Red Dwarf: Titan

The mining ship Red Dwarf is in orbit around Saturnian moon Titan, and the bulk of the crew is heading down for their shore leave plans: A strangely reluctant hen party; a relaxing cheaty golfing break; a terminally-boring cultural Odessey; a marathon drinking and fighting binge; a stomach-challenging culinary beanfeast and an invigoratingly violent tour of Shore Patrol . . .

Menial chicken soup machine repairmen Dave Lister and Arnold Rimmer have slightly less noble ambitions.
Rimmer is in search of some illicit exam-cheating tech, to land a much-lusted-for promotion, and Lister plans to acquire a cat to smuggle back on board as part of a nefarious scheme to return to Earth. Mainly they just want to get as far away from each other as possible. However, their objectives are scuppered when they receive a cryptic message . . . from the future.

The two feuding crewmen are catapulted into a breakneck race to save not only this, but every other Reality.
Along the way, they'll find themselves united again, for the first time, with some new, but somehow old friends, as they embark on a labyrinthian quest through the seediest, most dangerous underbelly of humankind's furthest outpost, where lurk bizarre off-worldly dangers and one mysterious hidden nemesis with an obscure, yet clearly lethal agenda.

So strap yourself into your Holly Hop Drive, and set your bazookoids to "thrill" - the Dwarfers are taking on TITAN.

'Don't tell my mother I died with my arm up a gorilla's bottom.'
'But sir - it will be on the death certificate.'

Rob Grant (1955-2026) was born in Salford. Determined not to let them hold him back he (after a protracted period doing any old thing) went on to co-create and write with Doug Naylor the astonishingly successful TV series RED DWARF. He also wrote the DARK AGES and STRANGERERS TV series.

Red Dwarf: Titan is the highly anticipated 2026 science fiction comedy novel penned by original series co-creator Rob Grant and his long-time writing partner Andrew Marshall. Arriving thirty years after Grant’s last literary contribution to the franchise, the book stands as a profoundly bittersweet milestone, as Grant unexpectedly passed away just months before its publication, making this hilarious and complex prequel his final creative work. Set shortly before the cataclysmic radiation leak depicted in the television pilot "The End," the novel operates "one universe to the side," seamlessly blending established television lore with elements of the previous book continuity to create a fresh, entirely unpredictable narrative timeline.

The story opens with the colossal, city-sized mining ship Red Dwarf arriving in orbit around Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. The vast majority of the vessel's eleven thousand crew members are enthusiastically preparing to disembark for shore leave on the moon’s bustling, divided settlement of Xanadu. Xanadu is split into two distinct tiers: Uptown, a resplendent, luxurious resort area reserved for the officer class to indulge in cheaty golfing breaks and terminally boring cultural odysseys, and Downtown, a deeply perilous, grimy underbelly where lower-ranking crewmen are literally manacled in pairs just to ensure they survive the local marathon drinking and fighting binges. It is into this chaotic environment that two deeply unmotivated, constantly bickering chicken soup machine repairmen, Dave Lister and Arnold Rimmer, descend.

Naturally, the two bunkmates have wildly divergent goals for their time off, united only by a mutual desire to get as far away from each other as humanly possible. Arnold Rimmer is desperately seeking some highly illegal, black-market exam-cheating technology, hoping to finally land a much-lusted-for promotion to the officer class. Dave Lister, on the other hand, is currently wallowing in a state of profound heartbreak following a painful breakup with navigation officer Kristine Kochanski, who is actively preparing to marry a far more dependable man named Eric. Lister’s grand, self-destructive scheme involves acquiring a stray cat from the streets of Titan and smuggling it back aboard the Red Dwarf. His ultimate goal is to get caught and thrown into the ship’s stasis booths, intending to sleep through his emotional misery until the ship eventually returns to Earth.

However, these relatively mundane, selfish objectives are dramatically scuppered when the crew intercepts a cryptic, urgent message sent from the future. This mysterious transmission catapults Lister, Rimmer, and the rest of the crew into a breakneck, labyrinthine race against time. What begins as a comedic escapade through Titan's seediest districts rapidly devolves into a high-stakes quest to save not only their own timeline but the fabric of every other reality. Along the way, the feuding crewmen are forced to unite, facing bizarre off-world dangers and a mysterious hidden nemesis wielding an apocalyptic agenda. Unlike the earlier Red Dwarf novels, which often hopped across massive timeframes and different universes, Titan unfolds almost entirely in real time as one continuous, relentless story. This narrative structure keeps the pacing incredibly tight as the characters navigate the various factions and threats of the Saturnian moon.

One of the novel’s greatest strengths is its ensemble approach, which shifts the perspective far beyond Lister and Rimmer to explore the inner lives of the wider crew. For the first time, Kristine Kochanski is elevated to the role of a true, independent protagonist rather than simply acting as the object of Lister’s affection. The book dives deep into her personal motivations, her career ambitions on Titan, and the genuine reasons behind her breakup with Lister, providing much-needed closure and emotional depth to their relationship. The narrative also spends significant time inside the head of Captain Hollister, while introducing readers to an era where the ship's computer, Holly, functions as a ubiquitous, commercial AI assistant used throughout the galaxy.

Ultimately, Red Dwarf: Titan is a triumph of comedic science fiction that perfectly balances puerile, laugh-out-loud humor with genuinely intricate character development and high-stakes sci-fi plotting. By exploring the chaotic days immediately preceding the disaster that wiped out the crew, Grant and Marshall deliver an action-packed, poignant love letter to the fans. It answers lingering questions about the crew's origins while spinning an entirely new, dimension-threatening yarn. The novel stands as a deeply satisfying, incredibly funny swansong for Rob Grant, proving that even after decades away from the franchise, his brilliant, cynical, and affectionate grasp on the boys from the Dwarf remained as sharp as ever.