Customer Reviews

Backwards (Red Dwarf)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If there is a problem with Backwards, it's that the book doesn't have a lot of heart. But it definitely has an adrenal gland. Rob Grant's book shoots Lister, Rimmer, the Cat and Kryten on an adventure through time, space, death, and reality that never, ever lets up. Just when they've evaded the police, or made it back to Red Dwarf, or escaped the deranged killer space robots, there's always a fleet of crazed mutants, a rogue computer virus, or an amorous hillbilly just around the corner. It's all insanely exciting stuff, but in the end you feel sorry for Lister & Co. By this point we're so emotionally invested in the space bum that it's sad to see him go through so much when all he wants to do is go home, which by this point is three million years and an alternate universe away.

While BTL clumsily assembled preexisting plots piecemeal, Backwards, like the Red Dwarf masterpiece IWCD, uses the television show in service of its own story. Rob Grant is clearly the master plotter of the Grant Naylor duo, and from the looks of it, the better comedian. The occasionally clumsy sentences and painful jokes of the previous two novels are gone. Whether it's a car chase in a backwards universe, a Western showdown with a computer virus, or a spacewalk reminiscent of Ray Bradbury's "Kaleidoscope," Rob Grant is a visual storyteller. And given the corner he had to write himself out of after the end of BTL, it's astounding that he acquits himself so effortlessly.

The book marks the appearance of "Ace" Rimmer, Rimmer's alternate self. Fans of the TV show know that their lives diverged due to a boyhood decision. We know the end result, but what about the little things that led the wet blanket to become the space adventurer? A grade school race from Rimmer's youth is told twice, once from either reality. These scenes bookend the novel, and they show how fundamentally the alternate Rimmer changed in relation to something as simple as running a track meet. It's a small touch, but an emotionally resonant one.

Backwards is a turning point for Lister. With the realization that Red Dwarf is more of a home to him than Earth, and that its crew is the family he never knew, what's left for him to do? Maybe Lister has finally grown up. It's a daring move for Rob Grant to make. But, like the rest of the book, we're not given time to consider it before the crew is once again in the grips of another adventure. Consequently, though Grant stated that he wants to pen another Red Dwarf novel, Backwards is an ideal place to end the series. Lister has accepted his fate as the sole survivor of the human race, and he has fulfilled his lifelong dream by winning back Kochanski. With the cliffhanger ending, it's the kind of conclusion that leaves just enough to the reader's imagination. You can picture Lister content to explore space with Red Dwarf with Rimmer, Kryten, the Cat, and Holly until the end of time or reality, whichever comes first.

"Backwards" is the best book by far of the series (Infinity, BTL, and The Last Human). It is apparent after reading this that Naylor was the comedian but this book still has a ton of laughs in it. I cannot remember the last time I really cheered, cried and hoped for characters in a novel the way I did with this book. In it, much is explained about Rimmer's general attitude (as "Last Human" does for the alter-Lister) and it was an excellent read. The audio version is good, but I would recommend reading it first. It's a must have for the serious Dwarfer.

I am a total Red Dwarf fan, and I have to say, from the two different endings, each by one author of Red Dwarf, Backwards is the best. It picks up where Better Than Life finished, and has a spectacular story that is hilarious from start to finish. Try it out, its fantastic!

I found it a tad grim towards the end, plotwise, and I didn't really learn much more about the characters that I hadn't known in the series, but I still liked "Red Dwarf - Backwards". This book comes after "Better than Life". Rob Grant wrote this book without writing partner Doug Naylor, and with the ending going the way it does, it doesn't exactly fit in before Naylor's "The Last Human". As with the other books, it features elements from selected Red Dwarf episodes, this time from the third series and beyond.

After the events of "Better Than Life", Lister needs to be retrieved from the Backwards universe, but as Rimmer, Kryten and the Cat land on the backwards Earth to save him, they find themselves on a pre-destined path, which sees them stuck there among hillbilly hermits and wilderness. Meanwhile, Holly finds himself in a lot of trouble with some Agonoids, and a certain Ace Rimmer makes history as he jumps between dimensions. Where will they all end up?

It's worth a look, the parts in the backwards world are a lot of fun, though it's definitely a good thing to have watched the series first and know the characters and their quirks.

The first 20% of this book is written in a literally backwards timeline. Characters walk backwards, things happen in a backwards order, etc. It may have been a cute plot device for, say, 5 or 10 pages, but to have a substantial portion of this book like that made it nearly unreadable. Once I slogged through that, the rest of the book completely failed to reward me for my effort. It was bland and boring. Dave Lister lost all of his charm, and The Cat and Kryten managed to lose nearly all of their personality. Rimmer is the only character who not only maintained a personality, but actually grew as a character.

J.Ja