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2012 Book Review #58: Redshirts
Title: Redshirts
Author: John Scalzi
Genre: Science fiction satire
Thingummies: 3.5
Synopsis: The junior officers of a starship take a look at the freakish death rate of away missions and realize that they'd better figure out what's going on before they're the next ones eaten by an ice shark. Sand worm. Whatever.
Thoughts: Scalzi's always had a cutting sense of humor, and here he lets loose on the old trope of the redshirt, or that guy behind the Captain whose sole reason to be in the episode is to be brutally dismembered as a way of establishing tension. In the process, he also sideswipes a dozen other bad sci-fi tropes, from the ridiculousness of senior officers on shore parties to the baffling design flaws that cause bridge consoles to blow up no matter where the ship takes damage. It's rollicking fun that takes a sudden swerve into the meta.
It's hard to discuss much without spoilers, but overall I think the plot holds together well. The solution they find is fairly touching. (I was not sure how I felt about the big reveal at the very end--I thought the premise worked, but I didn't think the conversation itself did. Those riches should have had some kind of impact, more than they did. I had to admire Scalzi's skill in setting it all up and then revealing to us exactly what he'd done, though.)
The topic's been dealt with before, although usually not with the thoroughness of this book. Still, I'm not sure it actually felt that fresh (as the first coda alludes to). Really, my biggest objection here was that this is supposed to be a comedic book, but I feel like some of Scalzi's other books were actually funnier. The situations are humorous, but there were very few laugh-out-loud lines or truly witty observations. It's perfectly enjoyable, I was just expecting more from him.
About those codas--they've been a little controversial. (There are three, and they make up a substantial percentage of the pages.) I quite liked the topics, and was glad to see things from a couple other perspectives. I thought the first/second/third person thing was needlessly gimmicky, though. The first person one worked beautifully, as did the third. I liked the story of the second-person one, but there was no reason for it to be in second person. It would have worked better in either first or third, and I couldn't help but feel that it was mashed into an ill-fitting form just to be cute. Again, I was expecting a little better from Scalzi.
It's a solid, enjoyable book, but I think I rather prefer the far more uneven, but far more entertaining Agent to the Stars.
Author: John Scalzi
Genre: Science fiction satire
Thingummies: 3.5
Synopsis: The junior officers of a starship take a look at the freakish death rate of away missions and realize that they'd better figure out what's going on before they're the next ones eaten by an ice shark. Sand worm. Whatever.
Thoughts: Scalzi's always had a cutting sense of humor, and here he lets loose on the old trope of the redshirt, or that guy behind the Captain whose sole reason to be in the episode is to be brutally dismembered as a way of establishing tension. In the process, he also sideswipes a dozen other bad sci-fi tropes, from the ridiculousness of senior officers on shore parties to the baffling design flaws that cause bridge consoles to blow up no matter where the ship takes damage. It's rollicking fun that takes a sudden swerve into the meta.
It's hard to discuss much without spoilers, but overall I think the plot holds together well. The solution they find is fairly touching. (I was not sure how I felt about the big reveal at the very end--I thought the premise worked, but I didn't think the conversation itself did. Those riches should have had some kind of impact, more than they did. I had to admire Scalzi's skill in setting it all up and then revealing to us exactly what he'd done, though.)
The topic's been dealt with before, although usually not with the thoroughness of this book. Still, I'm not sure it actually felt that fresh (as the first coda alludes to). Really, my biggest objection here was that this is supposed to be a comedic book, but I feel like some of Scalzi's other books were actually funnier. The situations are humorous, but there were very few laugh-out-loud lines or truly witty observations. It's perfectly enjoyable, I was just expecting more from him.
About those codas--they've been a little controversial. (There are three, and they make up a substantial percentage of the pages.) I quite liked the topics, and was glad to see things from a couple other perspectives. I thought the first/second/third person thing was needlessly gimmicky, though. The first person one worked beautifully, as did the third. I liked the story of the second-person one, but there was no reason for it to be in second person. It would have worked better in either first or third, and I couldn't help but feel that it was mashed into an ill-fitting form just to be cute. Again, I was expecting a little better from Scalzi.
It's a solid, enjoyable book, but I think I rather prefer the far more uneven, but far more entertaining Agent to the Stars.