If you’re like I was when reading the early reviews, this one might frustrate you, because I’m going to try not to spoil things too badly. Â It’s not going to be easy, though, as Redshirts is not like most sci-fi books you might read. Â You’re going to make assumptions about this book, John Scalzi’s latest, based on the cover and title, some of which would be correct. Â It’s about ‘Redshirts’, the disposable ensign that gets killed on away missions instead of Captain Kirk or Spock or whoever. Â Many shows have them, and no, they don’t always have a red shirt, but we all know how to spot them.
In fact, you could make a fun genre romp that just turns that trope on it’s head – what if the Redshirts figured out they were cannon fodder? Â What do they do? Â There’s some of that, here, but it goes a lot deeper than that. Â It gets freaking meta, man. Â There’s…well, here’s where I run into the “don’t spoil it, asshole” part. Â Hmm. Â Instead of giving it away, let me just ask you this: Â If you think a combination of Star Trek, Stranger Than Fiction, and The Matrix would be interesting, with characters who are snappy smartasses, and a set of three codas that twist your perspective around on itself a few times, check this out. Â Just do it before a Borgovian land worm eats your brain.
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