hair-raising space adventure to a planet so advanced it mechanized death! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITES - SIFI ADVENTURE AT IT'S BEST.
This if the first book in what was a very popular trilogy in the early and mid-sixties.In Death World, the author, Harry Harrison introduces us to our hero, Jason dinAlt a professional gambler, adventurer, gadabout and something of a cad.He also introduces us to the first of the three Death Worlds.This first world is one that has evolved in a way that is absolutely hostile to humans.The plants, animals, bacteria, weather, etc. are in a state of continuous war, all directed toward humans.An encounter with even the smallest creature or most innocent looking plant can mean instant death to the unsuspecting or unprepared human.Interestingly, the life forms of the planet are constantly evolving and evolving very quickly, in order to overcome any efforts the humans might make to defend themselves.

On the other side, the humans who inhabit this planet, who came there to start a mining colony in the distant past, have developed almost superhuman traits, in order to survive.They are strong, fast and their technology has developed for the sole purpose of survival.They are the ultimate survivalists. Harry, through a series of circumstances is taken to this planet and becomes quite involved with their struggle, even though he is completely unfit to live for even ten minutes on the surface of this world.

This is a very well written world, full of adventure and action and is funny at the same time.The author's sense of humor constantly shines through and is reflected in his writing.Not only is the plot rather good, but Harrison is a master in character development.You actually get to know, in a very short time, each of the characters, and for good or bad, actually like them.

For a good, rather fast and fun read, you could certainly do worse than this.I have a tendency to reread works that I enjoy, and I have been reading this one about ever three years since it was published.I enjoy it as much now as when I first read it.Recommend this one highly.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

FROM BACK COVER
The object appeared over the Pacific, moving so fast that it was over Arizona before the supersonic shock of its passing was felt.It slowed perceptibly somewhere over New Jersey, and took only a small chuck out of the World Trade Center on its way between the two towers.By the time it reached 59th Street it had nearly stopped: it had just enough speed to clear Central park Zoo before plowing into the grassy meadow just beyond.An unwary nanny with a baby carriage was the only casualty.

And then its doors opened.And Earth would never be the same again...

Strangely bad
Extraordinarily awful tissue of clichés and bad writing.I was very disappointed after enjoying the hell out of the Deathworld and Stainless Steel Rat books as a teenager.This doesn't seem written by the same author...

aliens were they?
Ahh,Harry Harrison, the mind behind the ingenius creations of Bill,the galactic hero and his many unlikely adventures involving feet and beer,not to mention that pillar of the criminal community,Slippery Jim digriz .
In this book,which is more of a short story, there are a few parallels between the main character,Rob and the aforementioned Slippery.Except he's not not as funny or developed as well as he could be.It's all a bit out of date now,what with the pesky'Russkies' making a major showing,but all that aside I quite liked the book as I like Mr Harrison's style and I'm always up for a bit of daft sci-fi.All in all better offf getting some Bill,or Stainless stories.So funny your gut will bust with hilarity.

Weak Plot, Heavy Handed Moralism
I should have known better when the main character uttered the too often heard words "This may sound crazy, but..." This book violates that rule I seem to remeber from somewhere - show, don't tell.Instead ofhaving the main characters constantly talking about what sounds crazy butmust be true,I want to simply see the evidence they see.Or better yet,wait a while.We don't have to know everything right away.And finally,the cheesy moralizing at the end was not excusable. ... Read more