'I’m thinking you should have called bullshit on the ice shark story,' Duvall said. 'It wasn’t specified at the time,' Dahl said, spearing a meat bit on his tray.

'Is it a shark made of ice?' Hanson asked.

It may not change your life, but it will brighten up your weekend and leave you with a nostalgic smile.'You got me,' Dahl said. Still, for those of us who did grow up watching and loving the show, this is a fun book. While this choice on Scalzi’s part makes some sense – the target audience of geeks might get bored reading too much world building when they already ‘get’ it – it would make it hard for someone who didn’t watch a lot of Star Trek or similar shows to enjoy. Very little is done to build a realistic world for his characters to live in. The only flaw in Redshirts is in just how heavily it relies on the reader being familiar with episodic televised sci fi shows. When it starts to feel like the funniness of the parody is wearing thin, Scalzi moves the narrative in a different direction, allowing the fun to continue without overworking the original idea. The main characters are likeable and relatable, and the dialogue is well written–which is important, because this is a very ‘talky’ book. Scalzi’s signature style of clever humor works well in creating an engaging story. Redshirts is a highly enjoyable novel for anyone who ever watched and loved Star Trek.

Newly appointed Ensign Andrew Dahl is baffled by a number of oddities aboard the famous ship: Why do so many senior officers go on so many away missions that have nothing to do with their jobs? Why do so many ensigns get killed off in such strange ways? How exactly does the crew keep coming up with the strange brand of science that solves seemingly impossible problems – but only at last possible minute before disaster strikes? And why is it that no one else seems to notice, or at least be willing to acknowledge, just how weird it all is? Dahl and a small group of friends set out to find answers for the questions no one seems to want to talk about, and end up finding out more than they had ever expected. The starship Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union, is famous for its bold exploration of the universe – and for its surprisingly high mortality rate for low-ranking crew members on away missions.

John scalzi's redshirts