Redshirts

A Novel with Three Codas

By: John Scalzi

Narrated by: Wil Wheaton

Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

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, and Andrew is thrilled all the more to be assigned to the ship’s Xenobiology laboratory. Life couldn’t be better…until Andrew begins to pick up on the facts that (1) every Away Mission involves some kind of lethal confrontation with alien forces; (2) the ship’s captain, its chief science officer, and the handsome Lieutenant Kerensky always survive these confrontations; and (3) at least one low-ranked crew member is, sadly, always killed.

Not surprisingly, a great deal of energy below decks is expended on avoiding, at all costs, being assigned to an Away Mission. Then Andrew stumbles on information that completely 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.

©2012 John Scalzi (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

What Fun!!!`

I cannot fully express how much fun this book is.

I love the fact that Wil Wheaton reads this, and that he sounds like he is impersonating Captin Kirk in his rendition-This makes it even more fun.

It is outlandish and requires a complete suspension of disbelief. And, yes, I enjoyed Star Trek and its spin-offs (with the exception of Deep Space Nine) and there are lots of tongue-in-cheek references to the original series. I found myself smiling regularly as I listened and laughing out loud frequently. I highly recommend this book if you enjoyed Star Trek. Redshirts is a book I will bring out if I am feeling blue or nostalgic and need a dose of laughter.

I am relatively new to Scalzi, but I love his dry humor and ramapant sarcasm. He is a man after my own heart!

Highly recommended by a Trekkie (Ok, I never actually attended a convention so I might only be an honorary Trekkie~)

Hilarious Novel, Three Remarkable Codas

If you could sum up Redshirts in three words, what would they be?

Everyone should listen to this book. (I kinda thought this field would limit me to three words given the prompt, but I guess I beat the system on this one.)

What other book might you compare Redshirts to and why?

Oddly enough, a great companion book to this one is Kurt Vonnegut's "Breakfast of Champions". I found this book something of an uplifting and beautiful answer to the bleakly despondent outcome of "Breakfast of Champions" It's easier just to say listen to both of these excellent examples of literature and the connection between them becomes clear.

Which scene was your favorite?

"It gets worse...I don't think it's a very good show." - Jenkins

Any additional comments?

Most of this novel is as described in the plot summary, and is Scalzi doing the things he does best. His characters are sardonic and immediately lovable, his dialog sharp, and the way that he ruthlessly skewers every foible of the television sci-fi formula will leave you chuckling more or less constantly for the first several hours of the book, provided you have ever seen any television sci-fi (star trek included, but they're pretty much all that way). But just when you think the story is done with you and that it was amusing and really fun, the codas take the story to an entirely new and unexpected level, and turn the story from a must-read comedy into an important work of literature. I am sincerely grateful to Scalzi for writing this beautiful work.

I was glad to see WIl Wheaton reading this story, also. He's very good at audio narration and I hope to hear more from him in this field. Also, it's perfectly apropos for a Star Trek cast member to be reading this one.

Excellent despite Will Wheaton's narration

John Scalzi has become one of my favorite authors, and this book is simply a joy. Don't skip the three "Codas" at the end of the novel, as they really are riveting! The novel itself had me laughing and chuckling all the way, but please don't think this is just a comedy. It is a really thoughtful insight into the Sci-Fi genre, Star Trek, TV, and human nature. I loved the character development and thoroughly enjoyed Scalzi's writing.

That having been said, I almost wish that I had read this book rather than having listened to it. I tolerated Wil Wheaton's machine-gun narration in "Fuzzy Nation," but he was even more annoying with this one. They must not have paid him by the hour, judging from the way he seems to rush through everything. And the way he has of reading the "he said" and "she said" elements of each paragraph really got on my nerves. He reads the parts that you try to tune out with as much, if not more, emphasis than the actual dialog. It really made it hard to lose myself in the story. Will Wheaton really doesn't have a bad voice, but his delivery makes me constantly think the characters REALLY needed to go to the bathroom. I know that Will Wheaton and John Scalzi are friends, but I wish Mr. Wheaton would just slow down. HOWEVER, he did do a magnificent job on the three "Codas." Those were not written in the same style and they suited his narration style much better. I actually got a chill down my back at the end of the third Coda!

Well...

Any additional comments?

Redshirst was fun until the overall plot started becoming evident. The plot is so-so but I more enjoyed how the 'extras' in the story were self aware and knew their existence was bizarre but were going along with it so they did not end up dead. If you watched the original Star Trek, it added a funny perspective. Mid story a group of the characters have to leave the ship in order to survive and at this point I lost interest and I continued listening in the hopes that the story would regain more of its original quirkiness. It didn't. The reader was a good choice for the book.

First 5.5 hrs fun, next 2 hrs not so much

This was my introduction to Scalzi and I have mixed feelings. The first 5.5 hrs was like an over long SNL skit about people who realize they’re just extras in a cosmically wrong universe patterned after a TV show. It was generally entertaining, Irreverently self-aware, and not too horribly meta. The minor downside, as other reviewers warned: he writes with 90% dialogue, better fitted for scripted TV, which makes for a lot of annoying “he said” tics.

