The Stainless Steel Rat
Encyclopedia
James Bolivar DiGriz, alias "Slippery Jim" and "The Stainless Steel Rat", is the fictional hero of a series of humorous science fiction
novels written by Harry Harrison
.
James Bolivar diGriz, who goes by many aliases, including "Slippery Jim" and "The Stainless Steel Rat". He is a futuristic con man
, thief and all-round rascal. He is charming and quick-witted, a master of disguise and martial arts, an accomplished bank robber, an expert on breaking and entering, and (perhaps most usefully) a skilled liar. A master of self-rationalization, the Rat frequently justifies his crimes by arguing that he is providing society with entertainment; and besides which, he only steals from institutions which have insurance
coverage. He displays a strong morality, albeit in a much more restricted sense than is traditional. (For example, he will happily steal, but deplores killing.)
From the original publisher's blurb:
The character was introduced in Harrison's short story, The Stainless Steel Rat, which was first published in 1957 in Astounding magazine. The story introduces the Rat, who has just carried out a successful larceny operation, and subsequently details a complex bank robbery which the Rat pulls off with ease. However, he is outfoxed by the mysterious "Special Corps" — a crime-fighting organisation staffed with former criminals — and recruited by them in order to fight crime. Harrison used the story, with minor modifications, as the introduction to the series' first full-length novel, also called The Stainless Steel Rat. Like other characters created by Harrison, the Rat is a speaker of Esperanto
and advocates atheism
.
(not to be mistaken for "psychic surgery
") to considerably lessen her homicidal tendencies and joins the Corps; during that time she begins a relationship with the Rat that ends with them marrying in the last trimester of her pregnancy. She later assists on many of the Rat's adventures. While she is no longer a heartless killer, her suppressed homicidal tendencies occasionally come out, especially when she sees another woman in close proximity to her husband.
who had developed a Time Helix device permitting time travel
as well as a portal to alternate realities
. He also has a great deal of general scientific knowledge. He sent a copy of his mind with the Rat on his excursion to the 20th century. Coypu himself is rarely described apart from having prominent buck teeth
- a trait he shares with his namesake, the Coypu
, or nutria.
a picture of the bishop
chess piece. He retired from crime before Jim was born, and Jim only learnt of his existence from a fellow prisoner while briefly in jail. Jim then contacted The Bishop by using his calling card in a robbery, however as a result The Bishop was forced out of retirement when he underestimated the Police's computer security systems after running a check on Jim himself. The Bishop eventually became Jim's mentor and taught him a great deal about their trade, as well as a code of ethics. Eventually Jim and The Bishop had to leave Bit O'Heaven and on their first off-planet adventure The Bishop was killed. As a parting gift he left Jim a note that he signed with his real name, although the name is not revealed to the reader.
The Stainless Steel Rat (1961) : At the beginning of the first novel, the Stainless Steel Rat believes he has pulled off a successful bank job, but is out-conned into working for the government. In the Special Corps, the elite law-enforcement and spy
agency led by the former greatest crook in the Galaxy, Harold P. Inskipp (a.k.a. Inskipp the Uncatchable), he joins the ranks of an organization that is composed mostly of ex-criminals like himself. In the novel, he has several adventures during which he believes he has escaped from the Corps, and meets his love interest, Angelina - also a criminal genius, but lacking in Jim's relatively high moral codes and strictures against killing. She is attempting to have an illegal space battleship built on an otherwise peaceful planet. It transpires that Angelina was born unattractive and committed crimes to pay for her transformation into a beautiful woman; her psychological traumas are treated when Jim captures her, but she retains her allure and her criminal tendencies and joins in the Special Corps.
The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge (1970) : The Stainless Steel Rat gets married, but rapidly gets involved in something that so far has proven impossible in the galaxy - the planet Cliaand has successfully been invading other worlds. Jim is sent (in similar manner to the protagonist Mowry in the novel 'Wasp
',) to infiltrate and investigate, and discovers the mysterious gray Men behind Cliaand's success, encounters a world of feisty warrior women, and becomes father of twins (James and Bolivar).
