Redshirts, By John Scalzi

 


My latest read is Redshirts, a Novel, by John Scalzi. I really enjoyed this book a lot.  For those who are not fans of Star Trek, and who have no knowledge of the ongoing joke about crew members who wear red shirts, let me break it down for you with an anecdote.

So, in the early aught's I was in my early/mid 20's and was living with my parental units.  My dad had the entire series of the original, classic Star Trek on DVD. Now, I had watched classic Star Trek randomly when it was on TV, or when my parents were watching it; as my dad is a Trek fan. However, I had never sat down and watched every episode of the original series, certainly not sequentially. So, I decided that I was going to watch all of the original series during my free time. I've always been a fan of the Trek, but at the time, was more familiar with The Next Generation crew. There are several take-a-ways from watching the original series:

1. The stories are quite good. Good in the sense that they are like Twilight Zone episodes in space (Many of the original Twilight Zone writers wrote for Classic Star Trek).

2. These same writers had no concept of military, engineering, medical, or science related protocols to ensure peoples safety and security.  If they did know any of these protocols, they willfully ignored them.

3. Every crew member who wore a red shirt and went on an away mission died.

Let's explore number 3 a bit more.  I know, for those of you who have never watched much classic Star Trek you are probably thinking, "Surely not, Mayet. That seems preposterous." Well, you are certainly correct that it is preposterous. Alas, it is true.  I remember watching an episode where 15 red shirts went down to a planet.  I remember thinking to myself, "there is no way all 15 of these people are going to die! That is just too much".  Guess how many red shirts died in that episode? ALL 15!  My brother decided to watch all of classic Trek around the same time that I did.  I remember us discussing the red shirt issue.  My brother, "I just don't understand how they have enough people to actually run this ship, what with the rate of crew members dying".  My brother was between the ages of 12-15 at this time (he's 10 years younger than me), and HE noticed the shocking loss of life every week on this ship. It truly was a ridiculous loss of crew member life, and we were not the only people to notice. Hence the ongoing joke about expendable crew members in Trek lore and Star Trek parodies the world over (see the movie Galaxy Quest).

This again brings me to my latest read, Redshirts. This book explores the trials and tribulations of the non-major crewmembers of the Star Ship Intrepid.  Goodreads synopsis describes the book as such:

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 fact 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
(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.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13055592-redshirts

Overall, this was a fun and good read.  It heavily explores both points 2 and 3 that I made earlier in this unasked for review. I also really liked how it ended, and if you are a Trekkie, there are lots of Trek references within the book about how crew members act that will give you a chuckle.  If you are not a Trekkie, you will still enjoy it.  Two of the members of the book club I belong to are not Trekkies, and they still enjoyed the book even without having a ton of Trek exposition going in.

Even though no one is asking for this review, or this recommendation, I highly recommend this fun, quick read. Until next time, live long and prosper!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Emily Wilde Trilogy, By Heather Fawcett

Image
                 For my Unasked for Book Review of Book One in this series, please go here:  Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherworlds came out this past February (2025).  This is, supposedly, the last book in the Emily Wilde series. I read the 2nd book,  Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales,  last fall. I was extremely satisfied with this trilogy. Heather Fawcett not only weaves a compelling series with lots of action and adventure, but she creates characters that are loveable, complex and compelling.  I found myself rooting for Emily and Wendell's relationship, laughing at their banter, and worried for them at the situations they found themselves in. I loved the secondary characters introduced in all three of her books as well; finding myself just as attached to those Emily and Wendell cared about.  The world building in this series is really fun and enjoyable as well. ...
Read more

The Grace of Wild Things, By Heather Fawcett

Image
  I seem to be on a Heather Fawcett reading kick right now, having just finished her Emily Wilde  trilogy, which I greatly enjoyed. The Grace of Wild  Things  is a wonderfully sweet story.  It is loosely based off of  Anne of Green Gables but with magic, fairy's, and witches. It's not long, a rather short read/listen.  The audio book was only 8 hours.  I love the Anne of Green Gables series, and have read and reread the Lucy Maud Montgomery books quite a number of times. So, when I heard that Heather Fawcett had written a book based off of those books, it was a no brainer for me to read. Grace, the protagonist, is an orphan like Anne.  Unlike Anne, Grace is a witch.  The book explores themes of found family, loss, home, community, friendship, loneliness and belonging. Like Anne, Grace is imaginative, kind, loyal, has a temper, and consistently finds herself in scrapes. I enjoyed the entirety of the book, including the ending.  I wou...
Read more

The Divine Cities Trilogy, By Robert Jackson Bennett

Image
  The Divine Cities Trilogy is written by Austinite author Robert Jackson Bennett. I became aware of this series because I recently read Mr. Bennett's novel, The Tainted Cup , for my book club.  I liked The Tainted Cup  well enough to look into the other novels Mr. Bennett has written. When I read the premise of City of Stairs , book one in the trilogy, I did so with no intention of definitively reading the other two in the series.  I was intrigued by what the first book seemed to be about and I ended up enjoying it very much. I read, or rather listened, to the other two books, and was equally entertained and enjoyed them as well. The world building of this trilogy is quite well done, and Mr. Bennett explores many interesting themes throughout the three books.  These themes include the nature of war, belief, oppression, trauma, and all the various aftermaths. One of the reasons the books are so good, is that this is done so on a very human and relatable level, w...
Read more