The Last Human - Doug Naylor

...decided afterwards he would do the same. 'The Last Human' is the result.

'The Last Human' follows Dave Lister and the rest of the Dwarf crew as they try and navigate their way back into their own universe having picked up Lister and Kochanski from the Backwards reality. Having made a mistake with the navi-calcs, the crew find themselves to have passed through the omni-zone, (the point in spacetime where alternate Universes meet) and ...
...writing flows very well and the structure of the book keeps the read interesting. Divided into three parts, at the beginning of each section there's some black and white artwork, which I thought was a nice touch. I've been unable to find out who drew this images, but regardless I thought they're a nice touch, not found in other Red Dwarf books.

The book itself is written as a self-contained entity, so prior knowledge of the Red Dwarf ... more

'The Last Human' was written by Red Dwarf's co-creator, Doug Naylor. Rob Grant had decided he wished to write a Red Dwarf novel by himself and Doug quickly decided afterwards he would do the same. 'The Last Human' is the result.

'The Last Human' follows Dave Lister and the rest of the Dwarf crew as they try and navigate their way back into their own universe having picked up Lister and Kochanski from the Backwards reality. Having made a mistake with the navi-calcs, the crew find themselves to have passed through the omni-zone, (the point in spacetime where alternate Universes meet) and into the wrong reality, where they find another version of their ship, which in turn leads them on a hunt to find and rescue Lister's otherself - at least, they think he needs rescuing...

I found this book very easy and enjoyable to read. Doug's style of writing flows very well and the structure of the book keeps the read interesting. Divided into three parts, at the beginning of each section there's some black and white artwork, which I thought was a nice touch. I've been unable to find out who drew this images, but regardless I thought they're a nice touch, not found in other Red Dwarf books.

The book itself is written as a self-contained entity, so prior knowledge of the Red Dwarf universe isn't essential in order to enjoy reading the book; that said, anyone who is a fan of the television series will be rewarded with additional information about certain aspects that appear through the 8 series' of the show.

One criticism I have of Naylor's writing style, (compared to the Grant's) is that he uses too many ideas that actually appeared in the show. Whereas Grant tried to move away from things previously covered in the television series in his book, Naylor adapts things that have already been seen in the show into the novel. That's not to say that the book is merely a written version of the show, but a lot of the situations that occur in the book have already been done elsewhere in Red Dwarf. That said, Naylor adapts the pieces in such as way as to make them seem "new" to anyone who is perhaps a little less obsessed with Red Dwarf than this particular reviewer. Also, despite the use of ideas from the show, I thought the way in which Doug marries them together creates an alternative version of the Red Dwarf "history" which is fascinating and engaging. I never found myself growing bored of the story or wondering why I'd ever started reading the book. Although I would have preferred some more new ideas, I thought the book overall works well.
Having said all that, there are some original ideas that didn't appear in the series - in particular the Simulant's role in the book was never covered in the television series and I thought this was particularly interesting and showed that, when he puts his mind to it, Doug could be very creative. It's just a shame there weren't more moments like this I thought.

Where Doug does shine through is in the actual jokes. Whilst Rob Grant is clearly the more "imaginative" one of the pair (no offence to Doug, as he is clearly an imaginative person himself), Doug is very much more the comedian and, although he uses themes and ideas from the series, he does expand them and provides new and refreshing jokes which I thought we lacking from Grant's attempt. In particular I enjoyed Rimmer's character in this book and the internal thoughts provided describing his cowardice.

This isn't a life-changing book, but it is certainly an enjoyable read. It should definitely appeal to fans of the show, but I also thing general science-fiction/comedy fans would be able to enjoy it. People unfamiliar with science-fiction as a genre might struggle with some aspects, (for example the notion that the universe splits into alternate realities at the Omni-zone), but I think there's a strong enough "human" element that non-sci-fi fans would be able to get some amount of enjoyment from reading 'Last Human'. Science-Fiction is just one aspect of the book - there's much more in terms of character and plot than merely being lost in space. Also, Doug's style of writing is thoroughly enjoyable and is not at all taxing. Whether you're a seasoned reader, or someone who struggles to read a whole novel, you should be able to enjoy 'Last Human'.

Recommended to Red Dwarf, comedy and sci-fi fans, as well as anyone who is unfamiliar with Red Dwarf but is curious as to what all the fuss is about. A book I've read several times and always enjoyed.
 

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