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Last Human (Red Dwarf #3)
Last Human (Red Dwarf #3)
Doug Naylor | 1995 | Humor & Comedy, Science Fiction/Fantasy
4
7.3 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
The third and, unfortunately, least of the 4 <i>Red Dwarf</I> books, I actually read this one last, thinking it was book 4 of 4.

Written by Doug Naylor (who co-wrote the first 2 booms with Rob Grant), this follows an all-new plot with certain scenes lifted from the TV show on which it is based. Unfortunately, it fails to capture the humour of the show, with most of the 'funny' bits falling flat.

Both this and the next book (<I>Backwards</I> by Rob Grant) are perhaps best viewed as alternate third books in a trilogy: if that is the case, <I>Backwards</I> is the better of the two, even if neither of the two books in question live up to the first two. In short, the whole (Grant Naylor) is better than the sum of the parts!
  
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David McK (3207 KP) rated Better than Life (Red Dwarf #2) in Books

Jan 28, 2019 (Updated Sep 8, 2019)  
Better than Life (Red Dwarf #2)
Better than Life (Red Dwarf #2)
Grant Naylor | 1993 | Humor & Comedy, Science Fiction/Fantasy
6
7.6 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
A straight sequel to 'Red Dwarf: Infinity welcomes careful drivers', this novel starts with the crew of Red Dwarf still trapped inside the hologrammatic computer game Better Than Life, with that taking up (roughly) the first third of the novel.

Unlike its predecessor, which at times seemed to be cramming as many episodes as possible into its length, this novel instead seems to primarily focus on 3 main aspects (episodes) from the TV series on which it is based: Better Than Life, Garbage World and Polymorph. As such, it's also quite a quick read, only taking me something like 1 day to read from start to finish. Ending on a cliff-hanger, this is also the last Red Dwarf book that both Rob Grant and Doug Naylor worked on together, with the next 2 books ('Backwards' and 'Last Human') each written by a separate one of those two authors.
  
AH
Alien Hunters (Alien Hunters, #1)
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Hmmm ... I'm not quite sure how to classify this.

Science-fiction? Certainly.
Comedy? In parts, yes.

Perhaps some classification in line with [b: The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy|372299|The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy A Trilogy in Five Parts|Douglas Adams|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1322913171s/372299.jpg|42028477], or even with [b: Red Dwarf: infinty Welcomes Careful Drivers|70956|Red Dwarf Omnibus (Red Dwarf Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers & Better Than Life) |Grant Naylor|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348229137s/70956.jpg|68744].

I actually picked this up as part of a freebie the author was doing when I felt like a change of pace after reading several heavy(ish), 'serious' books in a row, more out of a sense of curiosity than anything else.

This was definitley a lot lighter fare than any of the books I had read in recent memory - I think I zipped through it in something like 2 or 3 days - raising the occassional wry chuckle, but failing to leave any permanent mark on my memory.

In food terms, like eating a biscuit rather than a full meal - tides you over, but never fully satisfies!