320 pages
English language
Published Aug. 9, 2013
Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. It's a prestige posting, with the chance to serve on "Away Missions" alongside the starship's famous senior officers.
Life couldn't be better...until Andrew begins to realize that 1) every Away Mission involves a lethal confrontation with alien forces, 2) the ship's senior officers always survive these confrontations, and 3) sadly, at least one low-ranking crew member is invariably killed. Unsurprisingly, the savvier crew members below decks avoid Away Missions at all costs.
Then Andrew stumbles on information that transforms his and his colleagues' understanding of what the starship Intrepid really is...and offers them a crazy, high-risk chance to save their own lives. Redshirts by John Scalzi is the winner of the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Novel.
Fun, light; the twist did not do as much for me as I expected - seemed like Scalzi was going through the motions when he wrote that part, once he came up with the idea.
A great book with less than gentle nods to common tropes in older science fiction television series', mainly Star Trek. This book was a wonderful journey into the lives of background characters from shows we all know well. I won't spoil anything except to say I wish I had that box......
Perfect amount of silliness for a summer read.
Re-reading this, I found myself enjoying it more the second time around.
Much of what I have to say about Redshirts has been already said, and better, by other reviewers: the core of the novel is a fun, scifi-ish, meta-ish romp that is of decent quality, whereas the novel really comes into its own in the three codas, which are each beautiful and existential meditations.
I have only two complaints: Scalzi tags his conversations way too much ("she said") and it particularly bugs when listening to the audiobook. Wheaton, who is an exceptional narrator -- full of verve and hitting exactly the right cynical tone -- uses exactly the same cadence for every tag and it almost sounds rhythmic in this way that is very distracting. The second complaint is that the conceit of the books was well known a priori, and yet the majority of the book is spent leading the reader to it and describing it -- I would have …
Much of what I have to say about Redshirts has been already said, and better, by other reviewers: the core of the novel is a fun, scifi-ish, meta-ish romp that is of decent quality, whereas the novel really comes into its own in the three codas, which are each beautiful and existential meditations.
I have only two complaints: Scalzi tags his conversations way too much ("she said") and it particularly bugs when listening to the audiobook. Wheaton, who is an exceptional narrator -- full of verve and hitting exactly the right cynical tone -- uses exactly the same cadence for every tag and it almost sounds rhythmic in this way that is very distracting. The second complaint is that the conceit of the books was well known a priori, and yet the majority of the book is spent leading the reader to it and describing it -- I would have rather spent more time with the characters -- and more fun, satirical romps through SciFiVerse.
I was very curious to read something by John Scalzi. I’ve heard that his books were awesome and had that piece of ironic humor we usually find in the work of Douglas Adams or Terry Pratchett (and that we all LOVE).
So, I’m a John Scalzi newbie. I started reading “Redshirts” without any real high expectations; I just knew what I read in the book description on my Kindle. And by that I mean: I knew it was a science fiction novel probably inspired by Star Trek. And that it involved the so called Star Trek’s “redshirts”. I didn’t want to spoil my expectation reading other reviews about the book.
It was a very delightful and fast read. Scalzi really knows how to write interesting characters and get us hooked in their story. At first, I was not sure the book was supposed to be a parody of science fiction …
I was very curious to read something by John Scalzi. I’ve heard that his books were awesome and had that piece of ironic humor we usually find in the work of Douglas Adams or Terry Pratchett (and that we all LOVE).
So, I’m a John Scalzi newbie. I started reading “Redshirts” without any real high expectations; I just knew what I read in the book description on my Kindle. And by that I mean: I knew it was a science fiction novel probably inspired by Star Trek. And that it involved the so called Star Trek’s “redshirts”. I didn’t want to spoil my expectation reading other reviews about the book.
It was a very delightful and fast read. Scalzi really knows how to write interesting characters and get us hooked in their story. At first, I was not sure the book was supposed to be a parody of science fiction series. And then I realized it had some clichés and narrative patterns like: overly dramatic dialogues in action scenes, absurd situations and some inconsistent physical laws.
It is very difficult to talk about the plot of the book without giving away spoilers. However, I will do my best. In short, the protagonist, Dahl, is recruited to work in the Xenobiology lab inside the ship called Intrepid. Dahl notice that weird and curious things happen with the crew of the ship, and that everyone is afraid of the so-called “away missions”. The death rates of people involved in the away missions are abnormally high, and that triggers Dahl to search for information and statistics. And in some point we start to understand the reference to the "Redshirts"
I will not say more about the story itself because I’ll probably spoil the narrative. But, I can say that the plot is VERY creative and that I was totally surprised when the major “mystery” of the story was revealed. Then, when you think the book is over, there are there Codas telling more of the story in different points of view, from different characters and using different voices (first person, second person, third person). Very interesting (and fun)!!
