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.
If. Part 1: September / October 1971; Part 2: The Cast Iron Rat, January / February 1972, illustrated by Jack Gaughan; Part 3: The Stainless Steel Rat's Return, March / April 1972. All three parts illustrated by Jack Gaughan. The March / April issue featured a cover for the story by Bruce Roggeri
New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1972, 191pp., ISBN: 0-399-11047-X, hbk. Jacket: Richard Powers.
London: Faber & Faber, October 1973, 191pp., ISBN: 0-571-09956-4, hbk. Jacket: Harry Harrison.
New York: Berkley, December 1973, ISBN: 0-425-02475-X, pbk. Cover: Richard Powers.
Devon: Readers' Union Book Club, 1974, hbk.
as: Ein Fall Fur Bolivar diGriz, die Staghlratte. Munich: Heyne, 1974, 126pp., ISBN: 3-453-30307-5. Translated by Walter Brumm. Cover: C.A.M. Thole. [German]
London: Sphere, July 1975, ISBN: 0-7221-4369-9, pbk. Reprinted May 1976 (ISBN: 0-7221-4411-3); 1977; April 1978 (ISBN: 0-7221-4436-9, Cover: Bruce Pennington); 1979 (ISBN: 0-7221-4483-0); 1980 (twice); December 1982 (Cover: Peter Elson); 1985.
as: El Invasor del Tiempo. Buenos Aires: Emecé, 1975, 266pp., pbk. Translated by María Raquel Albornoz. Cover: Carlos Muleiro. [Spanish]
as: De Stalen Rat Redt de Wereld, in: De Stalen Rat Redt de Wereld, and, Planeet der Verdoemden. Amsterdam: Meulenhoff, 1976, 308pp., ISBN: 90-290-0814-8. Also contains Planet of the Damned. Cover: Chris Foss. Translted by Lennaert van Thyn and Walter B. Relsky. [Dutch]
in: The Adventures of the Stainless Steel Rat. New York: Doubleday (Book Club), 1977, hbk. Also contains The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge, and, The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World. Jacket: Gary Viscupick.
in: The Adventures of the Stainless Steel Rat. New York: Berkley, 1978, p.277-402, ISBN: 0-425-03819-X, pbk. Also contains The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge, and, The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World. Reprinted 0-425-04378-9; 1983 (ISBN: 0-425-96170-2); 1984 (ISBN: 0-425-09531-2).
Tokyo: Sanrio SF Bunko, 30th June 1979, 213pp. Cover: Kazuaki Saito. [Japanese]
New York: Ace Books, 1987, 192pp., ISBN: 0-441-77913-1, pbk.
as: Stahlratte Rettet die Welt. Munich: Heyne, 1988, 189pp., ISBN: 3-453-02503-2. Translated by Thomas Schlück. Cover: Karel Thole. [German]
London: Bantam, April 1989, 158pp., ISBN: 0-553-17396-0, pbk. Cover: Jim Burns.
as: Libro Terzo: Il Ratto d'Acciaio Inossidabile Salva il Mondo, in: Jim Digriz, L'Implacabile. Milan: Editrice Nord, November 1989, 567pp., ISBN: 88-429-0403-1. Translated by Giampaolo Cossato and Sandro Sandrelli. [Italian]
as: Stomanenyat Pluh Spasiava Sveta. Bulgaria: Orphey, 1992. [Bulgarian]
London: Severn House, December 1993, 160pp., 22cm, ISBN: 0-7278-4537-3, hbk. Jacket: Martin Buchan.
as: Stålråttan Räddar Världen. Bromma: Lundwall Fakta & Fantasi, 1993, 157pp., ISBN: 91-7992-060-8. Translated by Sam J. Lundwall. [Swedish]
Books and Bookmen #19, November 1973. Review by K. Bazarov.
Kirkus Reviews, 15th October 1972.
Library Journal, 15th December 1973. Review by J.
Cavallini
New Scientist, 4th October 1973, p.61-62. Review by
Martin Sherwood.
"The worlds of the stainless steel rat are pure James Bond, with better
gimmicks. However tight the corner in which Jim diGriz finds himself,
somewhere on his person there will be a wonder gadget to get him out of it.
The complex time paradox in which he plays out his current part bears no
thinking about. But then, The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World is not a
novel for thinkers. Much of the action takes place on a planet believed to
be the legendary home of mankind, "called Dirt or Earth or something like
that", in 1984, and 1807. Bank robberies, pitched battles, and a would be
universe dominating megalomaniac are all part of the recipe. Of course Jim
diGriz does save the world - although from what we can never be sure. He
has to: otherwise it might not be there for his next adventure. Which is
something to look forward to."
The Times Literary Supplement, 9th November 1973, p.
1377b.
"After Harry Harrison's disastrous excursion into the realms of schmaltzy
split universes via the infamous Transatlantic Tunnel, it is doubly welcome
that he should return to the bawdy-house arm-in-arm with the Stainless
Steel Rat himself, James Bolivar diGriz. DiGriz, knockabout, amoral member
of the futuristic Special Corps, is an indestructably charming rogue, first
encountered rifling his superior's priceless cigars during a briefing. When
his chief abruptly fades out of existence, it soon transpires that an
unknown villain, whose ultimate ambition is to tyrannise the entire
universe throughout time, is tampering with the past in order to eliminate
his only potential enemy: the Special Corps. Mr Harrison has clearly not
lost his fascination with multi-temporal mix-ups, jumping our hero from his
base in AD 3000 back to 1984 and a Napoleon-dominated England of 1805,
thence to AD 2000 before a triumphant home-coming. After this hectic caper
the Rat can hold his head high amongst the most elevated superhero company
- Bulldog Drummond, James Bond and Flash Gordon included."
New Worlds 7, edited by Platt / Bailey, Sphere, 1974; Avon, 1974
(as New Worlds 6); Reprinted in Strokes: Essays and Reviews,
1966-1986. Seattle: Serconia Press, 1988, p.110.. Review by John
Clute.
Publishers Weekly, 30th October 1972.
The Times, 13th December 1973, p.14e. Review by Tom
Hutchinson.
"Mr Harrison's narrative tug is as strong as ever as his hero, snugly
domestic with wife and children, is called upon to cope with time meddlers.
A lot of fun and gadgets abound. Time, though, I would now have thought to
take the Rat off his treadmill; I occasionally thought I noted the rust of
repetition."
The Stainless Steel Rat Series