Harry Harrison Trivia

1. How does "The Stainless Steel Rat" begin?

From Quiz All About "The Stainless Steel Rat", The Book

Answer: A police robot attempts to arrest Jim

Our introduction to Jim diGriz is a rollicking opening chapter which begins with this sentence: "When the office door opened suddenly I knew the game was up." The chapter is almost exhausting in its pace as Jim disables the robot and escapes through an elaborately prepared route which lets you know that this is no ordinary crook. He robs the tax collector's office in the start of the second book "The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge", is harangued by Inskipp at the beginning of the third book "The Stainless Steel Rat Saves The World", and runs into the street naked after a disappearing Angelina in the fourth book "The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You".

From Quiz All About The Stainless Steel Rat

Answer: James Bolivar diGriz

Also known as Slippery Jim, he is a galactic criminal who is recruited to the other side of the law. His escapades are chronicled in a series of ten novels (and three short stories) by Harry Harrison. Beginning with two novelettes published in "Astounding" in 1957 and 1960, the first novel (incorporating the novelettes) appeared in 1961. The last novel was published in 1999, with Harrison stating there would likely be no more.

From Quiz Harry Harrison Novels

Answer: In an asteroid

A very good novel. The description of the main character walking on the sky and looking at his village gave me vertigo.

From Quiz All About "The Stainless Steel Rat", The Book

Answer: Stealing an armored truck

He steals the armored truck outside Moraio's department store and subsequently uses the store's shipping department to deliver the money to various places for later pick up. However he realizes that he is trapped and is ultimately herded into an office where Inskipp recruits him into the Special Corps. Even though it is the department store's money he steals, he does not steal it from the store, but rather steals the armored truck. Jim robs the tax collector's office at the beginning of "The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge" and attempts to rob the Paskonjak Mint at the beginning of "The Stainless Steel Rat Sings The Blues".

From Quiz All About The Stainless Steel Rat

Answer: Bit O' Heaven

Bit O'Heaven is the planet where the porcuswine flourished, sort of a cross between a boar hog and a porcupine.

From Quiz Harry Harrison Novels

Answer: The Revolutionary War

England had won and George Washington was considered a traitor. The main character was a descendent of George Washington and had to try to clear his family name.

From Quiz All About "The Stainless Steel Rat", The Book

Answer: Loneliness

He is joining the ranks of society again, and hopes he won't miss the loneliness of his recent past.

From Quiz All About The Stainless Steel Rat

Answer: The Bishop

The Bishop is the famous criminal that James lures out of retirement (and hiding) in "A Stainless Steel Rat is Born". James wants to learn how to be a master criminal and eventually decides that he can only learn from someone else. In one lesson The Bishop explains how they must learn to effectively operate within the wainscotting of society like rats. In the old days of wooden buildings (and looser rules in society) rats were plentiful, but in modern times with ferroconcrete and stainless steel there are fewer gaps, so "it takes a very smart rat indeed to find these openings. Only a stainless steel rat can be at home in this environment." And a legendary name was born.

From Quiz Harry Harrison Novels

Answer: Bowb

The term is used often in the 'Bill the Galactic Hero' books, but sometimes in the 'Stainless Steel Rat' books and also in 'Captive Universe'.

From Quiz All About "The Stainless Steel Rat", The Book

Answer: Reorganizing the records room

Although he realizes the technology and techniques he is learning at the Corps' School would make him ten times the crook he had been, he feels the only way to make things interesting is to find something himself. After being put in charge of the records room, he digs into the files and discovers that the plans for the heavy cargo/passenger ship being built in Cittanuvo match the plans for the old Warlord battleship to six places.

From Quiz All About The Stainless Steel Rat

Answer: The Special Corps

The Special Corps finished off the last of Haskell's Raiders and even finally caught Inskipp. (Of course, we find out later he's now in charge of the Corps). James infiltrates the Cliaand Army where he first encounters the "grey men" of Kekkonshiki in "The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge". SCENT is the organization to which Rod d'Armand belongs in Stasheff's "Warlock" series.

From Quiz Harry Harrison Novels

Answer: Make Room! Make Room!

A wonderful book. Very scary to read during a drought.

From Quiz All About "The Stainless Steel Rat", The Book

Answer: incompetent

False modesty has NEVER been one of Jim's character flaws. Come to think of it, modesty has never been part of his character.

From Quiz All About The Stainless Steel Rat

Answer: James and Bolivar

James and Bolivar are twin sons, born while James was infiltrating the Cliaand army in "The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge". When they are grown, they take prominent roles in the books.

From Quiz Harry Harrison Novels

Answer: Food made from algae

Unlike the movie, in the book "Make Room! Make Room!", soylent really is soy and lentils, or other non-meat protein sources.

From Quiz All About "The Stainless Steel Rat", The Book

Answer: The explosive charge in the stolen spaceship

Inskipp knew what he doing: by not assigning Jim to the job he ensured Jim would go out and do it. The explosive charge was just a charge, no explosive. Inskipp said it gives agents an independence of mind.

From Quiz All About The Stainless Steel Rat

Answer: He

"He" is the creature which leads James to Earth (or Dirt, or something like that) in the 18th and 20th centuries and approximately 20,000 years beyond that in "The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World". "He" eventually ends up trapped in a time loop of apparently paradoxical construction.

From Quiz Harry Harrison Novels

Answer: Sex

'Bill never realized that sex was the cause of it all' is one of my favorite first lines.

From Quiz All About "The Stainless Steel Rat", The Book

Answer: Inskipp

Angelina reveals that she knows Jim is the man who ruined her battleship plan, first showing an interest in teaming up, then preparing to kill him after she gets the report that spaceships have dropped out of orbit to surround the area. When she opens her secret escape hatch door, Inskipp is standing there and prevents Angelina from killing Jim. She is cuffed and whisked out the not-so-secret passage before Jim can react.

From Quiz All About The Stainless Steel Rat

Answer: Paraiso-Aqui

In "The Stainless Steel Rat For President", after using every dirty trick possible to win the election, the diGriz family staged James' assassination in order to put the Marquez de la Rosa into the office, which would spur the necessary reforms after the long totalitarian regime of Zapilote.

From Quiz Harry Harrison Novels

Answer: The Bishop

From Quiz All About "The Stainless Steel Rat", The Book

Answer: Switches toe tags with a corpse to fake his death

He was wearing bulletproof underwear which absorbed most of the potential damage. He managed to change the papers to show he was DOA and was transferred to the morgue where his put his toe tag on a real corpse. The next day the report of his death was in the newspaper and Jim figured Angelina would think she'd successfully killed him.

From Quiz All About The Stainless Steel Rat

Answer: Inskipp

We don't learn how Inskipp came to be the head of the Special Corps, but he does reveal that his full agents are all crooks, in the classic "set a thief to catch a thief" tradition.

From Quiz Harry Harrison Novels

Answer: James and Bolivar

From Quiz All About "The Stainless Steel Rat", The Book

Answer: Grav Bent Diebstall

He stages a drunken brawl at the Grand Ball to get arrested and draw the attention of Angelina by pretending to be a member of a family cheated out of its title centuries ago. He spills wine on King Villelm and eventually is broken out of the dungeon by Engela (Angelina) and brought to Count Rdenrundt's lands.

From Quiz All About The Stainless Steel Rat

Answer: Esperanto

Esperanto was developed in the late 1870s and early 1880s by Dr. Ludovic Lazarus Zamenhof as a universal international language.

From Quiz Harry Harrison Novels

Answer: To see if God exists

This is a very powerful story. The moral of the story is much like the Star Trek Prime Directive. The priest shouldn't have interfered.

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