Year of the Rat: The Stainless Steel Rat

Tomorrow marks the start of the Chinese New Year, so we’re exploring fanboy themes relating the Year of the Rat. Our pulp fiction pick to celebrate the new year is the series of science fiction books on the Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison.

If you like anti-heroes you’ll love the Stainless Steel Rat .The series features James Bolivar diGriz a futuristic con man who is an expert in the martial arts and a master of disguise. He many aliases including “Slippery Jim” and “The Stainless Steel Rat” and has an odd code of ethics, for example he’ll be more than glad to steal but will never kill anyone. He justifies his crimes by arguing that he is providing society with entertainment.

The character of the Stainless Steel Rat first got his start in the 1957 issue of the science fiction pulp magazine Astounding. The first novel was then published in 1961 and today there are over ten books in series including spin-offs like choose your own adventure books and a board game. There was talk of a movie but it hasn’t happened yet…