This really was a laugh and cry read for me.In the prologue, several senior officers of the Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union, lament the unusually high number of casualties of low-ranking crew members during recent away missions and conclude that they will need more crewmen to replace them.ĭocking at a spaceport, the Intrepid takes on five new ensigns including Andrew Dahl, an expert in alien religions and xenobiology Dahl quickly discerns that the crew is extremely phobic of being near the senior officers and of going on away missions due to their unusually high fatality rate. What fantastic fun this book was!' Goodreads reviewer, 'The story veers in unexpected directions and becomes about fate and creativity and love and the dialogue a creator has with their creations. But rather than taking the easy way out, Mr Scalzi slowly takes the story in a very meta direction, but in doing so turns the story into something real and thought-provoking' Goodreads reviewer, 'I fell in love with all of the characters, their plight, and the plot, all equally.

Slowly though, the flavour transitions into a more serious, meta-narrative quest' Goodreads reviewer, 'Satirical without being mean or mocking, and it is extremely, laugh out loud funny. It pokes fun at cheesy sci-fi television while honouring it at the same time' Goodreads reviewer, 'It begins as a pretty funny, genre-aware, semi-parody of old school Star Trek. I am very impressed with how creative, funny and moving it is all at the same time. a fine masterpiece of crafty reading' Goodreads reviewer, 'It's never a good thing to wear a red shirt in sci-fi. Readers are crying with laughter at Redshirts: 'One of the best Star Trek novels without really being about Star Trek. and offers him and his fellow redshirts a crazy, high-risk chance to save their own lives. until he stumbles on a piece of information that changes everything. Suddenly it's less surprising how much energy is expended below decks on avoiding, at all costs, being assigned an Away Mission. although there are a few strange things going on: (1) every Away Mission involves a lethal confrontation with alien forces (2) the ship's captain, the chief science officer, and the handsome Lieutenant Kerensky always survive these encounters (3) at least one low-ranked crew member is, sadly, always killed. It's a prestige posting, and Andrew is even more delighted when he's assigned to the ship's Xenobiology laboratory.

Ever' Patrick Rothfuss, New York Times bestselling author of The Name of the Wind Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. 'I can honestly say I can't think of another book that ever made me laugh this much.

Red shirts by john scalzi