Red Dwarf by Grant Naylor

Red Dwarf
Grant Naylor
1989, Penguin, London
0140124372
298p.

Lister gets drunk one evening and when he wakes up he finds himself stranded on one of Saturn's moons. In order to get back home, he enlists in the Space Corps and ends up on an ill-fated vessel called the Red Dwarf.

I never really watched much of the TV show, I only had pictures of the characters in mind and not much else. So I went into this book without much expectation and was totally surprised. This is an excellent stand-alone science fiction novel. It has a few hard sf concepts, a few lessons for humanity, and so much poignancy it makes you smile. It's always nice when a books blows you away like that.

Link to journal at bookcrossing