For a long time, I thought I had read this book about 30 years ago, and that it was sub-par. It turns out that what I read was [b:Bill, the Galactic Hero on the Planet of the Robot Slaves|1116685|The Planet of the Robot Slaves (Bill, The Galactic Hero, #2)|Harry Harrison|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1264731782l/1116685._SY75_.jpg|1103700], the second book in the series, and published in 1989.

This is a fantastic satire of the volunteer-military, with passing shots at a few other sci-fi classics (Foundation, R.U.R.) and the Red Scare. It is by no means an intelligent or even very clever satire, but Harrison clearly had fun packing in all those background details that make it so much fun to read. ( )

This is most certainly a book of it times - written as a response to the author being drafted into the army, it is a book that both satirizes, and shows the pointlessness of war. At times, I found it too over the top, but the bureaucracy and the demonizing the enemy is very much is very much on point.

Its satire. Its a book written in the 60's. It has lots of 60's science fiction tropes like 'big' 7 foot tall lizard aliens, weird machinery that almost makes sense(but not really) and ships running off of outdated technology that is at odds with today's computers.

Its also not subtle. This book hits you over the head with the absurdity of modern life, from how soldiers are trained, to how waste is handled. I found myself rolling my eyes a bit, but the book is satire, the style is a deliberate choice. Its not a bad book by any means. I stuck with it because of the absurdity that is the life of Bill. But its not one I will be reading again. ( )

I enjoyed Harrison's Deathworld series and The Stainless Steel Rat series but not all of his books are worth your time.

Silly (daft) British style humor. Lots of puns and word play. Crazy world run by idiots and lairs. If you enjoyed the movie "Brazil", which stared many Monty Python actors, then this may be the book/series for you. I just can't spend the time to get through the nonsense. Would have made a good short story. ( )

Bill, an innocent farm boy, is fraudulently recruited into the armed forces. He then faced with several disasters of various scales, but maintains his morale. It is broad comedy and one of Harrison's better books. ( )

A complete military scifi satire.
Bill the rube gets conned into joining the army. After surviving many trials, Bill becomes inured and does what he needs to to get away from the front. Ends up going back to his homeplanet and tricking his brother into joining.

Bill just can't get a break. ( )