Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas (original 2012; edition 2013)

Alright, if you can't take a little good-natured fun being poked at one of your fandoms, you're a sad human being. Largely because you might miss out on this book.
With the current Star Trek craze, there's no better time read a book like Redshirts, which reminds us of the silliest aspects of the original Star Trek TV series and does just that good-natured sort of fun-poking. Rare is the novel that can make you simultaneously cringe and giggle, but that's just the sort of book that Redshirts is.
The ensign cast we follow is laugh out-loud funny and while the plot seems fairly predictable (after a certain point) there are still enough twists to keep even the pickiest reader interested.
My main complaint with the novel is the codas, which I found by contrast very dull and unnecessary to the story. If you want my opinion, I'd just read the actual story as is and let it end on a high note.
I also (spoiler alert) wished that the Hanson situation had been better explained. I would have liked to know more about who Hanson was. That aspect did not feel as well explained as it ought to have been. ( )

Not a huge fan of scalzi, but being a huge fan of star Trek I read this anyway and enjoyed it a lot. ( )

This is a fun and light listen for the geek in your life. If you are a fan of Star Trek, you know that any extra wearing a red shirt on an away team mission is going to be eaten by some monster or wiped out by the space time continuum. This book was laugh out loud funny and the best part is that it is narrated by Wil Wheaton who played Ensign Wesley Crusher in the Star Trek TV series. Very fun. ( )

I'd much rather roll my eyes at Scalzi than Murakami. GodDAMN I hated 1Q84.

The book starts light, and I suppose stays light, but also plays with some much more complicated and unexpected questions - perhaps most significantly, what responsibility does an author bear to his or her work, as distinct from the obligation to the audience. In that sense, the book turned out to be a lot more interesting than it initially appeared. The particular driver of the plot I found creepy and horrifying - I don't think it was meant to be, just dramatic, but I found it unsettling in the manner of Poe or Kafka. The book's three codas (alternate endings?) are clever; they also provide a parallax on the book's deeper themes. While the book as a whole is a romp, the final coda, placed within the logic of the story, is sweet and moving. ( )