The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World (1972) : A master criminal from the far future, "He", is attempting to extinguish the Special Corps from its timeline. The Stainless Steel Rat travels to Earth, 1975, and then to Napoleonic
France
, to stop He from destroying the timeline - but discovers that his own actions might have brought He into being! Finally He is trapped in a time loop, saving the Corps.
The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You (1978) : After freeing his family from various forms of incarceration, the Stainless Steel Rat saves the all-human
galaxy from invading aliens
. At this point the twins are adults. Additionally, two more Corps are revealed to exist - the Morality Corps whose main concern is that all human actions abide by their code of morality, and the Time Corps, who patrol time
itself to prevent any unauthorised tampering with the flow of time. Both new corps outrank the Special Corps, and Inskipp (and Jim) is forced to work around them, rather than with them.
The Stainless Steel Rat for President (1982) : The Stainless Steel Rat and Angelina enjoy a belated honeymoon
on a planet run by a dictator who rigs elections to get into office, so they set the Rat up as a candidate instead. Very much a satire on banana republic
politics and a parody of adventures set in Latin America
.
A Stainless Steel Rat Is Born (1985) : A novel chronicling the beginning of the Stainless Steel Rat's career. He intentionally gets caught trying to rob a bank so that he will go to jail where he can learn from the masters of crime, only to realize (too late) that the true masters would never get caught.
The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted (1987) : The Stainless Steel Rat, early in his career, hunts the man who killed his mentor, but in the process must save a pacifist planet from an imminent attack.
The Golden Years of the Stainless Steel Rat (1993) : This is an original short story which finds The Stainless Steel Rat in Terminal Penitentiary, a prison where over-the-hill crooks are sent. Published in Stainless Steel Visions by Harry Harrison (Tor 0-312-85245-2), a collection of 12 reprinted stories, one original.
The Stainless Steel Rat Sings the Blues (1994) : The Stainless Steel Rat (in the same earlier timeline as Is Born and Gets Drafted) goes to a prison colony planet to retrieve an alien artifact, which he must find in thirty days or the slow-acting poison he was administered will take its effect.
The Stainless Steel Rat Goes to Hell (1996) : In the later timeline (to which the stories have henceforth returned), the Stainless Steel Rat searches for his wife, who is abducted by a con man who preys on religious believers, swindling them out of their money and then enslaving them in his mining
operation.
The Stainless Steel Rat Joins the Circus (1999) : The Stainless Steel Rat is hired by a businessman to investigate thefts; the clues lead the Rat to suspect a roaming circus, which he infiltrates.
The Stainless Steel Rat Returns (2010) : James Bolivar "Slippery Jim" DiGriz, Special Corps agent, master con man, interstellar criminal (retired), is living high on the hog on the planet of Moolaplenty when a long-lost cousin and a shipful of swine arrive to drain his bank account and send him and his lovely wife, Angelina, wandering the stars on the wildest journey since Gulliver's Travels.
Based on information in The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World it is possible to work out when the timeline is set: James is sent 32598 years into the past to 1975, making events happen in and around 34573 - although Professor Coypu also mentions that they are now using a different calendar to the Gregorian calendar
. Specifics of the new calendar are never mentioned.
The Stainless Steel Rat, The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World and The Stainless Steel Rat for President were adapted into a comic strip form in early issues of 2000 AD
, written by Kelvin Gosnell
and drawn by Carlos Ezquerra
. Ezquerra drew Jim with an appearance modelled on the actor James Coburn
. They appeared in the following issues of 2000AD;
The first appearance of The Stainless Steel Rat in prog 140 was supposed to be preceded with a brief panel of explanation of who Jim was, however an editorial error meant that the panel actually appeared at the end of the first episode, not the beginning. This prompted a letter to be printed in 2000 AD from Harry Harrison himself pointing out the error.
All three stories were collected in a trade paperback
in July 2010 (ISBN 1906735514).
of the Choose Your Own Adventure
books, You Can Be The Stainless Steel Rat (ISBN 0-441-94978-9):
Despite the above description, the player cannot fail, regardless of his choices (even though it is possible to get caught in an inescapable loop at one point). It should also be noted that the name of Prof. Geisteskrank is German for "insane", and name of the planet "Skraldespand" is Danish for "trashcan".
