Book 32 of 2012 is a bit of a departure from my normal reading, kind of a throwback to an earlier era when I read a lot of science fiction. The book Redshirts by John Scalzi is actually a semi-mystery. Not a murder mystery, more of a why are all the little people getting killed mystery!
When Ensign Andrew Dahl is assigned to Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, he is thrilled! He was assigned to the xenobiology lab, and would have a chance to serve on “Away Missions”, along with the ship’s senior officers. He soon discovers that on every “Away Mission” the ships officers face some kind of deadly confrontation, while some members of the senior crew , particularly Lieutenant Kerensky get badly wounded. They always seem to survive, while one low-ranking member of the crew is killed!
Dahl soon learns, that one of the crew members actually monitors the movement of the senior crew, so that other members can hide to avoid being selected for the missions. In an attempt to discover what’s happening, Dahl makes contact with the elusive Jenkins, whose theory is the that ship is actually…….That sets Dahl and his friends on a mission to save his ship mates!!
John Scalzi is a terrific writer and blogger. His blog Whatever is great (Note to self read blog more often) The first Scalzi book I read was Old Man’s War, which I loved. I followed that quickly with The Ghost Brigades also great, then I got sidetracked and The Last Colony is still on my to be read pile!
But back to Redshirts, which is a funny and cleverly written book, that keeps your interest up to the touching ending! Here’s what some others have said about the book:
“I can honestly say I can’t think of another book that ever made me laugh this much. Ever” Patrick Rothfuss, author of The Name of the Wind”
“Scalzi takes apart the whole Star Trek universe and puts it back together for more plausibly – and a lot funnier , too” – Levi Grossman, author of The Magician
So check out Redshirts or for that matter any John Scalzi book and enjoy!!
