It's a properly poignant concept for science fiction, in which beloved characters tend to follow you home. However, there are several very clever moments (the perpetual uselessness of the standard-issue pulse gun is a light-touch leitmotif), and the unusual, layered structure succeeds in building a cozy mystery of a space opera while also examining the importance of science fiction itself, not just to those who enjoy it, but for those who live within it. Some emotional beats seem based on character development that must have happened during a commercial break, and the comedy occasionally falters (one running joke equating gratitude with sexual favors is deployed at intervals, with diminishing returns). It's difficult to tell whether the presence of a single lead woman - whose sexuality is the only sexuality of interest - is a commentary on characters who've come before, or an accidental rehash. It's a highly self-aware novel - a narrative about out-narrating a Narrative - and with so much to juggle, it sometimes falls short of the mark. Soon they're hatching a plan that, like any good sweeps-week episode, involves time travel, death-defying disobedience, unexpected guest stars, and breaking the fourth wall (then the fifth, and the sixth.).Īuthor John Scalzi is the president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

They're living in a terrible TV show, victims of the Narrative, and they're the Expendables (the veil between world drops early there's universal disappointment that they only rate a second-string Star Trek-ish series). Ground missions go awry so often that by the time Ensign Andy Dahl comes aboard, the crew have an alert system that allows them to escape being drawn into a plot.Īs Dahl and his fellow ensigns soon realize, that's not a figure of speech. The Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union, is a starship famous for its groundbreaking discoveries, its fearless officers, and its startling mortality rate.

In John Scalzi's new novel Redshirts, the ship's crew is asking that question too. In fact, it's a show's biggest fans who are most likely to be watching a starship crew suit up for a mission and asking the screen, 'All three top-ranking officers are going? Really?' It's a place inhabited by loyal, passionate fans who are nonetheless acutely aware of - and happy to question - the minutiae of what they love. Science fiction is often a genre in conversation with itself from Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels to Galaxy Quest, from The Walking Dead to The Purple Rose of Cairo, it thrives on metatext and a love of details. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Tor Books If you've watched any episodes of the original 'Star Trek,' you know that wearing a red. No Instagram images were found.Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title Redshirts Author John Scalzi John Scalzi's sci-fi comedic novel 'Redshirts' will soon be a limited-series TV show on FX. My Shallow Tweets Tweets by betzsteve Gram'd Thorsaurus on The Adventures of Bandelier Da… Stevebetz on The Adventures of Bandelier Da… Sandy Sue on The Adventures of Bandelier Da…

Red shirts by john scalzi