Backwards

The original "Red Dwarf" novel "Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers" had me in stitches while the follow-up "Better then Life" was regularly amusing. The law of diminishing returns has come into play though and the humour in "Backwards" is more difficult to find.

The idea behind "Backwards", that the Red Dwarf crew get stuck in a dimension where time is going backwards, is an interesting one and raises some uncomfortable outcomes, such as what happens when you defecate. And the ending is easily the most heartwarming of the "Red Dwarf" series.

This book is an alternate continuation to "Better than Life" (the other continuation being "Last Human"). About the first 1/3 of the book takes place exclusively in the Backwards universe, and that part, I have to admit, is amazing. Grant does a great job of reverse-engineering all the events and putting the characters in interesting positions throughout that bit.

The rest of the book feels a bit weird... as though Grant is trying to set up surprizes for the reader that aren't surprizes at all if you've seen the show. The other books had a little of this, but they didn't tease it out for anywhere near as long, and didn't lean so heavily on that.

Rob Grant's Backwards is the alternate third Red Dwarf novel following Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers and Better Than Life, both of which Grant co-authored with his Red Dwarf co-creator Doug Naylor. Backwards picks up right where Better Than Life left off, though it slightly deviates from the television series. Unlike Naylor's solo novel, this book holds fairly true to the original series. The story revolves around the escape from the backwards universe and the events of the episode "Gunmen of the Apocalypse". While Grant's writing builds on these plots a bit, he mostly uses a disjointed style of writing to attempt to recreate some of the humor of the show. Unfortunately, the backwards universe works better on film than in print. show more Grant's portrayal of the characters he co-created features everything fans of the show want to see and the story will entertain die-hard fans. Though Doug Naylor wrote a previous book, titled Last Human, that novel is an alternate sequel to Better Than Life rather than a predecessor to Backwards. Both of these novels offer an alternate conclusion to the series. show less

Backwards by Rob Grant is the forth book based on the British science fiction comedy show Red Dwarf. The crew of Red Dwarf gets stranded in an alternate dimension on an alternate version of Earth where time runs in the opposite direction. Many years pass before they are able to escape this dimension and when they finally do, Red Dwarf isn't where they left it. With the limited supplies aboard their transport vessel, they must search for Red Dwarf in order to survive. This book was a fun quick read and left me wanting more. Unfortunately as of right now there are no more Red Dwarf books.

This book is an alternate sequel to Better Than Life so it picks up where that book left off and takes place parallel to Last Human. You'll definitely show more want to read Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers and Better Than Life before reading this book, but it doesn't matter if you read it before or after reading Last Human. I think this book resembles the events of the show more closely than Last Human does. It was also the funnier of the two books so I enjoyed it more. I'd say that Last Human is still worth reading though even if it wasn't quite as good as this book. To anyone looking to both watch the show and read the books, I recommend watching the entire show before starting on the books because the differences between the two will be less confusing that way. show less

Despite what the title says, it's the 3rd Red Dwarf book. The continuity of the last book to this book is much better.

The main story is taken from an episode of the TV Show and expanded. In this case they do a great job. They bring back 'Ace' Rimmer, and the gelfs, and it's quite enjoyable. I'd say that this is the best of the books, because I've already read Red Dwarf #4, 'The Last Human'.

The first two Red Dwarf books ('Infinity welcomes careful drivers' and 'Better than life') were written by Grant Naylor, aka Rob Grant and Doug Naylor. Doug Naylor then went on to write 'Last human', and Rob Grant wrote the book that is the subject of this review: 'Backwards'.

I can't help comparing 'Backwards' to 'Last human', but those who read my review of the latter will understand the reasons for my unusual attachment. I found that 'Backwards' offered a more open ending that could be either positive or negative, depending on how the reader interpreted events, whereas 'Last human' was on the whole positive. The ending is also more geared towards a sequel, although at the time of writing (February 2011), I am not aware of one. show more Grant has written another book ('Incompetence') in the meantime, which may suggest that another Red Dwarf book will not be making an appearance, although who knows?

Having read both of the follow-up books, it makes me wonder how a writing team works. I can see the influence of the previous books and the television series and I imagine that this process was productive and useful for both parties, but the fact that each has chosen to go his own way and take a different slant may go to show that individual creative freedom is important, despite successes as a team. Ultimately, writers want to explore their own interests and flex their own creative muscles. show less

Classic Red Dwarf. And a trip down memory lane.

I give this four stars, but you must understand: if you're not a RD fan, you'll probably give this 2 stars, at the most. You've been warned. :)