Red Dwarf Omnibus: Red Dwarf And Better Than Life

The book, and the follow up, Better than Life, is better than the series in my opinion. I don't mean that the series were bad, far from it, but the book gives a greater depth of enjoyment in re-telling the 'Red Dwarf' saga (or the initial beginnings of it). The book has more detail and has more vision and size which is obviously constrained in the then fairly low-budget sitcom-set-in-space made by the BBC that began in the late 1980s. But reading the book AFTER watching at least some of the series actually adds to the enjoyment. When Rimmer, in the book, is his usual petty and unsociable-self, you imagine Chris Barrie's great performance as Rimmer and the way he acts and behaves comes alive as you read. People have compared Red Dwarf to Douglas Adam's The Hitchiker's Guild to the Galaxy. I felt that Adam's THGTTG never really worked as a good in written form than it did on radio or tv, where as Red Dwarf does. It is an easy fast read, which will have you laughing out loud, especially the 'rights of the dead' and some of the jokes might not register to those who don't know the specific details of English culture (such as references to football - 'its a funny old game') but there is enough jokes to satisfy everyone (including the odd poke at Star Trek). 4 stars.

Separated into consecutive books, this omnibus has more slapstick comedy in book than you could cook in a toaster. From obscenely silly situations to drunken conversation to AI-induced antics, the first half of the book will have to you tears. It will have you laughing in publicly without shame, yet pardoning yourself while in the middle of a quiet coffee shop or having all the patrons of a Thai restaurant watching the white guy cries and laughs. The first half of the omnibus has it all! Ah, then comes the second book which isn't nearly up to par as the first. Not every page has some bit of absurdity nor are there many one-line jokes. Seems to more set on something called a "plot" involving "emotions" and somehow it has an "aim" to and ending. I just wanna laugh at the book, I don't want to care about how it's gonna end! Thankfully, the toaster provided well-needed comic relief in the second book.

The basic premise of Red Dwarf is to take two people who drive one another crazy, insert them in a space ship millions of light years from Earth, and turn them loose. Lister is a lovable slob who wants to do nothing but eat prawn curries and drink Glen Fujiyama beer. Rimmer is an uptight jerk who wants nothing more than to earn the gold bar of Officer-hood. Add in the service droid Kryten (very good if you need a cucumber sandwich, but useless if you are mining uranium), and the Cat (good for seventeen minutes work per 24 hours), and you have intergalactic mayhem. Sharp wit, terrible puns, laziness, drunkeness, and a homicidal hologram all make for a very funny book that ends with a surprising and memorable twist.

This book really has to be one of the best books I have ever read. It combines irresistable humour with bittersweet sensitivity, a very powerful combination which made me a huge Red Dwarf fan. I love the way Lister and Rimmer, these seemingly very different people, react to the most impossible stuations so comically.My only objection is that there wasn't more - Last Human was rubbish and Backwards was OK but not quite up to scratch. Read this. You must. Anyone who loves to laugh and cry can will love it - I was hysterical both ways.