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
Check it out on Amazon