Red Dwarf: Titan – Covered News Posted by Ian Symes on 19th February 2026, 09:00 A mere two weeks ago, Red Dwarf: Titan was just a glimmer in Rob Grant’s buttski, as far as we were aware. But now details are coming thick and fast. Following the novel first appearing on random booksellers’ websites, quickly followed by Rob and Andy supplying a full synopsis, we can now exclusively reveal the book’s cover art. Many thanks to The Orion Publishing Group, who seem to have accidentally mistaken us for a legitimate press organisation. First thoughts: I like it. Striking, modern and guaranteed to stand out in any bookshop display. We have a new variant of the logo, with the ellipse forming a planetary ring, appropriately enough for a story set on a moon of Saturn. And we’re seemingly back to the serif version, despite the new/old sans serif one being used on pretty much everything since Series XI. Perhaps there’s a deliberate branding decision at play here, with the sans reserved for mainline/Doug Dwarf, and the serif for Rob’s buttskiverse. Or maybe someone at the publisher decided the serif one looked better and went for that. Interestingly, this variant also supplied in the press release has a slightly different, less pink colour palette, so it’ll be interesting to see which is closest to the physical copy we’ll be getting our hands on in the summer. More details from the press release include confirmation that the release date is July 16th 2026, and that it will be available in hardback, ebook and audio formats. No indication yet as to who’ll be doing the honours for the audiobook, but great news that one is on its way. The book will be published by the Gollancz imprint, as was Rob and Andy’s Quanderhorn novel. And we have some new quotes from Rob and Andy: “We are hugely excited to be sharing hitherto unseen parts of the Red Dwarf universe where no chicken soup machine repairman has gone before. We’re also thrilled to be doing it at Gollancz, the premier home of Science Fiction literature and surprisingly affordable kitchenware, such as the Arthur C. Clarke inter-dimensional fish slice.” And from editor-at-large Marcus Gipps: “Since working with Rob and Andy on the novelisation of their fantastic radio series The Quanderhorn Xperimentations, I’ve been hoping they would come up with another project, but never dreamed it would be a fully-fledged Red Dwarf novel. It was a thrill to work with them on all of these iconic characters, and there are some real surprises in store. You don’t need to know Red Dwarf for this book to make you laugh – but if you do, you’ll spot some familiar faces.” This is all hugely exciting – it’s all feels so much more real and tangible all of a sudden. We’re getting a new Red Dwarf novel, in the year 2026. Pinch me. You can pre-order here – more purchase options should be added automatically as the retailers’ listings go live. Just under five months to go…
I’m so glad there’s an audiobook because otherwise I’d be receiving my copy like a week after everyone else finished reading. I’m curious how we’re going to format discussion with everyone reading at their own pace.
It does look great, although I do think it looks sort of bland in a “generic novel” kinda way. All the other books have such distinctive iconography, this is sort of just the logo with some twinkly bits But it does look great too. Very bold and striking. I’ll be excited to pick it up. Just imagine, walk down to a local book show on release day and pick up a brand new just out of the shrink wrap hard cover Red Dwarf book. It’ll be like going to Wollies in 2004 to pick up a brand new Red Dwarf DVD.
The TITAN part looks like someone just went into WordArt in 1998 and said “yes, that”. Probably the only part of the cover I’m not thrilled with.
Strikes a nice balance where it’s minimalist enough to be striking and not too crowded, but not so minimalist and lacking in detail it becomes… well, the 2019 Bluray art, for example. Though I am sad that, with budgets for such things in the toilet, we probably won’t get any foreign language variants with batshit artwork. It does look great, although I do think it looks sort of bland in a “generic novel” kinda way. All the other books have such distinctive iconography, this is sort of just the logo with some twinkly bits It’s an industry-wide trend sadly, [Doug voice] there’s no money for the kind of painted covers the last four got back in the day
The TITAN part looks like someone just went into WordArt in 1998 and said “yes, that”. Probably the only part of the cover I’m not thrilled with. That’s part of what I like about it. It’s very era-appropriate for Red Dwarf.
I’m curious how we’re going to format discussion with everyone reading at their own pace. Vague plan: Let’s Talk About post for the day of release, written review soon after, Book Club DwarfCasts starting after a week or two, so that we can incorporate comments from the Let’s Talk About. We’ll have to wait and see how the book is structured, but if it’s like previous Dwarf novels and split into chunky parts, we might do separate Let’s Talk Abouts for each one, so that people can read and discuss at their own pace, without getting spoilers for later on. But plenty of time to iron out those details!
