Harry Harrison’s The Stainless Steel Rat provides a good parody of the sci fi genre, but it also goes deeper than that by exploring some moral quandaries and the true nature of freedom.
What Is It?
The Stainless Steel Rat is Harry Harrison’s classic book that introduces us to the intergalactic criminal mastermind with a good heart, James Bolivar diGriz, who also goes by the book’s titular name. He lives in the distant future when humans have spread out across the galaxy and initially makes a good living for himself as a con man, thief, and swindler. But he is captured and enlisted by the “Special Corps” and goes undercover as an operative for that mysterious organization. In his first mission, he is sent after the female criminal named Angelina, but starts to develop a mutual respect for her and amorous feelings as well which complicates his mission.
Author: Harry Harrison
Originally Published: 1961
Legacy:
The Stainless Steel Rat gives us one of the great sci fi satires which takes much delight in poking fun at the genre. But it is more than just a simple parody as it also introduces iconic characters while delving into some interesting moral dilemmas.
A Closer Look:
The character was first introduced in the short story “The Stainless Steel Rat” which appeared in Astounding magazine in 1957. Harrison later fleshed that out into a novel and eleven more books (three of which are prequels) would follow over Harrison’s lifetime. In many ways, the first book is a sci fi parody with tongue firmly planted in cheek, but it does not go quite into the raucous Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy territory as it presents more of a sly and witty take on the genre.
The Stainless Steel Rat also delivers some interesting philosophical meanderings, though some of that requires digging into the subtext. The main character is happy to expound on his philosophy of life (it is written in the first person), and he definitely places great value on the individual and personal freedom. But diGriz ultimately finds himself manipulated by the Special Corps and by Angelina, so the freedom he believes he possesses is definitely questionable. Plus his justifications for his criminal activity and the decisions he wrestles with while working for the Corps present some interesting moral quandaries. All of this makes for a fun and enticing tale and elevates the book to more than just a simple parody of the genre, and it definitely stands out as a must-read piece of science fiction literature.
The Story Continues:
As mentioned above, Harry Harrison continued the adventures of James Bolivar diGriz with eleven more books, three of which go back to the early days of the character’s career. The final book in the series was written by Harrison before he passed away and was published in 2010. Three of the books–The Stainless Steel Rat, The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World, and The Stainless Steel Rat for President–were adapted as comic strips in the British magazine 2000 AD with Kelvin Gosnell writing the scripts and Carlos Ezquerra providing the artwork. In the 80s, those were colorized by Eagles comics and published as mini-series and later compiled as trade paperbacks.
Should the Books Be Adapted?
There have been talks over the years about a movie version of The Stainless Steel Rat, but nothing has come of that. However, the character would certainly work on the big screen or as an ongoing television series. While it is a parody of the genre, it goes deeper than that and could sustain a series of films or a television show. In fact, its sense of fun might be what attracts an audience beyond those interested primarily in the sci fi elements. An adult animated series would work for this property as well, and that could potentially be the best format. The character is not well known beyond the sci fi community, though, and even there it is familiar mostly to those who focus on genre literature. Hollywood may not have much interest in putting money into a big-budget film, but this one could still work on television as either a live-action or animated series.
Comments on the Audiobook Version:
Harrison’s book is definitely a delightful read, but enhancing the experience is the inspired narration by Phil Gigante in the audiobook version. The highly enthusiastic and heroic Buzz Lightyear voice he employs for the main narration and for diGriz works perfectly with the material and takes the audio production to that next level. His voices for the other characters also add to the overall experience as he takes it beyond just a simple narration of the story in to a full-on performance. And if you enjoy his vocal adaptation of the first book, then you are in luck because he also lends his narration to the other editions in the series.
Interesting Facts:
The Stainless Steel Rat has been adapted into several different game formats. Harry Harrison put out a gamebook titled You Can Be The Stainless Steel Rat in the style of the Choose Your Own Adventure and Fighting Fantasy series. A board game was put out by Simulations Productions Inc. (SPI) in their magazine Ares which involved diGriz infiltrating a space station under hostile control. That was accompanied by a word short story written by Harrison.
The character also appeared in two different video games. In 1984, a game was developed by Mosaic Publishing for the Sinclair Spectrum using the character and that was co-written by Harrison. And then a text adventure game was created the same year for the Commodore 64.
Where Can You Find the Books?
The entire book series is widely available in print and in eBook format, including several compilations of the books. They have also been adapted to audiobook and those are available from Audible and AudioBooksNow.
