Redshirts

Redshirts is a science fiction spoof that pokes fun at the high death count in the original Star Trek television show - at least among the less important crew members. In his novel, Scalzi introduces five new members to the crew of the Intrepid - the flagship United Union's fleet. They are a bit like the Breakfast Club - five people you wouldn't expect to get along somehow become friends. As they spend more time on the ship, they begin to realize that everyone who goes on an away mission seems to die a tragic, horrible, and really bizarre death. They compare notes, search for clues, and try to understand what is happening to them. In the end, they come up with a plan that is so crazy it just might work...

I have to say this book was... Interesting. It won the 2013 Hugo and Locus Awards, so I expected it to be good, and it is by John Scalzi, so I expected it to be funny. I guess what I wasn't expecting was for it to be so meta. It came at me sort of unexpectedly, especially the second half of the book. Which wasn't to say I didn't like it, because I did. It was just a much different reading experience than I thought I was getting when I picked it up. I thought it worked well in the context of this story, and, honestly, really made for a satisfying conclusion to the book. It was just odd having a book that I thought was going to be something to share with my mother (the other sci-fi reader in the family) turn into a book that would be perfect for me to share with my sister (the girl who is proof-reading too many new scripts by “emerging artists”).

As someone who has been indoctrinated to the world of Trekkies since birth, the winks, nudges, and not-so-subtle digs at the source material were much appreciated. On the other hand, I think this book could be fantastically funny to anyone, even people who don't have a lot of love for the science fiction genre (actually, especially those people), because the book points out a lot of the ridiculousness and hand-wavery that happens in the television episodes. The concept of the book is easy to grasp, the humor is on point, and due to the nature of the material, readers get to bypass a lot of technical jargon that can bog down a lot of stories in this genre. All in all, this book was a fun, quick read that was just perfect for the end of summer before school/work starts up again, and I recommend it for anyone looking for a bit of fun.