TL;DR
Redshirts is a fun romp and a welcome return to the “science” part of “science fiction.” The first part of the book where interesting characters try to solve a compelling mystery is particularly good. For me, the second half of the book looses luster; the mystery is revealed to be a corny Stranger Than Fiction-esque plot device.
Warp 6 of 10
Redshirts follows the exploits of ensign Adrew Dahl aboard the starship Intrepid. The book opens by introducing us to Dahl and his entourage of 4 other protagonists all newbies on the Intrepid:
- Jimmy Harrison: The son of the richest man in the universe
- Maia Duvall: A ground trooper with authority issues
- Finn: a scoundrel with enemies across the fleet
- Jasper Heser: Frenemy of Finn.
In their first day about the Intrepid, the characters discover there is something unusual about the crew: they hide from command and are terrified of being sent on away missions. Their terrors are well justified as anyone who isn’t a member of the command team tends to die horribly on away missions. Deaths include: ice sharks, land worms, and toxic atmospheres just to name a few.
The protagonists get sent on a few away missions and narrowly escape mad, deadly robots ala Maximum Overdrive and some sort of venomous, man-eating beast. These are my favorite parts of the book, as they provide an homage to your typical, cheesy Star Trek episode plot. Further, they provide an interesting take on group social dynamics like “screw the new guy”, which is a practice where the old employees at a company adopt a policy that benefits them at the expensive of the younger, newer employees. It is however, taken to deadly new levels. Lieutenant Collins, Dahl’s commanding officer, has Dahl transferred to the bridge because every time she sees Dahl, she is reminded that she is a coward.
From here the protagonists meet Jenkins: A former crewmen turned reclusive yeti holed up in the bowels of the ship. Jenkins shows them the stats for the Intrepid and how the crew death rate greatly exceeds even the warships in the fleet. And Jenkins surmises the only explanation is they are part of a badly written science fiction television show.
And this is where the book turns Stranger than Fiction and starts to lose my interest. The protagonists manage to go back in time, meet with the actors and writers from the show, and compel them to only make happy episodes about the show, or maybe stop writing about the Intrepid altogether. It really wasn’t clear what the desired outcome was, but it was sure to make a happy ending for the crew of the Intrepid.
There is an interesting part at the end of the book where Dahl is talking to Harrison and asking him what his part of the story is. See, all of the other protagonists played major roles in the plot and advanced the story, but Harrison has always been at the periphery. Doing enough to look involved, but not really making key contributions. Dahl decides Harrison is just there to confirm what Dahl suspect, that he, Dahl, is actually the one the narrative is about. This part made me think and revealed one of the reasons I find most main stream television shows and movies boring. They are all so formulaic. Every character has a part to play, every bit of exposition is just to drive the plot or possibly setup a twist further along. It’s not like real life at all; nothing ever “is” just because, everything is there to serve a purpose.
So all in all a good read. More “science fictiony” than a lot of the recent award winners. The second half of the book falters, but doesn’t detract enough to ruin the experience.
I give it a warp 6 of 10
