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.

A SyFy Love Story

Okay maybe not your standard love story and the underlying theme doesn't break the surface until the end. But now thinking back it was there from the start.

Think i may have something in my eye

John has done it again. Redshirts is equal measure of silly, action, adventure, surrealism and "heart". I truly enjoyed this book and would love to see it brought to hmmm would comedy central, the syfy channel, or a fx be the right venue to do the series it would take to do justice to the material. I can just see a number of the usual suspects having a ball making this happen.

Just another really good book

I loved it stuff said
Child of the 80's star trek fan. . . .
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Great Story. All Star Trek fans will love it

I loved the entire book. it changes but is great throughout. I would recommend this to all Trek fans.

Funny and interesting

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

A good laugh.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Showing just how ridiculous Star Trek would be in any universe.

Which character – as performed by Wil Wheaton – was your favorite?

The main character

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

A trek in the stars.

Great story with the perfect narrator

The story was engaging and Hwil Hweaton was the perfect narrator, a verbal twinkle at-the-ready.

Scalzi/Wheaton

It is hard to beat this combination of author and performer.
The plot has some interesting twists. I could say alot more, but talking more about the book would have to involve "spoilers". if you enjoyed other titles by the author, and enjoy Wheaton, buy the book.

Good start ... faded fast

Any additional comments?

I'd been waiting for a deal on this after listening to a Sample of the first four chapters. Interesting concept that devolves quickly and consistently. And, all the repetitive "he said", "he said"s at times made me want to scream.

Your inner Trekkie will giggle

Very light, fun read! The whole story is, of course, one big Trekkie in-joke, which should tell you whether or not this might appeal to you. I won't say you have to be a Trekkie to like this, but it added a lot. This was a real hoot! Lots of humor, both tongue-in-cheek and a few places where I really laughed out loud. I was a little worried the Trekkie in-joke might get stale, but the plot was strong enough to keep that from happening.

You don't pick this up for a deep, difficult listen. You pick this up for the fun of it. If you've ever wanted to join Starfleet but were scared to put on a dreaded red shirt, the Intrepid's Ensign Dahl knows just how you feel.

This was my first Scalzi book and I'll go looking for more.

As for the narrator, there could not be a more perfect person to read the part of a newly assigned ensign on a starship! I've also recently heard Will Wheaton read "Ready Player One" and I found him just as good there! He was actually a bit more animated here, and that helped a lot as there are quite a few characters to keep straight. Nobody could have done it better!

This is tightly-written book, and it didn't feel too short even though I usually prefer long stories. The main portion of the book is only about 6 hours long, and then after that are three shorter add-ons -- the "codas" everyone keeps talking about. They're little story finishes from three lesser characters' points-of-view. The first didn't impress me much but I can see why the author picked that character to focus on. The second and the third were worth waiting for!

Highly recommended for sci-fi fans in mood for some fun!

Great story!

I really enjoyed this book. While I agree, there were an awful lot of "said"s in the beginning, they evened out as the book went along. It was only a little annoying because it is an audiobook, otherwise you'd never have really noticed it. All in all, it was a great story, interesting premise, with well done characters and dry humor.

Wil did a great job narrating the book, and it just added a little extra to the story that it was someone from Star Trek reading it. I am actually hopeful that someone makes this into a movie with Wil in the starring role - that would be awesome.