Backwards - Part 1 - (Read by Rob Grant)

[@Thedownliner2015]

One thing many are going to hate is the fact you have Chris Barrie reading Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers then Better than Life doing the voices, etc and then you get to the third book in the series and you have the writer narrating. No offence to the writer but you really need Chris to read this one to stay in line with the series.

[@RCassinello]

No, I agree, there's no charisma in this reading. I guess with this book being written so long after the others (this is technically the 4th released novel, even though narratively it's 3rd in the series) that there probably wasn't much call to have a 'name' record it.

[@almcdonald8676]

I dunno. I’m pretty sure they could have got Chris to do it. It’s not like Red Dwarf isn’t still in huge demand. Rob seems to have pretty much divorced himself from the group though.

[@CJJC]

You need to address all these complaints to Harper Collins a few decades ago.

[@VicDumb]

Anyone else think that Last Human was f****** beautiful ❤️❤️❤️

[@Ben_Kirkham]

Oh, for an unabridged reading by Chris Barrie! Someone make it happen!

[@kayeb222]

'Infinity welcomes careful drivers'and 'better than life' is read by Chris Barrie. Wish this was too!!

[@almcdonald8676]

Rob Grant is a superb comic author. His novel Incompetence is the first book that made me laugh out loud since I read Tom Sharpe when I was a teenager

[@BggProductions]

Grant's Lister sounds like the alternate Lister from The Inquisitor.

[@pressureworks]

Rimmsey needs to narrate this

[@zachlaird4651]

Thank you for posting this and keeping it up ❤️

[@otakarkuby3926]

It is jarring to Listen to Rob after you get Chris, But Rob actually gets right into it and does a good job, dont let the monologue at beginning put you off. Unless your going to be a Rimmers Mum about it, then just go to the Nearest refreshmant tent or kitchean and get some refreshments.

[@FantasySci5]

I love Backwards! I enjoy it just a little more than the first two, probably because it's more Rimmer based. The first two were fantastic of course. And I like it a lot more than The Last Human book.

[@JennyKenobi09]

Will this be voiced by Chris Barrie and put on Audible?

[@acerimmer3717]

Probably not.

[@JennyKenobi09]

@@acerimmer3717 shame

[@tigerbread78]

@@acerimmer3717 Kickstarter, first we'd have to find out the going rates in today's money, then the rights to the audiobook, but I think it would be worth it.

[@EireannSpooner]

Despite othee comments, i love this book. Sure ,ChrIs would have been a better narrator but i think the show lost a lot when Rob Grant left

[@apex2000]

Can we get reversals of the backwards stuff, like cat talking?

[@BlackuLaLa]

Thank you for posting this!

[@DragonDaggerFeenix]

The playlist puts this after 'last human' but the book picks up where 'better than life' left off

[@acerimmer3717]

They are alternative sequels to Better Than Life. When the Co-writers went their separate ways they each wrote separate sequels to Better Than Life. So Backwards and Last Human are not connected. And backwards actually came out after Last Human so thats why its last in the playlist.

[@DragonDaggerFeenix]

@@acerimmer3717 thanks for the clarification!

[@ukrpgfan4029]

Bring back Chris Barrie...

[@pyjamacritic1171]

Is this abridged? It seems quite a bit shorter than the first two books. x

[@acerimmer3717]

Yes this is abridged. the first two were produced by Laughingstock and this one and Last Human were produced by Penguin and did not get an unabridged version

[@RaysRailVideos]

Can not listen to this such a boring voice, what happened to Rimmer reading these

[@jensablefur155]

Oof they should have got Chis back for this.

[@SevenEllen]

I was looking forward to hearing Chris perform Ace Rimmer again. :-(

[@KATTALNUVA3]

Wait, if they were going to be stuck there for 10 years, doesn't logic dictate that Starbug would have arrived in the backwards universe in a state of disrepair? I don't think Rimmer, Kryten, and the Cat would have knowingly entered the backwards universe in a Starbug that looked like it was banged to hell.

[@scen45]

They explained where that damage comes from later in the book. They couldn't have made it the first time because that isn't where they come from in the future if that makes sense.

[@KATTALNUVA3]

Okay, let's look at it forwards. They are arriving on Backwards world and are hit by a heat seeking missile, causing them to crash. They're stranded for years, and during that time the ship continues to fall into disrepair. During the next flight window they're attempt at liftoff is unsuccessful, Lister gets framed for murder, and then the other three are SOMEHOW able to leave while Lister spend the rest of his life on backwards world. It doesn't make sense.

[@scen45]

I'm trying to avoid spoilers for anyone that hasn't gone past this part. They don't really explain how they got there in the first place, the book just starts with them already there. They do act like they only just got there though. It is a flaw but because they never actually explain how they got there I guess you can just make up something that kinda makes sense. My theory would be the universe kinda rewrites what happens to starbug because they didnt enter with lister but they exit with him.

[@apex2000]

I dunno an idle starbug might be able to rest for a decade and still be fine.

[@Tybearius]

@@KATTALNUVA3 - Actually, it makes perfect sense. They tried to leave 4 times, 2 were successful. As you said, they were hit by a missile and stranded until the next window. At the second window, they tried to leave but were unsuccessful and Lister is wrongfully convicted of a murder Kryten committed. The day after Lister is arrested, (still within the second window) Kryten, Rimmer and the Cat attempt to leave again and this time ARE successful. You could easily chalk the new damage to Starbug up to crossing the Omnizone in the black hole). Now, 30 years later, (because of the time dilation of the black hole, it's only minutes to them) they go to retrieve Listers dead body and bring him to the forwards universe, where he has a heart attack battling a GELF and comes back to life, to live 30 years on Garbage World and grow young again until Rimmer finds him. In the end, Ace is the hero.... What a Guy!

[@Feelsonwheels04]

33:00

[@baeleth]

Weren't they down to just White Giant? Starbug didn't survive BTL...

[@Tybearius]

Maybe they fixed her? The ship was only melted by acid rain.... couple of patch kits and some duct tape, she'd be space worthy again.

[@tigerbread78]

Multiple Starbugs? Red Dwarf is too big to just have 3 ships, unless the previous books stated that

[@notablynova]

@@tigerbread78 the cats took them all

[@helenswan705]

Every Good Book has Discrepancies and Failures

[@Cheepchipsable]

@@Tybearius What sort of thing might cause corrosion...

[@scottgordon899]

thanks

[@minners71]

What a bad reading I could only manage 45 minutes before I had had enough. Its a shame Chris Barrie didn't do this one.

[@lknanml]

Yea. That reading didn't go so well. Almost seems written to have the least amount of character dialog and heavy on describing what's going on. Pushed through it but a 2nd listen won't happen. We need this to get the audible treatment.

[@libertyuk8428]

Tip : set playback to 1.5 speed and then perfect.

[@alexb6821]

Way too fast for me then

[@gilgamesh8531]

That trick makes the film Heavy Metal watchable

[@KallusTacticus]

❤️

[@lrj3000]

Does this get any better? Its just a bunch of filler descriptions of backwards time

[@Levi-RoseWilletts4828]

What the smeggedy smeg is Rob smegging thinging? He made a smegging mess reading his own Book. He even made Rimmer sound like a complete smeghead, and that's pretty hard to do.

[@gilgamesh8531]

Terrible compared to Barrie The guy can write but is putting me off with his voice.