Redshirts

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Average customer rating 4.7 (7 comments)

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If you are a fan of epic space operas like Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica - or, oppositely, get a good laugh at the overly contrived scenarios our protagonists somehow narrowly escapes and complete ignorance of any actual science, this book is for you. The novel, Redshirts, follows the story of Ensign Andrew Dahl who has been recruited to join the Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since 2456. At first everything seems to follow an all too predictable plotline - full of aliens and killer robots - that leave crew members dead and replaced while Senior Officers plan the next mission, until characters finally catch wind of the unsettling death pattern and decide to take the narrative into their own hands before they fall victim to flesh eating bacteria, carnivorous worms... or worse. This makes for a unique twist in a familiar world, that will leave both the fans and critics of the genre satisfied and feeling in on the joke. Redshirts is a quick read, full of wit, space battles, smart dialogue, and is easily one of the funniest books I've read in the last two years. While you truly don't need to be a devoted Star Trek buff to appreciate all the references, it makes them all the more sweeter.

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Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Xenobiology team of the ship Intrepid, and he is very excited about this. It is a prestigious posting. Once on board, he realizes there is a certain feel running through the lower ranks. No one wants to go on away mission as they seem to always result in some lethal outcome; lethal to those ranks dressed in red shirts. As Dahl unfolds this mystery, he finds that luck plays a part and that an officer that has managed to hide himself in the ship’s innards for years may know enough to solve this mystery. Oh, and there is a box. Whenever one of the senior officers give the science teams some unsolvable conundrum, they feed it into The Box and let it be for a few hours. Sooner or later it spits out some answer and the mission goes on. This parody on Star Trek was such a delight to listen to. Joking within the lower ranks intersperses the action scenes, and a dash of more serious emotional content is thrown in for roundness. Of course the answer to their conundrum was quite amusing; I won’t spoil it for you but it made total sense and even if you saw it coming it was still worth a chuckle once it was said out loud. The ending was a bit rushed and I think I could have used another chapter or two in order to keep the same pacing and to allow for the same amount of humor. But taken all together, a very enjoyable, humorous read.

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Fun, hilarious sci-fi novel. Reminds me of Douglas Adams wit. Great characters, twisting plot, and delightful dialogue. Second book I've read by John Scalzi and I am not disappointed.

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Redshirts by John Scalzi is one of those stories which are difficult to review, without spoiling, but I’m going to try. The story takes place in post-television 25th century future on an elite DubU ship ��" Intrepid. It is under the command of captain Abernathy, whose crew include science officer Q’eeng, first office Keerensky, medical office Hartnell and chief engineer West among others. Intrepid is on a peaceful mission to boldly go where no man has gone before. Sounds familiar? Well it should. During its explorations the crew encounters some hostile situations on different worlds, and quiet often there are away teams formed to deal with them. The novel opens with some new crew members assigned to intrepid. They develop a sort of friendship while waiting for the shuttle in the bay that would take them to the ship. On reaching ship, they are take on their assigned tasks in different departments. They continue to meet when they are off duty, and found out that Intrepid has highest casualties for new crew members among any Dub U’s ships during these away missions, statistically. As they dig more and more, they find that there is some sort of space time continuum mix up where realities from different times seem to have intertwined. I should stop now, because I think I have already said too much. John has great ability to define his characters well and then develop them throughout his stories. This novel is no different. The new crew members Dahl (who is the protagonist), Duvall, Hester, Henson have characters that one easily understand when they interact while waiting in the shuttle bay. They do not always agree with each other. They also form a part of some of the away missions, and suffer losses. They start to observe a pattern, which the officers of the ship seem to be oblivious to. Over the course of events, their friendship, beliefs and trust for each other is tested. You start to identify with the characters, and can’t help but want them to control their own fate instead of letting the mixed up timelines decide what happens. Redshirts does not disappoint at any place. It is a must read if you grew up with TV shows like the original Star Trek, or Dr. Who. The book is a nod to these and other cheesy space adventures of yesteryears. There are dozens of moments and in-jokes built around the worlds that are familiar and hilarious. It is darkly funny at times; even when things go wrong, John puts a smile on your face with interactions of his characters. The story moves at a fast pace, and is extremely well edited. There is nothing that does not add to the story or character development and you are drawn in. If you want to read a fun science fiction story during summer try this one. If you like listening to books, get the audiobook. It is read by Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher from Star Trek ��" The Next Generation). Wil is very impressive voice actor, and he brings this book alive with his narration. He has collaborated with the author before in Fuzzy Nation and few others. Both the book and the audiobook are highly recommended. I give this book 5 stars; hey, anything that can keep me up all night deserves 5 stars.

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This warmed the cockles of my Geek Heart like no book since Ready Player One. I'm not sure how much I can say without getting into spoiler territory, but I'll try. It starts off as a funny--but obvious--Star Trek parody, where all the lower ranking crewmen are terrified to go on away missions, for fear of getting killed in stupid and/or horrible ways. Entertaining enough, but...after a couple of chapters, I started to worry this gag was going to get really old over 300 pages. Which is when Scalzi shook things up by a clever spoilery twist, which he followed quickly by another spoilery twist. And before I knew it, this had become a serious SF book with a comic flair. The codas at the end turn this from a fun adventure into something with a lot of heart and soul--and even more cleverness than the large amount displayed in the main body of the novel. I so less-than-three this book. Go and read

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This book is a really fun read. I loved the concept and play on the old Star Trek show themes.

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"Redshirts" by John Scalzi is a fun read, especially for those who enjoy science fiction shows like Star Trek, Bablyon 5 or Stargate. The story is about the crew on board the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid. The main character, Ensign Andrew Dahl, notices fairly quickly that things are a little strange when he gets reassigned to the Intrepid. The upper command keeps going on weird away missions where at least one crew member tends to get killed. This crew member usually being a redshirt, which refers to the original Star Trek series where an unknown crew member, in a red shirt, is usually offed off in the beginning of an episode. This is a fun read that pokes fun at bad science fiction shows. It is quick paced and keeps the reader engaged. I recommend it to all those science fiction fans who enjoy a little cheesiness with their stories.