, Harrison wrote a story, The Fourth Law of Robotics, which featured the Stainless Steel Rat in the setting of Isaac Asimov
's Robot books
.
In Stephen King
's novel The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands, which contains a large number of references to other works, Eddie Dean spots a robot that he says looks like "a stainless steel rat".
In Transformers: Beast Wars
, Rat-Trap makes a quip about being a "stainless steel rat".
In a story published in Marvel UK's Blake's 7 Monthly, Vila attempts to steal a valuable item, only to find that he has been beaten to it by 'Slippery Jim', who leaves a note of consolation at the scene.
"Doctor Two-Brains" in the PBS Kids series WordGirl
, has a mouse brain as well as a human brain, which makes him crave cheese and fear cats. He designed a stainless steel mouse suit that enables him to temporarily become invincible. Temporarily, because he left the owners manual easily accessible to WordGirl's sidekick, Captain Huggy Face.
inspired by the Stainless Steel Rat series was published by SPI
in their magazine Ares
in the late 1970s. It involved the Rat infiltrating a space station
under hostile control.
, commonly referred to as "The Brass Rat," when cast in Celestrium
(also known as jeweler's steel) is often referred to as "The Stainless Steel Rat" in reference to The Stainless Steel Rat series.
The Chinese activist Liu Di
, writing under the screen name "Stainless Steel Rat" (不锈钢老鼠), became a high-profile symbol for democracy and free speech in China since her detention in November 2002. Her screen name is often translated as Stainless Steel Mouse.
reviewer Floyd C. Gale received the first novel favorably, saying "though pure entertainment, [it] underlines SF's role in providing speculative thought about potential problems."
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novels written by Harry Harrison
Harry Harrison
Harry Harrison is an American science fiction author best known for his character the Stainless Steel Rat and the novel Make Room! Make Room! , the basis for the film Soylent Green...
.
James Bolivar diGriz
The Stainless Steel Rat is anti-heroAnti-hero
In fiction, an antihero is generally considered to be a protagonist whose character is at least in some regards conspicuously contrary to that of the archetypal hero, and is in some instances its antithesis in which the character is generally useless at being a hero or heroine when they're...
James Bolivar diGriz, who goes by many aliases, including "Slippery Jim" and "The Stainless Steel Rat". He is a futuristic con man
Confidence trick
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. A confidence artist is an individual working alone or in concert with others who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty and honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility,...
, thief and all-round rascal. He is charming and quick-witted, a master of disguise and martial arts, an accomplished bank robber, an expert on breaking and entering, and (perhaps most usefully) a skilled liar. A master of self-rationalization, the Rat frequently justifies his crimes by arguing that he is providing society with entertainment; and besides which, he only steals from institutions which have insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
coverage. He displays a strong morality, albeit in a much more restricted sense than is traditional. (For example, he will happily steal, but deplores killing.)
From the original publisher's blurb:
...We must be as stealthy as rats in the wainscoting of their society. It was easier in the old days, of course, and society had more rats when the rules were looser, just as old wooden buildings have more rats than concrete buildings. But there are rats in the building now as well. Now that society is all ferrocrete and stainless steel there are fewer gaps in the joints. It takes a very smart rat indeed to find these openings. Only a stainless steel rat can be at home in this environment...
The character was introduced in Harrison's short story, The Stainless Steel Rat, which was first published in 1957 in Astounding magazine. The story introduces the Rat, who has just carried out a successful larceny operation, and subsequently details a complex bank robbery which the Rat pulls off with ease. However, he is outfoxed by the mysterious "Special Corps" — a crime-fighting organisation staffed with former criminals — and recruited by them in order to fight crime. Harrison used the story, with minor modifications, as the introduction to the series' first full-length novel, also called The Stainless Steel Rat. Like other characters created by Harrison, the Rat is a speaker of Esperanto
Esperanto
is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...
and advocates atheism
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
.
