Redshirts: A Novel With Three Codas by John Scalzi

Redshirts is the second novel I've read by John Scalzi (the first being Lock In). It is also the second audio book that I have completed. When I first started listening, I assumed that I would be using this book to fulfill the "book with a subtitle" category in my Popsugar challenge. However, as the novel progressed, I realized that it would be a better pick for a different category - a book set in two time periods. Novels with subtitles aren't difficult to find. Novels with characters that travel through time, on the other hand, are a bit more rare.

Redshirts is based around a well-known Star Trek joke. Back in the days of the original series, low-ranking crew members of the Enterprise, called red shirts because of their uniform color, were killed off at an incredible rate. Their frequent, often gruesome deaths, served to further the plot of an episode, increase the action or emotion of a scene, or add to the development of one of the more major characters. Scalzi has taken this idea and added an extra layer to it - what might happen if the red shirts caught on to what was happening to them and started asking questions?  

The plot of Redshirts follows Ensign Andrew Dahl. As the novel begins, he has just secured a posting to the flagship of the Universal Union, the Intrepid. Excited to begin exploring the universe, he jumps into his duties in the ship's xenobiology lab. Before long, however, he starts to notice something strange. The crew on the Intrepid all seem to be terrified of being sent on away missions, and scatter to the four winds whenever an officer approaches their stations.

The reason for this, as Andrew soon finds out, is that low-ranking crew members, such as himself, always seem to die on away missions. The amount of fatalities on the Intrepid is far higher than on other Universal Union ships. Curiously, officers seem to be immune from this problem. While ensigns die on nearly every outing, they seem to be bulletproof. Even more alarming, a mysterious man appears as if from nowhere and warns Andrew to stay away from something he calls "the narrative."

Intrigued with (and frightened by) this phenomenon, Andrew decides to investigate and try to get to the bottom of what's going on before he becomes the next ensign to tragically lose his life. His efforts set him on an adventure through time and space to figure out the truth of his existence. It turns out that his world is vastly different than he thought, and saving himself will require him to break through the fourth wall.

I found this novel to be charming and funny. I actually laughed out loud at a few points. The Star Trek references and jokes are absolutely spot on and will definitely please fans of the series. The story is interesting, the plot twists are clever, and the characters are likable. Shakespeare it was not, but it was an easy novel to listen to and a real treat for science fiction fans.

What was not so fun, however, were the novel's codas. Scalzi provides three endings to the book, each of which focus on what happens to a different character after the events of the novel. Compared to the funny, irreverent tone of the main plot, the codas are a combination of boring and overly sentimental. They focus on minor characters that I wasn't anxious to find out more about and don't add much value to the story.

Ultimately though, the codas weren't bad enough to spoil my enjoyment of the novel. This was a fun science fiction adventure and a great pick for Trekkies. The audio version of the book is read by Wil Wheaton, which provides another little Star Trek reference. Fans of comedic sci-fi would do well to give this one a shot.


Challenge Tally
Popsugar Challenge: (A book set in two different time periods) 13/40