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Backwards (Red Dwarf) Paperback – 7 Nov 1996

by Rob Grant (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars 33 customer reviews
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Product details

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin; New Ed edition (7 Nov. 1996)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0140171509
  • ISBN-13: 978-0140171501
  • Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 2.4 x 18.1 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 51,810 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsTop book.
By Christopher Morris VINE VOICE on 5 Aug. 2000
Format: Paperback
But Grant and Naylor doing their seperate things just isn't right... the guys are a gestalt entity for Christ's sake. Their whole becomes much greater than the sum of their parts.
As with the other Dwarf books this is arguably better than the TV series, with all the characters fleshed out a lot more believably, and storylines briefly touched on in the shows are expanded into actuality.
This book IS funny, and this book DOES have a good story. It's just a shame the trilogy couldn't have ended the way it was meant to. With Doug Naylor sharing the typewriter.
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4.0 out of 5 starsEntertaining, but...
By H. Playford VINE VOICE on 18 Oct. 2004
Format: Paperback
I bought this book, along with Doug Naylor's effort "Last Human" a couple of months ago to bring to University with me. I have read the "Red Dwarf Omnibus" by Grant/Naylor multiple times, and absolutely adored it, so I thought these two books would be a great choice.
I am a little disappointed. Whilst both Last Human and this one, Backwards, have their moments of hilarity and inspired comedic setups, there just isn't the magic that was present when Grant and Naylor wrote together. In this case it is not true that: 'two halves make a whole,' as I was left slightly unimpressed by both author's books.
I have to say, however, that Backwards is far superior to Last Human. It is more in the well-known Red Dwarf spirit. I almost got the impression that in this book Rob Grant was more than willing to embrace his years as writer of Red Dwarf and use his experience to create a warm-hearted, eccentric yet entertaining read. Conversely, Last Human's author Doug Naylor seemed to wish to make a departure from the Red Dwarf style, which left me cold, I'm sad to say.
So, in conclusion, buy this book (Backwards) it's great, if not as great as the first two R.D. novels. In my opinion, it is better than Last Human.
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5.0 out of 5 starsa worthy addition to the first 2 Red Dwarf books
By The_Chad_Who_Loved_Me on 27 Feb. 2003
Format: Paperback
After the joint ventures of Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers and Better Than Life, Rob and Doug chose to write separate novels branching from the end of Better than life. Of the 2 books Backward is far superior. OF all the characters it's Rimmer's book. Grant's style of writing is very good not great but hey he's a TV writer.
The reason Backwards works is because of Rimmer: as a reader we get much more of the Rimmer/ace Rimmer problem leading top further deepening of the red dwarf crew. Of all the books this is the most positive, readers will say "positive what!!!" In backwards there is a lot of death and explosions and negative points but the development of Ace can't help but show the hope of Rimmer and feel pity.
The book is at time beautifully written: the two comparisons of Rimmer and ace Rimmer in the 100m sprint adds more life to the books. For these reasons alone it is the worthy 3rd Red Dwarf novel.
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5.0 out of 5 starsThis is the best Red Dwarf Novel Yet
By A Customer on 6 Jun. 2000
Format: Paperback
It is clear that Grant is a very good storywriter; in my opinion it is better than Last Human. However, it wasn't *as* funny as Last Human. As another reviewer has already pointed out, Naylor was clearly the comedian of the sci-fi duo. Grant has his funny points in this book though, as I found out when I was thrown out of Waterstones for laughing too much.
This book doesn't need large reviews to make it appreciated; it just needs to be read by all of the Red Dwarf Nuts out there.
I highly recommend buying this novel, but only if you can understand Grant's perception on the future and time. This book does stand out from any other sci-fi novel becasue every event is...well, backwards. I could *not* put this book down.
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2.0 out of 5 starsOuch.
By A Customer on 8 Aug. 2000
Format: Paperback
Grant is "the cruchy half" of the Red Dwarf scriptwriting duo - and how true that is. Naylor's the sentimental one who wants Lister and Kochanski to get together...Grant's the one who does one liners, cackles hysterically, punches Doug round the head and works out horrible, horrible things to do to your favorite characters. Grant's genius should be confined to half-hour shows, where it can't do too much damage within budget and the actor's contracts. Sorry, Rob.
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2.0 out of 5 starsJust like the TV show: heading rapidly downhill
By A Customer on 31 Aug. 2001
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
Backwards is beautifully written. It's also not funny. It successfully highlights Rob Grant's peculiar fascination with persecuting the characters he created, and does little else. You can't help but wince at the way he puts them in desperate situations, and while some of the descriptions are funny, nothing the characters say or do is. Quite frankly, the only way Red Dwarf is going to return to the thought-provoking style of the first two books and first two TV series is by getting Grant and Naylor back as one gestalt entity. The former is able to quell the latter's adolescent urge to write about Kochanski, whose presence makes a mockery of the show's intricate weave of subplots, and the latter is able to curb the former's desire to write like a manic depressive sadist. Here's to the motion picture...
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4.0 out of 5 starsbecause whilst this is still a good book, it isn’t on a par with Better ...
By SocialBookshelves.com on 11 April 2016
Format: Paperback
Backwards is one of three Red Dwarf novels, but it’s the only one that Doug Naylor wasn’t involved with – to me, it’s noticeable, because whilst this is still a good book, it isn’t on a par with Better Than Life and Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers.