It does look great, although I do think it looks sort of bland in a “generic novel” kinda way. All the other books have such distinctive iconography, this is sort of just the logo with some twinkly bits.
First thing I thought was that “An All-New Prequel” will look silly when it’s still the only version of the book circulating on eBay in 30 years, but that’s because I’m an idiot. I’m on the side of 90s WordArt gradients being a good thing. If it has to be computer art, at least be old-school. The reversion to sans serif always felt a bit forced too, so this is fine.
Is this the first time we’ve seen graded colours within the ellipse of the Red Dwarf logo (red to pink)? I don’t remember it ever being anything other than solid red before.
I’ve just noticed the “three million and thirty nine years ago, and one universe to the side” on the top left corner. Firmly cementing that it’s not even a prequel to the “prime timeline” (whatever that is)
Is this the first time we’ve seen graded colours within the ellipse of the Red Dwarf logo (red to pink)? It’s a teeeeny bit…
It looks weirdly Young Adult to me. Probably fits with the concept of it being younger versions of the crew (albeit if only by weeks, months!) but maybe it will be aimed a bit younger?
I’d have preferred a nice picture, mainly for us to pore over and theorise about, but the cover looks great. No updates on TOS yet though. Maybe they’re waiting until tomorrow morning, just for old times’ sake.
The planet also looks distinctly more Jupitery than Saturny or Titany, probably just for palette reasons.
Am I the only one who’s a little disappointed by the ‘alternate universe’ bit? I’d be more interested if I knew the events in the book actually happened to the dave and arnie who go on throughout the series (see also ‘which rimmer is it’)
Am I the only one who’s a little disappointed by the ‘alternate universe’ bit? I’d be more interested if I knew the events in the book actually happened to the dave and arnie who go on throughout the series (see also ‘which rimmer is it’) When it comes to the books, I think universe fuckery is something that comes with the territory. Rob and Doug have their own book universes, both authors then have alt universes within those individual books AND the original Grant Naylor book universe is separate to the show anyway. If Rob decided to align himself with a ‘canon’ then I’m not entirely sure what that canon is supposed to even be at this point.
Yeah, the books are already a splintered multiverse of different continuities anyway, I’m happy to just go with the ride on this one. Although the synopsis does suggest that the book will deal with multiple universes anyway, which is interesting.
The more details we get, the more excited I get! Great to hear confirmation of an audiobook version too. I’ve just noticed the “three million and thirty nine years ago, and one universe to the side” on the top left corner. Firmly cementing that it’s not even a prequel to the “prime timeline” (whatever that is) Funny thing is that even without the “one universe to the side” bit, the number of years alone accidentally confirms it’s an alternate timeline, because it assumes the stasis period was 3 million years exactly, when we know from Krysis that it was actually less.
All the other books have such distinctive iconography, this is sort of just the logo with some twinkly bits I’m used to the Omnibus version which is pretty uninspiring, so this is pretty much exactly in line with that
Am I the only one who’s a little disappointed by the ‘alternate universe’ bit? I’d be more interested if I knew the events in the book actually happened to the dave and arnie who go on throughout the series (see also ‘which rimmer is it’) While I do get what you mean, I’d say the alternative of ‘the versions of Rimmer and Lister we see in The End have previously worked together to save reality’ feels kind of off.
Not a fan of the ‘Titan’ part but really do like the look of the new logo. It makes so much sense for the ring to be the ring around a planet – I’ve never really thought too much about it before but that must’ve been the original intention, right?
It looks weirdly Young Adult to me. Probably fits with the concept of it being younger versions of the crew (albeit if only by weeks, months!) but maybe it will be aimed a bit younger? YA books tend to include less genital torture, I gather.
So do we now have three book Universes? The first Rob one that goes Infinity – BTL – Backwards The Doug one that goes Infinity – BTL – Last Human And now the new Rob one that just goes Titan, but might conceivably move to either BTL or Backwards at some point if it potentially ties up. But might lead to its own prequel sequel. Five books. Three Universes. Should be a law against that kind of thing.
