Book Review – “Red Dwarf: Last Human”

Doug Naylor’s solo entry in the Red Dwarf
series is reviewed below. I’ll review Rob Grant’s
solo entry after I catch up on some comic reviews.

General Information

Title: Red Dwarf: Last Human

Author: Doug Naylor

Original Publication Date: 1995

ISBN: 0-14-014388-2

Cover Price: $5.99 UK, $13.95 Aus, $6.99 Can in this,
the first
printing. That’s probably higher on more recent
editions.

Buy from: Amazon.com
or Amazon.ca

Past fiction reviews can be found here.

Premise

Picking up where the Red
Dwarf Omnibus
left off, the crew of Red Dwarf
escape a backwards
existence, travel to parallel worlds, rescue a
parallel Lister, and
meet Arnold Rimmer’s son.

High Point

The introduction of Michael McGruder.

Low Point

Did I miss something, or did the other virus never
get used?

The Scores

This feels a little more original than the
previous novels in
the series, simply because it isn’t as closely tied
to the events of
the series. I give it 4 out of 6.


The imagery isn’t quite as descriptive as it
could be. If
it’s not trying to set up a joke, there’s nothing
here, which means
the jokes can be seen long before they come. I give
it 3 out of 6.

The story has just the one major glitch of
the low point.
The rest seems to work fairly well, even if it does
rely on
coincidence more than most comedies. I give it 4 out
of 6.



The characterization is minimal. There’s a
good scene at the
beginning that reintroduces the existing characters,
but all of the
characterizations are overt and obvious. When
writing a TV script,
you have to be blatant enough for all involved to
fill in the missing
visuals, but subtlety is something that should be in
prose that this
often lacks, particularly in this category. I give
it 4 out of 6.

The emotional response is fairly good.
There is still much
humour to be enjoyed, even if it is rather explicit.
I give it 5 out
of 6.



The editing could have used a trim,
particularly when dealing
with that other virus. Unless I missed something,
they changed the
ending without changing the way they set up the
ending. I give it 3
out of 6.

Overall, it’s more comedic than the previous
entry, but still
inferior to the series. Most will want to get the
DVDs instead. I
give it 4 out of 6.

In total, Red Dwarf: Last Human receives 27
out of 42.