Redshirts – John Scalzi
Redshirts, a peculiar space adventure.
When Andrew Dahl takes service with a sense of bride aboard the flagship Intrepid of the Universal Union, he soon realizes that things are not as they should on board. First of all, the death rate among the low ranks is scary, even when taking into account that the missions of the Intrepid are dangerous the losses are really too high. But there are other things that do not add up: how is it possible that Lieutenant Kerensky is injured, infected, beaten and hit virtually on every mission but always gets away and reappears again ready for the next mission? And what’s behind all those strange investigations, requested with very short notices, and which are always carried out brilliantly although in such a chaotic and incomprehensible way?
Apparently the key to everything is in the hands of a crew member who is hiding from everyone, hidden in the bowels of the ship, and finding him will become a matter of life or death. Literally.
Difficult to classify and label a work as Redshirt. We are confronted with a novel with three “codas,” as its own descriptions says, or is it an anthology with a short novel and three stories?
John Scalzi has packed a very particular product, in spite of the trite narrative plot chunks—the spacecraft launched in deep space exploration (Star Trek and red uniforms anyone?)—the narrative does follow innovative paths. The mystery and suspense are no longer linked to alien creatures or dangers of mysterious planets, but to the particular conditions existing on board the Intrepid. Is there is a secret plot among the senior officers, or some strange force or entity at work or is it just an incredible bad luck? Or could the truth be even more shocking?
A fun novel (an anthology?) to read, written with verve and lightness. In the first part, we witness the tactics that are put in place to prevent the deadly planetary missions, the encounters with aliens, and the relationships between the crew members mingle with the investigation. In the second, the shocking truth is revealed. And at this point we need to find how we can avoid to become the next name on the list of the men in redshirts who died while carrying out their duty.
A truly original, which shows that the Science Fiction knows how to laugh at herself.
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