# Stainless Steel Rat series **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 10, 2011, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stainless-steel-rat-series/592259 "2011-08-10T22:04:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stainless-steel-rat-series/592259/1 "2011-08-10T22:04:51Z")
I just finished reading (for the first time) the first book of the Stainless Steel Rat series based on some friend recommendations. It was…ok, but nothing spectacular. What I’d like to know is…should I bother with the rest of the series? Does it get better? Or is it pretty much the same as the first book? I realize that the series is a bit dated today, and the technology is definitely almost laughable. I can live with that. But the story was not all that engrossing and was really a bit pat and cookie cutter…and highly predictable. I didn’t dislike the story…but it just didn’t do much for me. So…should I soldier on and find a story line that gets better as it progresses, or will I get much the same from the follow on books as from the first book in the series? -XT ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stainless-steel-rat-series/592259/2 "2011-08-10T22:08:31Z")
I don’t remember the three I read very well, but it seems to me they were all pretty much of a piece–all quite enjoyable but nothing to write home about. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stainless-steel-rat-series/592259/3 "2011-08-10T22:10:02Z")
If the first one’s not to your taste, you probably won’t like the others, though you might take a chance on book 4 (“The SSR wants You!” , which features some pretty funny situations and really creepy villains (these villains actually show up in “The SSR’s Revenge” (book 2), which is also a pretty good book) ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stainless-steel-rat-series/592259/4 "2011-08-10T22:12:07Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > I just finished reading (for the first time) the first book of the Stainless Steel Rat series based on some friend recommendations. It was…ok, but nothing spectacular. What I’d like to know is…should I bother with the rest of the series? Does it get better? Or is it pretty much the same as the first book? > > I realize that the series is a bit dated today, and the technology is definitely almost laughable. I can live with that. But the story was not all that engrossing and was really a bit pat and cookie cutter…and highly predictable. I didn’t dislike the story…but it just didn’t do much for me. So…should I soldier on and find a story line that gets better as it progresses, or will I get much the same from the follow on books as from the first book in the series? > > -XT P.S. When you say “the first book” do you mean “The Stainless Steel Rat” or do you mean the omnibus “The Adventures of the SSR” which includes “The Stainless Steel Rat” “Revenge” and “Saves the World”? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stainless-steel-rat-series/592259/5 "2011-08-10T22:12:14Z")
Don’t bother. They don’t get any better. OK light reading, but nothing to seek out. They are all pretty much the same. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stainless-steel-rat-series/592259/6 "2011-08-10T22:16:17Z")
[QUOTE=Andy L] P.S. When you say “the first book” do you mean “The Stainless Steel Rat” or do you mean the omnibus “The Adventures of the SSR” which includes “The Stainless Steel Rat” “Revenge” and “Saves the World”? [/QUOTE] It was just called The Stainless Steel Rat, so I presume it’s not the omnibus. It was fairly short. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stainless-steel-rat-series/592259/7 "2011-08-10T22:22:40Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > It was just called The Stainless Steel Rat, so I presume it’s not the omnibus. It was fairly short. > > -XT That would be the original story, but not the first chronologically. The first in chronology would be “A Stainless Steel Rat Is Born”. It’s about a guy who doesn’t conform in a society where everyone conforms. So, those who get off on pretending they’re ‘rugged individualists’ should love it. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stainless-steel-rat-series/592259/8 "2011-08-10T22:41:18Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > It was just called The Stainless Steel Rat, so I presume it’s not the omnibus. It was fairly short. > > -XT Thanks. Then my advice stands. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stainless-steel-rat-series/592259/9 "2011-08-11T01:36:53Z")
All of them are pretty good in the category of predictable light reading, but they’re all in that category. If you’re not fond of that, or not in the right mood for it, then yeah, go ahead and skip the rest. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stainless-steel-rat-series/592259/10 "2011-08-11T04:33:25Z")
I made it through a few of the SSR titles, and I’m with the consensus here. Mildly amusing. For Harry Harrison and humor, I think I preferred _The Technicolor Time Machine_. _Bill the Galactic Hero_ didn’t really do that much for me. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stainless-steel-rat-series/592259/11 "2011-08-11T12:40:44Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I made it through a few of the SSR titles, and I’m with the consensus here. Mildly amusing. For Harry Harrison and humor, I think I preferred _The Technicolor Time Machine_. > > _Bill the Galactic Hero_ didn’t really do that much for me. Bill pretty much topped out at “okay” and that was about it. Probably the funniest recurring joke would be Bill’s name. “My name is Bill. Two 'L’s.” “Can’t be two 'L’s. Two L’s are for officers.” -Joe