Book notes: Redshirts by John Scalzi

Get the audiobook on Audible 👇 (affiliate link)

Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas by Author

Synopsis:

“Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. It’s a prestige posting, and Andrew is thrilled all the more to be assigned to the ship’s Xenobiology laboratory. Life couldn’t be better…until Andrew begins to pick up on the facts that (1) every Away Mission involves some kind of lethal confrontation with alien forces; (2) the ship’s captain, its chief science officer, and the handsome Lieutenant Kerensky always survive these confrontations; and (3) at least one low-ranked crew member is, sadly, always killed.

Not surprisingly, a great deal of energy below decks is expended on avoiding, at all costs, being assigned to an Away Mission. Then Andrew stumbles on information that completely transforms his and his colleagues’ understanding of what the starship Intrepid really is…and offers them a crazy, high-risk chance to save their own lives.” -Audible

---

~If you enjoy my summary, please consider buying me a coffee via my Ko-Fi link (click the button below) or support this blog in one of several ways! 📖 🎓

I appreciate every donation as it goes directly to the maintenance costs of my blog and creation of new content. 😊

Opening thoughts:

Another John Scalzi book because his work seems like an easy choice for me when deciding my books for the month. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all of the other books I’ve read by him, and I like his writing style.

---

Key notes:

Chapter 1

• Two crew members were arrested for a fight caused by a drug one of them was inadvertently hiding from the other

Chapter 2

• The new crew realized that all the current members on the ship gave off weird vibes about away missions

Chapter 3

• Dahl had to do some science roleplay with the commander which was very strange

Chapter 4

• While on a mission, they had to run away from killer robots

Chapter 5

• The other crew members explained to Dahl that there’s a weird effect/phenomenon where away teams who go on missions led by certain officers end up dying
  • Therefore, the entire crew avoids them as much as possible
  • They tried to escalate the issue but the higher-ups thought it was just part of the risk of being an exploratory ship
• Andy informed the other new crew of his theory that the old crew was trying to throw them under the bus to save themselves

Chapter 6

• Kerensky also noticed that he keeps getting hurt and then healed on away missions, and also that he acts weirdly brave during the mission but later doesn’t know why

Chapter 7

• Andy managed to survive miraculously aside from Commander Q’eeng

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

• Jenkins explained to the crew who planned to ambush him that the crazy death rate and odd survival of their officers was an almost impossible occurrence, and his theory that they’re on a sci-fi drama series

Chapter 10

• Andy pointed out that Jenkins thought it was interesting and relevant that they all had backstories
  • He theorized that they were more than just extras but side characters meant to be built up a bit and then killed off

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

• Upon interrogating Westin the suspected spy from the other ship, he set off a bomb which ultimately killed Finn, although Dahl managed to shield and save the captain

Chapter 13

• The group discussed how they might figure out how to stop all these bad things from happening and stop the show from killing them

Chapter 14

• Their current plan was to get a main cast officer to come with them to travel back in time and stop the show being made by the show creators
• One of the officers commissioned Dahl to lead an away team

Chapter 15

• They kidnapped Kerensky and they made it to Earth 2012

Chapter 16

• Duvall met Dahl’s actor and he said his character was getting killed off soon
  • “Redshirts” is a term for people who get killed off, a reference to the characters in Star Trek who weren’t main characters and died

Chapter 17

• They got Kerensky’s actor and also saw Finn’s actor

Chapter 18

• Corey and Anatoly had a deep conversation together and the actor agreed to help them

Chapter 19

• Hester’s actor double was the show producer’s comatose son
• They figured that we might be able to use the show’s narrative to their advantage

Chapter 20

• The head writer actually played Jenkins, the shut-in who figured everything out
• The plan was to switch Hester and the son and use the narrative to heal the comatose son

Chapter 21

• Dahl gave Jenkins’ photos and letters of his wife to the actress who played her as a way of letting go. She appreciated it
• The producer and writer agreed to stop killing off characters, end the show soon, and not create any new shows within 100 years of their time

Chapter 22

• After a dramatic near-death ending, Commander Q’eeng read a message from the show producer Paulson expressing his gratitude for saving his son and confirming their plan worked

Chapter 23

• Dahl told Jimmy Hanson his theory that Andy himself is the protagonist and Jimmy’s purpose is to tell Andy that he’s right
  • Jimmy ultimately confirmed and then left it at that

Chapter 24

• Reader’s note: Author troll. He said they all died 6 months later in a systems failure; then said he was joking in the next chapter

CODA I: First person

• Nick got over his writer’s block through his adventures of anonymous blogging until it blew up
• Then the dead crew of the Intrepid came to him in his dreams to tell him to stop making excuses for bad writing and to actually try. When he woke up, he finally could write again 

CODA II: Second Person

• Matthew wanted to figure out the mystery of the two weeks he didn’t remember after recovering from his accident
• Matt figured out something impossible happened that he was in this good of a condition
  • Eventually one of the extras on the set told him everything and that his double left him a message that only he could find if he ever figured it out
• He found the video from Hester which basically told him to figure out his life and do something since he miraculously had a second chance, something neither of them would normally have

CODA III: Third Person

• Samantha makes copies of the documents of her double and burns them, mixes them with sand, and spreads her “ashes” at the Santa Monica beach
• Coincidentally she runs into Nick, the writer for the show who also played her character’s husband briefly. They decided to get lunch together
• Reader’s note: Damn these were really good endings and wrap-ups for these characters

---

Closing thoughts:

I really enjoyed this book, easily one of my top favorites from John Scalzi. I liked how unique the premise was, how smart/creative the main characters were, all of the character development, and especially how everyone’s storyline wrapped up in the end. I think this story was told masterfully and overall really well done. I also liked the social commentary on how sci-fi show writing was so formulaic, and putting a new twist on it in a “what-if” sort of scenario.

---

One Takeaway / Putting into practice:

No real explicit takeaway from this book, but I generally liked the idea that Hester passed to Matt, the actor who played him in real life, about how he should use this second chance that nobody ever gets to live life to the fullest.

---

Nutshell:

“Redshirts” explores the idea of a fictional exploratory space crew figuring out they’re just characters on a science fiction show, and their adventure to travel through space and time to save themselves.

---

Similar books:

• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
• We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor
• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
• Lock In by John Scalzi
• Head On by John Scalzi
• Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
• Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi

---

Rating:

4/5

Subscribe for More Summaries👇

---

Try Audible for audiobooks 📚🎧

Personal recommendation: For the last 10 years, I’ve used Audible to listen to all of my favorite books. It’s easy to use, cost-effective, and they have the best library of audiobooks.

If you use my affiliate links below, not only will you get a special offer, but it’ll help support the costs to maintain this blog! 😊👇

Try Audible and Get Two Free Audiobooks

Audible Gift Memberships 

---