Redshirts

A Novel with Three Codas

by John Scalzi, Wil Wheaton

audio cd

Published June 11, 2013 by Brilliance Audio.

ISBN:: 978-1-4692-9827-6

(272 reviews)

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.

17 editions

Strakul reviewed Redshirts by John Scalzi

Review of 'Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

This book was hilarious and fun to read. Scalzi is a genius storyteller.

I'm beginning to dislike the star-rating system, though. I would give this 3.5. Why no higher?
Halfway through the book I felt betrayed. I was expecting one thing and Scalzi turns the book around and gives me something else.
Is it still good? Absolutely, but I thought it would be better given the great start and thus felt completely underwhelmed.

It's like when you are reading a mystery and the author reveals the first possible solution. You expect him to reveal a few more and then completely surprise you with a new solution that is nonetheless perfectly consistent with the story and ultimately more satisfying. This is not that type of book: you get the first solution, and that's it. That's the answer. Just have to wrap up the story now.
Fortunately, the humor and characters manage …

unsquare reviewed Redshirts by John Scalzi

Review of 'Redshirts' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Somehow Redshirts is incredibly deep and emotionally powerful while also being a goofy metafictional scifi genre parody. No shit.

unicorndeburgh reviewed Redshirts by John Scalzi

Review of 'Redshirts' on 'Goodreads'

No rating

This is a book that's got some really splendid surprises, so be careful reading reviews of it, because you'll have even more fun if you read it without any spoilers in advance. This is a spoiler-free review. [return][return]As the title indicates, this book is set in a Star-Trekkian world with hapless redshirt crew members. It works as a hilarious send-up of the Star Trek world. There's a point early in the book where I had to put it down and howl with laughter for a bit. It moves on from that satire to another level (and another, and another...) as the redshirt protagonists recognize their fate and take things into their own hands. There are twists within twists, but they are so deftly done that I was never confused as to what was going on, even while the action dashed along at high speed, from one meta-madness to the next. [return][return]The structure of the book is a complete novel, and then three short pieces (the "coda" of the title) set in the same universe, with some of the same characters, taking place after the action of the novel. It's lovely seeing the aftereffects of the dashing action of the novel. The codas are at a more personal level, with characters reacting to what happened in a mad rush of life-and-death action.

Daniel Andrlik reviewed Redshirts by John Scalzi

Review of 'Redshirts' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I really enjoyed the premise of this book. It was snappy and fun to read, but not without flaws The three codas at the end were good, but felt a little awkward in some ways. I found myself wishing for a little bit more distinction between the characters, but in some ways that's part of the joke.

But for all my complaints, I still had a blast with this book. I can't really write about it without spoilers so I'll just say this: if you're in on the redshirt joke, you will love is book, but if you aren't behind the notion you might not understand why people are raving. I loved it.