Jason Evangelho rated Redshirts: 4 stars
Redshirts by John Scalzi
Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since …
Something happened between Book 1 and Book 2 of The Rho Agenda series, as if Phillips got dramatically more tuned in to the characters he'd created. The dialogue still feels somewhat stilted, but it's more natural now than in Book 1, and the hard science and hacking shenanigans (quite fascinating and imaginative) are frequently left to narration instead of what would sound like curiously dry and uninteresting conversations between teenagers -- who, by the way, aren't featured quite as prominently as they were in Book 1.
More importantly, Phillips injected about 100x more evil and ruthlessness into the villains this time around, and although they're repulsive at every turn, I was much more intrigued by them than the protagonists (with the exception of Jack aka The Ripper). Every scene with Raul and El Chupacabre gave me chills.
It's an improved story at every turn, especially the pacing. Immune's chapters are …
