It just so happened that Jim di Griz, then not yet the Steel Rat, but a simple seventeen-year-old guy from a god-forsaken provincial planet, decided to become a criminal. Only between “decide” and “become” the distance is no less than from the Earth to the center of the Galaxy. This means you need to find a mentor who will help you reach professional heights. For Jim, this becomes the great Elephant, a legend of the criminal world. It is he who will turn yesterday's rogue into the Steel Rat, and for his sake, the teacher, when he becomes a victim of the cunning Captain Garth, Jim di Griz will go to serve in the army to take revenge for the crime, and later, when carrying out a mission for the Galactic League on the planet Laiokukae, The experience gained from the Elephant will be very useful for the Steel Rat. The book includes the fourth, fifth and sixth novels of the series - “The Birth of the Steel Rat”, “The Steel Rat Joins the Army”, “The Steel Rat Sings the Blues”.

The 25th century's most outrageous outlaw is back--and this time it means war! "Slippery Jim" diGriz, better known as the Stainless Steel Rat, is seeking revenge for the murder of his mentor-in-crime. But to do so, he must join an army and oppose its iron-fisted dictator--and keep a planet from being enslaved.