Following his frolic in Hell (The Stainless Steel Rat Goes to Hell, 1996), the eponymous Slippery Jim diGriz runs off to join the circus. Jim and his wife, the lovely and talented Angelina, are approached by Imperetrix “Kaizi” Von Kaiser-Czarski, the galaxy’s richest man (and, possibly, the oldest—after 40,000 years his memory’s none too reliable). Kaizi’s being robbed, systematically yet undetectably, and he’s willing to pay four million credits per day (plus expenses) to catch the thief. Our slick duo’s single clue: a circus was in town when each robbery occurred. It wasn—t the same circus, but always on the bill was Puissanto, the Strongest Man in the Galaxy. To question him, Jim and Angelina must travel to the remote and uninviting planet Fetorr and its equally uninviting city of Fetorrscoria. Another splendid romp for Harrison’s picaresque pair.