Then that story ends and we slog through several hours of post scripts or “codas” as the author puts it. We get a story about a TV show writer that only other writers (or TV geeks that love, love, love getting meta) could love. As I am neither of those, I found it boring.. Then we get a screen rant story about (the author’s) bad road trip (car accident). I didn’t get it. Then we get a weird third person story about the author futzing around with Samantha. I was annoyed and rather pissed at the end- this was not the book I bought... and I loathe false advertising. The codas’ minor upside: the first and second parts are told in first and second person, and are free of the “he said” tic.

I would have been upset to pay a full credit for this book, but the first part was good enough that I may try another Scalzi book... if on sale...or free in another Audible 2 for 1 sale. Final silver lining: this was my first book with Wil Wheaton as narrator (kind of amazing because I love Sci-fi and fantasy, but to be fair, until my eyes started going bad, I was a reader, not a listener). Wheaton was excellent and I may seek out other books that he’s narrated.

Please Make This A Movie!!!!

I'm so glad I got this. As soon as I started listening, I couldn't stop. It is absolutely hilarious and awesome. The writer does use the word "said" a lot -- A LOT -- but the content of the story is so good it overcomes that weakness.

Wil Wheaton is a good reader, but he needs to work on voicing characters. He does a good job with the content and inflection, and perfectly hits the humor -- he just needs some voices. Wil, if you read this -- please listen to Jonathan Davis read Snow Crash. You could be that good, you just need multiple voices for the different characters.

Wheaton & Scalzi Win Again!

The Story:
New crew members happy to be brought aboard a starship, are suddenly alarmed to find out that their away parties continue to come back one or two crew members short and begin to believe there something behind it all.

The title alone should get the faithful Star Trek & Battlestar Galactica crowd on board but non-fans will find just as much to enjoy in this funny fast paced thrill ride. The action scenes are brisk and pull you right into it's well layered trap of a twist. There's a lot to like in this story and at 8 hours it'a hardly a huge commitment and my only caveat is that I didn't get to know the characters enough. Their motivations are clear and their actions true to form but I would have loved more scenes with away missions, misdirection, and incompetence from the bridge crew. The three codas felt tacked on (with the exception of the third one) to fill the space at the end. The first one is funny and entertaining but it's hollow. The balance of the three is interesting but I think the third one would have made the perfect ending.

The Narrator:
His adept perception, great knowledge and deft reading puts him at the top of his game. Will Wheaton comes out swinging for the bleachers and delivers another fantastic read. He gets this material, of course he does, and more so get's Scalzi's writing style, voice and humor. I don't want to imagine anyone else narrating his books, this is my third with this combination and I look forward to the next

The Sum:
A very entertaining, exciting, well read story that I only wish was longer and had a bit more depth.

Almost quit listening..

This is a book I almost quit listening to about 1/4 the way throu. The writing and dialogue was terrible and cliche. So bad that I put the book on and went out to mow the lawn knowing that it didn't much matter if I missed something. Then I got it! About a quarter of the way throu it the book changed. The narration got better the dialogue got better (much better). The book isn't just a story about redshirts on a Star Trek like series. Its also a critique on the genre and the writers who follow formula to create stories that don't matter.

Im as follower of scifi. Ill watch just about anything and reading this book points out to me how much TV I've watched that was just a rehash of other stories or how I was setup to care about a character that the writers new was going to bite it an episode or two later. If more fans of scifi read this book I think it would change how we consume this media and in effect make the stories better.

The last quarter of the book has really nothing to do with scifi at all. Its just good story telling and character development. It does a great job of making us care about the characters were reading about. Its also an example of the type of stories we could have if we were better consumers and better writers. If your a fan of scifi I highly recommend this book. It gives you a different perspective on how to look at mass market storytelling.

Wil Wheaton was the perfect choice for the narrator. It took me a while to forget that it was Wi Wheaton reading but when I "got it", when I understood the book I also understood that there was no better person that could have read it.

So Disappointed

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The inane dialogue, the narration, and the fact that I bought it.

If you’ve listened to books by John Scalzi before, how does this one compare?

This was a major disappointment, John is a talented writer, this book felt off from the beginning as if he struggled to find his voice, he never did

How did the narrator detract from the book?

WIl is a gifted narrator who has a nuanced narration style I like and respect. This reading felt like a forced march to monotony by someone almost angry to be doing the work. I lasted 15 minutes before I turned it off and decided to return the book. All of the voices sounded the same.

Could you see Redshirts being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Didn't get far enough to care.

Any additional comments?

I will read more Scalzi and listen to more Wheaton. This book is clearly a disastrous anomaly from two very talented people.

Clever, has an intricate plot and sly humor

Very enjoyable way to be entertained with a sci-fi story with a current culture / television programming twist.