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.

fun for the most part

fun for the most part.

The, he said, then she said, then so and so said was distracting. wondering if the book was written that way? Or if it was to distinguish between the characters because most dialog was done in the same voice.

Get a thesaurus, please

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, honestly I would.

What did you like best about this story?

The story is amusing, and interesting. Not exactly original, but original enough. I enjoyed listening to the story and the ideas behind it were well thought out and engaging.

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

no idea

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

no, not really

Any additional comments?

The predominance of the word "said" is my only complaint with the book. There were whole chapters of conversations between "he said" and "he said" and "she said", said said said said SAID.

That was almost enough to make me turn it off and return the book. I managed to get past it and the story is still good. But it really does show a huge difference between READING a book and LISTENING to a book. If I were reading this book, I could skip over the word said and follow the conversation without it. But having it repeated over and over and over was very distracting and broke the narrative significantly.

However, that is my ONLY actual complaint about the book. I thought it was read very well and was very entertaining because it was Wil Wheaton reading it.

Why isn't this a movie?!

It's a very well-thought-out book, it's clever and very entertaining. Wery well read but Wil Wheton.

ok..not great.

was an ok filler while waiting on another book to release. end was boring and predictable.

Interesting Twist

I expected the Away Team results based on the title and being an original Star Trek fan, but I didn't expect where the book ended up-interesting twist. I enjoyed this one and am looking forward to trying another Scalzi book. I also really liked The Box. #WalkingDead #Quirky #Clever #Future #Tagsgiving #Sweepstakes

unbelievably fantastic!

this is the best sci-fi novel I have read in a very long time. I strongly recommend it.

Totally enjoyed this

Totally enjoyed this book.
Wil Wheaton is easy to listen to and perfect for this book.
This is a fun read but has some hidden depths to it.
The extra stuff at the end was deeper and a little emotional.

A silly but easy read if you're a Star Trek fan

Redshirts is good and a super easy read, but it's also popcorn writing, where 90% is dialogue, almost like a theater play or screenplay. Scalzi also cops out BIG TIME thanks to some obvious - but hard to reproduce - convenient choices:

1. Science: Since all the science in the book is based on the (deliberately) lame pseudo-science of the TV show which was written by a non-scientific writer, he gets away with nonsense.

2. Lack of descriptions: Like seriously, Scalzi barely describes the characters and describes virtually nothing of the ships, interiors, equipment, etc. You can kinda get away with this in the modern world because people can relate, but in sci-fi the author has to transport the reader to a futuristic world of imagination, so you need to describe all this new stuff that doesn't exist yet. It works here in Redshirts because EVERYONE pictures Star Trek, so it's an easy cop out. Even OMW had more descriptions (by Scalzi standards). I wonder how this would read for someone who never watched any Star Trek, but then again I wonder if anyone not into Star Trek would read this or enjoy it.

Then weirdly, I was done with the main story. It felt abrupt since I thought I still had 25% to go (according to my Kindle progress indicator). The rest is a few codas featuring characters from the "real-world" of the past, such as the Anon-writer discussing writer's block on the Internet or the woman who learned that her fictional self was so important to this crew member on a TV show. It just got weird and I was not invested in those people.

The Audible narration by Wil Wheaton, except that Wheaton cannot do voices and doesn't even try. He reads the whole thing like a screenplay. It's done well, but it may not be for everybody.

Fun Book!

Scalzi rarely ever disappoints, and continues to put out fun sci-fi with this one. Fun references to your favorite space opera TV show with lots of funny moments.
Wil Wheaton is perfectly placed as the reader here, for obvious reasons.
The coda…. I could do without, but it’s harmless to the story.

longest denouement ever!

this book has levels i didn't expect. i expected humor, interesting worldbuilding, and some of "this is just a bizarre thing that's going on!"
Got that. And Wil Wheaton's performance was spot.on.
then ...it was over. the characters solved the problem, and went on with their lives.
The surprise is a real treat. it focuses on three 'alternate ' characters, and how their worlds changed from that resolution.