Do you know what, I didn’t really like the cover when I first saw it earlier but I can imagine it looking really striking on the shelf after sitting with it for a while. (I still think it looks like a YA novel though)
The more details we get, the more excited I get! Great to hear confirmation of an audiobook version too. I’ve just noticed the “three million and thirty nine years ago, and one universe to the side” on the top left corner. Firmly cementing that it’s not even a prequel to the “prime timeline” (whatever that is) Funny thing is that even without the “one universe to the side” bit, the number of years alone accidentally confirms it’s an alternate timeline, because it assumes the stasis period was 3 million years exactly, when we know from Krysis that it was actually less. Less for Kryten, who was built after the accident.
Did Last Human ever confirm that Rimmer’s son was actually from the same universe as Rimmer? He has to be for the book to make emotional sense, but it remained fiercely debated in the Last Human book club Dwarfcasts until the end.
I hope they get Chris to read the audiobook. He’s still up to it (fairly recently, at least). He’s looks like a cross between Tony Hawks and Douglas Adams
Less for Kryten, who was built after the accident. Not less by enough to make it exactly 3 million years between the radiation leak and Lister leaving stasis though. Kryten was built in 2340, which by even the most generous margin is less than 300 years after the accident. The deficit according to Krysis is 24,000 years. There was also the 200 years of deep sleep in between Series V and VI that the “3 million and 39” figure didn’t account for, but again that’s dwarfed by the 24,000 years. Of course you can just say “the 3 million years in stasis is rounded to the nearest 100 thousand, the additional 39 are precise but only include the years Lister actually experienced outside of deep sleep or stasis”, but that would be less annoying and pedantic of me, so I won’t.
Of course you can just say “the 3 million years in stasis is rounded to the nearest 100 thousand, the additional 39 are precise but only include the years Lister actually experienced outside of deep sleep or stasis”, but that would be less annoying and pedantic of me, so I won’t. That would also take up a LOT of cover space.
I hope they get Chris to read the audiobook. He’s still up to it (fairly recently, at least). He’s looks like a cross between Tony Hawks and Douglas Adams
Interestingly, this variant also supplied in the press release has a slightly different, less pink colour palette, so it’ll be interesting to see which is closest to the physical copy we’ll be getting our hands on in the summer.e If I had to guess, I’d say that’s a CMYK version for print, hence all the colours being a bit washed out. Very much looking forward to this. I’ve read the Omnibus so many times it’s literally disintegrated, but probably need to go and re-read Last Human and Backwards before this comes out, it’s been a while. Cover’s nice enough, although I’m holding out for some insane alternate version produced for the Czech translation.
https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/red-dwarf-prequel-novel-exclusive-newsupdate/ – Rob & Andrew speak “As for that unmistakable Red Dwarf silliness? Grant assures us it’s back in full force, with the writer promising that fans will “laugh their little chippers off.”” Well I can’t see how that is pertinent to our present situation, sir.
Search term which directed someone to https://cwickham.blogspot.com today: “whats up with 2 sequels to red dwarf”
I’m desperate for it to be the same size and cut of the other four, I’ll be beside myself if it isn’t.
https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/red-dwarf-prequel-novel-exclusive-newsupdate/ – Rob & Andrew speak “As for that unmistakable Red Dwarf silliness? Grant assures us it’s back in full force, with the writer promising that fans will “laugh their little chippers off.”” Well I can’t see how that is pertinent to our present situation, sir. There goes your exclusive cover. Bastards.
I’m desperate for it to be the same size and cut of the other four, I’ll be beside myself if it isn’t. I own the first two in omnibus edition, but I agree in spirit. And I definitely prefer paperback. Red Dwarf is a paperback kind of story.
I don’t like it. But then I remembered it’s the first new Red Dwarf novel in three decades, and I just yummed it up.
There goes your exclusive cover. Bastards. Our exclusivity window was two hours, after that any old plebs were allowed to post it.
https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/red-dwarf-prequel-novel-exclusive-newsupdate/ Link in my original post still works, not sure what happened in the quoted one to make it not do so
The news seems to be dragging its arse around the Internet. Where are all the click bait headlines? Just “Cult Sci-Fi Returns With First New Release in 6 Years After Tragic Cancellation” so far.
Just “Cult Sci-Fi Returns With First New Release in 6 Years After Tragic Cancellation” so far. I saw that one, our favourite TV channel gets a mention on it
Doug conspicuously hasn’t said a word about it Just like how Rob conspicuously hasn’t commented on anything produced by GNP for the last 30 years – with the exception of the AA ads, which were produced by someone else.