That said, it’s not just a simple novelisation of the episode with the same name, either – there’s a lot more depth to this, and Kristine Kochanski plays a huge role in the story line, too. There’s a lot of fun to be had here if you’re a fan of the series, and even though I think that the other two books are better, there’s room on your bookcase for all three of them.

One of the interesting things about this book in particular is that it offers an entirely different view of the Red Dwarf universe, and because time is flowing backwards, key events from the series either don’t happen or don’t happen differently. It’s hard to explain exactly what I mean without using spoilers, but you’ll see what I mean within the first fifty pages.

It’s also interesting to see how concepts and ideas from other episodes in the series are pulled together to create a sort of bizarre amalgam. Whilst the idea of backwards time is virtually identical to how it was represented in the show, there are also elements such as terraforming which are lifted from other episodes, making it a pretty convincing add-on to the Red Dwarf universe.

So overall, if you’re a fan of the show then I’d recommend it – after all, there’s only a finite amount of content to consume, and so you’re going to have to get around to this sometime. If you’re new to Red Dwarf, I’d recommend giving Better Than Life a try instead. And then there’s Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers, too – that’s a good one to go for if you want to learn more about the back story, and how Lister got hired.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsGood read.

Great to read the books. Little different from the TV series.

Published 20 months ago by Adrian Taylor
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Item matches description. Despatched prompt with in timescale stated. Thank you :)

Published 21 months ago by yvette
3.0 out of 5 starsThis because it at times are fun and at other times unbelievably...

It is okay, nothing more. This because it at times are fun and at other times unbelievably boring. It felt somehow immature, as if it was published before actually being finished.

Published 22 months ago by Annie
1.0 out of 5 starsOne Star

Very poor condition considering it's 'new'. 3 dents on the front cover. Unacceptable.

Published 23 months ago by Nicky
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

ace

Published 24 months ago by Mr. J Lewis
4.0 out of 5 starsGood but not as I remembered

Not as good as I remembered it being from when I was thirteen.

Published on 22 Aug. 2014 by Alexander
2.0 out of 5 starsOh double Smegg, worse than expected.

I was so disappointed when reading this. Found the other Red Dwarf to be really funny, as "Currure Spatium", but this, three funny sentences and the rest of the magic was... Read more

Published on 18 July 2014 by InsomniacReader
5.0 out of 5 starsLove this book

Love this book. I guess I should have bought the first few books to make sense of why they were just randomly stuck on a backwards earth, but the book works well on it's own anyway... Read more

Published on 8 July 2014 by kevin maguire
5.0 out of 5 starsExcellent book!

The book arrived promptly and in pristine condition. I love to watch Red Dwarf and wanted a good book to read on holiday. Suffice to say, this book was perfect! Read more

Published on 12 Aug. 2013 by Buck Smallsy
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat read

I can't recommend the Red Dwarf books highly enough. A must read for all fans of the TV show; even though most of the plot is covered in the shows, the books are all gripping and... Read more

Published on 16 April 2013 by Jozxyqk

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