- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; paperback / softback edition (2 Nov 1989)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0140124373
- ISBN-13: 978-0140124378
- Product Dimensions: 17.6 x 11 x 2.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 81,263 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
A novel based on BBC2's cult comedy series written by the writers of the "Spitting Image Book". Its humour features the epic adventures of a huge clapped-out old space ship with an equally clapped-out crew.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Red Dwarf is the funniest science fiction book I have ever read, featuring a cast of unforgettable characters. First there is Lister; he celebrated his 25th birthday by taking part in a Monopoly-based pub crawl on earth and somehow ended up stuck on Mimas, one of Saturn's moons. He desperately wants to return to earth but cannot raise the funds; tiring of living inside a storage locker and stealing taxis to earn money, he decides to sign up for service with the Space Corps and jump ship as soon as he is back on his home planet. First Technician Alfred J. Rimmer is a truly remarkable and hilarious personality. Rimmer is basically in charge of keeping the vending machines operating on the ship Red Dwarf, and Lister finds himself working under and bunking with this incredibly strange and rather pitiful underachiever. Rimmer is the proverbial born loser, failing at virtually everything he does. He desperately wants to pass the astronavigation exam and become an officer, and he works incredibly hard at preparing for the test despite the fact he has already failed it 11 times (actually, two of those times he got an X for unclassified, such as the time he wrote "I am a fish" 500 times on each answer sheet after panicking and convincing himself he did not actually exist). Rimmer's preparation consists of establishing incredibly exact, inclusive schedules for studying; the problem with this approach is that his constant revisions of the schedule take up all of his preparation time, and he usually ends up cramming three months' of study into a few hours just before the exam begins. Lister annoys Rimmer to no end. As fate would have it, an explosion ends up killing everyone on board Red Dwarf. Lister, having been put in stasis for smuggling a cat on board, is reawakened by the ship's computer Holly three million years later when the radiation levels have returned to safe levels. Holly also resurrects the quite dead Rimmer as a hologram, and the fact that he has died does nothing to help Rimmer's attitude. Lister and Rimmer are soon joined by a highly evolved yet fastidious, incredibly vain feline descendant of the cat Lister originally smuggled on board. This incredibly strange crew attempts to return to earth, and their efforts are as funny as they are ill-fated.
Lister is a simple man just trying to get by in life, wishing for nothing more than a basic, happy family existence such as that of George Bailey in It's A Wonderful Life. Rimmer's inferiority complex and stubbornness are unmatched.. His failings and pessimism are comically ridiculous yet somehow plausible, and one can't help pitying a man who fails in life, in death, and even in his own fantasies. I have not seen the Red Dwarf series, so I cannot compare this book to its television counterpart. I can declare this book hilarious; anyone with a sense of humor (even those who hate science fiction) will, I believe, enjoy this book immensely. If you read this book apart from its sequel, though, you will be disappointed by the ending because it is not really an ending at all--I would recommend buying the sequel Better Than Life along with Red Dwarf because you will surely want to follow the comical travails of Lister and Rimmer as far and as long as you can. Only the late Douglas Adams has ever produced such wickedly funny science fiction as Red Dwarf.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I first read this book about 10 or so years ago and it still reamins my favourite book ever.
The book follows closely to the BBC2 TV series with some extra bits that they wouldn't have been able to film. (budget reasons) I won't go into the details of the plot as lots of other people on this page have do so already, but I will mention the easy to read style of the book and the many laugh out lould moments.
If youv'e never read a red dwarf novel but like the TV show, then I suggest reading this now, you don't know what your missing. If your not a fan of the TV show then this book might change your mind. Excellent
The book follows closely to the BBC2 TV series with some extra bits that they wouldn't have been able to film. (budget reasons) I won't go into the details of the plot as lots of other people on this page have do so already, but I will mention the easy to read style of the book and the many laugh out lould moments.
If youv'e never read a red dwarf novel but like the TV show, then I suggest reading this now, you don't know what your missing. If your not a fan of the TV show then this book might change your mind. Excellent
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio Cassette
This is for fans of the bbc tv series "red dwarf"
This is a story of david lister a man who sick of being a minicab driver joins a mining ship red dwarf in order to return to earth.
After a accident killing all the crew expect lister and his bunkmate rimmer the two while returning to earth encounter many strange things including a man who evolved from cats and a game which makes all your fantasties come true but kills you.
Read by Chris Barrie who makes the story come to life so well.
If You are a fan of red dwarf buy it
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Excellent
This is the first book inthe Red Dwarf series and the only word to describe it is Excellent, just read this book.
Published 2 months ago by Ultra_Charge
A strong comic SF novel that stands on its own feet
Mimas, 2180. After an epic all-night bender in London to celebrate his 25th birthday, Liverpudlian slob Dave Lister wakes up a billion kilometres away on one of Saturn's moons with... Read more
Published 10 months ago by A. Whitehead
Great Book, not the best format to present it in.
This book may not be for you if you didn't like Red Dwarf, but it's great if you do. It spins many plots of the series into a cohesive story, and it does so well. Read more
Published 18 months ago by RMS Oceanic
Red Dwarf (Firecrest edition)
This took me ages to find. The original hardback edition of the fantastic Red Dwarf series. Originally released as a paperback by Penguin in 1989 and then only very briefly as a... Read more
Published 19 months ago by A. Kerensky
depends if you've seen the TV series or not
How much hillarity and comic value you take from this book depends very highly on if you have seen the TV series or not. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Mike Swann
Still got it!
I cant believe im going to say this coz i love the series to bits! But these books surpass them by far. Definately one of the best books i've ever read! Read more
Published on 18 May 2006 by J. M. Weeks
Enjoy!
It's not quite the same as the TV sitcom it spawned, but this book is quality.
It's not laugh-a-minute stuff, some of it is even almost poignant, but it's a roaring good read and... Read more
Published on 5 Aug 2005 by Lis
strange
It's odd how this book works once you've seen the tv show. The Lister in the book seems to give more character to the Lister in the show; they are the same, but different... Read more
Published on 26 Dec 2004 by "ankaa_kochanski"
Genius!
For the past eight years I have been a dedicated reader of Sci-Fi, beforethis I had a very short concentration span and very rarely got into a goodbook. Read more
Published on 26 April 2004 by T. Furlong
Dwarfers Delight
Red Dwarf: Infinity welcomes carefull drivers. This is the second book in the series of four, based on the increadibly popular BBC 2 sci-fi comedy show Red Dwarf. Read more
Published on 19 Sep 2003 by Mr. G. Robinson
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