Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor: a review

I’ve had this in my Audible library for a few months now, but I am as much of a hoarder on my metaphorical shelf on Audible, as I am on my physical shelves at home. I think that’s why I try to utilise the library, because I know that I want to read the book immediately if I’ve borrowed it, but sometimes, when I buy a book, I know that I want to read it, but I don’t necessarily want to read them straight away. I should be ashamed of how long some of those books have been on my shelf.

            Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, as with episodes of the show, follows Dave Lister and Arnold Rimmer. This follows the pair from a little before their arrival on Red Dwarf, to after the drive plate incident on the ship.

            The style reminds me of Douglas Adams. The humour is so in line with his, and the ridiculous long-winded explanations and set-ups are so very Adams. This style mixed with the classic Red Dwarf jokes works fantastically. It makes it a pleasure to listen to.

            The narrator for the audiobook is Chris Barrie. It’s not surprising, given that he played Rimmer in the show. He is the perfect choice for narrator. Though, his scouse accent can occasionally be a little off, it’s easy to look past. His voice is utterly expressive, and each character is perfectly distinct. I was absolutely blown away when he did the voice for Holly, the ship’s computer. It was a fantastic impression of Norman Lovett, who first played the role. I cannot emphasise enough my adoration for the expression in Chris Barrie’s voice. There’s so much life to it, and I cannot give it enough love and praise.

            I’m sure in book form, or in the original audio cassette (I assume cassette, given that it was published late eighties), the format and chapters were far more distinct. Audible isn’t fantastic for this though. This is nothing against the book itself, but Audible isn’t clear enough.

            Hearing all the pre-show stuff is a lot of fun. All the background on the characters really brings them to life. It’s not just the pre-show stuff that’s different and exciting. Even the novelised episodes have differences. Some are utterly different, and give way more context on character and plot. Rescuing Kryten from the Nova 5 is very different, but the characterisation for Kryten, and everything about Silicon Heaven is far more in depth here. Grant and Naylor have more opportunity to explore context in the books, because there’s no limitations. This lack of limitations also means that there’s more opportunity for weird things to happen. Entering lightspeed was very different in the book because there were visuals that were just not possible in the series. Apparently, these differences are even more noticeable in the next book: Better Than Life. That’s also in my Audible library, so I’ll be back in the Red Dwarf books very soon. From what I gather, Better Than Life has little to no relation to the episode itself, and from the lead up in this book, it ought to be fantastic.

            I absolutely loved this book. If you like the show, then you’ll love the book. However, you don’t need the context of the show to read the books. So, if you enjoy comedy sci-fi, then this might well be for you. It’s rather cheap on Audible, from what I remember, so I imagine it’s well priced in other formats.