Angelina diGriz
She is a criminal mastermind much like the Rat, only less ethical and more willing to kill. As the Rat's first case for the Special Corps, he tracks Angelina down and ends up falling in love with her. After her capture, she undergoes psycho surgeryPsychosurgery
Psychosurgery, also called neurosurgery for mental disorder , is the neurosurgical treatment of mental disorder. Psychosurgery has always been a controversial medical field. The modern history of psychosurgery begins in the 1880s under the Swiss psychiatrist Gottlieb Burckhardt...
(not to be mistaken for "psychic surgery
Psychic surgery
Psychic surgery is a procedure typically involving the supposed creation of an incision using only the bare hands, the supposed removal of pathological matter, and the seemingly spontaneous healing of the incision....
") to considerably lessen her homicidal tendencies and joins the Corps; during that time she begins a relationship with the Rat that ends with them marrying in the last trimester of her pregnancy. She later assists on many of the Rat's adventures. While she is no longer a heartless killer, her suppressed homicidal tendencies occasionally come out, especially when she sees another woman in close proximity to her husband.
James and Bolivar diGriz
They are the twin sons of the Rat and Angelina. The Rat missed the first six years of their life because of his adventures in time, but they share their father's attitudes and many of his skills. They end up marrying the same woman, who falls in love with both of them and gets herself duplicated into two identical women sharing one mind.Harold Peters Inskipp
He is the director of the Special Corps and one of the most powerful men in the Galaxy. He recruits the Rat, but is frequently infuriated by his insubordinate attitude and tendency to "go rogue" and commit independent crimes for sheer enjoyment. Ironically, the Special Corps is composed almost entirely of former criminals—Inskipp himself was a legendary fugitive known as "Inskipp the Uncatchable" before becoming the Corps' commander.Professor Coypu
He is a Special Corps boffinBoffin
In the slang of the United Kingdom, boffins are scientists, medical doctors, engineers, and other people engaged in technical or scientific research.-Origin:...
who had developed a Time Helix device permitting time travel
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
as well as a portal to alternate realities
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
. He also has a great deal of general scientific knowledge. He sent a copy of his mind with the Rat on his excursion to the 20th century. Coypu himself is rarely described apart from having prominent buck teeth
Malocclusion
A malocclusion is a misalignment of teeth or incorrect relation between the teeth of the two dental arches. The term was coined by Edward Angle, the "father of modern orthodontics", as a derivative of occlusion, which refers to the manner in which opposing teeth meet.-Presentation:Most people have...
- a trait he shares with his namesake, the Coypu
Coypu
The coypu , , also known as the river rat, and nutria, is a large, herbivorous, semiaquatic rodent and the only member of the family Myocastoridae. Originally native to subtropical and temperate South America, it has since been introduced to North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, primarily by...
, or nutria.
The Bishop
The Bishop was a master criminal on Bit O'Heaven, the Stainless Steel Rat's home planet. He was a lot less physical in his capers than Jim, he focused a great deal on computer crime, but also undertook robberies, always leaving as his calling cardCalling card (crime)
A calling card is a particular object sometimes left behind by a criminal at a scene of a crime, often as a way of taunting police or obliquely claiming responsibility. The name is derived from the cards that people used to show they had been to visit someone's house when the resident was absent...
a picture of the bishop
Bishop (chess)
A bishop is a piece in the board game of chess. Each player begins the game with two bishops. One starts between the king's knight and the king, the other between the queen's knight and the queen...
chess piece. He retired from crime before Jim was born, and Jim only learnt of his existence from a fellow prisoner while briefly in jail. Jim then contacted The Bishop by using his calling card in a robbery, however as a result The Bishop was forced out of retirement when he underestimated the Police's computer security systems after running a check on Jim himself. The Bishop eventually became Jim's mentor and taught him a great deal about their trade, as well as a code of ethics. Eventually Jim and The Bishop had to leave Bit O'Heaven and on their first off-planet adventure The Bishop was killed. As a parting gift he left Jim a note that he signed with his real name, although the name is not revealed to the reader.