At least Doug (seemingly) got to finish touring and marketing his own book without having to talk about someone else’s.
Doug conspicuously hasn’t said a word about it Just wait until Sin Bin Island 2 gets scheduled for the same release date.
Just wait until Sin Bin Island 2 gets scheduled for the same release date. And when Doug’s deaging special novelisation comes out the same day as Titan II: Revenge of the Gorilla’s Arse
It won’t be the same size as the other four, because paperbacks are bigger than that these days. If the amount of time between me leaving WH Smith and now was shorter I’d be able to tell you the industry name for those smaller paperbacks, but it isn’t so I can’t.
Mass market paperback? I don’t have the stats, but it does feel like you don’t see many of them nowadays.
What is Doug meant to say? He is doing his own stuff and concentrating on that. Rob can do what he wants and Doug can do what he wants. Neither need to comment in each others work.
Where are all the click bait headlines? Just “Cult Sci-Fi Returns With First New Release in 6 Years After Tragic Cancellation” so far. That’s not nearly vague-posting wordily enough for this type of headline. Normally they’d at least write as much as “Cult Sci-Fi That Patrick Stewart Once Said ‘Made Me Laugh'”.
Mass market paperback? I don’t have the stats, but it does feel like you don’t see many of them nowadays. I feel like the market that cheap, pocket paperbacks used to address has been taken up completely by ebooks So unless it’s a copy being sent off to a WHSmiths in an airport or a roadside service station, the remaining physical market is more about trying to make it feel more upmarket and fancy. I guess if you’re bothering with a physical copy in the first place, you want something more for your money. Granted, the publishers won’t spend the money for anything that isn’t the sort of afternoon-in-Photoshop job Titan has, but they’ll go with bigger book sizes or glossy covers or limited edition fabric dustjackets or those clothbound editions of classic literature or artwork on the page edges and so on That’s not nearly vague-posting wordily enough for this type of headline. Normally they’d at least write as much as “Cult Sci-Fi That Patrick Stewart Once Said ‘Made Me Laugh’”. YOU WON’T BELIEVE
What is Doug meant to say? He is doing his own stuff and concentrating on that. Rob can do what he wants and Doug can do what he wants. Neither need to comment in each others work. They’re the two owners of one franchise. Not even a retweet?
That’s not nearly vague-posting wordily enough for this type of headline. Normally they’d at least write as much as “Cult Sci-Fi That Patrick Stewart Once Said ‘Made Me Laugh’”. (They hadn’t.)
10 years after its final episode was shown on TV, Red Dwarf is returning with a new release. The cult British sci-fi show originally ran from 1988 to 1999, with a four-year hiatus from ’93 to ’97, before the BBC quietly canceled it due to a lack of interest. But the broadcaster’s apathy – which included passing on the rights to a movie adaptation at some point prior to 2007 – was at odds with the affection the fandom had for the far-future set sci-fi comedy, and it returned for a revival and four more seasons and a special between 2009 and 2020. Never change ComicBook.com…
Can’t believe G&T hasn’t done something special to mark a decade since The Promised Land. At first I was going to be charitable and assume they were excluding a one off special, but its not quite a decade since Twentica yet let alone Skipper.
I’d say is it that hard to look up the fucking date but they have the correct year in the same paragraph.
I’d say is it that hard to look up the fucking date but they have the correct year in the same paragraph. The writer is obviously from 2030…
The gap between November 1993 to January 1997 is also not four years either. Its a little over three.
Is this Maths in the Red? Also, looking closer, is that a photo of Jupiter they’ve used on the cover? Because that is WILDLY the wrong planet for a book set on Titan.
It won’t be the same size as the other four, because paperbacks are bigger than that these days. Only just noticed the difference in size the other day when I put my Alan Partridge PBs next to my Red Dwarf ones. Was desperately hoping to avoid this sort of thing: I suppose since it’s a separate timeline I’ll just have to consider it a different series, but its mildly frustrating nevertheless. The words are what matter the most.
However, Grant has exclusively revealed to Radio Times that he initially had hopes that his new story would be developed for screens – and he’s not ruling it out in future But what else can you do? Except AI?!
Did the original novels have hardback versions? I’ve only ever seen paperback. Not sure about the first one but I’ve seen hardbacks of the other three, including my own copy of Backwards.