Overall, the book is very amusing! There were various moments I caught myself laughing aloud with some dialogues! And the very first explanation of the mysteries and the plot twist are fantastic!
But at the end of the book I wanted to know more about the story. The explanation given for the “mysterious” occurrences with the crew of the Intrepid was not complete, for me. I felt there were many things hanging in the air. I thought the final Codas were going to tie up all the loose ends and I was a little frustrated in not getting a full explanation.
So, I guess that’s why I gave the book 3 out of 5 stars. I was excited with the roll of the story, and in the end, I got a little disappointed. But that must be me, who wants explanations for everything!! I guess I was not in a very generous mood when I rated the book...
A quick, entertaining read which is almost better described as a novella and three short stories rather than one solid novel. The first 2/3 of the book is an exaggerated parody of Star Trek (original series) poking fun at the short life expectancy of the "expendable crewmembers" and the ludicrous survival rate of the star characters, told from the perspective of one of the expendable crewmembers who is trying to make some kind of sense of the nonsensical logic of the narrative. The three short stories following are (trying to avoid spoilers) best described as alternate perspectives and additional details related to the story told from different characters' points of view. It's hard to talk more about the story without giving away details but suffice it to say that any original Star Trek fan will be particularly amused, but a deep knowledge of Star Trek is not required, and this …
A quick, entertaining read which is almost better described as a novella and three short stories rather than one solid novel. The first 2/3 of the book is an exaggerated parody of Star Trek (original series) poking fun at the short life expectancy of the "expendable crewmembers" and the ludicrous survival rate of the star characters, told from the perspective of one of the expendable crewmembers who is trying to make some kind of sense of the nonsensical logic of the narrative. The three short stories following are (trying to avoid spoilers) best described as alternate perspectives and additional details related to the story told from different characters' points of view. It's hard to talk more about the story without giving away details but suffice it to say that any original Star Trek fan will be particularly amused, but a deep knowledge of Star Trek is not required, and this is a light and entertaining SF/F read for just about anyone who enjoys the genre. There are even some serious, touching moments among the parody. I wasn't quite sure what I was expecting but this wasn't it; however I enjoyed it nonetheless.
I was in the mood for a light, funny read. I had told myself that I would wait a bit before reading Redshirts - because it had just gone out and was a bit expensive, especially for an electronic version. And obviously, telling myself that I would wait a bit is possibly the best incentive to want to read it NOW.
So I sighed and bought it and started reading it. And finished it by actually pushing through the sleepiness to continue reading, which I tend to not do these days as much as when I was younger ;)
I had heard of Redshirts a while ago, was praying for the very nice premises to not be wasted, got some reassurance when I read [b:Old Man's War|51964|Old Man's War (Old Man's War, #1)|John Scalzi|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1391208186s/51964.jpg|50700], and was expecting something good.
I wasn't disappointed. The idea of the book will be familiar …
I was in the mood for a light, funny read. I had told myself that I would wait a bit before reading Redshirts - because it had just gone out and was a bit expensive, especially for an electronic version. And obviously, telling myself that I would wait a bit is possibly the best incentive to want to read it NOW.
So I sighed and bought it and started reading it. And finished it by actually pushing through the sleepiness to continue reading, which I tend to not do these days as much as when I was younger ;)
I had heard of Redshirts a while ago, was praying for the very nice premises to not be wasted, got some reassurance when I read [b:Old Man's War|51964|Old Man's War (Old Man's War, #1)|John Scalzi|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1391208186s/51964.jpg|50700], and was expecting something good.
I wasn't disappointed. The idea of the book will be familiar to anyone remotely familiar with Star Trek: on the ship Intrepid, every away mission tends to end up with one of the low ranked crew member killed in some spectacular fashion. Andy Dahl, newly assigned on the ship, intends to escape that horrible fate and tries to understand what happens.
Redshirts contains at least a good part of the things that makes you cringe when watching Star Trek (any series. Note: I still LOVE Star Trek.), except possibly the amount of technobabble - and it is very funny. The amount of meta is growing exponentially, and the whole thing made me giggle at more than one place (as my husband can probably attest).
Liked it a lot.
Decent book. It reminded me a bit of tongue-in-cheek Harry Harrison. Not amazingly special, but not bad.
If there is any topic writers like to write about more than any other, it's writers. Hemingway wrote about writers; John Irving writes about writers; now, John Scalzi has written about a writer.
("But wait!" you protest, "I thought this story was about a bunch of redshirts?" It is, until...well, dammit, read the book!)
It's worth reading, but as I read it, I kept picturing Scalzi sniggering gleefully while he typed the story up on Google Docs. The last chapter overtly confirms this image. I've never been a huge Star Trek fan, and I have a feeling there's a lot of little things I missed — nods to particular episodes, characters, situations, etc. That said, the influence of the redshirt extra has permeated science fiction television, and television in general, enough that I appreciated the scenario. I get the joke, even if it's a bit protracted.