The Kekkonshiki
Also known as "The Gray Men", they are a human subculture who prefer domination to coexistence. Their expertise lies in using technology to manipulate sentient minds, and have manipulated both humans and aliens on a grand scale. Jim has experienced one of their techniques (in which a gray man agent seemingly severs his hands with an axe; this was an illusion). Jim has knowingly opposed them on two separate occasions (The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge & The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You) however during conversation it is revealed by Kome that prior to The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You Jim has in fact thwarted their plans twice already, making this their third encounter. The text can also be read to say that the second time he thwarted their plans was with the alien invasion so the third encounter also happened during The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You when Jim invaded their home planet. They live on a harsh, icy world; this existence forced them to eliminate all emotion from their culture. This society is also completely patriarchal, with women being treated as nothing more than property. (Incidentally "Kekkonshiki" is the romanization of the Japanese word for "Marriage Ceremony" 結婚式.)Synopses
there have been twelve books in the Stainless Steel Rat series.The Stainless Steel Rat (1961) : At the beginning of the first novel, the Stainless Steel Rat believes he has pulled off a successful bank job, but is out-conned into working for the government. In the Special Corps, the elite law-enforcement and spy
SPY
SPY is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:* SPY , ticker symbol for Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts* SPY , a satirical monthly, trademarked all-caps* SPY , airport code for San Pédro, Côte d'Ivoire...
agency led by the former greatest crook in the Galaxy, Harold P. Inskipp (a.k.a. Inskipp the Uncatchable), he joins the ranks of an organization that is composed mostly of ex-criminals like himself. In the novel, he has several adventures during which he believes he has escaped from the Corps, and meets his love interest, Angelina - also a criminal genius, but lacking in Jim's relatively high moral codes and strictures against killing. She is attempting to have an illegal space battleship built on an otherwise peaceful planet. It transpires that Angelina was born unattractive and committed crimes to pay for her transformation into a beautiful woman; her psychological traumas are treated when Jim captures her, but she retains her allure and her criminal tendencies and joins in the Special Corps.
- Large sections of the story first appeared in Astounding magazine as two noveletteNoveletteA novelette is a piece of short prose fiction. The distinction between a novelette and other literary forms is usually based upon word count, with a novelette being longer than a short story, but shorter than a novella...
s: The Stainless Steel Rat (1957) and The Misplaced Battleship (1960). These were reworked into the opening chapters of the novel. - re-issued in paperback (1986): ISBN 0-441-77924-7
The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge (1970) : The Stainless Steel Rat gets married, but rapidly gets involved in something that so far has proven impossible in the galaxy - the planet Cliaand has successfully been invading other worlds. Jim is sent (in similar manner to the protagonist Mowry in the novel 'Wasp
Wasp (novel)
Wasp is a 1957 science fiction novel by English author Eric Frank Russell. Terry Pratchett stated that he "can't imagine a funnier terrorists' handbook." Wasp is generally considered Russell's best novel.The title of Wasp comes from the idea that the main character's actions and central purpose...
',) to infiltrate and investigate, and discovers the mysterious gray Men behind Cliaand's success, encounters a world of feisty warrior women, and becomes father of twins (James and Bolivar).
- re-issued in paperback (1986): ISBN 0-441-77912-3
The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World (1972) : A master criminal from the far future, "He", is attempting to extinguish the Special Corps from its timeline. The Stainless Steel Rat travels to Earth, 1975, and then to Napoleonic
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, to stop He from destroying the timeline - but discovers that his own actions might have brought He into being! Finally He is trapped in a time loop, saving the Corps.
