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.

Half of a really fun book

I really enjoyed the first half of this book. It was very funny and entertaining. In my opinion the second part of the story was not as entertaining and could have been skipped.

Emotional sucker punch - in a good way!

Let's just say, it's much deeper and more emotional than a standard satire. If you're a fan of science fiction television tropes, you'll love this but be warned, it has a lot of heart.

Not suitable for listening!

What would have made Redshirts better?

This should have been modified to eliminate at least some of the "he said, she said" words. I noticed this in other reviews, but bought the book anyway - I could not listen to more than half an hour - it really is that annoying!

What didn’t you like about Wil Wheaton’s performance?

No differences in delivery for any characters, which could have made the removal of those "he said"(s)

Any additional comments?

The dialog I managed to listen to seemed lively and entertaining, it's really too bad the delivery is so tedious.

so much better than I ever expected

I absolutely loved this story.
Originally I thought this would be just a simple tonge in cheek comedy piece, but I was dead wrong.

it has a very rewarding story, with true depth and meaning to be carried on long after the story is finished.

Good book with a fantastic ending

The sci fi Star Trek of the majority of the book was very good. I could have done with out the language, but what do you do? What got me was the last three chapters. By far some of the most insightful things that I have read in quite a while.

very enjoyable and fun. "

"said" gets said a lot but other than that it is a fun listen that kept my attention. very original with a heartwarming end. thanks, it was definitely worth the credit.

Had me laughing out loud

Listening to characters who would basically be on Star Trek use the type of language I'm used to hearing from when I was in the military....awesome. The humor is always on point and the fact that you get to see the other side of life on a star ship that can't seem to ever have anything go smoothly well, people were looking at me funny for laughing with headphones on.

Oh my! Totally unique, unexpected & fun

What is reality??? Both John and Will combine to create the most unique, wtf is really going on, deep yet light jumble of words I've listened to yet... I'm so chuckling as I near the end of this thoroughly unexpected experience...

I've read or listened to everything Scalzi has created cept for this... Don't know why i missed it but here it was, sitting on my phone already and so Audible would not let me buy it again during a sale... Do I buy too many books??? So I fired it up and two days later I'm smiling and glad it finally found its way into my brain...

Scalzi at his best... Wheaton... Love his storytelling

Fun story

I really enjoyed this story from the get-go. One can tell the "surprise" from early on, but the way it was handled was a lot of fun. The story was fast-paced, a little oddball and an interesting look at some of the science fiction drama of our culture. I'm not sure about the codas, but the story itself was quite a fun read.

Surprisingly Enjoyable!

The story started off a bit scattered but came together in fun ways. Lots of sci-fi tropes and comical references to pop nerd culture, which made the story all the more enjoyable.

The ending is rather amazing. So make sure you listen/read to the very finale.

Narration was a bit meh. Will Wheaton is good at what he does, but every book I've heard him in (Ready Player One, Armada) he seems to have one sarcastic reading mode. I don't feel like he was the best fit for this book because a lot of the dialogue was a bit more emotive and his sardonic default deflated a lot of that.

But great story overall. Definitely worth it.