



Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas (Unabridged)
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4.6 • 5 Ratings
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- $23.99
Publisher Description
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.
Customer Reviews
Strong finish
Stick with it, the final third brings it together for a strong finish. This is the first Scalzi novel I have read and I came to it after hearing a reviewer of one of his more recent novels talk about his capacity to integrate SF with humour, then to find this Hugo award winning novel… it seemed like a good place to begin an acquaintance with an unfamiliar author.
I was disappointed for the first two thirds wondering how this had won any award, never mind a Hugo. Not laugh-out-loud, but a mildly humorous scenario with good humoured lead characters.
Plenty of Hollywood writers insider humour, too much for my taste but I’m sure it is obligatory to find this excessively humorous in such circles.
I appreciate Scalzi’s talent for writing dialogue, and really enjoyed the repetitive use of expressions in the final third.
It doesn’t make me want to read his earlier space opera efforts for reasons his characters clearly enunciate in the epilogue, but I am encouraged to give his more recent works a read.