- This story was first serialised in 1971 in 'If' magazineIf (magazine)If was an American science fiction magazine launched in March 1952 by Quinn Publications, owned by James L. Quinn. Quinn hired Paul W. Fairman to be the first editor, but early circulation figures were disappointing, and Quinn fired Fairman after only three issues. Quinn then took over the...
in three parts. Parts 2 and 3 were titled, respectively, The Cast Iron Rat and The Stainless Steel Rat's Return. (The latter should not be confused with the Return of... board game or ...Rat Returns 2010 novel). - re-issued in paperback (1989): ISBN 0-441-77913-1
- The Adventures of the Stainless Steel Rat (1978) anthologized the first three books: ISBN 0-425-04378-9
- The Stainless Steel Rat Omnibus (2008) anthologized the first three books: ISBN 978-0-575-08171-0 (Gollancz)
The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You (1978) : After freeing his family from various forms of incarceration, the Stainless Steel Rat saves the all-human
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
galaxy from invading aliens
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
. At this point the twins are adults. Additionally, two more Corps are revealed to exist - the Morality Corps whose main concern is that all human actions abide by their code of morality, and the Time Corps, who patrol time
Spacetime
In physics, spacetime is any mathematical model that combines space and time into a single continuum. Spacetime is usually interpreted with space as being three-dimensional and time playing the role of a fourth dimension that is of a different sort from the spatial dimensions...
itself to prevent any unauthorised tampering with the flow of time. Both new corps outrank the Special Corps, and Inskipp (and Jim) is forced to work around them, rather than with them.
- re-issued in paperback (1985): ISBN 0-553-27611-5
The Stainless Steel Rat for President (1982) : The Stainless Steel Rat and Angelina enjoy a belated honeymoon
Honeymoon
-History:One early reference to a honeymoon is in Deuteronomy 24:5 “When a man is newly wed, he need not go out on a military expedition, nor shall any public duty be imposed on him...
on a planet run by a dictator who rigs elections to get into office, so they set the Rat up as a candidate instead. Very much a satire on banana republic
Banana republic
In political science, the pejorative term Banana Republic denotes a politically unstable country dependent upon limited primary productions , which is ruled by a plutocracy, a small, self-elected, wealthy group who exploit the country by means of a politico-economic oligarchy...
politics and a parody of adventures set in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
.
- re-issued in paperback (1987): ISBN 0-553-27612-3
A Stainless Steel Rat Is Born (1985) : A novel chronicling the beginning of the Stainless Steel Rat's career. He intentionally gets caught trying to rob a bank so that he will go to jail where he can learn from the masters of crime, only to realize (too late) that the true masters would never get caught.
- paperback (1986): ISBN 0-553-27942-4
The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted (1987) : The Stainless Steel Rat, early in his career, hunts the man who killed his mentor, but in the process must save a pacifist planet from an imminent attack.
- original hardback: ISBN 0-553-05220-9
- re-issued in paperback (1991): ISBN 0-553-27307-8
The Golden Years of the Stainless Steel Rat (1993) : This is an original short story which finds The Stainless Steel Rat in Terminal Penitentiary, a prison where over-the-hill crooks are sent. Published in Stainless Steel Visions by Harry Harrison (Tor 0-312-85245-2), a collection of 12 reprinted stories, one original.
The Stainless Steel Rat Sings the Blues (1994) : The Stainless Steel Rat (in the same earlier timeline as Is Born and Gets Drafted) goes to a prison colony planet to retrieve an alien artifact, which he must find in thirty days or the slow-acting poison he was administered will take its effect.
- original hardback: ISBN 0-553-09612-5
- paperback (1995): ISBN 0-553-56939-2
The Stainless Steel Rat Goes to Hell (1996) : In the later timeline (to which the stories have henceforth returned), the Stainless Steel Rat searches for his wife, who is abducted by a con man who preys on religious believers, swindling them out of their money and then enslaving them in his mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
operation.
- original hardback: ISBN 0-312-86063-3
- paperback (1998): ISBN 0-8125-5107-9
The Stainless Steel Rat Joins the Circus (1999) : The Stainless Steel Rat is hired by a businessman to investigate thefts; the clues lead the Rat to suspect a roaming circus, which he infiltrates.
- original hardback: ISBN 0-312-86934-7
- paperback (2000): ISBN 0-8125-7535-0
The Stainless Steel Rat Returns (2010) : James Bolivar "Slippery Jim" DiGriz, Special Corps agent, master con man, interstellar criminal (retired), is living high on the hog on the planet of Moolaplenty when a long-lost cousin and a shipful of swine arrive to drain his bank account and send him and his lovely wife, Angelina, wandering the stars on the wildest journey since Gulliver's Travels.