I presume the question is about Infinity and BTL? I never saw those in hardback although I gather a hardcover version of BTL was released – I found this version on ebay. My copies of both Last Human and Backwards are the hardcover first editions.
Isn’t that unhinged American cover for Infinity the hardback version? That’s the first two novels in one book but not, iirc, the Omnibus versions with all the changes.
Infinity was paperback only, but Better Than Life, Last Human and Backwards all got hardbacks. I got all 3 hardbacks so I could do my version comparison article. I guess Penguin didn’t predict how much of a hit IWCD was going to be, but afterwards knew Red Dwarf deserved hardbacks.
Radio Times part 3 (with the bits that have already been covered chopped out from the below): https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/red-dwarf-special-scrapped-rob-grant-reaction-exclusive-newsupdate/ Red Dwarf fans were gutted when it emerged that a new special from one of the show’s original writers had been scrapped – but now co-creator Rob Grant has offered a hopeful outlook on the show’s future. Doug Naylor, who created and wrote the sci-fi comedy with Grant from its inception in 1988, revealed last year that his new special, which was set to see Craig Charles’s character Lister going back in time to help his 23-year-old self escape from stasis, had been scrapped by UKTV. Grant, who recently announced he is co-writing the first Red Dwarf novel in 30 years with Andrew Marshall, has responded to the news, exclusively telling Radio Times: “It’s been going for so long, and I’m sure it’ll have another life down the line somewhere. These things happen.” However, as Grant says, that might not be the last we see of Red Dwarf on screen. The two co-creators, who dissolved their partnership in the 1990s, have been working on their own individual Red Dwarf projects since a legal dispute was resolved in 2023. Speaking about how that has impacted his work, Grant explained to Radio Times: “It’s common knowledge that there has been a legal dispute over the rights of Red Dwarf for bloody years. It went to court, and it made Bleak House look like an episode of Judge Judy! “But we finally got it resolved [in 2023], and suddenly all these rights became available to me, and one of them was for the prequel, and that’s where it started.” Grant and Marshall’s prequel novel Red Dwarf: Titan will be published in July – and they revealed they’ve taken it to streamers in the hopes of getting it made into a TV spin-off. Grant and Marshall are also keen to continue their new story, with a sequel novel. “We’d love to,” Grant said. “We so fell in love with the characters. There are some new ones, and its explores existing characters more deeply.”
If anyone else was slacking in pre-ordering Titan, the (non-signed) hardback’s available on Rarewaves.com for £20 with free shipping and the pop-up gives you a 10% discount (code RWFEB10), so I ordered mine now. I don’t work for Rarewaves.com, I’m just eternally stingy.
I’ve just checked Warbo’s email address and it’s ianrarewaves@rarewaves.com, so I wouldn’t trust him if I were you.
I’m planning on going to an actual book shop on the actual day of release to buy it, like it’s the 90s again
Just got an e-mail from The Ivyridge Bookshop where I pre-ordered from. “Thank you for ordering a signed copy of Red Dwarf: Titan. Sadly author Rob Grant has passed away, meaning that there will not be any signed copies available. If you would still like to keep your order, for an unsigned copy, please let me know by Monday. If we have not heard from you, we will cancel your order and put through a refund. The banks take a few days to process, and the refund should be with you by next Thursday or Friday.”
Just got an e-mail from The Ivyridge Bookshop where I pre-ordered from. “Thank you for ordering a signed copy of Red Dwarf: Titan. Sadly author Rob Grant has passed away, meaning that there will not be any signed copies available. If you would still like to keep your order, for an unsigned copy, please let me know by Monday. If we have not heard from you, we will cancel your order and put through a refund. The banks take a few days to process, and the refund should be with you by next Thursday or Friday.” I may have started this chain of events by emailing them this morning to let them know
Well since this book will probably be a one off story now, i hope even more that Chris Barrie reads the audiobook. This is going to be a bit of an event. Lets go all out.
Well since this book will probably be a one off story now, i hope even more that Chris Barrie reads the audiobook. This is going to be a bit of an event. Lets go all out. I hope they all do. Go full Big Finish with it.
Am I the only one who’s a little disappointed by the ‘alternate universe’ bit? I’d be more interested if I knew the events in the book actually happened to the dave and arnie who go on throughout the series (see also ‘which rimmer is it’) The synopsis (small spoiler below. Avoid if you skipped the synopsis last article..) … states they received a message from the future. Maybe the future influencing the past accounts for the alternate universe.
