Redshirts

English language

Published April 6, 2012 by Tor.

ISBN:
978-0-7653-1699-8
Copied ISBN!
OCLC Number:
760974932

View on OpenLibrary

(326 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

Almost too self-conceited; very enjoyable and memorable regardless

I don't think I've ever seen a properly published piece of writing like this that was so in love with itself and it's premise; it's an absolute credit to Scalzi that this worked for me, because I got absolutely lost along with our crew of eponymous redshirts. I have only a passing familiarity with The Original Series but I had enough to grok the similarities between the bridge crew and that of the Enterprise; safe to say the depictions are imminently recognizable, which is good, because almost every page is the characters discussing the very peculiar meta-narrative dilemma they find themselves in and trying to figure a way to weasel out of it. Characterization takes a back seat; the only things we really learn about our characters by the end of the book is how they react, first to the realization of their predicament, then to the death of their …

Review of 'Redshirts' on 'Goodreads'

This fun Star Trek parody with a twist was super entertaining! John Scalzi's trademark humor carries the plot even in those moments when it's not top notch, the characters are likeable and felt, to me, more refined than in [b:The Kaiju Preservation Society|57693406|The Kaiju Preservation Society|John Scalzi|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1624897234l/57693406.SY75.jpg|90049719], the only other Scalzi book I had read before this one.
The solution to the problem of the mysteriously dying crew members wasn't exactly the most creative, I have to admit, but it was interesting to follow nevertheless. The second half of the book was, surprisingly, somewhat less captivating than the first.

My edition contained a foreword in which this book was praised as "almost philosophical" and overall much more intellectual than I had the impression it actually was - not sure if I missed something, or if the author of that foreword just felt fancy. It's a good book, I …

Inesperado

Ya en el prólogo te dicen que esto parece una parodia de Star Trek, y que siéndolo, también es otra cosa. Y así es.

En mi segunda novela de este autor he vuelto a disfrutar de ciencia ficción mezclada con comedia. Los diálogos son otra vez rápidos y llenos de humor sin descanso, pero la historia evoluciona hacia algo más interesante que una Space Soap Opera al uso.

No quiero meter spoilers pero esta cosa de acabar la historia y tener todavía un buen tramo por leer en este caso funciona muy bien y los últimos tres capítulos no son relleno y realmente cierran la historia de manera genial.

Redshirts

Pirandello meets Star Trek. Scalzi takes an interesting premise and has a great deal of fun with it as the "below decks" crew of a starship in the future start to wonder why so many of them suffer horrible deaths while the bridge crew remain unscathed. The crewmen and -women decide to investigate, and the ensuing romp gives Scalzi plenty of opportunity for humor. A fun read with some poignant moments as the plot develops.

Scalzi brings the snark

I felt the need for a little Scalzi snark and this is the snarkiest of his novels. It delivered on that in spades along with the entertainment. I inhaled this in one sitting, and there were definite snorts and giggles as I went through it. Yes, its only 4 stars on the top line but that's because a reader needs to be in on the joke. You have to be into Star Trek etc for any of this to make sense. Quality Scalzi, can recommend.

Review of 'Redshirts' on 'Goodreads'

Interesting premise well executed but loses a star because it needed one more proof read (there are a couple of really jarring errors where the wrong character is said to be speaking for example), and honestly I'm not sure all three Codas were entirely warrented. All in all though it was an enjoyable read, I would thoroughly recommend it to Sci-Fi fans, especially those who enjoy a touch of the meta.

Lasers get you killed... Who knew, am I right, clones ? (oops, wrong franchise)

Might seem like a harsh review, but I just want to be concise. The plot seems obvious rather quickly, and the story stays hilarious right through the end.

I was weirded out by the second part/ending. I think I got a bit bored by the pseudo-blog gimmick.

Excellent either way, and I'm not a star trek fan, like at all !

Borgovian land worms!

John Scalzi's dialog crackles with quick banter that makes his books worth reading:

Corey looked down and furrowed his brow. "Where are my pants?" he said. "We took them from you," Dahl said. "Why?" Corey said. "Because we need to talk to you," Dahl said. "You could do that without taking my pants," Corey said. "In a perfect world, yes," Dahl said.

-- John Scalzi, "Redshirts"

The only other Scalzi book I've read, Kiaju Preservation Society, let me down on plot—even when you remove the expected suspension of disbelief required of all sci-fi.

Fortunately, this book's plot holds up throughout the narrative.

The plot falls right out from the title. Think back to season one of "Star Trek: The Next Generation"—when the show was terrible. Think about all the nameless crew members who died on away missions. All those people had lives and families and worries. And their sad fate …

Review of 'Redshirts' on 'Storygraph'

I almost put this book down within the first few chapters because the characters were so one-dimensional... then the plot got going and I stayed up until 3am because I needed to know what would happen. This book definitely appeals to a very specific nerdy audience and I'm glad I've watched enough Star Trek to get the lampooning. I probably won't read it again but it was a fun ride nonetheless.

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