- original hardback: ISBN 0-765-32441-5
Chronological order
The book series is written only in a semichronological order; it breaks the continuity during part of the series to focus on the Rat's early career, then returns to "modern-day". Here, then, is a list of the books in the order they take place, rather than the order they were written.- A Stainless Steel Rat Is Born
- The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted
- The Stainless Steel Rat Sings the Blues
- The Stainless Steel Rat
- The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge
- The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World
- The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You
- The Stainless Steel Rat for President
- The Stainless Steel Rat Goes to Hell
- The Stainless Steel Rat Joins the Circus
- The Golden Years of the Stainless Steel Rat
Based on information in The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World it is possible to work out when the timeline is set: James is sent 32598 years into the past to 1975, making events happen in and around 34573 - although Professor Coypu also mentions that they are now using a different calendar to the Gregorian calendar
Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
. Specifics of the new calendar are never mentioned.
Comics
2000 AD (comic)
2000 AD is a weekly British science fiction-oriented comic. As a comics anthology it serialises a number of separate stories each issue and was first published by IPC Magazines in 1977, the first issue dated 26 February. IPC then shifted the title to its Fleetway comics subsidiary which was sold...
, written by Kelvin Gosnell
Kelvin Gosnell
Kelvin Gosnell is a British comics writer and editor. He was involved in the founding of the long-running comic 2000 AD in 1977.-Biography:...
and drawn by Carlos Ezquerra
Carlos Ezquerra
Carlos Sanchez Ezquerra , who has also worked under the alias L. John Silver, is a Spanish comics artist who works mainly in British comics and currently lives in Andorra...
. Ezquerra drew Jim with an appearance modelled on the actor James Coburn
James Coburn
James Harrison Coburn III was an American film and television actor. Coburn appeared in nearly 70 films and made over 100 television appearances during his 45-year career, and played a wide range of roles and won an Academy Award for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction.A capable,...
. They appeared in the following issues of 2000AD;
- The Stainless Steel Rat, 12 episodes, 2000 AD progs 140-151 (Nov. 1979 to Feb. 1980).
- The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World, 12 episodes, 2000 AD progs 166-177 (June to Sep. 1980).
- The Stainless Steel Rat for President, 12 episodes, 2000 AD progs 393-404 (Nov. 1984 to Feb. 1985).
The first appearance of The Stainless Steel Rat in prog 140 was supposed to be preceded with a brief panel of explanation of who Jim was, however an editorial error meant that the panel actually appeared at the end of the first episode, not the beginning. This prompted a letter to be printed in 2000 AD from Harry Harrison himself pointing out the error.
All three stories were collected in a trade paperback
Trade paperback (comics)
In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...
in July 2010 (ISBN 1906735514).
Choose your own adventure
Harrison also produced a parodyParody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of the Choose Your Own Adventure
Choose Your Own Adventure
Choose Your Own Adventure is a series of children's gamebooks where each story is written from a second-person point of view, with the reader assuming the role of the protagonist and making choices that determine the main character's actions and the plot's outcome. The series was based on a...
books, You Can Be The Stainless Steel Rat (ISBN 0-441-94978-9):
The reader's decisions will determine whether he or she can find Prof. Geisteskrank on the planet Skraldespand and bring him back before he activates a lethal new weapon.
Despite the above description, the player cannot fail, regardless of his choices (even though it is possible to get caught in an inescapable loop at one point). It should also be noted that the name of Prof. Geisteskrank is German for "insane", and name of the planet "Skraldespand" is Danish for "trashcan".
Cameos
In the tribute anthology Foundation's FriendsFoundation's Friends
Foundation's Friends, Stories in Honor of Isaac Asimov is a 1989 festschrift honoring science fiction author Isaac Asimov, in the form of an anthology of short stories set in Asimov's universes, particularly the Robot/Empire/Foundation universe. The anthology was edited by Martin H...
