Book Review: Red Dwarf: Last Human

By georgelthomas on 30 Aug 2024 • ( 0 )

Hi everyone! I hope you’re all well. Today is Friday, and it’s time for another review. Today, I am reviewing the third book in the Red Dwarf series of novel adaptations. This one is Last Human by Doug Naylor.

The Plot
Last Human follows right on from the previous instalment, Better Than Life. Lister and Kochanski have been rescued from the Backwards World, having grown younger together. Now, back aboard Starbug and headed home to Red Dwarf, they find themselves stuck in a different reality, and the story follows the crew attempting to traverse the Omni-Zone – a place where all realities converge.

Characters
Dave Lister
Having been rescued from Backwards World by Rimmer Cat and Kryten, Lister and Kochanski have rejoined the crew. While trying to return to their own reality, they somehow end up in a parallel universe and bump into a parallel Starbug. All the crew are dead except that universe’s Lister, who is missing. Convinced by Kochanski to search for him, our Lister and the crew set out to locate him.

It transpires that the duplicate Lister has been arrested and sentenced to serve time on a GELF (Genetically Engineered Life Form) planet in a prison known as Cyberia, where inmates spend their sentences in virtual reality, living in their personal idea of hell.

Upon finding him, Lister is disgusted to learn that his doppelgänger is nothing like him. He is an awful example of a human being, even going so far as trying to bury our Lister alive on a desert moon and escaping to take his place on Starbug. Our Lister is left scrambling to reclaim his life.

Arnold Rimmer
Rimmer is still the cowardly and selfish hologram he’s always been, although here, he now has to contend with Kochanski being his superior, causing him untold amounts of jealousy. He also discovers a way to become a hard-light hologram, giving him more agency within the story and allowing the character to become more involved in the action.

In this book, Rimmer also learns he has a son called Michael McGruder, whose mother (the possibly concussed Yvonne McGruder) has fed him tall tales told about Rimmer his whole life. In an attempt to make up for his shortcomings and live up to his son’s expectations, Rimmer makes a great sacrifice to save the day.

Cat
Cat doesn’t have a lot to do in this book. He’s mostly there for the humour. He’s still the vain, self-absorbed creature we know and love, and as always, manages to steal the spotlight with his sense of style and one-liners.

Kryten
Arriving on a GELF planet looking for Lister’s duplicate, the crew trades with the GELF colonists for information on where he is. When they learn of his incarnation, Kryten (the only crewmember who can speak GELF) finds himself in front of a magistrate, amid a large protest, to ask about the charges against the duplicate Lister.

Kryten learns that the duplicate Lister was found guilty of killing the magistrate and others. When Kryten asks the magistrate how that can be possible, being that he is still very much alive, he discovers that on that planet, they use mystics to predict who will commit crimes and arrest the potential criminals before the crimes can happen, which is what the people are protesting about.

Later, Kryten discovers the other Lister has deceived them all and has sneaked aboard Starbug, pretending to be their Lister. The other Lister is enraged when he discovers Kryten reading a file on him and tries to kill him.

Kristine Kochanski
A former love interest of Lister’s, Kochanski was sent to the Backwards World when she died and was brought to life, reuniting with Lister in the final scenes of the previous book. Throughout this book, we learn more about how their relationship developed in Backwards World and how they had to contend with raising a family in reverse. All she wanted after their rescue was to find a desert moon they could irrigate and raise a family in the usual ‘forward’ way. However, that is not what she gets. Instead, she is stuck being in charge of the Dwarfers.

Writing Style
Naylor’s writing is engaging, and he writes a compelling story, although, for me, the absence of Rob Grant in this book (due to the dismantling of their writing partnership) was very noticeable. In terms of plot, the book is fast-paced and action-packed, with perhaps a little too much going on for my tastes; it often felt as if I was reading three or four books at once.

Though I struggled to keep track of all the plot threads, it was still an enjoyable book — it merely felt like work to read sometimes.

However, I will say this about Last Human: the characters are spot on (as they were in the previous two books) and just like their television counterparts, and the addition of Kochanski as a main character adds an interesting new dynamic to the story, which I very much enjoyed.

One thing that did stand out to me in the book was the way Naylor has expanded the Red Dwarf universe; the world-building is intricate and imaginative and full of alternate realities and mind-bending technology.

Although the book is occasionally funny, The Last Human delves into more serious themes than the previous books, such as identity and existentialism; the crew navigate through different dimensions and encounter alternate versions of themselves, forcing them to confront their own fears and insecurities, adding an emotional depth to the story and extra dimensions to the characters.

Final Thoughts
Overall, Red Dwarf: Last Human was a fun (if sometimes convoluted) read. I enjoyed it for the most part, and I’m glad I read it as it is part of a series, and my mind would not have rested if I’d left the series unfinished.

I would only recommend reading this book if you would like to experience the entire series of Red Dwarf novels. Otherwise, I urge you to give it a miss.

I am giving Red Dwarf: Last Human a 5/10.

Have you read Last Human? Did you enjoy it?

As ever, thank you for stopping by to read my review.

Until next time,

George