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.

I enjoyed it

Simply put, it was a good book and a fun premise. Solid work. Thank you.

Quick shout out, heard about this from Ryan Haywood and Geoff Ramsey (hopefully I spelled one or even both of those names right) from a random Let's Play video. So, side thanks to them too.

great spacebook great read

very clever premise in very well-executed. The performance was wonderful. scalzi the master of dialogue, and Wil Wheaton really brings it out.

Made me laugh and cry. Great sci-fi comedy.

Can’t believe I waited years to read this. Redshirts is the best kind of sci-fi spoof. The kind with its own worldbuilding and heart. It’s got just enough geeky references to make you feel like your life could cross over with the characters, since the geekery has a lot to do w/the plot. One of those, “I knew that was real!” kind of stories. Read it twice. At least.

The generic boy band of audio books

I try really hard to like all my audio books (I paid for them I want to like them), but this was really not good.

Boy band analogy: Boy bands are the lowest common denominator of entertainment. Geared towards 13 year old girls, simple lyrics, pretty appearance.

This book was all those things: Not complex, no detail, super generic, celebrity reader (I like will Wheaton).

Just to boy band.

1 word - “AWESOME!”

I’m not a die hard Trekkie to the point of Comic-con but I watched the originals as re-runs with my brother & grew up watching STNG as well as DS-9 (Well ok I’m enough of a Trekkie to use the abbreviations). So I know what the term red-shirt means (no not a communist as we explained to our parents).
I LOVE satire! And this book takes the cake! I LOVED THIS BOOK! So much in fact that I actually would go back & listen to it all again right after I finished! I never do that with books! I might listen or read it again in a year or 2 but not immediately afterwards.
So if you were on the fence about listening to this book & you’ve gotten this far through the reviews I ask you - Do you have a Ceti eel in your ear?? Why have you not downloaded this book yet?!

Spectacular sci-fi

Unbelievable. If you are a scifi fan, this is an absolute must read!! Scalzi, as usual, knocks it out of the park in storytelling, premise, and dialogue. Laugh out loud funny at all the right times. Wheaton's performance is spot on, and I know I enjoyed the book even more than if I'd only read it. One note: do not be discouraged by the, shall we say, awkward run of dialogue in the first bit, it's intentional and does not persist.

not bad. certain issues, though.

Purchased because I am a Star Trek fan. Will Wheaton was great, too. Also enjoyed the Galaxy Quest references. My main problem with this was the word *said*. There are other synonyms for it. like remarked. replied, answered. When reading a book, you can skip over a word, but when listening it gets annoying. Also, names of your main characters should be more different. Doll and Duvall sound too much alike and it gets a bit confusing. Still, a funny story once I decided to listen despite that
I got several strange looks at work when I laughed randomly.

Did I miss something?

Was there a book before this one? I kept thinking I was walking into a conversation that started before I got to the party. Very Trumanesque. A story within a story within a story. There were many times I wanted to stop listening but dangit, I paid for this book & I'm going to finish it. I like John Scalzi's book and truly love listening to Wil Wheaton. (I particularly like it when Star Trek is mentioned. ) The one thing that especially bothered me was the reading. Blah, blah, Dahl said. Blahdy blah Hester said. I would have preferred a voice change rather all the " ...said" So irritating in short conversations.

The story is about the misadventures of a "starship " and its crew. One of the crew realizes that they're just characters in a TV show. They end going back in time, make a few adjustments. And so the story goes until the end where we end up happily ever after.

Amazing adventure that had me thinking in the end!

Absolutely loved it! As a classic Trek fan (I'm 33 so I watched the reruns) I joked about the red shirts on the shows, but this story about red shirts took every joke and made a very cool sci-fi story. There was a very little struggle in one of the first couple chapters, but after that very short time I was hooked and wanted to learn more. Some favorite moments: Learning about "The Box", most scenes involving Jenkins, and the last 3 chapters which really did a good job of explaining what happens to the people after the main characters return home. I am trying to be a bit cryptic as to not give the story away. Also, Wil nailed it again as the narrator! I haven't heard a single thing I haven't liked from him. And come on, THIS WAS SO PERFECT FOR HIM!!

Good pacing interesting concept

It’s a neat concept, and I like that the book is short because otherwise this story would be too drawn out. Will Wheaton is always worth it as a narrator. The codas didn’t add anything in my opinion.