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timtellsstories's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I expected a fun romp, and it is that, but then Scalzi takes a huge risk with the closing chapters, and it becomes quite profound. There are certainly sections of the book in which he’s on autopilot, and I could leverage criticisms against character identity and voice, but I ultimately didn’t care because the book delivers on everything it promises and sticks a brilliant landing. I’m not sure yet, but I think I loved it.
xover's review against another edition
4.0
Scalzi's Redshirts was, for me, I'm sorry to say, nearly perfect. The operative word, here, obviously being “nearly”. Or perhaps it would be fairer to say that it's a somewhat schizo work: the meat of the book—essentially the part you read about in the books blurb—and three “coda” tacked on at the end, who, by page count, actually make up something disturbingly close to half the book. And the two parts have a fundamentally different mood.
The former, the good-natured satire of TV SF tropes, is light, funny, and intelligent; and, for me, surprisingly well written. I had fairly low expectations going in, having been burned by many attempts over the years at such, but was won over in what may be record few pages. It manages to maintain a light and humorous tone while exploring fairly weighty subject matter (you could use this book to pose problems for a philosophy class, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see it already cited by scholarly papers in the field), without the dichotomy feeling artificial or unbalanced. I think about the only part where my mind was rebelling a bit was during the cold open, when what I thought was the main protagonist was behaving out of character for a human being (any human being) without sufficient awareness of that fact. It felt clumsy, as if Scalzi was visibly trying to cram the premise into the words in a ham-fisted attempt at show-don't-tell. Of course, by the first chapter proper I realized that this was just my preconceptions messing with me, and thus my issue rather than Scalzi's. If I have a complaint about this section it's that—and this inevitably becomes involuntarily meta—the plot mostly proceeded on rails. Whether intentionally (without going into spoilers, this would be entirely consistent with the plot as previously established), or otherwise, it made the ending, for me, feel a little anticlimactic in a way I don't think was intended. However, since I was also left with a sense of “I really wish there were more stories set in this universe and with these characters”, I think we can safely write that off as a mere niggle.
The second part, however, grated on me somewhat more. Not because it is, in itself, in any way bad. Quite to the contrary, I found it excellent in most ways that matter. It's made up of three chapters, that Scalzi calls “codas”, respectively titled and written in first, second, and third person perspective. Each coda deals with a separate loose end and mostly resolves those plot threads. They are also each exceedingly well written, to the point where the abrupt shifts in perspective not only failed to annoy, but barely even registered. Granted I was reading for pleasure rather than with my critic hat on, but my inner critic tends to obsessively poke his head up and poke me painfully in the suspension of disbelief at the most minor provocation. Its somnolence here is nothing but a compliment to Scalzi's skill as a writer.
However, this second part is in such a fundamentally different mood than the rest of the book that the overall impression of it is marred by the contrast. Where the first part, mostly, leaves you chuckling (and, I should add, left me feeling I was in on the joke rather than wearied at an author trying too hard to show how “in” he is; someone with less familiarity with Trek-tropes may feel differently), and always feels tongue-in-cheek (in the good way), the second part suddenly takes itself seriously and bring the underlying themes of the first part front and center. There is grief and fear, both everyday and existential, and love and longing. It is, in sum, a significant and very good work on its own.
But the sum of the parts feels split. It feels like two separate works artificially combined and both lessened by it. It's possible that Scalzi's intent was more of a collection of short stories (where tonal differences are more easily forgiven even within the same universe and overall plot), but what it feels like is an awkward juxtaposition come about as a writing exercise that got away from the author. Its parts are still testaments to their author's skill, but left the overall work feeling fractured.
It's still 4 stars, but in a parallel universe (har har) where this was a collection of short stories I might well have given them 5 stars each.
The former, the good-natured satire of TV SF tropes, is light, funny, and intelligent; and, for me, surprisingly well written. I had fairly low expectations going in, having been burned by many attempts over the years at such, but was won over in what may be record few pages. It manages to maintain a light and humorous tone while exploring fairly weighty subject matter (you could use this book to pose problems for a philosophy class, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see it already cited by scholarly papers in the field), without the dichotomy feeling artificial or unbalanced. I think about the only part where my mind was rebelling a bit was during the cold open, when what I thought was the main protagonist was behaving out of character for a human being (any human being) without sufficient awareness of that fact. It felt clumsy, as if Scalzi was visibly trying to cram the premise into the words in a ham-fisted attempt at show-don't-tell. Of course, by the first chapter proper I realized that this was just my preconceptions messing with me, and thus my issue rather than Scalzi's. If I have a complaint about this section it's that—and this inevitably becomes involuntarily meta—the plot mostly proceeded on rails. Whether intentionally (without going into spoilers, this would be entirely consistent with the plot as previously established), or otherwise, it made the ending, for me, feel a little anticlimactic in a way I don't think was intended. However, since I was also left with a sense of “I really wish there were more stories set in this universe and with these characters”, I think we can safely write that off as a mere niggle.
The second part, however, grated on me somewhat more. Not because it is, in itself, in any way bad. Quite to the contrary, I found it excellent in most ways that matter. It's made up of three chapters, that Scalzi calls “codas”, respectively titled and written in first, second, and third person perspective. Each coda deals with a separate loose end and mostly resolves those plot threads. They are also each exceedingly well written, to the point where the abrupt shifts in perspective not only failed to annoy, but barely even registered. Granted I was reading for pleasure rather than with my critic hat on, but my inner critic tends to obsessively poke his head up and poke me painfully in the suspension of disbelief at the most minor provocation. Its somnolence here is nothing but a compliment to Scalzi's skill as a writer.
However, this second part is in such a fundamentally different mood than the rest of the book that the overall impression of it is marred by the contrast. Where the first part, mostly, leaves you chuckling (and, I should add, left me feeling I was in on the joke rather than wearied at an author trying too hard to show how “in” he is; someone with less familiarity with Trek-tropes may feel differently), and always feels tongue-in-cheek (in the good way), the second part suddenly takes itself seriously and bring the underlying themes of the first part front and center. There is grief and fear, both everyday and existential, and love and longing. It is, in sum, a significant and very good work on its own.
But the sum of the parts feels split. It feels like two separate works artificially combined and both lessened by it. It's possible that Scalzi's intent was more of a collection of short stories (where tonal differences are more easily forgiven even within the same universe and overall plot), but what it feels like is an awkward juxtaposition come about as a writing exercise that got away from the author. Its parts are still testaments to their author's skill, but left the overall work feeling fractured.
It's still 4 stars, but in a parallel universe (har har) where this was a collection of short stories I might well have given them 5 stars each.
cypher131's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
sj_books's review against another edition
5.0
This was great fun to read, I laughed so much reading it. You don’t need to know much about Star Trek to enjoy it or understand it either.
capnmorgan's review against another edition
Too much "said" in dialogue. I found it very distracting.
dreadspawn's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content and Medical content
seattlemarcus's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.25
cynthiareads's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
entertaining audiobook. I thinks Star Trek fans will enjoy, especially those who like Lower Decks. The main book ended quite abruptly and then is followed by three short stories. I enjoyed two of them, but the first dragged on a bit too long.