, Harrison wrote a story, The Fourth Law of Robotics, which featured the Stainless Steel Rat in the setting of Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
's Robot books
Isaac Asimov's Robot Series
Isaac Asimov's Robot Series is a series of short stories and novels by Isaac Asimov featuring positronic robots.- Short stories :Most of Asimov's robot short stories are set in the first age of positronic robotics and space exploration...
.
In Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
's novel The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands, which contains a large number of references to other works, Eddie Dean spots a robot that he says looks like "a stainless steel rat".
In Transformers: Beast Wars
Beast Wars
Transformers: Beast Wars is a Transformers toyline released by Hasbro between 1995 and 2000, and a Daytime Emmy Award winning full-CG animated television series spawned by it that debuted in 1996...
, Rat-Trap makes a quip about being a "stainless steel rat".
In a story published in Marvel UK's Blake's 7 Monthly, Vila attempts to steal a valuable item, only to find that he has been beaten to it by 'Slippery Jim', who leaves a note of consolation at the scene.
"Doctor Two-Brains" in the PBS Kids series WordGirl
WordGirl
WordGirl is an American children’s animated television series for children aged 6-12, produced by the Soup2Nuts animation unit of Scholastic Entertainment for PBS Kids...
, has a mouse brain as well as a human brain, which makes him crave cheese and fear cats. He designed a stainless steel mouse suit that enables him to temporarily become invincible. Temporarily, because he left the owners manual easily accessible to WordGirl's sidekick, Captain Huggy Face.
Board game
A board gameBoard game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
inspired by the Stainless Steel Rat series was published by SPI
Simulations Publications
Simulations Publications, Inc. was an influential American publisher of board wargames and related magazines, particularly its flagship Strategy & Tactics, in the 1970s and early 1980s...
in their magazine Ares
Ares (magazine)
Ares was a science fiction wargame magazine published by Simulations Publications, Inc. , and then TSR, Inc., between 1980 and 1984. In addition to the articles, each issue contained a wargame, complete with a foldout stiff paper map, a set of cardboard counters, and the rules.There were a total of...
in the late 1970s. It involved the Rat infiltrating a space station
Space station
A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a crew which is designed to remain in space for an extended period of time, and to which other spacecraft can dock. A space station is distinguished from other spacecraft used for human spaceflight by its lack of major propulsion or landing...
under hostile control.
In popular culture
The MIT class ringMIT class ring
Massachusetts Institute of Technology's class ring, often called the Brass Rat, is redesigned each year by a student committee. The class ring has three main sections: the bezel, containing MIT's mascot, the beaver; the MIT seal ; and the class year . The side surfaces show the Boston and...
, commonly referred to as "The Brass Rat," when cast in Celestrium
Celestrium
Celestrium is a trademark of a type of an austenitic stainless steel used in jewelry. It resembles white gold, but is cheaper and more durable. Celestrium is strong, resistant to chemical reaction, and easy to maintain. The same or similar alloys are marketed as white ultrium, in particular when...
(also known as jeweler's steel) is often referred to as "The Stainless Steel Rat" in reference to The Stainless Steel Rat series.
The Chinese activist Liu Di
Liu Di
Liu Di , writing under the screen name "Stainless Steel Rat" , named after the assertive Harry Harrison SF character, became a high-profile symbol for democracy and free speech in China since her detention in November 2002...
, writing under the screen name "Stainless Steel Rat" (不锈钢老鼠), became a high-profile symbol for democracy and free speech in China since her detention in November 2002. Her screen name is often translated as Stainless Steel Mouse.
Reception
GalaxyGalaxy Science Fiction
Galaxy Science Fiction was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by an Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break in to the American market. World Editions hired as editor H. L...
reviewer Floyd C. Gale received the first novel favorably, saying "though pure entertainment, [it] underlines SF's role in providing speculative thought about potential problems."
External links
- Stainless Steel Rat Series page on Official website
- Series listing at SciFanSciFanSciFan is an online database for fans of science fiction and fantasy books.The site provides detailed bibliographies, linking books together into series' where appropriate and, in turn, grouping series by universe...