Introduction
Redshirts by John Scalzi starts with Ensign Andrew Dahl assigned to the Universal Union’s flagship, the starship Intrepid. He works in the Xenobiology department and his coworkers advise him not to go on away missions with the officers of the starship. Crewmembers on away missions who are not officers are dying at an alarming rate. Dahl must discover the unbelievable truth, or he will die like the other Redshirts.
Summary
Andrew Dahl connects with a group of new crewmen on the Intrepid. His group includes Maia Duvall who transferred from her last post, his rich friend Jimmy Hanson, a suspected ‘fungus’ dealer Finn, and the mysterious Hester. They learn not to go on away missions with the ship’s officers or risk death. The officers to watch are the Intrepid’s Captain Abernathy, chief science officer Q’eeng, astrogator Kerensky, medical chief Hartnell, and chief engineer West. The key to the mystery is finding the missing crewman Jenkins. The story is connected to the original Star Trek TV show. They must discover the nature of what Dahl’s coworkers call the sacrificial effect and another effect called the Narrative. Shenanigans ensue and the conclusion arrives to complete Dahl’s story. There are three codas that are from different viewpoint characters that finish the theme of the story.
Recommendation
Redshirts by John Scalzi is a great novel. It’s funny, has an unusual premise, and moves quickly to the conclusion. The novel is sneaky because the humor overshadows a great theme. The three codas bring home the theme of making your own reality. There is a first-person coda and a second person coda. The third person coda ties up the themes explored in the novel and the final image ends the novel perfectly. I like that there is no sequel because the end says it all.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page for Redshirts by John Scalzi
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13055592-redshirts
The following links are for my reviews of other John Scalzi books.
This is a link to my book review of The Consuming Fire by John Scalzi, Book 2 of the Interdependency Sequence.
This is a link to my book review of The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi, Book 1 of the Interdependency Sequence
This is a link to my book review of the Dispatcher by John Scalzi, Book #1 of the Dispatcher Series.