The codas are the …
If there is any topic writers like to write about more than any other, it's writers. Hemingway wrote about writers; John Irving writes about writers; now, John Scalzi has written about a writer.
("But wait!" you protest, "I thought this story was about a bunch of redshirts?" It is, until...well, dammit, read the book!)
It's worth reading, but as I read it, I kept picturing Scalzi sniggering gleefully while he typed the story up on Google Docs. The last chapter overtly confirms this image. I've never been a huge Star Trek fan, and I have a feeling there's a lot of little things I missed — nods to particular episodes, characters, situations, etc. That said, the influence of the redshirt extra has permeated science fiction television, and television in general, enough that I appreciated the scenario. I get the joke, even if it's a bit protracted.
The codas are the best part of the book, and my only complaint is that you have to read the previous pages to get to them. I don't mean this in the "we have to drive 400 miles to grandma's house" sense, but rather in the "the codas would be completely unintelligible without the preceding, smidge-above-mediocre story" sense. I'm not sure if that makes the overall book good or merely passable. Damn you, Scalzi!
I thoroughly enjoyed this. John Scalzi takes the accepted knowledge about 'redshirts' and builds it into a funny and sometimes poignant look at the life of a redshirt from the inside, while still being a science fiction novel in its own right. The characters aren't all that deep for a good part of the novel, but there are good reasons for that. The story is engaging, and the humour, especially for those of us who remember the original Star Trek series, is spot on. Recommended to geeks everywhere, especially those who have fond memories of Star Trek, but are still able to acknowledge and appreciate its flaws!
I'll be honest. I didn't finish the book. It started out funny, but around the halfway point, I just lost interest. Eventually, I put the book down and never picked it up again. Anyone who hasn't seen Star Trek should pass on this one, because without the show as a reference point you just have cardboard characters running around in a nondescript spacecraft. It's worth a glance if you enjoyed Star Trek or simply enjoy poking fun at the show.
This starts off looking like a really trope-y sci-fi piece. It starts off looking like really bad sci-fi. Like a Star Trek rip off to be a little more precise. But then it starts to get more and more meta, and the author starts taking apart all the things that make campy sci-fi so appealing, and you get twists and turns that make this one of the best books I've read in recent times. I cannot stress enough how much this book dragged me in and pulled me along to its end. I freaking loved every moment.
Started off thinking this was a bit weak, but it got a lot better. 4 stars because he took the metafiction further than I thought he could without everything collapsing.
Fun, amusing and enjoyable. Little to predictable
When people talk about a book being “meta”, I have to admit that I often wonder what they are talking about because it really doesn’t say anything about the book itself but it is a good way to sound pretentious. John Scalzi’s Redshirts is so meta; I think the author must have had a lot of fun writing this novel and playing with the red shirt concept. For those people that don’t know what a Red shirt is; it’s a concept made famous by Star Trek in which the character wearing the red shirt on a mission was always the one that died for dramatic effect.
The book Redshirts follows a copy of characters who decided why there was a high mortality rate for the people on missions with high ranking officers. Through their research they found that the only other ship with the same mortality rate was the USS …
When people talk about a book being “meta”, I have to admit that I often wonder what they are talking about because it really doesn’t say anything about the book itself but it is a good way to sound pretentious. John Scalzi’s Redshirts is so meta; I think the author must have had a lot of fun writing this novel and playing with the red shirt concept. For those people that don’t know what a Red shirt is; it’s a concept made famous by Star Trek in which the character wearing the red shirt on a mission was always the one that died for dramatic effect.
The book Redshirts follows a copy of characters who decided why there was a high mortality rate for the people on missions with high ranking officers. Through their research they found that the only other ship with the same mortality rate was the USS Enterprise. This drives the story in a comedic dig at science fiction television shows.
This book starts off so strong, it has an interesting premises but it turns out all downhill from there. I really think this book would have worked a lot better as a short story and I think Scalzi was just adding filler in to make the book longer. I did enjoy the meta elements of this book and I found it was an entertaining look at the Star Trek storylines but once you hit the halfway point you might as well stop reading. Think of it as Star Trek parody meets Stranger the Fiction jammed together in a very sloppy way.
I listened to the audiobook version of this book and I think that was one of the best parts of my experience of this book. The audio version was read by Wil Weaton adding a whole new element of meta to this book. As a geek, I’m a fan of Wil Weaton and this was the main reason why I read this book. Redshirts could have been an entertaining book, but I don’t think it really came together as well as I was hoping for. Luckily it was a very short book; which could have been shorter. The comedy and meta elements of the novel were worth checking out but the rest of the book didn’t work.
