A Stainless Steel Rat is Born

This is the origin story of Slippery Jim diGriz, the Stainless Steel Rat. Written after most of the original books, it goes back in time to Jim as a precocious 17 year old porcuswine farmer on a backwater farming world, and illustrates his path to becoming the Stainless Steel Rat we know him as. Through a disastrous first attempt to contact the criminal underworld to finding a skilled mentor who can guide him on his path, it's much along the same lines as all the other books - very cheesy, action-based, 70s style science fiction probably aimed at teenage boys. Which, don't get me wrong, can be a lot of fun, although it's kind of a one-note tune.

I haven't read the other books for decades although I picked up a few in a used bookshop at the same time as getting this one and I'll read them again soon. This didn't seem entirely satisfactory as an origin story though, because it really doesn't feel like much of an origin - although he has a few things to learn, 17-year-old Jim is already a skilled lockpicker, martial arts fighter, and devious plotter of escape plans from the very first page, so it's hard to say we really see him develop much at all. He still sounds older than his years are supposed to be, and it would have been more interesting (I think) to really understand why he decided to turn to a life of crime and have to learn everything from the start. There could have been some character-defining moment that set him on this path, but instead we are just basically told "well, I decided to be a criminal", which feels like a lost opportunity. Still, if you're already a fan of the character this is a nice addition to the series. If you're not, I'd probably suggest not starting with this one though.